. >> senator corey gardner weighing in saying we must call evil by its name.se are white you presentists and this was domestic terrorism. even chris christie a staunch trump supporter is speaking out and urging president trump to speak out on this matter. and he's getting hit from another one of his supporters and that is the former leader of the kkk, david duke. david duke said on his twitter feed that president trump meade needed to take -- needed to take a good look in the mirror and remember it was white americans who put you in this presidency, and not white americans. julie: it shows you can't make them all happy. julie: the president is dealing with the greatest international crisis next, and that's north korea. any developments on that front? reporter: he did not tweet or talk about north korea today, but he talked about it as two press availabilities yesterday. he's standing by his statements that the u.s. military is locked and loaded, ready to deal with whatever threat north korea continues to push our way. he was continuing to issue some stern warn

in colorado senator corey gardner wrote, mr. president, we must call evil by its name. these were white supremacists and that was domestic terrorism. joiningbostart. they did not think it was sufficient. on behalf of the white house are you prepared to condemn the racists, nazis and alt-right marchers? >> yeah, absolutely i am, jake. let me start by thanking you here and taking a moment to pass my condolences and the white house's deepest condolences to the family and friends of the woman who was tragically killed yesterday and to the family and friends and fellow servicemen that serve would the two police officers who died responding to this terrible violence yesterday. that needs to be said to put this into context. this wasn't just some fighting. this turned into an unacceptable degree of violence and ended in the most tragic way possible. we have two police officers dead. part of the core backbone and we all weep and pray for them and sometimes these losses aren't noted enough in this political hyperbole and we have a young woman that passed away and others critical

but corey gardner did say this is domestic terrorism and let's call it that. you can argue whether this is is terrorism or not but you cannot argue the point of view of the protesters and the people who went there. we have reports that people were there with broken pool cues in their hand. these people were not there to do a peaceful protest. and it is kind of shocking that the president, you know, can't call a spade a spade, especially when he made the point you cannot solve a problem if you do not admit what that problem is and i -- >> that was -- i got time constraints here. part of the confusion there early on as you saw people with shields and batons and helmets who weren't part of law enforcement. they showed up prepared for what we saw yesterday. kelly jane torrance, we have to wrap it there. tom, stay with us. we have more to talk about in a moment. >>> what the supremists say part of their mission yesterday was to fulfill the promises of president trump. in fact, what former kkk leader david duke said about the president and what is president trump do

senator corey gardner repeatedly distanced himself from those presidential comments.ten here. >> the president should have immediately denounced the racism and the bigotry and the hatred in charlottesville. the president should have done that immediately. what we did today, what he did today again goes back on what he said yesterday. that's unacceptable. the president was wrong to do that. i've said that loud and clear. the president has control over his staff. what i'm saying is this. there's no room for racism, hatred and kkk. >> by my count, shep a full 50% of the questions that senator gardner was asked last night at that lakewood, colorado town hall, were about the president's comments in charlottesville and the president's character and fitness to be our leader, shep. >> shepard: what kind of people generally speaking were at these town halls, jonathan? >> well, when you listen to the totality of the question, you have to conclude that they were either moderate republicans or democrats action voters. certainly if you listen to this following question, you would

. >> i guess the point is, a point being made by republican officials like corey gardner and others when you condemn groups as opposed to specifically white supremacists, nazis, members, it creates this vagueness that as i read to you in that neo-nazi website quote, he's not condemning us. he's condemning anybody that was violent. that's the problem. and you, on the show today, have said that you condemn groups and condemn actions and condemn bigotry but i haven't heard you say i condemn white supremacists and neo-nazis and the alt-right. i haven't heard that and i think a lot of people are upset, a lot of republican officials who didn't hear it from president trump. i don't want to belabor this point -- >> i think you belabored it. i condemn white supremacist and i can't be clearer. >> north korea escalated his war of words with north korea on friday. take a listen. >> he utters one threat in the form of an overt threat. which, by the way, he has been uttering for years and his family has been uttering for years. or if he does anything with respect to guam or any place else that's an am

republicans honor corey gardner. >> this is not a time for bakeries.a time for innuendo and read between the lines. this president has done an incredible job of naming terrorism around the globe as evil, radical islamic terrorist in europe or the middle east. he has said and called it out time and time again in this president needs to do exactly that today. reporter: senator gartner made that remark. they condemn all forms of violence and of course that includes white supremacist, kkk, might have security adviser is defending the president statement by saying that the media is fixated on that one line, and the all sides portion of that remark instead of focusing on the rest of his statement. listen. >> the president not only condemned the violence at a time in the moment when palm was necessary and didn't dignify the names of these groups of people, but rather address the fundamental issue. >> president trump's reelection campaign is already attacking the media in a new ad out today that accuses the president standing in the way the president's progres

take corey gardner, who went to colorado, giving a town hall on environmental policy and of course it into a big obamacare sort of, i guess airing of the grievances and it's not necessarily what he wanted to talk about. you can see how it certainly went in that direction. on the other hand, he will have constituents that he wasn't able to be part of a repeal, even though he voted for it. many constituents wanted republicans to make good on that promise. >> you wonder what line they walk when they deal with the trust numbers and credibility gap. you have 73% of americans don't trust anything coming out of the white house. dig into those numbers, more important for the republicans, only 50% of republicans believe what is coming out of the white house, 48% do not. what do they tell their constituents, disregard what you are hearing from the white house? >> i think it's softer in how they are doing that. you are in swing districts. will herd from san antonio, he's a republican from a swing district. he's been critical of donald trump. he'll talk, as he has been doing, the smart wall. not

