take any of these down, i found that cannot annotne taking down -- i c imagine taking down washington and jefferson. i have an op-ed making a similar for the distinction between washington who could have done more to end slavery, attempted to free some people via his will, could have but auld have done more, very different person from the confederate generals who took to the battlefield to preserve a republic based on slavery. i think those two things are very different. there are also questions about if you are going to start removing confederate statues, which ones do you remove? i don't imagine you would be removing them from cemeteries. if you're going to start removing any statues, we have this question about which ones. we are going to be removing oncse -- ones that were soldiers.o honor one thing that is important to say is a number of southern states have preservation statues, north carolina, alabama, georgia, mississippi, virginia, they have statutes that prohibit taking down my meds without permission from the legislature. unc, my old institution, it looks as if the governor has just acqu

robert e lee, stonewall jackson, who is next, washington, jefferson? so foolish.

if you are going to take some of them down, i cannot imagine you would be taken down the washington and jefferson statues down. a lot professor at northwestern and i have an op-ed making a similar argument for the distinction between washington , who could've done more to end slavery. he did some and attempted to free some people via his will, could have and should have done more, but a very, very different person from the confederate generals who took to the battlefield to preserve a republic based on slavery. i think those two things are very, very different. there are also questions about if you are going to start removing confederate statues, which ones do you remove? i would not imagine you would be removing them from cemeteries. if you're going to start removing any statues, we have this question about which ones. we are going to be removing ones that were designed to honor more than the common soldiers? i think there are some interesting questions and we will see those revisited. that ang i will say is number of southern states have monument preservation statutes -- north carolina, alabama

washington and jefferson were nation builders. general lee and his officers were in fact trader to the american union that washington and jefferson created. i think that's the central distinction. >> to stay with you for a moment, there have been lots of republicans coming out, a mentor of senator rubio saying blaming both sides for charlottesville, no. back to relativism, just no. and one for charlie dent, said potus must stop the moral supremacy. is this ignorance of history on donald trump's part or is it a window into something more insidious? >> i think it's good phrase. i think it is a window into something for insidious. you know what he reminded me of this afternoon, although the accent was different. an old southern governor in the '50s and '60s talking about outside agitators coming down, that they were the real problem. and just because he speaks with a queens accent on fifth avenue doesn't mean he's not representing the same kind of difficult and just the worst part of the american tradition. he talked about -- to try t

washington and jefferson? washington and jefferson, the first and third presidents preserved the union. they didn't try to take the union down and divide it and end it. and that's exactly what the confederacy tried to do to the union over four years. it was the most horrible war we've ever fought in. more americans died in that war than all the others fought together. if you look at the films of ken burns, ken says for the great majority of all the films he's made, race is at the center of it. so for the president not to show moral leadership, he's abdicating the clear responsibility he has to all of us to lead us to a better place and he's leading us to a worse place this week. >> i think ken is right. he's abdicated his moral leadership but we can't wait. i can tell you we are not going to wait. we're working with business executives. we're working now with mayors and have big news coming out on that front. interfaith clergy, other nonprofits, the country can't wait for a president who just doesn't seem to ge

washington, jefferson? so foolish. the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be replaced. two republicans were critical of his response to the white supremacist and neo-nazi comments. jeff flake and lindsey graham wrote, the president called flake toxic and weak and lindsey graham lied about his comments and never said there was a moral equivalency. here is jeff zeleny in new jersey where the president jumped squarely this morning into identity politics. >> reporter: good morning, john. the president jumped squarely into identity politics. this is not by accident. this is by repeat of a play from the trump play book that's worked fairly well for him. i am thinking back to several points during the campaign where he is using a controversy here. there is a big controversy this week and he is trying to, you know, shift the focus a little bit, turn it away from his words to white identity politics. many in this country agree removing the statues from cities a

