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New Day Sunday

Charlottesville Terror Attack; U.S. And South Korean To Meet Amid Nuclear Tensions; Two Virginia Troopers Killed In Helicopter Crash Near Charlottesville; White House Feud Intensifies; Lebron James Speaks Out On Charlottesville; Red Wings Denounce Use of Logo At Rally; Usain Bolt Hurt In Final Race; DOJ Opens Civil Rights Investigation Into Car Attack; Vigil Held For Charlottesville's Victims; Trump Condemns Hate, Bigotry, But Not White Supremacists; David Duke To Trump: White America Put You In Presidency. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 13, 2017 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:10]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard a car going incredibly fast and into the crowd. I thought this is someone deliberately attacking these people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shocking to see this kind of disgusting hatred in a town as beautiful as Charlottesville.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a woman apparently killed by a Nazi in the United States and yet the president of the United States has not about this as forthright in condemning that that he condemns the U.S. news media and politicians he doesn't like.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a message to all the white supremacists and Nazis who came into Charlottesville today. Go home. Shame on you!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tomorrow will come and we will emerge. I can promise you, stronger than ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Domestic terrorism in Charlottesville. The president now being criticized not for what he said but what he did not say.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, remember, one woman was killed here and at least 30 were hurt at clashes broke out at a white nationalist rally. Confederate flags were flying, as well as punches that were being thrown as well. Then this happened. I want to forewarn you here, this is graphic video. (VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: You know what? Let's stop here for a second. We have a still picture. I want you to look at your screen. Take this in. The man who was driving that car, according to his mother, came from Ohio to support the alt right and he is now charged with murder.

PAUL: Something to see. CNN's Kaylee Hartung is live in Charlottesville. Kaylee, what are you learning there? How are the people there doing?

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, the FBI has opened a civil rights investigation into this deadly car crash that has left one woman killed and 19 injured and some of the some of them in critical condition still this morning.

That graphic video we have shows that vehicle plowing into a group of people who had come here to protest against the white nationalists. The suspect in custody, Alex Fields Jr. is a 20-year-old man from Ohio in the Toledo area. He is charged with one count of second-degree murder, among others.

This happened not long after this "Unite the Right" rally was broken up in Emancipation Park and declared unlawful assembly. This crash happened just off the downtown mall right in the heart of this college town. Yesterday, I spoke with one of the many eyewitnesses to the horror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS MAHONY, WITNESS: And you could see the car just over the other side of the road just set there looking down the road. As you said, the protesters were coming down Fourth Street. So, I thought that's a bit strange. There didn't seem to be any other cars stopping him from going. Of course, moments later, we heard a car going incredibly fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARTUNG: After this deadly crash, Fields sped away. Police pursuit ensued and ended in his apprehension. In an effort to learn more about the suspect and his beliefs, a group of reporters went to his mother's home in Ohio.

It was the press who informed her of what her son had been accused of. She was surprised. Very clearly still processing the gravity of what she had just learned.

She had she knew that her son had gone to Virginia to attend a rally. She was vaguely familiar with the nature of the rally, but said she and her son had never really discussed his political beliefs -- Victor, Christi.

BLACKWELL: All right. Kaylee Hartung in Charlottesville, thank you.

PAUL: More vigils like this held in Nashville last night. They were talking about the tragic, senseless, hatred, forces our nation to once again pause and critically examine race relations in America.

Now while President Trump condemned hate on, quote, "many sides," his failure to specifically denounce white nationalism is fueling some outrage this morning.

CNN's Dan Merica is live in Bridgewater, New Jersey, near the president's golf club with more. Any indication, Dan, as to when we may hear from the president again and if his message will be modified.

[06:05:11] DAN MERICA, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: The president is entirely behind closed doors today at his golf club in New Jersey. No public events scheduled. It is going to be a beautiful day and we expect him to play golf.

