trust this bird's words. tripadvisor. thank you so much. thank you! so we're a go? yes! we got a yes! what does that mean for purchasing? purchase. let's do this. got it. book the flights! hai! si! si! ya! ya! ya! what does that mean for us? we can get stuff. what's it mean for shipping? ship the goods. you're a go! you got the green light. that means go! oh, yeah. start saying yes to your company's best ideas. we're gonna hit our launch date! (scream) thank you! goodbye! let us help with money and know-how, so you can get business done. american express open. hi, everybody, good to have you with me, i'm thomas roberts in new york. we continue the breaking news from charlottesville, virginia, one person has died and 19 others injured and police have a person in custody.

one of the drivers involved in the fatal crash. this is where a gray challenger slammed into pedestrians, on foot part of a counter-protest march of the white nationalists in charlottesville virginia. police have not released any more information beyond that when it comes to the one driver that they have in custody in questioning over what happened now. what would be this fatality. we do have video of this crash. i want to warn you about the graphic nature of this video that was captured by the counter-protesters on scene. and the violent crash that happened with bodies flying in the air. the two-door car with tinted windows, it plows, without stopping through this crowd of people and into another vehicle that caused a chain reaction. now people were screaming, running, there was chaos on scene. that car reversed and fled, injuring more people on its way out. so we heard from the hospital. we know and can confirm about

the one death and 19 other people were being treated at the hospital in and around charlottesville and other people that have to be triaged on the scene and we are waiting to find out more details about the extent of the police investigation. i think for many people that have either seen this video on social media or have been watching our breaking news today would say that this was an in tensional act. it would be an act of terrorism on the scene there. and that this person is now someone who could potentially face the severity of first-degree murder charges and active terrorism charges in virginia which is a state that does carry the death penalty. for most of the day, this was the most violent of interactions. but it was a day of developments. clashes breaking out between the white nationalists group and the counter-protesters there with police on scene. president trump did condemn this violence just a short time ago from his bedminster property

where he remains on vacation. >> thank you very much -- >> we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, on many sides. this has been going on for a long time in our country. not donald trump, not barack obama. this has been going on for a long, long time. it no place in america, what is vital now is a swift restoration of lawsuit and order and the protection of innocent lives. no citizen should ever fear for their safety and security in our society. no matter our color, creed, religion, or political party, we are all americans first. >> so there we see the statement by the president today. talking about this not really a

direct condemnation, specifically talking about this moment in time in our american history in charlottesville, but with a broader brush. i would say it is coming from all sides. and mia rodriguez has been on scene reporting about what was taking place today in charlottesville and joins us from the site of the crash. and mia, for everybody that has seen this graphic video, maybe you could explain the broader picture, larger than the fish eye of what that violent video shows with bodies flying through the air. how many cars were involved and also this new detail we have from police of a driver that they have in custody. >> reporter: yes, so at least three vehicles were involved. now what police are telling us is that really it was one vehicle. that was really the instigator and other vehicles in the wrong place at the wrong time, if you will. what we're hearing from the city of charlottesville is that charlottesville police have taken the driver of that vehicle into custody.

another update we have is that a total of 35 people were injured today. of course we have the one fatality that occurred in this particular ramming incident. this is something, to put it in context, like you say, that has been building for quite a while. there was a protest here on july 8th involving the kkk at that same park having to do with the possible removal of robert e. lee park. it used to be called robert e. lee park. there was clashes during that rally and this rally came up and police told us on friday they were going to prepare and take lessoned learned from the rally on july 8th and apply them to this one. what we saw were police in a parking lot across from the street in the park. they did not get involved initially when the clashes broke out between the unite the right rally and the counter-protesters, eventually they did clear out the park. everybody sort of disbursed. at that point, the

counter-protesters had made their way down to this area which is when we had this incident occur, with the car plowing into the people. thomas. >> mia, when we have that update now of the 35 people injured, were folks treated, triaged there on the scene? >> reporter: we did see some medics working on people when we first came up, paramedics that were here. we saw people taken away in ambulances. those numbers would also include people that may have been injured at the original rally point. we saw this people who had gashes on legs and face because there were projectiles being thrown from both sides. so that number includes both incidents. both the original rally, that was earlier today, this morning, and then again the incident involving the car here. >> and mia, explain the time line for everybody from when the white nationalists event was going to happen, the arrival of the counter-protesters and then