george washington, thomas jefferson, madison, these are founding fathers, all white men, who built a country. that building was in many ways extremely flawed as far as who could become a citizen. people areale created equal. the constitution is not a perfect document. we can get into a variety of reasons as to why. but these men accomplish something. they built a country and created a democratic experiment. they were fought and the experiments were flawed. when we honor madison, wehington, and jefferson, honor them for their competence and the best way is to also make clear the flaws. make clear in statues and memorials the issues that relate to their lives as sleepovers. robert ely lee, stonewall jackson, etc., they made an accomplishment creating and defending the confederate states of the united states. the confederate states of america existed for a single purpose. protect the right to own slaves. there is no accomplishment to point to and say this should be honored and it is something we of our put at the center community and honor these two before accomplishing the that is the

who is next is washington, jefferson? so foolish. the tweet came just hours after strategist steve bannon revealed how the white house homes to capitalize on the reaction to charlottesville. in an interview with the american prospect, bannon said, quote, the democrats, the longer they talk about identity politics. i got them. i want them to talk about race i every day. if the left is focused on race and identity and we go with economic national i, we can crush the democrats. however there's some evidence that some, repeat some in the president's own party might have a hard time backing that banner approach. corcoran from tennessee made it clear the white house needs to change. >> the president has not yet, has not yet been able to demonstrate stability, nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate to be successful. he has not demonstrated that he understands what has made this nation great and what it is today. and he has to demonstrate the characteristics of a president who understands that. and without the things that i

what about statues of jefferson, washington, how hard is ago? guest: in the baltimore case, they do not just remove three confederate statues, but they removed one dedicated to the supreme court justice responsible for the dred scott decision. i think that was appropriate in this case. it is important to point the confederate move in context. you are actually talking about, at the very least you are talking about a traitorous project. the confederacy was at war with the united states. they were traitors. in the whiter supremacy, they left the nation because of slavery. if you look at all the secession documents, the vast majority referred to slavery explicitly or implicitly. for those reasons, i would make it their distinction between -- clear distinction between removing confederate statues on the one hand and washington or jefferson on the other. host: do you think as far as taking down statues, is this a short-term trend of the moment, or does this have long-term effects? guest: i think this will have long-term effects. i think once people re

yes, these were all slave holders and in that sense, washington and jefferson were deeply flawed individualsington and jefferson, however, participated in the creation of a country, in a democratic experiment. jefferson has other aspects to his life that are worth honoring, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be critical of them for being slave holders. lee and jackson, however, have been honored for one thing, which is the attempt to create and then defend a new nation that existed for one reason, which was to protect the rights of some individuals to own other individuals. it's there in the declarations of secession, very straightforward. >> to be clear, washington and jefferson created a union. robert e. lee and stonewall jackson fought to leave that union, our union. professor, you are at the university of virginia in charlottesville, obviously the site of these demonstrations but also in virginia, of course, which the key state of the confederacy. this is not a new debate about confederate monuments and people always point to the heritage. there is history here. this is something people have

now, as far as the issue of washington and jefferson goes, we were told by many people here today, that we spoke to, that they do not believe that georgia washington or thomas jefferson belonged in the same category as the tightens of the confederacy. but many people we also spoke to today, say they're torn on this issue, knowing that both founding fathers were slave owners and it is an issue they do not say is settled. >> not really, because at the end of the day, they helped build the country. they're still -- they're still the considered the founding fathers. at the end of the day, yes, they own slaves. but without them, this country wouldn't exist >> if that means having to change washington, dc go ahead and change it it's no different than someone seeing white only or black only sign at a water fountain and say it's part of offensive, it needs to be taken down. >> the chairman of the congressional black caucus a democrat out of louisiana says he would like to see confederate imagery and statues removed. however, the congressional black caucus has not yet crafted new legislation as