But when President Trump stepped at the podium yesterday at his golf club, he did decry the violence that was playing out in national tv, but what he didn't say might be the most remembered aspect. Take a listen to how he equated the white supremacist in the crowd with the counter-protesters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides, on many sides. It's been going on for a on long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It's been going for a long, long time. It has no place in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MERICA: What Trump didn't say in that speech might be the most remembered aspect of it. He failed to condemn the white nationalists and alt-right groups that really started a lot of that violence.

And a lot of Republicans (inaudible) Marco Rubio, a senator, Orrin Hatch, Corey Gardner, all tweeting rebuffing their Republican president for what he said. President Trump did tweet condolences to the three people who lost their lives.

"Condolences to the family of the young woman who killed today and best regards to all of those injured in Charlottesville, Virginia. So sad." And then the second, "Deepest condolence to the families and fallen officers of Virginia State Police who died today. You are all among the best this nation produces."

But really Trump's trademark bluntness that he really became known for during the campaign and as president gave way to vagueness yesterday and that is one of the most noticed parts of those remarks that he gave at his golf club -- Christi.

PAUL: Dan Merica, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: All right. Joining me now to talk, Kelly Jane Torrance, deputy editor at the "Weekly Standard," and Tom LoBianco, CNN politics reporter. Good morning to both of you. So, Tom, let me start with you. Many sides seem to be an adlib there from the president and the center of much of the criticism of his statement this morning.

TOM LOBIANCO, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes. It's shocking. I mean, you know, we are long past the campaign, long past the transition, and this still continues to trip him up. It's remarkable.

You know, I was reading back from over some of the coverage after the election when you had the alt-right neo-Nazi group here in D.C. holding a conference, putting up Nazi salutes saying, "Hail Trump."

You know, it's shocking to watch this now and to see that he still can't handle this, you know? And he is the president. And I think what is stunning about this is that he doesn't seem to understand how much of an impact his words have.

And when you're vague like that, I mean, you know, when you look at the Senators Rubio, Hatch, they all come out there immediately to cry as what it is and it just puts it in an even starker contrast that he can't deal with this.

BLACKWELL: Let me read a couple of the tweets. First from Republican Senator Corey Gartner, he tweets, "Mr. President, we must president call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism."

Republican Senator Orrin Hatch tweets, "We should evil by its name. My brother didn't his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home." Kelly, this criticism of the president is crossing party lines, obviously.

KELLY JANE TORRANCE, DEPUTY EDITOR, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": It is. And that is very telling because Republicans have been very reticent to attack this president. But let's face it, part of the problem is that President Trump has, you know, made himself out to be a straight- shooter, a real talker.

He'll say the truth and be blunt, as Dan said in his segment, but you know, he made a big point of talking about the words radical Islamic terrorism and the fact that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wouldn't use them when there were certain attacks in America.

Well, you know, he is doing the same thing here. He is not saying exactly who is responsible for, you know, the awful violence that we saw in Charlottesville and it's pretty disgusting not to be able to name something for what it is. And, you know, I'm glad that at least some Republicans, people in his own party are calling him out for that, as they should.

BLACKWELL: Tom, is the White House saying specifically why the president referenced many sides and is not calling out white nationalists and white supremacists specifically?

LOBIANCO: You know, we don't clearly have an answer on that yet. As I wrapped up yesterday, of course, there are a lot of reporters were yelling at him as he left saying what do you mean?

[06:10:06] You know going back to what Kelly said, right? He is so blunt and Dan pointed out too he is so blunt and such a trademark and then to have something vague like that it really goes back to when he had that interview with Tapper during the election.

And, you know, he couldn't say whether or not he would disavow David Duke, the former KKK wizard's support and then eventual did disavow it. It's so vague. It's just against everything that he presents himself as, and it leaves a lot of reporters, people, everyone questioning, you know, exactly what does he mean here?

BLACKWELL: David Duke was at this rally in Virginia yesterday and we will hear from him and what he said there and on Twitter a little later. But, Kelly Jane, back to you.

