i'm wolf blitzer and it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. we begin with the shroud of that hangs over pittsburgh. the first funerals are happening. 11 worshippers were killed on the deadliest attack on american jews in u.s. history. the community of squirrel hill is saying goodbye to cecil and david rosenthal who were described as ambassadors at the tree of looefr synagogue.

the funerals coincide with a controversial visit by president trump. some jewish leaders opposed visit because of the rhetoric and the mayor of pittsburgh and others urge the president to at least delay his trip. listen to this. >> i do believe that it would be best to put the attention on the families this week. if he were to visit, choose a different time to be able to do it. >> i would ask the president, please, if it's not too late, put it off a week. any president that would come in would be a distraction. >> kaitlan collins is live from pittsburgh near the synagogue. many said they will not join the president this afternoon. what else are you hearing? >> reporter: there is an increasing number who said they

will meet with the president, not just the local officials, but they declined to join the president including paul ryan, nancy be lossy, chuck assumer and big groups of people who will not meet with the president. some out of scheduling issues, but as you heard, he is asking the president not to come today because he thinks it's going to be too disruptive to the trip. the white house is pointing to the fact that the rabbi of the tree of life synagogue who survived the shooting on saturday said he would welcome the president to come at any time and he will be participating in working with the families with the funerals today. president trump is pointing to the fact that he said he wanted to come visit. he wanted to come sooner, but he didn't want the visit to pay his respects to be disruptive. that is why he is coming today. we note behind the scenes, officials are pointing to the busy schedule he has for the rest of the week. starting tomorrow, we will have

several rallies ahead of the mid-terms and some up to two a day across the united states. they believe either they couldn't delay it without cancelling a rally or if they did move the president's visit to later on in the week, it would be bad optics to have the president come to a sober, grieving community and go to a campaign rally that is politically charged. they didn't believe the optics would look good and this was not the best day for the approximate to the pay his respects. >> do they know what the president and first lady will be doing. will they meet with family members? i assume they will meet with the injured police officers. >> that's what the president said he wanted to do. that's one thing we have heard. other than that it's a question mark what the president's schedule is going to look like. white house officials were scrambling to put a schedule together. it's unclear if he will come to

the synagogue where there are family members and members of the community coming to pay respects and grieving here today or if he is going to stay at a distance and visit the first responders and those in the hospital. he is going to be here in a few hours and will be here for about four hours and will be accompanied by the first lady and jared kushner and ivanka trump who are jewish. the white house is describing this as an understated visit, but that could be because an increasing number of officials are saying they are not going to meet with the president and wish he would delay his trip until later on. >> we will see what happens. thank you very much. it's a scene that will play out over and over again in the coming bays. grief-stricken families and friends gathering to say their final goodbyes. our correspondent is outside the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh. give us a sense of how the community is banding together as the first funerals take place.

>> wolf, there have been so many emotions in the last few days in this community. so many different emotions. today it is solemn. it is reverent. they are paying respects and we are here at the tree of life synagogue where it all happened. this is the crime scene. i want to you see the memorial outside. it is continuing to grow. look at the people of this community that have come. just to pay their respects. i have seen so many people come with their flowers and they get their flowers out and place their flowers by one of the 11 victims. as this is going on, the funerals have been taking place, two of them today. dr. jerry rabinowitz, the doctor that everyone loved, and the two brothers, cecil and david rosenthal. they are at 11:00 and 12:00. later this afternoon, the president will be coming. i have been here since early morning and the amount of police

presence in this area increased 10-fold since this morning when i arrived before dawn. >> very significant, that police presence there. understandably so. thank you very much. six people were wounded in the synagogue attack. four police officers and two s.w.a.t. team members were among the wounded. two officers are still in the hospital. for more on the police response and the preparations for the president's visit, let's bring in the police chief, scott schubert. thanks so much for joining us. once again, our hearts go out to you and everyone else. update us, if you can, on the condition of the two police officer who is are still in the hospital. >> thanks very having me. yes, we have two still in the hospital. we are hoping one of them will be released tonight or tomorrow. things keep changing on that. the other one still has

surgeries to go. the spirits are good. we are very thankful all four of them are still with us. they still have a long road ahead recovering from their wounds, but we will be here and the community will be here with them. >> have you heightened security and police presence at the various funerals that are taking place starting today and continuing through the week? >> we have. we have a number of officers in plain clothes detectives at a lot of the events going on throughout the community. >> i assume there is a police presence at the various jewish schools and jewish community centers, synagogues in the greater pittsburgh area? >> that is correct. we have that going on as well. >> is it out of an abundance of caution or is there concern that there may be others out there who may be planning something? >> we have nothing that suggests