confederate statues, by that logic you would also then have to go and remove statues like jefferson and washington as being met by on that position by historians. in his opinion, there was a big difference between a founding father an southern rebel. >> thomas jefferson and george washington helped to create a nation. stonewall jackson and robert e lee tried to split. the president trump not knowing history perhaps as he should. got that wrong as he has many other things as it relates to this issue. >> reporter: now, here inside the united states capitol, what you're looking at right there is the united states ratuin, da, statues of washington, jefferson, but there are other statues, statues of confederate figures like jefferson davis. robert e lee, alexander hamilton, throughout the united states capitol and tonight, the congressional black caucus chairman, democrat out of louisiana is renewing his call for the removal of not only confederate statues but confederate imagery throughout the capitol complex. as to the question about georgia washington and thomas jefferson, many people here in dc say

lee and george washington and thomas jefferson because they owned slaves. robert e. lee and stonewall jackson led a rebellion against the united states. they took up arms against the government. they were treasonous. george washington and thomas jefferson built the nation. why is he doing it? you heard from steve bannon that they believe if the debate is polarized about race and racial identity, they will win that debate every day. he said we will talk about economics. we want democrats talking about race. there is a sense in the administration -- clearly, you see on a variety of issues, they are willing to take racially polarizing positions in the hope of energizing a portion of the public at the price of deeply alienating other aspects, particularly the younger generations that are becoming electorate. >> i want to get that. you write about it extensively. the president talking about statues, attacking republicans this morning in the aftermath of it all. attacking senator brown and senator flake. jeff flake by name. why are they safer targets than white supremacists

lee to george washington and thomas jefferson is just willful dummyness. ne is denying they had slaves. washington and jefferson have monuments because they fought the british, founded the country and wrote the declaration of independence. we have statues of robert e. lee because he chose to secede and fight for slavery. that's all you know about general lee. that and the fact that he had the "dukes of hazzard" car named after him. ( laughter ) or was he named after the car? ( laughter ) we may never know because we've erased our heritage. ( laughter ) >> jon: oh, wow, yeah. heritage all the way gone. ( cheers and applause ) ( piano riff ) >> stephen: so removing confederate statutes isn't about denying that slavery happened. it's about not celebrating the people who fought to keep it going. that's why we remember the "titanic," but we don't erect a monument to the iceberg. ( laughter ) ( applause ) >> jon: yeah! yeah! you don't need that! >> stephen: although, thanks to donald trump pulling out of the paris climate accords, soon all icebergs will need a me

washington next week? and is it thomas jefferson the week after? know, you really do have to ask yourself where does it stop? >> president trump comparing the nation's founders with robert e. lee, who led the confederate insurrection against the united states. overnight, baltimore quietly took down four confederate monuments including a statue to chief justice roger taney who wrote the dread scott decision that found that slaves were not citizens and therefore were not protected under the constitution. joining me to talk about all of this is nbc news correspondent senior correspondent tom brokaw and john meacham, also an msnbc contributor in nashville, tennessee. tom, to you in montana, been wanting to hear from you and to hear your thought s about what we're going through here in america. >> well, andrea, my 50 years as a reporter, more than 50 years, race has been a prominent part of all of that. when i was a younger man, i thought we would have resolved those issues by now. this past weekend was another great demonstration, extraordinarily unset

first washington and jefferson are known for a lot of reasons. you only know robert e lee because he fought to keep slavery. basically, like washington and jefferson them dudes had albums, robert e lee was a one hit number, like the mambo number five guy. >> trevor: whoa, whoa, not that bad as mambo number five, come on. >> on the real, look, look, here is the thing, man, we don't even have to take the statues down, see what they did in charlottesville, they had the robert e lee statue, they hid it under a black tarp. that statue looked like when my mama made me my halloween costume out of a trash bag bag. she was like baby, you are spiderman. >> black trash bag. >> trevor: your mam just put a trash bag on you and called you spiderman. >> yeah, i thought it was denim, she was like no, you just black spiderman. >> trevor: i get it, the cover doesn't-- you can't solve racism by throwing a blanket over it. like it reminded me of that thing people do in america t was weird for me to see where people drink a 40 out of a paper bag. like we all know what