when it was over, so to speak, when it was supposed to be over and people were disbursing, how people lingered or what it was like for people that were lingering? >> now, the united the right rally was supposed to start at noon. but we were out there starting at 7:00 a.m. this morning and we could tell that you people started arriving around 9:30, 10:00. there was a huge contingency of people from both sides who showed up. some were armed, some were not. all of them were chanting and carrying all kinds of banners. even before we reached the noon mark, the rally was basically shut down by police. because it had gotten so out of hand, even before the rally could have officially started. now you had some of the oregons of t -- the organizers complaining that they shut it down and no one got to speak at the rally because it never in a sense got going. and then everybody disbursed in the intervening couple of hours and then that led us to this

incident here with the counter-protesters and there is a lot of shops around here and cafes and a pedestrian mall about a block over. so it a saturday and people were out and about, including people that had been there counter-protesting the unite the right rally. that again was at the park about four or five blocks away from here. >> and mia, from those that you talked to, those that came in support of unite the right, i've seen confederate flags and nazi symbols. were these people identifying them more as white nationalists or as nazis. >> reporter: as white nationalists. what they are saying is that this is our right to be able to speak freely, to be able to protest the possible removal of the robert e. lee statue from the park and they were trying to make their voice heard, which they say didn't end up happening today because again the rally ended before it really ever started. so really white nationalists

sort of the all encompassing term that you could apply. but again there were all kinds of people out there. same thing with the counter-protesters side. there were people from black lives matter and anti-fascist and a whole collection of people rallying against the unite the right rally. >> mia rodriguez reporting on the scene over the robert e. lee statue, something that the city council voted 3-2 to remove and they voted on early in the year. mia, thank you so much. we'll come back to you shortly. keep us posted. and as we mentioned, the president spoke earlier this afternoon talking about the rampage androt in charlottesville and in addition to condemning the violence, he took the opportunity to talk about some of the accomplishments of the trump administration. >> we have to come together as americans with love for our nation and true -- and really and i say this so strongly, true affection for each other.

a country is doing very well in so many ways. we have record -- just absolute record employment. we have unemployment, the lowest its been in almost 17 years. we have companies pouring into our country. fox conand car companies and so many others are coming back. >> so joining me now is msnbc contributor and washington correspondent charlie savage and the author of power wars, the relentless rise of presidential authority and secrecy. and good to have you with me. and a lot of people figured early on in the day that most likely the president would come out and make remarks on what was taking place on consideration and advisory opinion about north korea as the day percolated along, everybody expected the president would address what happened in charlottesville. no one could have predicted the

tragedy of this act of terrorism there with one person confirmed to have died. but did the president miss an opportunity here to -- to not drill down specifically on what is the front burner issue of the news today, what took place today between these white nationalists groups and those there to oppose them? >> i think that a lot of observers, including people who want to support the republican party and president trump will probably find that his tone in the remarks he made in pivoting to the reflective comments about somewhat irrelevant accomplishments in the economy was not going to be the rhetorical high mark of his presidency. and you are right that looming over all of this, almost forgotten and yet not forgotten, in the midst of the first foreign policy crisis with the

showdown of north korea that has this nuclear overtoned and now a domestic violence brewing up out of charlottesville and he's talking about a factory coming to a state half way across the country. also his remarks in terms of -- as many people have commented, not directly saying white suppose recommend sis, nazi, neo confederate ideology is not bad but all sides should be nice to each other and leaving it at that, doesn't squarely address what is happening, what is boiling out into the open in this country right now. and i would not be surprised if his advisers urge him to come back and say something more and more forceful and more direct. >> well and let's remind everybody, charlie, really fast, especially that reference to the president's remark saying many sides, this was the president earlier from bedminster.

