as we mentioned, statues of confederate generals robert e. lee and stonewall jackson came down today. the city council held an emergency vote this afternoon to remove a third statue and that one shows the explorers lewis and clark. the statue of robert e. lee became a flash point early in president trump's term. neo-nazis and white supremacists marched to try to prevent its removal. activist heather heyer was killed when a protester rammed a car into a crowd. what does removing these statues say about how far we have come as a country since the civil war, or even in the last four years. let's continue with jonathan horn, a former speechwriter for george w. bush, and the author of "the man who would not be washington, robert e. lee's civil war and his decision that changed american history." mr. horn, good to see you again. welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> let's hear part of what the mayor of charlottesville said today about the removal of these statues. watch. >> taking down the statue is one small step. closer -- being willing to destroy bla

that right there is the robert e. leently we expect those crews, here from another angle there you see crews are getting ready to attach some sort of equipment to this statue that has been standing there in the center of charlottesville for nearly a century. it is 26 feet tall, but it might be coming down today after a whole lot of controversy, after protests and a lot of court decisions. there's an america we build and one we explore. one that's been paved and one that's forever wild. but freedom means you don't have to choose just one adventure. you get both. introducing the wildly civilized all-new 3-row jeep grand cherokee l introducing the wildly civilized hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this... your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee... yeah i shoul

. >>> back here at home, the statues of confederate generals robert e. lee and stonewall jackson removed in charlottesville. the statues at the center of that deadly rally led by white supremacists. >>> news tonight about the urgent search for a missing mother from new jersey. she and her 2-year-old son allegedly taken by the child's father. the boy found roughly 800 miles away, but no sign of his mother. >>> terrifying moments on a carnival ride in michigan. the ride apparently close to toppling over with people on board when bystanders rush in to hold it down. >>> and countdown to the history-making space flight. billionaire richard branson on the eve of his groundbreaking moment, and the message from rival jeff bezos. >>> good evening. it's great to have you with us on this saturday. i'm whit johnson. we begin tonight with the oppressive heat wave in the west intensifying the already critical drought. record-breaking temperatures well into the triple digits. this on the heels of already deadly heat that killed 200 people in the pacific northwest in recent

robert e. lee. on saturday morning, the long battle came to fruition its peaceful crowd walked a controversial figure of this nation's troubled racial. past remove the statue, and another of general thomas stonewall. jackson will be kept in a secure location, both se activists symbols of a shameful past were finally ready to be a community that doesn't telegraph to our public arts that we are pretty fine with white from 4 years ago. plans to remove lisa, you became a flashpoint white nationalist. descended on charlottesville in scenes that shocked the world. august 2017, 32 year old has a hey, it was killed with a neo nazi round his car into a crowd of anti racism. protesters who kill it was late a sentence to life in prison, where the people are one step closer to the tranquillity promised by the writers of the constitution to form a more perfect union. we are so far from the perfect union, yet one step closer today. as these 2 statues come down in the years that followed memorials to the pro slave

on wednesday, the statue of us confederate general robert e. lee has been relieved from the city of charlottesville, virginia, many black lives matter support has gathered to witness the removal of the monument . it was a defense of a violent white supremacist raleigh. 4 years ago, police him back, natasha arrested, the owner of a factory where at least 52 people have died in a fire. he and 7 others have been charged with murder. the blaze broke out in the building on the outskirts of the capital thursday. it's emerge the children has young as 11, had been working with 10 very child re reports for group guns, families wait to find out what has happened to their loved ones. some my big sister was working in the factory the day. the fire broke out. she is desperate to find their sister's body, so she can bury her. but hospital authorities told her they will need a dna test and that could take weeks, as most of the bodies recovered our chart be directed. nation, john, i left my sister was going to run downstairs from the 4th floor when the fire starte

removed from its pedestal, in the city of charlottesville, virginia, on look as cheered as the robert e. lee monument was lifted from the prince cruise, also removed a statue of fellow confederate, general thomas stonewall. jackson, protective fencing and designated, no parking zones had been installed by securities. but the event passed off peacefully in 2017 white supremacist protests over plans to remove it, led to clashes in which a woman was run down by a car and killed. today the fact you come down and we are one small step closer to a more perfect. yes. the object was only important because of the race of the man who sat upon the horse. his greatest honor was his whiteness and a treason that he committed in the attempt to preserve the great american tradition of being able to enslaved rape, pillage and murder, our black people for economic gain. what was growing in the mind, the man who commissioned this statue? my guess would be the desire to continue to perpetuate the erroneous theory. that whiteness is supreme and he got her joins us live, washington, d. c. and the how significant