if you start here, you have got to take washington's and jefferson's down.here is no way of getting around it. you make it a lie if you don't. thank you. host: professor spence. guest: i disagree. i think it is important to note that erecting those statues represents a denial of history. promoting people like robert e. lee and stonewall jackson and the confederate daughters as if they were actually promoting american values, that is a denial of history. i think that in this case, keeping the bases there would be both a recognition of this moment in history where there was a move afoot to embed confederate ideas into the nation just as black people were getting civil rights. i think keeping the base their re acknowledges that project, but removing the statues actually acknowledges we are no longer in that moment, and in fact the values the confederacy representatied should not be pat and parcel of this nation. host: in "the wall street journal," there was a picture of the monument you tweeted out, a story of the confederate daughters being in the fray. that's

i wonder is it george washington, thomas jefferson.y do have to ask yourself where does it stop. >> the fundamental m misunderstanding of history. talking about us mayors. gentlemen, nice to have you. le you have both been in the midst of this fight over the monuments and what they stand for. we'll begin with you. you made the choice last year at the university of louisville campus to move the statue elsewhere. you asked the commission what to do with the others. the president equated thomas jefferson and george washington the founding fathers, who, of course, had faults and flaws but put them on the same plane as robert e. lee. how do you see the argument? >> well there's a big difference between people that started this country recognizing it was an imperfect union and those who tried to destroy our country and celebrate slavery. it certainly is a false equivalence. the we're using this as another moral moment in our city to lean into racism, to have community conversations, how we need to be a strong diversity. >> major benjamin, th

but george washington and tom pass jefferson defeated the british and founded the country. because they owned slaves does not define who they are. george washington is a bad guy now? we have to rename the capital? then there is the washington redskins. i always thought it was the redskins part that was offensive, not washington. then al sharpton said this about the jefferson memorial. >> when you look at the fact that public monuments are supported by public funds. and i would repeat the public should not be paying to uphold somebody who has had that kind of background. jesse: we finally found something al sharpton doesn't want to pay taxpayer money on. and why would he care where his tax dollars go. doesn't he owe the irs $10 million? and in now speaks up and wants statues removed from statuary hall. i don't remember her wanting the statue removed in the corridor of kkk member robert byrd. with reaction to my word and how we move forward is performing artist joy avila who has a new song "make america great again." and giano caldwell. >> i'm sorry this where we are right now

washington? jefferson? the backlash continues growing over trump's seemingly equating nationalists and neo-nazis with those protesting their racist views. >> you had a group on one side, you had a group on the other, and they came at each other with clubs. >> the president, growing more isolated by his own words. >> i think there is blame on both sides. you have some very bad people in that group, but you also had people who were very fine people. causing comments, business leaders to turn their backs on the businessman president. council, voting to disband, a strong move from powerhouses like pepsi and walmart. trump, seemingly wanted to write the story himself, calling to end the council. in an interview with "the american prospect," chief strategist steve bannon called the all right a fringe element and a collection of clowns, and he said the debate over racism gives trump a clinical edge -- political edge. >> the cover of "time" magazine is an illustration of racial hatred in america. the symbolism here

i'm in washington, d.c., virginia, there's jefferson taifs highway. washington lee high school. >> well, you know, that's a good question. i think that is a judgment that has to be made more at the local level. and, mitch landrieu, mayor of new orleans two months ago, gave a very thoughtful speech on this. so, communities have to make judgments about this. a lot of these monuments are being moved to places of history. but, my concern as a former secretary of homeland security is we see white nationalists now, neonazis using these symbols as rallying points modern day. we saw what happened this charlottesville. we have to avoid repeat occurrences of that. >> i want to to back to president trump's comments and what mr. falwell said. is the media overreacting? did the president speak his mind? did he make it leer in your mind? >> i don't think the media is overreacting. the media everything the president says. what the president doesn't seem to grasp here is that he is -- our history is no doubt delicate. it's complicated. you have to understand history t