>> we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides. on many sides. this has been going on for a long time in our country. not donald trump, not barack obama. this has been going on for a long, long time. it has no place in america. what is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives. >> so is the president confusing the many sides issue? the reference there is veiled to what? >> you know, it looks like a sort of false equivalency, here is neo-nazis on the march and people saying we don't want that in america and all sides are in the wrong. surely that is not the message that he -- was in his prepared remarks. it sounds like something he was

riffing on as he came up to the podium. and there was a moment when he said there was i need to cherish our history which is an interesting note to raise in the regard of the gigantic neo-nazi rally the subject is which the anger over the removal of a confederate statue from a park. is that the message he was trying to send or that his advisers wanted him to send or was that off the cuff. either way it res on ated in a slightly odd way. >> and it is emancipation park and as americans we should celebrate a history of getting our heads screwed on straight, that we are not going to celebrate slavery and what our ancestors did to build this country on the backs of free labor from people we stole from another country. the fact that the president is a little tone deaf in remarking about the tragic loss of life

and it was reported, the mayor had reported through his twitter feed about a confirmation of a death. but there was no specific mention of that. or even a specific mention of the assailant, the person responsible for this act of terror, will be brought to justice and held to the full account of the law in this. which in virginia, an act of terrorism is considered to be a capital offense if you are proven guilty for it. with that remark you made about the president coming back, with people like sebastian gorka and steve bannon in his rotation, do you really think that is likely. >> i want to say something maybe -- in fairness to the president here, in terms of what you just said, i think we also want our leaders to have the facts in hand before they come out and make pronouncements. he's been criticized in the past for immediately reacting to attacks in europe that looks

like and did indeed turn out to be terrorism but he didn't know that when he was sort of fanning the flames about it and instances where it looks like political violence turned out to be committed by people who were paranoid schizophrenics with no politics at all. it may be that it is wiser to not immediately take a position, especially just because the mayor had said something. we still don't even now know the full circumstances of what happened there. it certainly looks like, as you described it, but i think we should learn more details in the hours to come. >> and i think we will be learning more details in the hours cou hours to come. and we know about the attack of a mosque and the president said nothing about that. has made no mention of any type of attacks that have happened on american soil of -- of islamic faith mosques. >> no, he hasn't. that is absolutely correct. >> charlie great to have you

with me. charm charlie savage, and i appreciate you sticking with us as we deal with a lot of details, the events out of charlessville and coming up this evening, joy reid will have a special, called hate and violence in virginia. it is at 7:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. (microphone feedback) listen up, heart disease. you too, unnecessary er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care- stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done. the u.s. needs to develop more renewable and clean energy resources because there are limits to the amount of fossil fuels that we can burn. since 1925, we have depended on diesel generators,

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afternoon with white nationalists and counter-protesters clashing as police watched. mia rodriguez on the scene reported only one person was arrested initially. prior to the deadly tragedy that happened in the afternoon with a gray vehicle slamming into a pedestrian-filled street of counter-protesters. one person has died. 19 others were taken to the hospital. and the police say that they do have one of the drivers in custody. a person that they believe could be responsible for that. we are working to get more confirmation on who the police might have in custody. but that car not only slammed into the crowded street of people, hitting two other vehicles, causing this chain reaction. but then reversed and fled. and left the scene of the heinous crime. joining me now is conservative commentatorker stin hag len and

peter emerson. great to have you both with me and it is not the best of times for all of us to be talking considering the news of the day. but kirsten, let me ask you, the reaction you have with president trump coming out, do you think that we'll see the president return and should see the president return specifically and mindfully on charlottesville. >> we absolutely need a president who will call this what it is. it is white supremacy, these are neo-nazis, this is a tragic day for america. and what has been on the one hand a good thing for me as someone who does you know lean conservative, to see so many republican senators come out and condemn this, specifically for what it is. but to see the leader of the republican party not be able to name this, when he was so strongly critical of president obama and others on the left who would not call radical islamic extremism what it was and for

him not to mention this is an assault on this country and sad. i think it was a mistake not to include that today. i know a lot of republicans feel that way as well and i think and i hope and pray, sincerely, that he will do some soul searching and will come out and be more firm in his language on this issue. >> peter, is it more of a concentrated effort of the president who wants to give this appearance of being maybe somewhat diplomatic to all sides, or is this something that represents the president's own acknowledgment of what david duke had tweeted earlier, the fact that it is really the white americans, people who believe like a david duke would, that trump is the person that represents them the best. >> i was going to bring up that quote of david duke, to underscore what kirsten said is absolutely right on target. this is an assault on americans. both dead and alive. i was thinking, as i watched the