This president, as you mentioned, derided President Obama and Secretary Clinton for not using the phrase radical Islamic terrorism. Let's remind people how this president went after those two for that phrase.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Radical Islamic terrorism and, I tell you what, we have a president who refuses to use the term. He refuses to say it. He refuses to use the term radical Islamic terrorism! He refuses to use the term!

You know, you hear the term radical Islamic terrorism. He won't say it. He won't say it and you can't solve a problem if you refuse to talk about what the problem is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now of course, that is a phrase some would question if that is the phrase that should be used in that case but the president's point is you can't solve something if you don't identify it.

There is another word we haven't heard from the president in relation to the mosque bombing in Minnesota, the train attack that happened in Portland. That is the word terrorism.

What are we hearing from this administration specifically about this being a case of domestic terror? Have they come down on one side or the other yet?

TORRANCE: No, I mean, the administration has not. Now some of the senators in their tweets like Corey Gartner did actually -- a senator from Colorado did say this is domestic terrorism and let's call it that.

Now you can argue whether this is terrorism or not, but you cannot argue what 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 --

BLACKWELL: 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 LoBianco, stay with us. We have more to talk about in just a moment.

PAUL: The alt-right and the president, what the supremacists 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 doing now?

BLACKWELL: Plus, is the White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, on his way out? CNN is learning reports of new tensions between the president's top adviser and his chief of staff.

PAUL: And the U.S. and South Korea taking steps to defend against a nuclear threat. A live report for you from Seoul. That is ahead. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:07]

BLACKWELL: Well, cities across the country are holding marches to condemn white nationalists and white supremacy and the violence that we watched in Charlottesville, Atlanta, Oakland, other cities, hundreds of people walked through the streets holding up signs and chanting.

A peaceful vigil in Nashville ended in arrests after protesters faced off with police. Groups are planning solidarity rallies and marches in dozens of cities today.

PAUL: If there is any question about what the white nationalists expected to happen yesterday, former KKK leader, David Duke, summed it up. Back now Kelly Jane Torrance, Tom LoBianco, thanks for sticking around. Let's listen to what David Duke said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID DUKE, FORMER KKK LEADER: We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That's what we believe in and why we voted for Donald Trump because he said he is going to take our country back and that is what we have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: OK, first of all, tom, to you, "take our country back." Do we know exactly what they thought that meant? Did they think he was going to reinstate slavery? I mean, based who what we saw yesterday trying to wrap our heads around what exactly that means to them?

LOBIANCO: What is stunning in the politics of this is it's stunning to watch the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan appropriate here Donald Trump's brand and really, you know, take it and try to control it.

I think those of us who follow this and who are here right now put so much emphasis on the president's reaction because anybody can go out there and say, hey, I'm carrying the Trump banner, but it's up to Trump himself or whoever in this case to defend that and he is not doing that.

That is why we have so many questions about that. It's almost like Duke is trolling him. You watch this and he keeps on saying persistently they are the ones representing Trump and you don't have a forceful denunciation from Trump or anyone from the White House. I mean, it's just really stunning.

[06:20:07] PAUL: Well, I wanted to get to another part of what he said there, Kelly Jane. He said to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump and this is what is most telling possibly in that statement, telling everybody words matter and we have to be very clear about our intentions and our goals and what we mean.

So how important is it now, 24 hours later, as we are watching this happen, for President Trump to address David Duke's assertion that they are fulfilling the promises of Donald Trump, for President Trump to clarify what his promises are?

TORRANCE: Yes, you can't expect the president to respond to every crazy person who tried to appropriate him, but the reason that we are talking about this is that Donald Trump had trouble during the election disavowing David Duke.

I mean, you know, as you said earlier it came up. He blamed it on his earpiece and it took him a while to be able to say, I don't like this guy, he doesn't speak for me. Let's face it. We wouldn't even be talking about David Duke any more if it hadn't been for what happened during the election.