who's next, washington, jefferson? so foolish. state governments are eager to get rid of the monuments. hundreds of you are talking about it on our wusa9 facebook page, including donny, who writes, once a person shows you who they are. believe them the first time. congratulations trump for being the first open racist of the united states. jackie writes, i don't like trump, but i have to agree with him here. removing statues will do nothing but insight more racism. our history is just that. history. you can keep the conversation going anytime on our wusa9 facebook page. >>> it remains standing tonight, despite the unanimous decision a ye down. that statue stands in the intersection of washington and princeton street. the mayor is hopeful he'll be able to move it soon. >> reporter: thousands of people drive by the statue in the heart of alexandria every day. the statue depicts a soldier facing southward. the names of alexandrians who died in the civil war are listed. >> threatening freedom. >> reporter: alexandria mayor, alison silv

washington? jefferson? so foolish. being taken out of our city's towns and park will be greatly missed. when president trump says things like is george washington next, not that there is a direct parallel here between the president -- former president and a general, is he playing on people's fear that america's history is at risk or of being rewritten or erased? >> i think what he was playing on was to change the subject of his week handling of the crisis in charlottesville. he wanted to shift the topic away from his seeming quasi sympathy to neo-nazis or equating them to peaceful protesters so he went this monument route. george washington, thomas jefferson are not going to be coming down right now. were confederates anti-american? they essentially committed acts of treason and it is now being used and these monuments that he calls historical were put up in the 1920s when the kkk swelled to 4 million people and dw griffith did the horrific proclan movie birth of a nation and putting jim crow laws in place. some of the

lee, stonewall jackson, who is next, washington, jefferson? so foolish. >> i think there's blame on both sides. >> reporter: the country's only republican african-american senator interviewed by vice news about the president's performance this week. >> what we want to see from our president is clarity and moral authority and that moral authority is compromised when tuesday happens. >> reporter: and another republican senator, who campaigned for the president, now excoriating him. >> the president has not yet -- has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful. and we need for him to be successful. >> reporter: the commander in chief also countered by the leaders of five military branches, who sent a strong signal without mentioning the president by name by publicly condemning extremist elements. >> they were simply emphasizing on the battlefield we're one team. and that's the way we stay. >> reporter: but someone who does seem buoyed by this culture controversy

washington? jefferson?o foolish. >> there's blame on both sides. >> the only african-american senator interviewed about the president's performance this week. >> what we want to see from our president is clarity and moral authority and that moral authority is compromised when tuesday happens. >> and another senator that campaigned for the president now criticizing him. >> the president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the co competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful. and we need for him to be successful. >> the commander and chief countered by the leaders of five military branches that sent a strong signal without mentioning the president by name, by publically condemning the extremist elements. >> we are one team and that's the way we stay. >> steve bannon viewing it as a president the fight will win. as he told the "new york times" the race identity politics of the left, wants to say it's all racist, give me more. tear down more statues and say the re

i wonder, is it george washington next week and thomas jefferson the week after? 's a comparison at all. washington and jefferson were founders, part of the founding fathers. they did not take up arms against the united states of america. here, we do celebrate -- i don't think any other city out there, any other country in the world celebrates another army taking up arms against its actual country. except here. here in the south. and, that's why they're different to me. >> when we have the statues of washington and jefferson, they're portrayed doing things like being the father of our country. writing the declaration of independence. being president. the confederate statues are in full army regalia, fighting against the united states to perpetuate slavery. that's what they're being celebrated for. >> the country is worried about this. what do you think going forward? >> i do believe that we need to take a moment to breathe. chill out a little bit. and we're going to get that time. once we chill out and breathe, we're going to get back to the discussion in a civil m