. >> you heard from senator corey gardner, a republican, saying he should use this opportunity to say this is terrorism, this is domestic terrorism. this is white nationalism and has to stop, a republican, another republican. congresswoman rose laten said white supremacists are the antithesis of our american values. there's no other sides to hatred and bigotry. so like you, even some from his over party were criticizing him before his newest words and before his fresh statement a few minutes ago, were criticizing his initial response. so you're saying that was fair? >> that was fair. look, it's time to move on, sandra. he did it. the criticism was warranted. now it's time for the president to take the lead on the healing process. i understand why people were frustrated. you know, as a black man in the republican side of the spectrum a conservative, we already have issues with reaching the other side. part of it is because of race relations. it's tough when it comes to race relations for any president. president obama went through the same thing. every president goes through the same t

i thought corey gardner's statement was remarkable. he's someone who has been careful in his criticism of the president unlike a lot of other republicans. and he represents, of course, purple state, swing state in something that could, you know, a state that could easily flip. a seat that he could potentially lose when he runs again for re-election. but the larger question that i think a lot of republicans have, is why the president show no nuance in dealing with north korea and mitch mcconnell and dealing with other people he is concerned with. when it comes to white supremacists or even vladimir putin, he does not go out and condemn them. that's a lot of questions -- >> we could be having a very different conversation this morning about a president who seven months in, a lot of people say he's drifting change the conversation if you just looked straight into the camera and say i didn't represent you, you don't represent me. go home. >> part of being president is finding opportunities. right. if there has been a lot of criticism over

marco rubio, corey gardner who said they need to hear those words coming out from the president's mouth. not from a spokesperson. the move by the ceo of merck only adding to that backlash. look, the president did consult with some advisors before making that initial statement over the weekend, but really those words just spread the blame all around. or the president's ultimately. we are expecting to hear from him again today on virginia. the question is when and where and what will the tone be? i will be surprised if he didn't go even further and echo what we heard from his vice president who, of course, told our own peter alexander that he does condemn these actions by white supremacists, hallie. >> we'll listen to that exclusive interview coming up in a couple seconds. i'll join you in new jersey in about 24 hours from now. >>> former aide and now gop strategist and senior washington correspondent anna palmer and politics reporter for "daily beast" betsy woodruff. let me pick up where kristen left off talking about this merck statement. this is somebody who has been to the white house

we have republican corey gardner from the state of colorado. we'll share with he said. >> this isn't a time for. anything to be read between the lines. this is a time to lay blame on bigotry, on white supremacist, on white nationalism and on hatred. >> off republican coming out of there. this isn't a surprise. president trump has no problem fighting with the gop. but' even mike pence turned and said how the media is representing this. is mike pence taking the wrong turn here? >> mike pence is covering his man. he's the number two. he's not going to stray off that script. he just isn't. that's unfortunate. but that's the reality of the politics. i think other republicans, you know, out there like cory guarder in and lindsey graham are saying what needs to be said. the congressman is right. the words have to come from the president's lips in order for us to take it seriously and to say he has turned the page and now recognizes the full responsibility and weight that he carries for all of us when it comes to dealing with this issue. because there

some did like corey gardner, lindsay graham, john mccain said absolutely this is not how we talk aboutazis we don't lump them in with hatred and bigotry when there was clearly a march organized by them for a very specific reason and if you watch the vice documentary where they boldly went in on a friday night you know what they were there for so the president today, unity, tomorrow we don't know and that's the problem and that was the problem on the campaign and when you say as well that the president only gets called out but he still hasn't apologized for talking about the intelligence community in comparison with the natzis. those words should not freely flow out of anyones mouth. >> liz: former chair of the democrat national committee and representative debbie wasserman- schultz defending her decision to keep her computer tech staff, charge with bank fraud on the payroll on her payroll she says she was worried he was not receiving "due process" and he was targeted because he was from pack pack pakistan, curt debbie wasserman schultz stopped paying this individual back in july, he wa

you have people like corey gardner, marco rubio and orrin hatch and many others who are actually saying, listen, mr. president you need to call this out for what it is and be specific. i have to say this is the -- yet again, donald trump steams toee bringing people together. a diverse people, with diverse viewpoints. >> that's not new. >> and we're all -- we all agree that the president has made a huge mistake here and as people said, this is because of stuff that he did on the campaign trail. david duke is a nobody. when was the last time he held elected office? but the reason he is getting so much press is because donald trump had such trouble distancing himself from david duke during the election and so, of course, people are now going to be giving david duke a platform because it's not clear that the president really disavows him and that's really outrageous and it's amazing to me that it's so hard for donald trump to do this and he campaigned someone who was a straight shooter and telling it like it is and that's exactly why a lot of people voted for him and we saw it in exit polls