I mean, this guy really is a nobody now, but he has made a name for himself, attaching himself to Trump and because the president has never forcefully disavowed that support is why we are still talking about it.

And why people are still waiting for Donald Trump to forcefully say these people have nothing to do with me and do not speak for me and my promises had nothing to do with them.

PAUL: We should read David Duke's tweet as well. He said, "Take a good look in the mirror and remember it was white Americans who put you in the presidency, not radical leftists." President Trump, he has been criticized for speaking only to his base.

Tom, did he realize -- I don't want to show a picture here. I think we have a picture from yesterday, too, of somebody wearing a hat "make America great again." Did he realize that a lot of part of his base, don't want to lump a lot of people in with his base but a lot of his base are these people and where does he go with that?

LOBIANCO: Well, you know, it's interesting about that tweet. It kind of speaks to the long-term peril for Trump and the dynamics at play here. Setting up of this dynamic to the far left and the far right and in this case an even smaller sliver of Neo-nazis here.

There is no indication that is a large group at all. However, there is a lot of kindling out there that they are setting on fire across the nation right now. And I think what you have to worry about or not the extremes, but the people in the middle who watch this.

Voters in places like Pennsylvania, places he carried in November of 2016 who may not feel very strongly one way or another but are shocked by what they are seeing. Again, to go back to what the president said, he is so vague and you haven't seen any leadership from him on this and this is something that is not going away.

There are other confederate statues and monuments that are being removed. This issue is alive and ready, and they got to figure out some way to deal with this other than just saying many people are violent.

PAUL: Kelly Jane Torrance and Tom LoBianco, thank you so much. We appreciate it as always.

BLACKWELL: We are learning more about the man accused of driving his car into that crowd of protesters in Virginia. Next, what James Fields told his mother what he was doing in Charlottesville.

PAUL: Also the U.S. and South Korea preparing to defend against a nuclear threat. We are taking you live to Seoul.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:06]

PAUL: So grateful to have your company. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. This white nationalist rally in Virginia started with torches on Friday night and by Saturday morning, there were helmets and riot shields and then in the afternoon this --

A car speeding into a crowd. A woman was killed as she was walking across that street. Nineteen others were hurt in the attack there, along with another 15 people hurt during the rally.

PAUL: President Trump calls for an end to the violence, quote, "on many sides" and, therefore, is slammed for what some people are calling a muted response to an attack on unarmed protesters.

The suspect here, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio is held on several charges this morning. His mother spoke to reporters yesterday and she thought the rally he was going to had something to do with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA LINDSTROM, REPORTER, "TOLEDO BLADE" (via telephone): She was pretty unaware of what the definition of alt-right was. I don't think she had a clear definition of what that would be. She said to me she doesn't try to get too much into on his political beliefs and that, you know, she's not too well versed in his political leanings in any way. Yes, I don't get a sense she necessarily knew what he was headed for this weekend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Also people there and across the country are mourning the lives of those two Virginia state troopers who were lost in that helicopter crash as well. We will be talking more about them throughout the show.

Let's talk now about what we are seeing and what we are hearing from the White House. Jack Kingston, CNN political commentator and former senior adviser to the Trump campaign, and Jonathan Tussini (ph), a Democratic strategist and host of "The Working Like Podcast." Good morning, Gentlemen.

So first let's start here, whether you believe that the president should use the words white nationalists or white supremacists, we are now 17 hours after his initial comments. This is no longer an oversight. It is an omission.

[06:30:00]

So, Jack, to you first. Should the president call out while nationalists, call out white supremacists by name?

JACK KINGSTON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I've got mixed emotions about that, Victor. I think that his statement condemn bigotry and violence and hated was very strong.

Last night -- yesterday I was following -- there were nine tweets in a row condemning everything that was going on there. He has spoken out against David Duke in the past. He has spoken out about the alt- right.