that something is going to occur. what we do know is this was a traumatic event in the city of pittsburgh and for the jewish community and we just want to be there for them to show them that we are there to help and protect. >> what can you tell us about the president's visit today? i know you and your officers, you have to get involved and help make sure there is good security all along. >> can't really talk about the visit, but what i can tell you is that's part of our responsibility is to make sure the city is safe and we have dignitaries that come in all the time. we have dignitary protection units that work well with the secret service and do our part to ensure it's a safe trip for everybody. >> do you have enough manpower to make sure that everybody is secure and safe. a presidential visit is not an easy thing to deal with. >> we have enough and our department has great relationships with other

agencies within the city of pittsburgh and outside region. they are all pitching in to help us. >> at what point do you recall how your s.w.a.t. officers were responding to the shooting at the tree of life synagogue. they were able to force the suspect to surrender while saving the life of one of their own wounded team members. i wonder if you would share the details with our viewers. >> i can tell you for me, i have known and been a part of the s.w.a.t. team as a commanding officer for nearly 14 years and i'm not surprised at what they did. they work as a team. they train with the other teams within western pennsylvania. they were up for the challenge and they wanted to go in and save lives and they were able to engage the gunman and take him into custody. i'm very proud for their heroic efforts and all of public safety

that was involved in the incident and that includes our medics on our team as well. they all did a hell of a job with the incident and the officers that were shot. the civilians that were shot. >> we have seen a tremendous outpouring for the jewish community in pittsburgh. understandably so. also for local law enforcement. how are people in pittsburgh showing appreciation to you? >> it's unbelievable. the amount of people that are coming up on our officers and other safety officials, thanking them for what they do. the outpouring of cards and letters from kids and others from the community, just thanking our officers. it's very uplifting for us. we truly are one with the community. it shows that each more. it's going to help us get over

this tragedy and grow together. it's what makes pittsburgh so strong. >> one final question before i let you go. in all the years that you have been a police officer and you have done a lot of planning and testing and everything else, did you ever in your life think you would have to deal with a mass murder like this at the tree of life synagogue in squirrel hill in that wonderful, beautiful neighborhood of pittsburgh? >> no. you prepare and you train for things that you hope will never occur. it's something i hope i never experience again in my life. the officers, they all came together. on duty and off duty coming to help their brothers and sisters and help the community all working together to end the violence and they did a good job. let's just pray it never happens

again. >> pray that the men and women of your police force continue to do the amazing work that you guys have always done and hope for the best for a speedy recovery for the police officers who were injured in that attack. thanks so much for joining us and god bless you and everyone in pittsburgh. >> thank you so much. appreciate it. >> the massacre in pittsburgh deepening the divide in the american jewish community when it comes to president trump. we will discuss that and the vice president raising eyebrows by having a mess yonnic rabbi who cited jesus speak about the synagogue victims. with just one week before the mid-terms, the president doubling down on racially charged language against the african-american candidate in florida's gubernatorial race. , ? fact is, there have been twenty-six in the last decade. allstate is adapting. with drones to assess home damage sooner. and if a flying object damages your car,

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>> there is breaking news into cnn. we are learning that the notorious gangster, james whitey bulger has been killed in prison. they moved into a prison in west virginia. he is known as eluding authorities for 16 years and he was serving two life sentences for involvement in nearly a dozen murders. let's go to our national correspondent, jason carroll. what can you tell us? >> the details are still coming in. he lived a violent life and had a violent history and has come to a violent end. james whitey bulger was killed at that facility, that federal facility in west virginia. apparently it happened this morning. still trying to get details about who was responsible and how it all happened. multiple sources say it did ha upon this morning.

the 89-year-old had been transferred from a prison in florida to another facility. as you were saying, he was serving two life sentences after being convicted in 2013 for a litany of crimes including racketeering and murder. as you may remember, it was on the fbi's most wanted fugitive list. one other person, osama bin laden. he was well-known in the mob world. he was a well-known irish-american organized crime figure. the boss of the winter hill gang in boston on december 23rd, 1994. he went into hiding and he was on the lamp for that entire period of time. bulger was at large for some 16

years. again, multiple sources saying that bulger again killed that federal facility in west virginia early this morning. >> he was 89 years old? >> 89 years old. lived a long time. lived a very long, violent life. wolf? >> jason carroll reporting for us. let's get back to the other news, including the massacre in pittsburgh, showing a split within the american jewish community over president trump and his actions. we will discuss that and whether it's fear over the border or racially charged rhetoric, the president is doubling down on a strategy a week before the mid-term elections. this time he calls florida's candidate for governor and i'm quoting him now, this is the president of the united states speaking. a stone cold thief. >> tech: at safelite autoglass, we really pride ourselves on making it easy to get your windshield fixed. with safelite, you can see exactly when we'll be there. saving you time for what you love most. >> kids: whoa!