. >> bill: meanwhile republican senator corey gardner out of colorado facing blowback over the coursee held yesterday and some tough questions about president trump east new comments in charlottesville. jonathan hunt watching it. it got wild quickly. what happened. >> three town halls in all. the crowd fired up at each of them. nowhere more so than in lakewood, colorado, the last of senator gardner's town halls where he was repeatedly asked about president trump's comments and ongoing comments and changes in position on the violence in charlottesville. listen to the senator here. >> the president should have immediately denounced the bigotry and hatred we saw in charlottesville. what he did today goes back on what he said yesterday. that's unacceptable. the president was wrong to do that. >> the senator then found himself having to defend the republican party against accusations it is reiff with racism. listen again here. >> republicans are not -- they absolutely are not but almost all racists are republicans. really embarrassing to stand next to. >> there are people who are going to

even corey gardner calling him out by name on twitter saying you need to do this. in fairness to the president, liberal media and some of the liberal groups so agas he won't call the neo-nazi groups out are the same groups that were just fine with president not calling islamic terror islamic terror. is there a double standard? >> sure. but one person who wasn't fine with president obama and hillary clinton calling them that was donald trump. he made it clear he would often criticize president obama and hillary clinton calling them politically correct fools. how can you defeat islamic ideology if you don't call it out. but it is being called out on saturday an act of domestic terrorism and we aren't being clear about what this is, what happened, what this threat is and how can we defeat it if we aren't being clear about it. there is hypocrisy in the media as you suggest. they didn't seem to care when president obama didn't. but there is also hypocrisy at the top of the white house when president trump isn't clear with his words. >> we heard from kristin fisher the n

santa cruz criticism of capitol hill, aides scramble to explain trump's response to clashes and gardner, corey republican from colorado, calls stand with take a conviction. getting your thoughts this morning. anne up first in north carolina, republican line, good morning. good morning. host: go ahead, anne. caller: i would just like to say i think the president's comments ere on spot, he condemned all violence on all sides. i would like to say i do not saying te the media everyone that was there was supremacist or neonazi. a lot of people there, were southern rotect our monument. the southern rights and onuments are being torn down, they should not be. and i just would like to say that i do not appreciate the condemning everyone as ist and neonazi, they were not. host: reminder what the had to say after the violence broke out in charlottesville. from saturday.s resident trump: we condemn in the strongest possible terms his egregious display of bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. it's been for a long time in our ountry, not donald trump, not barack obama, it's been going on for a

. >> this is orrin hatch and corey gardner, sir. i'm reading their quote. >> many in the media spent an awful lot of time about what the president said instead of criticizing those who brought the hatred and violence to the streets of charlottesville, virginia. >> reporter: at the end of our conversation, i asked the vice president if this was an act of domestic terrorism. he says it may well have been. he said the administration is exploring that. the president has directed the department of just toys initiate a full investigation into an attack that he said was eerily similar to other terrorist attacks around the world. craig and savannah? >> peter alexander, thank you so much and we are joined by attorney general jeff sessions. sir, good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. >> let's talk about the president's words that we're focusing on at the moment and he said on saturday that this was an e greemgious display of hatred, bigotry and violence and he seemed to add on many sides. on many sides and he was asked and given an o

contribute to people with courage they should contribute to marco rubio, charlie dent, jerry moran, corey gardner there are people that actually did the right thing yesterday, and have been doing the right thing for some time, that boy, i just don't know how republicans remain silent over this. i don't know how they work with this president until he backs off of this, and i don't think he will ever back off of this, because it's what he believes in his heart, and i don't know how republican donors keep writing checks to donald trump, unless they want to be remembered as people who backed a white supremacist. i don't know how ceos continue working on his councils unless their companies want to be associated with a man who champions white supremacists and defends neo-nazis. >> a lot of the ceos have dropped off that council. yesterday the president of the afl-cio dropped off the council, he could no longer stand by a president who supports white supremacy. joe, he had a chance on saturday immediately in real time to respond and help the country through an ugly moment in its history, and he failed t

cory gardner at his town hall meeting speaking truth to power. corey didn't give a damn. he spoke truth to power. we can talk about jeff flake, about lindsey graham, johnson mccain and ben sass. we're talking about seven republican senators right there that are saying enough. >> and i think corker is somebody who has had this presidency or had a shot at the inside administration. that's not true for a lot of these other moderates and persistent critics of the president. he i think has an understanding. he's traveled on the plane with trump. i think that says a lot. one thing that stood out to me is the framing of what was said. he said he the president doesn't understand what has made this country great. that strikes me as a very deep around important -- >> and he's had the time to look at this president firsthand. >> instability. think about that word. competence but stability also. he doesn't have the temperament and make-up for the job. >> that's an analysis, a concern. >> in the context of all that we're facing internationally, our allies are unsure of where we are in