You know, I'm saddened as somebody who lives in a town that is 50 percent African-American and has racial challenges, but also racial, in many cases, great cooperation, I'm saddened to see the left politicize this so (INAUDIBLE) much. (INAUDIBLE) they cannot pass up an opportunity to jab the president.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: All right. Jack, let me come in here and ask you this. OK?

And I know you'll get back to calling out the left but let me ask you this is a president who didn't have a problem calling out Mika Brzezinski by name. He'll call out the cast of "Hamilton" by name. He'll call out Alec Baldwin by name.

He'll call everybody else by the name but he won't say white supremacists and he won't say white nationalists. Why won't he do that?

KINGSTON: Victor, I don't -- I don't think it's over. I think this is not going away.

I think that what you're going to see is a lot of discussion. There's a lot of --

BLACKWELL: He has had 18 hours.

Twitter doesn't close, right? He tweets at all hours of the day and night. He's had an opportunity.

KINGSTON: Victor, he is going to be involved in this. The vice president is involved. The attorney general, today, who by the way I think is one of the few attorney generals in the history who has had a successful death penalty conviction against the KKK, he has already said, we are going to investigate this and we are going to condemn those who have broken the law.

Everybody is united in condemning the white supremacy here and the white nationalists. And maybe the ideology of one person is different than the other.

BLACKWELL: But there are others who are willing to say it, Jack. There are others who are willing to say it. The president is not.

KINGSTON: I believe -- Victor --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Let me get to Jonathan.

KINGSTON: -- going to hear it from the president.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: He's had 18 hours. He hasn't said it yet. Jonathan, to you.

JONATHAN TASINI, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I got to say -- initially I was just going to try to be calm.

But you know I am -- I am the son of a holocaust survivor. And not to overstate the Nazism and attack particularly on Jews this is an attack on all people. People of color and all well-meaning people.

And let's be clear and I think want to just be direct about this. The piece of human refuse who sits in the Oval Office is a hard-core racist and a bigot. And he ran his entire campaign --

(CROSSTALK)

KINGSTON: There you go. There you go.

TASINI: Well, Jack --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Hold on, Jack. Hold on, Jack. Hold on, Jack. Hold on for a second.

TASINI: Jack --

KINGSTON: You just called the president a bigot in the face of --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: And you will have an opportunity to respond.

KINGSTON: Come on.

TASINI: You had your chance, Jack. And you know that I've been consistent -- you know I've been consistent about this from the very beginning of his campaign. You and I have gone at it about this and I'm going to give you an example of this.

(CROSSTALK)

TASINI: You have to remember, Jack, that he began his campaign and he built his campaign attacking people of color. It started by calling Mexican racists and bigots.

Then once he was elected and came into office, he brought in Michael Flynn and about Islamophobe. He brought in Steve Bannon, a white nationalist. He then tried to impose the travel ban which was targeting Muslims.

He then also established that fraudulent election committee which was about alleged impropriety (ph) election which was really about targeting African-Americans, people of color who are trying to vote. This man is a bigot and a racist and we should be very clear about that and I want to say one other thing.

And I want to say one other thing.

BLACKWELL: Quickly.

TASINI: And this is going to (INAUDIBLE). Last, quickly.

The Republican Party bears responsibility for this. Because throughout the campaign --

KINGSTON: OK, Jonathan, you're going --

(CROSSTALK)

TASINI: -- throughout the campaign.

(CROSSTALK) BLACKWELL: Hold on.

TASINI: Jack, I'm going to finish my point.

Throughout the campaign -- throughout the campaign what you did when Donald Trump expressed his racist and bigotry comments against Mexicans and other people you broke into two camps. The people who I think quietly were happy with it and then other people who are too afraid to speak out against this.

So now of course looking at this particular example (INAUDIBLE) but look at the border picture. You guys have enabled him.

BLACKWELL: Jonathan, let me ask you this question.

We saw the response to the president not saying white nationalists, not naming white supremacists but we got a tweet from the former president, President Obama, yesterday, he didn't point out white nationalists. He didn't call out white supremacists.