on the way to school i had to go down robert e lee boulevard andjustin davis highway . the street my parents live on today is named after somebody who owned hundred 50 enslaved people so i didn't know those things at all growing up. i had no conception of who these folks were and to the extent that i did , i was just told they were important men in louisiana history and what's interesting is robert e lee isn't even an important man in louisiana history. he's from new jersey. there are multiple levels to this sort of absurdity. >> are why are we told these things? why are we told these men are important and why should we reverethese monuments ? what do you say to your kids about this ? >> the reason, so many reasons there are statues to slaveholders was with the specific intention of extorting their legacy and mold their legacy in a way that was much more favorable than the reality of the projects that they were tied to. so the confederacy is by fact , my historical fact rounded in a primary source ofrevenue . territory that seceded, treasonous territory that seceded fro

the statue of robert e. lee was hoisted offer the post and trucked away.e removal of a second statue of stonewall jackson happening in the next 30s minutes or so. both key rallying points for the unite the right nationalist rally in 2017 leaving one woman dead and 19 others injured. joining me now is deon hampton on the scene in charlottesville. what is that scene like, deon? >> reporter: yeah i would say tattoo pieces of confederate are being whisked away this morning. about an hour ago robert e. lee, his confederate monument here was taken down and moved away. you can look behind me, you can see that stonewall jackson, these guys both are former confederate generals, both of these are being taken away and city officials plan to store them. still trying to figure out what's done with them from there, possibly sell them or possibly they can go to like a museum, some type of historical institution. maybe placed at some type of war grounds. but you can see the scene behind me is database maybe you can't. it swelled a lot in the last couple hours. a few hours

and so, the idea that we would have statues of robert e. lee and jefferson davis and schools named after lusher represents a late 19th century, early 20th-century attempt to essentially gaslight this country into thinking that who these men were is not who they actually were. and we see that in somebody like alexander stephens, who in 1861 writes the famous -- infamous cornerstone speech where he says the confederacy is founded on the principle of african inferiority and the attempt to engage in chattel slavery perpetuity. in 1865, comes back and people are like, what do you have to say for yourself? you lost the war. you are the vice president of this country that attempted to secede from the union and you set all these horrific things about slavery. he was like, i never said that. they are like, what are you talking about? we were there, we saw you. he was like, no, you must be mistaken, i never said anything like that. it is eerily parallel to some of the things that we see now, where people are trying to tell us that we did not see things t

the idea would have statues of robert e. lee and jefferson davis and beauregard ends schools represent a late 19th century early 20th century attempt to essentially gaslight this country into thinking that who these men were is not who they actually were. we see that and someone like alexander stephens who in 1861 rights the famous cornerstone speech or the infamous cornerstone speech where he says the confederacy is founded on the principle of african inferiority at the attempt to engage in chattel slavery and purpa duty. and 65 comes back to people like, what do you have to say for yourself? you lost the war. you were the vice president of this country that attempted to secede from the union, and you said all these things that slavery for he was like i never said that. they were like, what are you talking about? we were there. we saw you. it was in the paper. he was like no, you must have been mistaken. i never said anything like that. it's paled to some of the things we see now what people try to tell us we are not seeing thi

is responding >>> taken down, the monument to robert e. lee at the center of the charlottesville violence in 2017 removed and carted away >>> final countdown. we're just hours from the first launch in the billionaire's race into space the final preparations before takeoff as richard branson gets ready to leave the planet >>> shoplifting warning. brazen thieves targeting merchandise. why some of the action may be coordinated, and why more everyday items will now be locked up at your local stores >>> and to the rescue. the amusement park ride that almost toppled over, and the bystanders who rushed in to help >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt with jose diaz-balart >> good evening. i'm kate snow in for jose tonight we begin with yet another climate headline that isn't just a one-day news story, but part of a disconcerting pattern of climate change across the globe for the second time in two weeks, parts of the west are seeing a record-setting heatwave, and it's expected to last through the weekend. you remember 200 people d