hours pass this day, that trump loves to go into a crowded theater and yell fire. he likes to go outside and hold a press conference and denounce the stampede that came out of the theater as a result of this words. and these words we've been seeing since his campaign rallies. we can all -- >> we can all recall how he would drum up a crowd. so when he talks about many sides, neo-naziism, white supremacy, bigotry, racism, they only have one side. unacceptable, unamerican. >> also i'm learning we have a new tweet from the president. mike, do you want to put it up for us. we must remember it truth, no matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we are all americans first. so that is the latest tweet from the president. but our ali, who covered the trump campaign sent out this

ma e-mail talking about how many times we've had to cover these white supremacist news cycles. this is when the president was just as a candidate, first the initial noncondemnation of david duke. the president then had to disavow duke's endorsement later. the instances of re-tweeting white supremacist and anti-semitic symbols and no mention in the years he spent stoking the birther movement in all of this. kirsten, is this just -- are we expecting way too much from this president when it comes to a crisis of what we've witnessed today in this country? we are not going to get that type of leadership from someone with this established track record. >> perhaps we're not. and perhaps we have to come to grips with that being the new reality. what is unfortunate is the fact that leadership can have such an incredible effect on the temperament of the people and what they believe this country

is all about. leadership can change those things and it can inspire people in a good way. and as you've mentioned, that has not been the case with this president. and it is incredibly sad. what was interesting, when he pivoted to the remarks about the economy being so good and the unemployment rate being down, so many of the pollsters and people who looked at those who switched from the democrat to republican party to vote for donald trump, those in areas like west virginia and the appalachian mountains and near charlottesville where the morose of the economy was a reason why so many people switched and voted for trump, but if the economy is doing so well, then shouldn't these -- shouldn't the anger be gone and shouldn't it have dissipated. so there is a real paradox to explore. and we are f we are not going to get the leadership, we as americans need to -- we need to get on our knees an examine why these divisions are so deep and still present and acknowledge that and not try to wipe it

away. racism still exists and there is a a burgeoning movement in this country. we need to acnomg that and we need to face it if the president won't. >> and peter, to kirsten's point, a bump in somebody's paycheck, obviously is not going to do away with racism and in some wass it might even em bolder people to invest in racism and be more public about biased that they thought would not be acceptable to speak out loud because of the leadership that we have seen by people not only in the white house, but those that are surrounding this president. >> precisely. fear is the underlying current that both kirsten and you just spoke about. and so when we get national unemployment numbers that look really good, you look in rural areas and urban areas and have you double-digit. so 52% of americans don't believe the american dream is alive for them and will not be better for their children than

it was for them. that is the fabric of america. this underbelly, this dark side of america is always been there. probably always will be there. but what this president has done is give these people voice and credibility to come out and act out on their violence. which is just horrific. >> peter emerson, thank you very much. and kirsten hagland, thank you for joining me and we look forward to having you back under better circumstances. we're going to continue our breaking news coverage about what happened in charlottesville, virginia, today, that state under a state of emergency because of the violence surrounding this alt right rally where now one person has died after a car plowed into a group that was there counter-protesting what they considered this message of hate and extremism from white nationalists. coming up, i'm going to speak with the former mayor of charlottesville next. what's with him?

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so we tcontinue to follow te breaking news out of charlottesville, virginia, where the tragedy with a person driving their vehicle into a crowd of counter-protesters on

foot that were there to raise voice against a white nationalist unite the right group that wanted to protest the removal of the robert e. lee statue from emancipation park turned deadly and tragic and graphic, after this car plowed into a group of people we do see bodies flying through the air and one person was killed and 19 others taken to the hospital. we are waiting on updates about their conditions and police saying that they have a driver, a person of interest in custody right now. joining me is david tesk an yo, the former mayor of charlottesville, virginia. sir, your reaction to what has happened in your idealic town today. >> well, it was a real tragedy, this act of apparent terrorism on the part of the white supremacist in killing and injuring all of these people. but beyond that, today really was an assault on american values. what happened in charlottesville today doesn't represent the