he talked about two sides to a story and said, we going to take down statues of george washington and thomas jeffersonerson because they statues of george washington and thomas jefferson because they were slave owners. will we deny history? a lot of people in america presumably would think, he's speaking the truth there. right, i grew up in the south, i had a civil war memorial in my hometown of austin, texas. civil war ornaments are an important cultural touchstone for many white southerners but they are also considered by some critics to be condoning treason. robert e lee led an army that fought against the us government army. george washington did not do that, thomas jefferson did not do that so i think you will hear critics say that mr trump is taking sides in this particular debate over removing the statues. he did mention that it was a local decision and should be a local decision. he didn't weigh in on whether the statue should remain or not although i know there was a local decision in charlottesville to remove the robert e lee statue, that is what the people were protesting against. in this c

are we going to start taking down monuments for george washington and thomas jefferson. a lot of people would take exception with the president of the united states putting robert e. lee and george washington and thomas jefferson on the same level. he was doing that time and again. one of these things he noticed as all of this was unfolding was that his chief of staff, general kelly, was watching this. the president comes out and makes those kind of remarks. the president declined to stand behind as chief strategist, steve bannon. he was pressed a couple of times as to whether or not bannon, who has been coming up heavy criticism in recent days for his very far right views. the president essentially said we are going to have to wait and see. he doesn't know yet. he described steve bannon as a good person and not a racist. he wasn't sure. he told reporters as to whether or not he is going to stay on. those are two side shows to really what is the larger story here. that is the president given the chance once again to explain his views really took a stance here that i think

president trump's warning that if americans take down federal monuments, soon he argues thomas jefferson, george washington slave owners will have their memorials toppled pretty if you listen to al sharpton, he has something to say. mr. trump may be right. >> do they take down the jefferson memorial? >> i think that people need to understand when people that were enslaved and robbed of even the right to marry and had forced sex with their slave masters, this is a personal justice. when you look at the fact that public monuments are supported by public funds, you are asking me to subsidize -- >> thomas jefferson? >> the public should not be pained to oppose somebody who has that background. >> juan: this is where i jump off the ship, because to me thomas jefferson, sally hennings, and all of the people that you want to talk about, founding father, thomas jefferson, he has written into the document some things that i find heartwarming, in fact, inspiring to this day. so i don't see that. but now i listen to him, jesse, and he has a black person in america feels personally offended that he has to pay to suppo

robert e lee, stonewall jackson - who's next, washington, jefferson? so foolish!" this comes as more and more confederate statues are being taken down all across the < singing "from california to the new york islands form the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters this land was made for you and me..">( terisa ) a candlelight vigil held last night in charlottesville, virginia. those who attended remembered 31- year-old heather heyer. she is the charlottesville victim killed on saturday while she was counter- protesting a white supremacist rally. more than one thousand people attended the vigil. people there said the candles were a symbolic replacement of the torches used by the white nationalists during last weekend's rallies. (terisa) and a memorial service was held for heather heyer yesterday. her mother spoke out about what happened to her daughter. she says hate will never silence her daughter's message. <>

obviously washington and jefferson were slave owners, but here we're talking about a leader of the confederate forces trying to destroy the union to protect the slave owning society versus george washington, the person who tried to build our e republic and the monuments were built in the 1910s to '30s period. >> what does that tell us? >> these were monuments meant as a backlash to the idea of racial justice and racial integration. that's what they were and that's why they're so controversial. monuments to george washington and thomas jefferson were not built for that purpose. >> we're showing baltimore right now. a robert e. lee monument being taken down there i believe. there are 31 different states. these are big important local questions. what happened in charlottesville didn't seem to be a local issue. those are people coming from outside using that monument removal as a rallying cry for white supremacist groups recruiting basically. >> right. this was not a rally about history. there was a rally about white supremacy and i think the other point that's important is president trump wants t