I went back to his official comments after the shooting at Mother Emanuel in Charleston. Not one mention of white supremacists nor white nationalists. And we know Dylann Roof wanted to start a race war.

I went back and read the entire eulogy at Clementa Pinckney's funeral there. Not mention of white nationalists or white supremacists. Are you as offended by the omission from President Obama as you are by the omission from President Trump?

[06:35:05]

TASINI: No. This is respectfully, Victor, it's false equivalency because Barack Obama ran on unity of bringing the country together. Donald Trump ran explicitly on a racist platform.

He -- it was a dog whistle as they call it. He signaled white nationalists that it was OK to march and be violent. This kind of rally, this kind of people turning out, these KKK, these white supremacists it would not have happened under frankly George W. Bush and other Republican presidents.

KINGSTON: OK --

BLACKWELL: Jack --

TASINI: Donald Trump basically blessed this.

KINGSTON: You know --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Jack, go ahead and respond.

KINGSTON: I think what we need to do is have a great opportunity to come together as a nation and say where do we go from here? BLACKWELL: And --

(CROSSTALK)

TASINI: How do we --

(CROSSTALK)

TASINI: -- condemn the president.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Let him finish, Jonathan. Go ahead, Jack.

KINGSTON: You know, how do we come together and bring blacks and whites and people of all races and ethnic groups together to say, you know what? Let's make this an opportunity to sit down and talk and move the ball forward, because, obviously, racial divisions have been going on for hundreds of years. And we -- we are better than that as a nation.

TASINI: But, Jack, you can't do that. You can't do that --

KINGSTON: Jonathan --

TASINI: Jack, you can't bring people together unless you don't explicitly say that the man in the Oval Office has explicitly conducted himself and advanced a campaign and policies that are racist and bigoted.

KINGSTON: And, Jonathan, I just thought -- Jonathan, I --

TASINI: You can't do that.

BLACKWELL: Last 15 seconds. Jack, to you.

KINGSTON: Jonathan, I'm going to give you more credit than what I've heard today in terms of I know your knowledge. You can't just blame this on the president. And you know what?

TASINI: No, I blame it on the Republican Party too.

KINGSTON: I don't sit around and blame this -- OK, Republican Party and the president. That is absurd and that is not going to help us here. That is more division.

What we need to say is reach out to your brothers and sisters of different philosophies and different races and say, how are we going to do we deal with this? And I can tell you this on a local level I've done that in Savannah, Georgia and I -- and I think it makes a huge of a difference.

You know, talk to the person next to you and see how can we move the ball forward.

BLACKWELL: Jack, I will remind you of the words of the president when he was a candidate who was deriding President Obama and Hillary Clinton for not using the phrase radical Islamic terrorism.

And he said, you can't solve the problem if you don't call it out by its name.

In this case, we are not hearing from him specifically about white supremacists --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: But as you say -- as you say, Jack, you think he will. It's been 18 hours and he hasn't.

(CROSSTALK)

TASINI: It's part of -- it's part of Trump's basic makeup. That is the problem.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: We got to wrap it there. We got to wrap it there.

(CROSSTALK)

KINGSTON: He will.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you very much.

KINGSTON: Thanks.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: As tensions escalate with North Korea, the U.S. and South Korea are taking step to defend against a nuclear threat. Taking you live to Seoul next.

BLACKWELL: Plus, the growing tensions within the White House as the president's top strategist and his chief of staff are at odd. Why this feud is raising so many questions about the future of Steve Bannon in this administration.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:12]

PAUL: The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman will meet with the South Korean president tomorrow and that meeting comes of course as nuclear tensions continue to escalate between the U.S. and North Korea.

BLACKWELL: CNN's international correspondent Anna Coren joins us now from Seoul, South Korea.