charlottesville that i know and love. it doesn't represent the virginia that i know and love. and that kind of hate and bigotry brought to our town really has to be condemned in a strongest possible way by leaders at all levels, including the president of the united states. >> a friend of mine, lisa jacob, who lives in charlottesville, she said she was there today and wrote to me to tell me about what she saw, saying she was a part of counter-protest group. she walked by some alt right guys in camo that were carrying automatic weapons and they smelled like liquor. they then went to a rally where they were walking arm and arm with people past massive guns and the whole place was simmering and she said that charlottesville voted 80% for hillary and a liberal college town and this makes a targ for a town that feel fearful of acceptance and quality and she is fearful that her town will be

identified as a place where white supremacy ruled the day and a person died because of it. is that how you think today will be remembered? >> i hope not. because charlottesville is anything but that. and if you were to get around the town today and last night, you would recognize the acts of kindness that people provided to each other and the support that people in this community have for notions of tolerance, diversity and nonviolence. and to have this white supremacist group come to our town and try to disturb it is very disturbing to us. and we have not to tolerate it and we have to have people say this will not be tolerated anywhere. >> and the images today and while you are talking about that standing up for american values of tolerance, this is the groups engaging in these physical acts of violence back and forth, our mia rodriguez was on the scene and said only one person has

been detained by police. this is prior to the deadly accident. the terror that you referred to. do you think that this is truly the best representation for how to counter what would be seen as a platform of hate speech from this alt right group to how we saw people rally in defiance of that today in charlottesville. >> i think a number of think things have to happen. leaders at all levels from state reps to local officials to the president of the united states have to stand up and say we respect people's rights to protest, but we're not going to tolerate violence like we saw today on the part of the white supremacist. in addition to that, i think folks have to be better trained in how you counter this kind of activity with nonviolent strategies and tactics that will put them on the defensive. but we have to say we're not going to tolerate white

supremacist in this country and not enough of the leaders, including people at the top, at the very top, have spoken out loudly and clearly to say, we're not going to tolerate this. >> and sir, as we boil it down, there was a person murdered today. just a few hours ago in this town because of what they say is the root of what they wanted to be there for, is their -- the white nationalist, the alt right group, the disdain for the council vote to remove the robert e. lee statue. what is the significance of the statue in emancipation park that this group felt they could target that as a birthing ground for their platform? >> well, i think it has some significance to them, but we have our issues in charlottesville. we can resolve our issues in charlottesville ourselves and we don't need white supremacists coming to our town to tell us how to deal with our problems. >> but how controversial was

this park where this statue in times past under your tenure? >> it hasn't been controversial until recently. and there are people on lots of different -- have lots of different positions on the statue in charlottesville. but we feneed to resolve that situation in charlottesville and we can't have people poking their head in here and stirring up problems for our community and state and our country. >> the former mayor of charlottesville. and thank you for joining us and i'm sorry for what your community is going through. this is not what charlottesville, virginia, wants to be known for. >> we need to pray -- pray for the victims of this tragedy. >> absolutely, sir. and we'll keep everybody posted as we get new information about the other people injured in this act of terrorism and violence, with that vehicle plowing into a march of counter protesters. we'll keep you posted on that

and new information we get from the police about this person, a driver that they do have in custody. but we did hear from the president earlier today. he has tweeted about what we witnessed in charlottesville. but he gave a brief statement about the violence and condemning the violence and bigotry of it all. also we just got this response minutes ago via twitter, senator marco rubio saying it is important for the president to describe what happened in charlottesville. that is not what we heard. back in a moment. [boy] karma, danny... ...karma! [vo] progress is seizing the moment. your summer moment awaits you, now that the summer of audi sales event is here.

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don't stop now, it's easy to add to the routine. join energy upgrade california and do your thing. welcome back, everybody, we continue to follow the breaking news out of charlottesville, virginia. we can confirm one death. 35 others injured in what happened this afternoon. these are images of earlier today with white nationalists

and counter-protesters engaging in the physical altercations in the street there with police on guard, on watch, one person, according to mia rodriguez was taken into custody prior to the deadly act of violence, this act that people are considering an act of terrorism because of the intent of what happened here with a car speeding down a lane of counter-protesters directly in to the people and bodies flying in the air. one person was killed in that. 19 others, again, the original report of 19 others injured, that has now gone up to 35 and police say they do have one driver in custody. when the gray vehicle slammed through the crowd, it went into the back of another vehicle. pushing that car forward as well. three cars were involved. but it was gray vehicle, the one that caused chaos that then reversed and injuring more people and speeding away. we're waiting to find out new