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decision, first of all, to go to pittsburgh on this day? the funerals are starting despite the calls if are him to delay the visit? >> it's a tough call. the rabbi at the tree of life so eloquently said this is my president. he is always welcome. i think that was a response to a controversial idea of the president coming. within the jewish community and more widely. it's a tough call and the president doesn't want to get in the way. it's appropriate for the rabbi to say he's welcome and i have to focus on the families and the funerals. >> some say they are not going to go with the president and appear with the president while he's in pittsburgh. what message does that send? >> i don't like that message. part of the problem as we have been discussing is the political split within the american jewish community over trump over politics. it's over israel, but over

politics and it divided the jewish community in america in a way i haven't seen in my lifetime. it's turbo charged with other divisions that are there. it's really unhealthy. as a jew i say this and as an american i think it's unhealthy to have such a divided view of the president through this community. >> who is certainresponsible fo. >> i have called out the president and when he uses anti-semitic troeps when he talks about himself as a nationalist and gives in any way comfort to those who would ex-tress anti-semitic views, it's dead wrong. he has a responsible with his jewish son-in-law and daughter and grandchildren to denounce anti-semitism and go further. if he is going to use terms like nationalism, he must go further. in the jewish community, most

are democrats. there are a lot of conservative republican jews who look at him and say he's a supporter are israel and we are behind this guy and that created the split. what i don't like is that jews are dividing politically instead of saying there are jews who are for trump and jews for democrats. let's hold up the treatment. stranger and immigrants. be able to find some consensus. i specifically said it on the air. i said it privately to israeli representatives. i think they have an obligation to not just stoke the political divide in this country that trump created among jews. it's bad for the jewish community at large in america. >> the former new york city mayor and possible democratic candidate michael bloomberg gave an interview and had strong words. let me play a clip.

>> all of this is i think encouraged by strong words from the president who should be unifying and instead he is exciting people, insighting people and his job is to be a unifier. not to be the leader of a party, but of the country. nobody suggests that he sent the bombs or pulled the trigger. we know who did that. when he goes around getting people to scream and hate, bad things happen. you saw the results here. >> what do you think of that? >> i think the president should be called out for things that he says or does not say to quell some of the hate that's out there. i think we have an obligation in the media and the political realm to expand this conversation. anti-semitism as you know is nothing new in america. we go back to the 30s and the

american government and media and citizen response that has been a deeply anti-semitic country for a long, long time. part of the problem with social media is the inability to deal with all the connective tissue that the platforms provide for anti-semitic hate. if we just focus on trump, we are missing a conversation about the resurgent of anti-semitism and the proliferation and the ability to connect anti-semites because of social media and people like mark zuckerberg at facebook who said well, you know, holocaust denial is just a view that is not something that should be excised from facebook when they take down other things that will be as well. this shooter may think that trump is a sell out and has too many views about him.

we know what is in his mind and we know the hate he expressed. this is a wider conversation. >> here thought that president trump had too many jews around him. he also said the president was a globalist. >> there is another piece, too. there is a rush to politically demonize on both sides within the jewish community and i wish within the community that conservative supporters of trump would not demonize the progressive jews who want to uphold the value of immigrants. whether it's soros, neither one should be villainized by political opponents. >> we will see how the president's visit with the 50 lady and his daughter and son-in-law goes. even though the president is in charge of upholding the constitution, he said he is going to go against one key element.

one key amendment and end birth right citizenship for children born in the united states whose parents were undocumented immigrants who are here illegally. we will find out if he can. more on the breaking news involving the notorious gangster, whitey bulger. we are hearing he has been killed in a west virginia prison. 89 years old. more information coming. how about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead? for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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president trump is doubling down on his attacks on the democratic candidate, andrew gillum, calling him a stone cold with no evidence whatsoever. listen to this. >> you have ron desantis who is a harvard yale guy. he's a very good person. he is going to be a very good governor. this other guy is a thief. how can you have a guy like this? you look at his record and the job he's done as the mayor of tallahassee. he's a total disaster. >> let's bring in our reporter who has been following this race very, very closely. has he ever been convicted of a crime at all? the president is making this