she has been fighting for statues like the robert e. lee statue in charlottesville, virginia, to come down since she was a child. she is now seeing the fruits of her labor. she will be joining us in the 4:00 p.m. hour so don't miss that conversation. incredibly important one, a woman dedicated to this her entire life. a long-awaited sign of a return to normal on capitol hill this weekend more than six months after the january 6th insurrection coming down. the following video was released recently at the request of news organizations. like so much of the type of video coming out of january 6th, it is disturbing to watch. [ bleep ] >> you're going to die tonight. >> you're going to die tonight, if you didn't hear that. that's what was just said on that video. you heard it in that tape from one of the rioters aimed at the police officers protecting that building. this video you are watching now is another portion of the newly released evidence. it shows a police officer being dragged into the maga mob. images like this are expected to become p

so it was watching the statues of robert e. lee pgt bogle guard jefferson davis come down in my hometown in new orleans and just thinking about what did it mean? that i grew up in a majority black city in which there were more homages to enslavers than they were to enslave people and just started thinking about how the city reckoned with were failed to reckon with its own relationship to the history of slavery a history that is is ingrained and embedded in the physical infrastructure. of of that city in a profound way and then kind of opened it up and started thinking about other places across the country and across the ocean and how they were telling that story and that's so much of this you know it so i've been writing it for four years but so much of this is animated by trying to write into the gaps and to fill the gaps that i felt like i had. experienced and that i was carrying from from a young age and trying to answer a lot of questions and feel a lot of voids in my own education that that i hadn't had the answers to and in t

in the city of charlottesville, virginia on lucas cheered as the robert e. lee monument was lifted from the plain cruise, also removed a statue of fellow confederate general thomas stonewall jackson in 2017 white supremacist protest over plans to remove the statues that clashes in which a woman was run down by a car and.

can see here the cranes are in place, the hoists put together, minutes away from this statute of robert e. leerk for around 100 years to finally come down and be moved somewhere else, away from celebrating robert e. lee here in charlottesville, virginia. this is a big deal for in town. it's something that's been almost as you say four years in the making, started back in 2016 when a local high school student started a petition trying to get this statue and the statue of stone wall jackson removed. that was bogged down in legal battles, and became a national cause ending with the unite the right rally that left one dead in a fight over whether or not this history should be maintained in this way. well now, today, that fight is over. and the statues are coming down. the mayor spoke earlier today here in charlottesville saying this is a moment that she calls a victory but said also it's a start of more work to be to be done about teaching history in a way moreflective of hour things are in the south and here in the united states rather than telling it in this way of celebrating robert e. lee. we

behind me is what's left of the robert e. lee statue that stood in this square for nearly a hundred years until 7:00 this morning. the city council in charlottesville voted to remove that statue back in 2017. they were taken to court, they were stopped. and then of course that horrible battle with the alt-right in august of 2017 where a woman was killed in a battle over these statues. well, the virginia supreme court finally ruled in april of this year that the city could take the statues down. they never stopped trying to take them down. now they can take them down. this morning, they did. robert e. lee came down, stonewall jackson, came down in a matter of hours. what you heard around you in the crowds was jubilation, a lot of cheering, people really happy to see this finally happen. it's not the only statues coming down here today. ch charlottesville is using this opportunity to take down a lot of statues. there was a statue that native americans didn't like, the city council voted to remove that statue as well, that statue is

any moment now, confederate statues including robert e. leel be removed. >>> neo-nazis marched through charlottesville with burning tiki torches with a plan to remove the symbols of con federalcy. >> deon, we know there's been fencing around that area, almost like a construction site. what do we know about the timeline here? >>. >> reporter: we don't have a timeline yet. we figure it's going to be sometime this morning. behind me you can see the robert e. lee monument that's coming down. one of two. the other is stonewall jackson. both of these guys were former generals with the confederacy. all i can say for now is the longer we wait or the longer it takes officials to take these monuments down, it wouldn't surprise me if we start to see crowds start to gather. right now it's early in the morning. this was a controversial decision. we're going to have to wait to see what time the officials will come to remove the monuments. i know they're going to mr. mr. b placed in storage and the officials will have to determine what they twoont do with th