Anna, this is obviously a crucial meeting for these two allies. What are we expecting from the meeting tomorrow?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, this was always a scheduled trip for the General Joseph Dunford but the timing couldn't be better. The chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff is due to meet the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, his defense minister as well as his national security adviser tomorrow to discuss North Korea, what the plan is if there is a provocation from the north. The south has said they are combat ready. Their 600,000 troops are on stand-by, ready to go.

Now it also comes just a week before those joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea. Once again, these annual exercises that happen every year. But as we know, they are upset the North Koreans and no doubt this time around, they will further escalate tensions here on the peninsula.

Now we have heard from North Korea in the last few hours by Rodong (ph) newspaper which is the mouthpiece for the ruling workers party. It said that North Korea has developed nuclear weapons to deter the U.S. from launching a nuclear war here on the Korean peninsula. It goes on to say that the United States is the worst nuclear war monger in the world and -- quote --, "The nuclear imbalance between the DPRK and the U.S. has totally ended."

Now here in Seoul which is just 35 miles from the border with the north, we should remind everybody, there are thousand artillery pieces aimed at the city of 10 million people, folks here just enjoying their Sunday evening. They are out on the streets with their families. It's not to say that they are not aware of what is going on here but they say they have been living with this for decade, they are used to it.

What they want, however, Victor, is for the U.S. President Donald Trump to tone down his inflammatory language, to act like a statesman and to do everything in his power to resolve this crisis diplomatically, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll see what we get from the readout of that meeting. Anna Coren, thank you so much.

PAUL: And still to come, President Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, pursuing an agenda at the White House that's further escalating tensions with the president's chief of staff. Could Steve Bannon's days be numbered?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:52]

BLACKWELL: One woman is dead, 19 others hurt after a car drove straight through a crowd of protesters in Virginia. By now, you've seen the video. They were demonstrating against a white nationalist rally.

This is in Charlottesville, Virginia. Fifteen other were hurt in the rally. They're in the clashes now.

The Police have arrested the driver of the car. He's James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio, 20-year-old. He's being held on several charges. President Trump called to the end to the -- quote -- "violence on many sides." And he is being slammed for some would call a muted response to an attack on protesters there.

And the Virginia state police are mourning two troopers who were killed in a helicopter crash yesterday. Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Berke Bates were patrolling near the protests. Both were members of Governor Terry McAuliffe staff.

And the governor say he considered both men close friends. Today would have been Pilot Bates 41st birthday.

PAUL: Meanwhile, back in Washington, new details emerging about the growing troubles between the president's chief of staff and his chief strategist.

[06:50:00]

Apparently Steve Bannon is -- quote -- "on the outs" with the White House chief of Staff John Kelly. And Bannon is pursuing his own agenda at the White House, a vision that is in stark contrast to Kelly. So as a result some serious conversations are happening about the future of Bannon's role within the administration.

And in addition, Kelly is considering another shake-up we are hearing within the press and communications team. CNN politics reporting Tom Lobianco is with us now.

So there have been questions about Bannon's White House survival for some time. That itself is not new. But when we look at what has happened since General John Kelly started in his role as chief of staff five Bannon allies have been fired from the National Security Council by H.R. McMaster.

We hear McMaster is fiercely at odd with Bannon. General Kelly has encouraged McMaster to make those staffing changes or any that he deems necessary. So are the questions about whether Bannon will keep his position more valid now, Tom?

TOM LOBIANCO, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, absolutely. Because what we have here is a very strong chief of staff coming in. General John Kelly coming in here.

Our reporting, our great White House team, Jim Acosta, Kaitlan Collins (INAUDIBLE) great reporting on this about how, you know, maybe he doesn't -- that Bannon is not even fired. Maybe he is shuffled aside.

That is kind of the more normal thing you see in Washington and presidential administrations. You see people here in and out of a favor at any given time. What is clear and to get why Bannon is in trouble here is that you have a very strong chief of staff in John Kelly.

That, you know, he walked into this knowing there is an incredible amount of disarray and people who appear to be driving their own agenda. You know, as Anthony Scaramucci, the 11 day communications director, very colorfully put it, you know, he said that certain people were driving their own agenda and then had some very colorful thing to say about Steve Bannon in there.