charge and the critics are saying it's a racially charged attack. >> if you look at this race, it started out with these charges of racism with the candidate, ron desantis, making a comment about don't monkey this up by electing andrew gill skpum there have been racist robocalls and saying he doesn't think that ron desantis is a racist, but the racists think he's a racist. now you have donald trump injecting himself into the race. that's very important for him. he very much helped ron desantis make his way through the primary and he's the reason he is in this race to begin with. there you have the president inserting himself in the last days as people are already going to the polls and it's so contagious. >> he would be the state's first african-american governor. he said i heard donald trump ran home to fox news to lie about

me. my grandmother told me never wrestle with a pig. you both get dirty, but the pig likes it. what do you think of this a week before the mid-terms. >> it's going to be a close race. it has been close so far in the polls. donald trump trying to rally his voters there. he won that state in 2016 by about a point. if you are andrew gillum, you think the insertion of donald trump in these comments can rally your base. he is looking at the changing demographics. about 17% blacklatino. he is looking for those voters and moderate whites to carry him to the finish line. people are already going to the polls and donald trump will continue to comment on this race because it's such a battle. he has a visit down there. >> pensacola? >> yeah. he has been down there before and watching it.

we will see how it ends up playing out. >> thank you very much. a week from today. >> a week from today. >> we heard about it. >> a new mid-term ploy. the president saying he can defy the constitution and end birth right citizenship. details when we come back. couple who went to the courtroom to stare down the suspect in the pittsburgh synagogue massacre. you will hear what they say as president trump gets ready to depart washington for pittsburgh. ♪ like a big pizza pie, ♪ that's amore. ♪ when the world seems... ♪ applebee's new neighborhood pastas. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood.

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constitution and birth right citizenship through an executive order in an interview. he said he will end the right to citizenship for the children of noncitizens even if the children were born here in the united states. birth right citizenship was enshrined in the u.s. constitution through the 14th amendment 150 years ago. moments ago mike pence said this would have to be decided by the u.s. supreme court. >> we all know what the 14th amendment said and cherish the language of the 14th amendment, but the supreme court of the united states has never ruled whether or not the language subject to the jurisdiction there of applies specifically to people in the country illegally. >> the announcement comes just a week before the mid-term elections and ratchets up president trump's hard time immigration. jeri cordeiro is the counsel to a u.s. attorney general and jeff

is with us as well. let me read the 14th amendment to the constitution. all persons born or naturalized in the united states and subject to the jurisdiction there of are citizens of the united states and of the state where in they resi reside. can the president sign an executive order saying that what has been the rule of the land for so many years, he is going to change it? >> the short answer according to most legal scholars is no. the president cannot unilaterally issue an executive order and overrule what is in the constitution. the 14th amendment having been in place since 1868. we are talking about going back to a supreme court case from 1898 that reaffirmed in a particular case that provision. the president cannot just issue executive order and make the constitution go away. what would have to happen if

this was going to be legally changed would be either an act of congress or the supreme court would have to overrule its jurisprudence from the late 19th century. >> you are getting word and republican leaders are saying the president can't do this. >> paul ryan was doing an interview a short time ago and said the president doesn't have the authority for this. never mind the authority, but the appetite for this. if democrats win control of the house next week, this won't be the conversation. what this is about is the president trying to fire up his base and change the subject to immigration. yesterday it was adding troops on the border. today it's this. the reality is there is no appetite for this and no precedent and plan for this. i was talking to white house advisers and there was no plan to rally the state legislatures to change the constitution would require a vote of two thirds of

the house and senate or legislature. that is not going to happen when you look at the make up of both of those. it's a non-starter. it injects us in the blood stream and makes -- >> it riles up the base weeks before the election. >> there is something other than the politics to this. immigration and issues of citizenship have been an issue that the president talked about consistently. even if an order like this would not be upheld if it were litigated, which it immediately would be if the president signed this, that doesn't mean it couldn't create chaos in the meantime. he could issue an order even if most think it's invalid. that would have to be litigated and like the original travel ban that had illegal limitations on what permanent resident aliens could do and have the same

short-term chaos which is not uncharacteristic of this president. >> the vice president said even if the president were to sign an executive order saying no more children born in the united states whose parents are not here legally, they are not u.s. citizens by birth right, that provision if he signed that executive order it would be immediately challenged in the courts and the vice president said it would wind up in the hands of the nine justices. conservatives, four liberals. >> there is no guarantee how any would vote. the reality is i'm sure that's the last thing that judge kavanaugh wants. they would have to rule against the president. it doesn't matter the outcome. the president is not focussed on the outcome, he's focussed on the here and now. it reminds me of the muslim ban he had. he rallied people behind him. it was one of the first effects