between washington and jefferson. >> you have to take a look at what that person has done in the governmentand you have to be sensitive to the community is where bigotry and stereotyping still occurs. >> they are afraid that somebody is going to protest and they don't want it in their backyard. >> this is a conversation that has resurfaced. i think the school has certainly taken a serious look at it. i think some of the pain -- we are wearing the stain of the pain. christopher columbus, we need to start those history lessons all over again. >> get rid of the statue? >> i think we need to reevaluate history. >> as far as i'm concerned, he was a great patriot and one of the reasons we are able to have conversations like this today. so keep the statue right where it is. ♪ ♪ >> there is a huge hurricane coming out of the gulf of mexico as we are talking to you now. it is hitting the texas coast. we have our chief meteorologist to give us the details. >> that's right, the storm has intensified over the last 24 hours. you know, we have the usual hurricane threat. wind speeds are measured up to 11

tear down monuments to figures that are almost sacred in american history like george washington or thomas jefferson the idea now seems to be gaining momentum he wasn't protecting my freedom i wasn't someone who my ancestors weren't deemed human beings to him and so to me i don't care if it's george washington statue or thomas jefferson statue or robert e. reese that they all need to calm down and if those two aren't enough for you how about we try let's blow up mt rushmore that was actually the title of an article from vice media before they changed it to something a little less insatiable but the point was pretty much the same now it's certainly true that george washington and thomas jefferson owned slaves mr president look i think the issue was that you and robert e. lee both owned slaves. that was about. that was wrong but if you want talk about owning slaves you should talk about thomas jefferson whoa. abraham lincoln certainly did not own slaves he was always an outspoken opponent of slavery which he ended up abolishing in the context of a civil war now you would think he wouldn't be a target

washington? jefferson? so foolish". jews will not replace us!eneral lee that sparked these hate—drenched scenes in charlottesville at the weekend which left one person dead. no doubt these people will be cheering the president to the rafters for his comments today. but in durham, north carolina, those people who believe these statues are symbols of america's dark past are taking matters into their own hands. cheering there are statues like this all across the southern states of america. yes, they represent history and heritage. but that's only part of the story. they are also about the toxic state of race relations in america today, and the continuing search of african—americans to find equality and respect. an old soldier who now seems to represent an america uncomfortable about its past, divided about its present, uncertain about the future. jon sopel, bbc news, leesburg, virginia. also making news today: a ten—year—old rape victim in india has given birth to a baby girl, weeks after a plea for an abortion was rejected by the country's highest

can't change history but you can learn from it robert illegal storm or jackson who's next washington jefferson so foolish also the that is being taken out of our cities towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparable to replaced. went to ask new yorkers whether monuments to other historic figures including some of the founding fathers should be pulled down as well. here outside of st john's episcopal church in brooklyn there was a monument commemorating confederate general robert e. lee it was affixed to this maple tree and it was here for over one hundred years now in light of the violence in charlottesville related to a statue of robert e. lee it's been removed all across the country activists are demanding that symbols honoring a related to slavery or honoring the people who fought for it be taken down perhaps this is sensible after all slavery is a barbaric practice millions of people died coming to the united states millions more worked to death on plantations however getting rid of the symbols related to slavery might not be as easy as it sounds. this is new york c

lee stonewall jackson who's next washington jefferson. so foolish. i realize. he was plans to dismantle the to have generally this spot these hate drainage sings in charlottesville at the weekend. which left one person dead. no doubt these people will be cheering the president to the rafters for his comments today. but in durham north carolina those people who believe the statues of symbols of america's dark past. a taking matters into their own hands. there is still is like the school across the southern states of america yes they represent. history and heritage but that's only part of the story. they're also about the toxic state of race relations in america today. on the continuing search of african americans. to find a quality. and respect. but old soldier who now seems to represent in america uncomfortable about its past. divided about its present. uncertain about the future. jon sopel bbc news leesburg virginia. and a reminder of our top story at least thirteen people have been killed and over one hundred injured when a van to lubricate plowed into crowds