And, you know, this goes to the challenge. And it looks like Kelly is taking the reins on this thing and that does, you know, it does put Bannon in jeopardy right now.

PAUL: Yes. And that is what Kelly was brought in to do, he was brought in to try to solidify things and we will see where that goes and if things can be solidified with Bannon in his role.

Tom Lobianco, appreciate it. Thank you.

LOBIANCO: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: All right. Coming up today on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper, Senator Cory Gardner is on the show. And Jake also talks with Tom Bossert, President Trump's Homeland Security Adviser. "STATE OF THE UNION" starts at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Oh, it was a bitter end. You hate to see the greats go out like this, Andy Scholes..

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: That's certainly true, Victor.

More than 60,000 were on hand (ph) in London for Usain Bolt's final race. But they left in disbelief. We're going to show you why. Coming up next in this morning's bleacher report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:57:03]

BLACKWELL: All right. As the nation is watching Charlottesville so are the superstars. Lebron James talking about what he saw on social media.

PAUL: Yes. Andy Scholes has more on this morning's bleacher report.

SCHOLES: Hey. Good morning, guys.

You know, Lebron James has never shied away from speaking out about social issues. And he took to Twitter yesterday to voice his displeasure with the event going on in Charlottesville.

He tweeted, "It's day what's going on in Charlottesville. Is this the direction our country is heading? Make America Great Again huh?"

He said that. Lebron followed up that tweet with, "Our youth deserves better. Flat out."

Now, in the meantime, the hockey team, the Detroit Red Wings are considering legal action to stop white nationalists from using their logo at rallies. There is a Michigan based group called the Detroit Right Wings. They use a slightly modified version of the hockey team's logo.

Now it's unclear if that is who was carrying the signs yesterday but the team did release a statement saying in part, "The Detroit Red Wings vehemently disagree with and are not associated with the event taking place today in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Red Wings believe Hockey is for everyone and we celebrate the great diversity of our fan base and our nation."

Now the NHL also condemn the use of the logo releasing a statement that read, in part, "We are obviously outraged by the irresponsible and improper use of our intellectual property. We will take immediate and all necessarily steps to ensure the use is discontinued as promptly as possible."

All right. Elsewhere in the sports world. Usain Bolt ran the final race of his career and this is not how anyone wanted to see it end for the greatest runner of all time. Bolt was running the final leg of the 4x100 meter relay of the world championships when he pulled his hamstring and went down to the track. Just an awful way for his legendary career to come to end.

Great Britain got the gold. U.S. taking home the silver. Bolt would eventually get to his feet and stumble across the finish line as you see right there to a standing ovation.

But just -- just heartbreaking to see.

BLACKWELL: The last one was heartbreaking --

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- when he didn't win.

SCHOLES: He lost to Justin Gatlin by, you know, a fraction of the second and then just to see him lose his final race and not even being able to run across the finish line. Just a shame.

PAUL: Well, it's like he said the last time, you said, you know, I know when I'm out.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: I know when it's time --

SCHOLES: And now he definitely knows it's time to walk away.

PAUL: Thank you, Andy.

SCHOLES: All right. (INAUDIBLE), guys.

BLACKWELL: Thanks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS MAHONEY, EYEWITNESS: We heard a car going incredibly fast and plough (ph) it (ph) down (ph) to the -- into the crowd. I thought this is someone deliberately attacking these people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shocking to see this kind of disgusting hatred on the streets of -- a town as beautiful as Charlottesville.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We condemn in the biggest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a woman who was killed apparently, possibly by a Nazi in the United States. And yet, the president of the United States has not been as forthright in condemning that as he condemns the U.S. news media and politicians that he doesn't like.

[07:00:02]

GOV. TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), VIRGINIA: I have a message to all the white supremacists and the Nazis who came into Charlottesville today, go home. Shame on you.