a confederate statue of robert e. lee yeah, the statue served as a flash point for that 2017 unite the right rally that left one protester dead. let's go live to cnn's evan mcmorris-santoro in charlottesville. describe the moments as the statue is coming down. >> reporter: well, boris and christi, that statue of robert e. lee that stood on a pedestal here in charlottesville for nearly a century is now in the back of a truck and soon be driven out of here and away from the square where it's been so long. i was here when the statue lifted off that pedestal and the workers got it off. the sound was cheering. those coming here to cheer on the process of the statue coming down. the town didn't want to take it down for a long time. there were legal battles to keep that from happening. of course, that horrible unite the right rally that led to a person dying over the statues. the supreme court ruled that the city has the right to take the statue down and today they are doing it. what i can tell you is, the sound around me is jub

i know we saw the robert e. lee one coming down, but there was also another one which had yet to come down. are they down and how are folks reacting to it? >> reporter: yes, so the robert e. lee statue is down, the stonewall jackson memorial came down, i'm going to say, about an hour later. so it's about two hours since both of them have been removed. they're being put into storage and then we're going to have to figure out what happens from there. as far as the people go, there's about 200 people here this morning and there was a lot of excitement, there was a lot of cheers. there were a few tears, but overall, you know, the mood was for the people who were here, anyway, they were happy to see these confederate monuments leave. since then, there's been different people, stragglers, who maybe live nearby, coming from around the city. they've been coming one by one to see what's going on, to see the monument behind me is no longer here. among the people who were here earlier was a woman named zianna bryant and he's t

a statue of robert e. leeoved in charlottesville four years after a deadly far-right extremist protest to keep it in place led to deadly violence. >> we are standing in a park where this city is still refusing to address systemic issues and the work of removing the statue is only the tip of the iceberg. >> that young woman has been fighting since she was a teenager to get these statues removed. i am going to talk to her ahead. >>> we want to begin this hour in texas where a special legislative session is happening right now. republicans in both the house and senate, they've unveiled their sweeping plans to overhaul the state's election procedures. since this morning, members of the public have been flooding the state capital to give their own testimonies on these controversial bills after calls from advocacy groups and former congressman beto o'rourke to show up to the state capital and make their voices heard. here is what just one voter had to say to republican lawmakers ahead of his chance to testify. >> li

on wednesday, a statue of us confederate general robert e. lee has been removed from the city of charlottesville, virginia, many black lives matter support has gathered that witness the removal of the monument, who call it visit the center, the violent white supremacist raleigh. 4 years ago. now, at least 8 people has been killed and 8 others injured in a large explosion in somali as capital market issue. a car bomb targeted police commander, colonel, 400, a 100 agent who survived the attack. several countries are pledged, aged, you know, he has it battles a record breaking search and curve in 1900 infections and deaths. more than 8000 cases have been registered in the last 24 hour and host brazil take on dr. was argentine and the 47th corporate america final and around half an hour. the match that was being played in front of just 7800 fans because of proven 1900 restrictions. there was widespread criticism of the decision to even allow brazil to stage the month long events. well, those are the headlines. i'll have more news for you here on out

the notorious statue of general robert e. lee the rally hoisted away. for za hanyu bryant who kicked off the effort with a petition drive in 2016 kbh she was in ninth grade, it was the end of an effort that brought the world to her doorstep. looking back to that horrible day in august of 2017 when people were on this very park where we are now fighting over these statues, someone eventually died, at a moment like that did you ever think he had we had ceecee a day like today? >> no. when it was finally lifted off the pedestal today, that's when i was able to fully process it was happening. >> reporter: bryant con shinsed charlottesville. the world outside took longer. in early 2017 the city council vote today remove the monuments but groups who defend the confederate legacy took charlottesville to court. they succeeded in getting the removal delayed. >> we are a people! we will not be replaced! [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: then white nationalists neo-nazis and other groups joined the cause. august 2017 a woman was killed a

and negotiate with them as equals and that delusion remained right until after robert e lee surrender at appomattox. and it is and so but they took it as real they could not accept. that there would not be that point when they would be treated as equals into a reunion and i think that is and i you know just just reiterate it is hard for us to follow because of course we have a benefit of hindsight. we knew that they were deluded but if you look they actually went into actions, they they took up time and space when you would have thought they had sort of plant other things on their mind in order to announce and i do finally believe that it is they took me so seriously explains a lot about the bewilderment that engulfed confederates in april 1865 and that sort of shock of defeat that it wasn't going to be followed by negotiation. i think that opened the way to the lost cause myth to become so powerful after the war light germany and in november 1918 with the stab in the back a vacuum. he's a really dangerous thing for reinventing history and i would argue about that post war that recons