details from the police in charlottesville about this person that they have taken into custody. but these images that we've been witnessing all day, you can see that people have been at a boiling point over this. and willing to engage with whatever they had on them. some care yig batons and other care yig bottles and throwing them at clergy members who were on the scene. we know that virginia is an open carry state so there were militia men on-site there to help protect those who were there to end attend the -- to attend the unite the right rally but we had the president tweet today and also react, appearing in front of the cameras at his bedminster property on vacation in new jersey. kelly o'donnell is near where the president is vacationing in bridgewater and joining me now with more. and kelly, do we expect to hear from the president again as new information comes to light, any idea whether or not the president will return to address this situation from charlottesville? >> reporter: we don't expect

that today. we've been given guidance not to expect that. at the same time, i think that it is possible that the president could use his twitter feed, should he want to update on things that he is learning. this was a challenge for the president in the terms of he had wanted to talk about something positive. he had a plan bill signing and that is what he waned to do today. this kind of a tragedy, with the deep underpinnings of racial hatred, racial violence, politics spilling over, all of the things that have played out on television today, having to address that. there were times in front of the cameras where he appeared ill at ease doing so and sort of reverted to talking about the economy briefly. seemed to have prepared remarks that he looked down and seemed to read from. he completed his signing of the veterans related bill and came back to it in a more sorrowful tone, talking about his love for the people of this country and all people. but the president did not do

what some would have expected, to specifically call out white nationalists for their role in creating this violence today and instead he referenced violence on all sides. here is a portion of how the president addressed this issue. >> we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. on many sides. >> reporter: to explain that, white house officials have indicated that from their assessment of the events playing out today, that there were different groups, different points of view which engaged in some of the violent clashes that we saw play out. that is their explanation for on many sides t, there are republicans who are taking a different approach. we've seen on twitter particularly and in statements coming out from capitol hill, i'll give you one -- as an

example, marco rubio of florida who tweeted very important for the nation to hear potus describe events in charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by white supremacists. and this is marco rub yio's tak and to call it out as the responsibility of white supremacist which the president did not do. he has been slow or reluctant to call out white nationalists or white supremacist. he has denounced some figures but not in a swift pace many would expect, even though in his own party. that is part of the political calculation they made today. they did not call it an act of terror. the president has done so using his twitter feed for international events, in this instance we are told that the assessment of responsibility through law enforcement, which is a slower process than our

observations of this day is something that they may be holding back to try to understand more of what was going on with the vehicle and some of the other things. it is complicated when there is violence of this nature and arrest and now we know death to specify who was responsible for which acts. more broadly, people are looking at this and seeing a divisiveness that is more easy to define by those who volunteer to go to this demonstration and protest that turns so violent. but in terms of the white house putting a stamp on it, they are not yet calling it terrorism. and not specifically assigning blame to white supremacists. >> kelly o'donnell reporting. and just to go over her points about the president's tweeted, it was about four hours ago when the president tweeted about this saying we all must be united and condemn all that hate stands for tlx is no place for this kind of

violence in america. let's come together at one. most recently, about 28 minutes ago, the president tweeted we must remember this truth, no matter what our color, creed, religion or political party, we are all americans first. i can pass this along, we've just gotten this update, that at 6:00 p.m. this evening the governor of virginia, terry mcauliffe is holding an event, a press conference coming up also with representatives in other officials from the local agencies there in virginia that have had to deal with not only the violence, that was taking place today, early in the day and early afternoon. but now the deadly accident that has taken place this vehicular incident as it is being called, in their press statement, we do have some of our reporters who are on the scene that have had an opportunity to speak with other eyewitnesses of the account and they have said that they watched this car kind of lay in wait before taking off and speeding down fourth street.

toward the intersection of water street. plowing into the crowd. and as these eyewitnesses are saying, they feel that this was a deliberate attack on civilians to use a car as a weapon and if that wasn't clear enough, after it smashed through the crowd and then reversed, back into people again, this is the scene after that car went slamming into people in charlottesville. we're back with more after this. ♪ ♪ hey, is this our turn? honey...our turn? yeah, we go left right here. (woman vo) great adventures are still out there. we'll find them in our subaru outback. (avo) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. get 0% apr financing for 63 months on all new 2017 subaru outback models. now through august 31.