in the first week of office. it still had the effect of rallying the base and causing tons of confusion and chaos. i'm told this is the last thing the people want as well to deal with, something like this. >> it's not something that chief justice roberts would want before the supreme court either. >> i would emphasize that in terms it of the legal community from conservative lawyer who is might fall more on the liberal side and the legal establishment. there is wide consensus that the president can't do this. >> if he signs that executive order or if he is just talking a week before the election to get the base out to vote in the elections. lots of politics going on. we shouldn't be surprised. thank you very much. as funerals are under way for the victims of the sip going massacre, president trump getting ready to leave the white house to head off to pittsburgh in the next hour. a growing list of elected officials, including

republicans, say they won't be joining him. we will have more on the breaking news involving the notorious gangster, whitey bulgy. we are hearing he has been killed in a federal prison in west virginia. new details are coming up. from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. and last year, i earned $36,000 in cash back. which i used to offer health insurance to my employees. what's in your wallet? but allstate helps you. with drivewise. feedback that helps you drive safer. and that can lower your cost now that you know the truth... are you in good hands?

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troops to the border with mexico. that's in addition to the roughly 2,000 troops already there. the move is aimed at sending a message, as a caravan of migrants works its way through mexico, moving toward the u.s. border, though they're at least a thousand miles away right now. the deployment of u.s. military americ personnel means the u.s. will have more on the border with mexico than fighting in iraq and far more than those fighting in syria. meanwhile, mexico has allowed almost 3,000 to seek asylum, provided they stay in the southern part of the country. the ambassador to mexico joins us. thanks so much for coming in. how many people there are, how many are accepting mexico's

proposals to get asylum in mexico and not be forced to go back to honduras? >> the mexican government took a very important step and decided to offer asylum for these people. 2,153 people have requested refugee status in mexico, and they're in permanent contact -- >> they'll all stay in mexico. how many are continuing on supposedly now? >> there's another group of around 3,000 now that are basic -- we're trying to get them exactly through the same process. they're presently -- >> so you assume a lot of them will accept mexico's offer for political asylum, they'll have a new life in mexico? >> the intent of the mexican

government is precisely that. the united states and mexico have an interest in making sure immigration is safe -- >> is this the first time mexico is offering asylum? >> we do have already a refugee program but it's certainly be increased with the new developments. >>a >>and it's the result of the u.s. leaning on mexico or mexico doing the right thing? >> we believe we're doing the right thing. it is in the interest of mexico to make sure immigration is safe and orderly. but we do share with the united states the view that the whole region would benefit if migration took place in this way. >> have you seen any evidence at all that there are middle easterners in these caravans as president trump has alleged? >> well, that information has not been confirmed by mexican authorities. >> have you seen any evidence of any middle easterners?

>> the mexican government does not have that information. we work very closely with the central countries and the united states to make sure we share information on any security threats. >> there was a man in one of the caravans who died following a clash with mexican police forces along the border with guatemala. there's concern that this individual was inappropriately killed by the mexican police authorities. >> that's certainly not the case. mexican police forces at the border were not armed in any way. the fact they're there is to uphold the law. unfortunately in these cases, these groups put women and children in front. and it is the government's objective to assure above all the safety of any human being. but nevertheless, there are specific protocols being followed by our police forces there. >> the notion that the president is deploying 5,000 or 7,000

military forces to the border with mexico, what's your reaction to that? >> as i mentioned, both countries have an interest in making sure that our shared border is secure, it's safe and the migration is legal, safe and orderly. we don't always see eyeball to eyeball in how to achieve that, but that is why it's important that we keep our dialogue and corroboration going. >> but the notion that there are more u.s. troops on the border with a friendly country like mexico, a neighbor of the united states that are in syria or iraq right now that looks rather nasty. >> a few weeks ago here in d.c. the united states and mexican governments co-convened a conference along with the northern triangular countries to address these issues. the conclusions are very clear and they're basically three: number one, we need to work to foster more development in those regions to ensure migration is not a necessity.

number two, we need to enforce the laws in the humane way and, number three, we have a lot of work together to make sure that human traffic and smuggler organizations are addressed by our shared efforts. >> good luck to you and good luck to everyone. not easy issues. thanks for joining us. "newsroom" with brooke baldwin starts right now. hi there, i'm brooke baldwin, along with anderson cooper there in pittsburgh. you're watching cnn's special live coverage as the first funerals for those take place on the deadliest attack on jewish people in america and the lines to pay respect for david and cecil