don't know who was behind the murder of the haitian president, a statue of us confederate general robert e lee has been removed from the city of charlotte fil virginia. and the black lives matter support has gathered to witness the removal of the monument. it was at the center of the violent white supremacists raleigh, 4 years ago. argentina have won the 1st major football trophy since 993. they beat in defending champions, brazil, one mill, and the corporate america final. when means line or messy, has finally won an international title with his country. brazil was criticized for a larger stage the month long event because of its current of virus number bows. the headlines and use continues on, which is era after made in france. me the ah ah ah, ah, ah ah ah. in 2018. and god confrontation between the israeli forces and palestinian youth is ever present. the march of return protests on friday. oh no, a ritual. it's a crew face to face today to get you got to have a washer and saw you know, not doing documents, human rights violations for the palestinian. and you are miss the more than 10 year

as an example, should robert e. lee, and will draw wilson face the same modern-day cancellation? hink robert e. lee is a really complicated one. we like to see his statues in places they should be interpreted, within battlefields. he was clear on it and i might hide behind his academic rooms, his president of washington college which became -- after his death. he said make no monuments to the federal sea it will only breed bitterness. i think his nightmare has come true in that regard. i have always said most of my professional life that the most overrated president is will draw wilson and he deserve to hear a much more complicated and if at times dark story about a person who recently brigade it a civil service and steadily after the civil war and then integrated. there is lots to discuss. the problem is is that this is the most fraught time in the history of our republic. just finishing a film on benjamin franklin, for next year, and at the end of the constitution you say brian, the story, the doors are flung open and leading the lady of philadelphia -- who has no right in this

bronze statues of confederate generals robert e. leee. less than four years ago white nationalists commandeered the debate over the city's efforts to remove the confederate statues. this is video from back then. their unite the right valley turned violent, as you might recall, and ultimately deadly as neo-nazis fought with counterprotesters. cnn's evan mcmorris-santoro is live in charlottesville. what was the mood like, evan? >> reporter: pam, when you think about that pitched battle, nationwide battle that led to today, that battle that you mentioned that included debates in courts, court battles, the president of the united states weighing in, and of course that horrible moment in august 2017 when those white nationalists came here and someone was actually killed as part of a debate over this statue. the thing that struck me the most about this morning was how joyous it was and how happy everybody was. behind me you can see what this whole thing is about, the podium that used to hold the robert e lee statue that was up for 100 years i

a pair of confederate statues of robert e. lee and stonewall jackson taken down, put onto the back of trucks and driven away. the charlottesville city council had voted last month to remove the statues, following a court battle that lasted more than three years. the mayor there spoke just before the statues came down. >> as we debate in america whether critical race theory actually history can be taught, our community battles with the falsitys that have created to enshrine and preserve whiteness as supreme taking down the statue is one small step closer to the goal of helping charlottesville, virginia and america grapple with its sin of being willing to destroy black people for economic gains. >> we are live in charlottesville, virginia. evan, what was the morning like? what was the crowd like when those statues came down? >> reporter: well, fred, that intro, that byte from the mayor really explains the situation really, really well. right behind me is where that statue of robert e. lee stood for nearly 100 years until 7:00 a.m. t

on wednesday, the statue of us confederate general robert e lee has been removed from the city or charlottesville, virginia, many black lives butter support has gathered to witness the removal of the monument . it was the center of a violent white supremacy radi 4 years ago. argentina have one them 1st and major football trophy since 1993. they beat and defending champions, brazil, one mill and the corporate america final. that was widespread. a criticism of the decision to allow brazil to state the month long event because of its current of ours numbers. those headlines and i was 0. the news continues are made in france and you can keep up to date with on use on our website. our 0 dot com the the me in france, the sale of war material abroad is subject to government approval. from the country of human rights is also the 3rd largest arms exporter. every 2 years in paris, the europe saturday exhibition showcases this thriving center. the event is not to be missed by sentence and buyers from all over the world and june 2018 and monday exhibitors excel you promoted. it's know how flagship products a