theso when i need to book tant to mea hotel room,tion. i want someone that makes it easy. booking.com gets it. and with their price match, i know i'm getting the best price every time. visit booking.com. booking.yeah! how to win at business. step one. point decisively with your glasses. abracadabra! the stage is yours. step two. choose laquinta. where you'll feel like the king of the road. check out our summer rates now at lq.com. all right. so welcome back, everybody. we are getting information that the governor of virginia terry mcauliffe is going to be holding a press conference coming up along with charlottesville officers here in the 6:00 p.m. hour.

they said it's going to begin at 6:00 p.m. this will be in reference and also reaction with an update to the deadly encounter that happened today in charlottesville. we can confirm that one person has died because of incidents after an attack, a car being used as a weapon in what would be described as an act of terrorism. screaming down a side street in a flood of counter protestors who were on foot. bodies then went flying into the air with that vehicle smashing into the back of another car causing a chain reaction and then peeling in reverse, injuring more people and taking off. we do understand that police do have one driver in custody, but this is what capped off a day of clashes between these white nationalists and the counter protestors that appeared in charlottesville, virginia. police did say, and they had talked about this in advance, that they had an incident plan in place to be ready for whatever was going to happen out of this. i don't think anybody could have

planned for a more tragic and heartbreaking symbol of what it means for a group of white nationalists to show up saying that they want to express their right to free speech and then those from the counter protest group that showed up. and now there is at least one person dead. 35 other people have been taken to the hospital. the original reports were 19. joining me right now, msnbc's jim cavanaugh. and jim, i know you've been a part of this, watching this coverage all day. we're going to hear from charlottesville officials and their local agencies, but are they going to have to admit to a major failing today? because there was only one person taken into kuls today prior to that assault, that deadly assault with that car. shouldn't they have done more to take people, violent offenderers into custody? >> well, they have to dmit an act of violence firs and some of the violence we saw earlier when

there was 8 people injured and one arrest in an early protest was this spitting across the aisle, this pushing, the signs going back and forth. certainly the protestors on each side with helmets. but it wasn't anything -- no, you know, major injuries or deaths right there. and the police didn't intervene at that point. what they did was, though, effectively disperse the crowd and get them to leave, which is a general police tactic that's used to quell the violence. but then of course you have this killer who drivers into the crowd. so that's pretty hard to prevent, as we know from terrorist incidents from around the world. >> there's an eyewitness account that we have that we'll have later coming up talking about having witnessed this car kind of lying in wait and said their opinion was it wasn't fleeing or anything. it was going about 40 or 50 miles an hour, and it appears on the face of it to be a terrorist

attack, a deliberate attack on civilians using a car as a weapon. and if that wasn't clear enough it smashed into the crowd and reversed to back into people again. jim, how much weight is that going to hold with investigators as they figure out intent? >> well, it's going to be a lot, thomas. the totality of the circumstances around the event with the vehicle can be put together by the investigators. the eyewitnesses, observing that activity in the car, refg the motor, speeding up, can clearly see it was pedestrians down that narrow street when you look at some of the video. the end of the street is full of protestors with the flags, signs that say black lives matter, solidarity. and clearly you could see their political bent. so the white nationalists are emboldened by this. this makes them even boulder. so that's the danger here. >> all right, jim. thank you very much. i want to get on the record with this as we're just getting reports in that a virginia state

police helicopter has crashed in charlottesville. again, we don't know if this was any type of aircraft that was being used in the manhunt for the driver of this vehicle or for other people they suspect to be involved, but we're going to be back with more and the press conference from terry mcauliffe after this. this time it's his turn. you have 4.3 minutes to yourself. this calls for a taste of cheesecake. new philadelphia cheesecake cups. rich, creamy cheesecake with real strawberries. find them with the refrigerated desserts.

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hi, everybody. i'm thomas roberts and i'm reporting from msnbc headquarters in new york. we continue our coverage of the deadly day in charlottesville, virginia where we company coming up this hour any moment the governor of virginia to be holding a press conference about the incidents that took place today, not only the violent crashes and then those counter protestors but more so about the deadly incident, the act of terrorism that happened when a vehicle charged