GOOD EVENING ONCE AGAIN FROM OUR NBC HEADQUARTERS HERE IN NEW
YORK. DAY 207 OF THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION WAS TRULY UNLIKE ANY OTHER.
NOT JUST FOR THIS PRESIDENT BUT IN THE WHOLE OF PRESIDENTIAL
HISTORY. WE HAVE NEVER HAD A PRESIDENT
GIVE NAZIS THE LEFT OF THE DOUBT.
WE'VE NEVER HEARD A PRESIDENT EQUATE THE WHITE SUPREMACY
MOVEMENT, THE BIGOTS AND THE NAZIS WITH MORAL OPPOSITION TO
THEIR MESSAGE. THIS WAS AN EMOTIONAL DAY FOR
MILLIONS OF AMERICANS BECAUSE WE'VE NEVER HEARD A PRESIDENT
LIKE THIS AND WE'VE NEVER HAD A PRESIDENT LIKE THIS.
IT'S ESPECIALLY EMOTIONAL FOR THOSE ALIVE TODAY WHO SURVIVED
THE NAZIS THE FIRST TIME AROUND AND FOR THOSE WHOSE FATHERS
SIGNED UP TO GO DEFEAT THEM AND SAVE THE WORLD.
IT'S ESPECIALLY HURTFUL FOR THOSE AMERICANS WHO DON'T NEED
TO BE TOLD WHAT IT MEA MEANS TO WHITE MEN CARRYING TORCHES ON A
HOT NIGHT IN THE SOUTH. THE AFTERNOON BEGAN WITH A
FIRST, THE SIGHT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL PODIUM IN FRONT OF
THE GOLD ELEVATOR DOORS IN THE LOBBY OF TRUMP TOWER.
THE PRESIDENT'S INITIAL REMARKS WERE ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO MUCH FOR THAT MESSAGE. HIS STAFF WAS NOT EXPECTING HIM
TO TAKE QUESTIONS. BUT HE DID.
HIS CHIEF OF STAFF LOOKED DOWN DURING WHAT FOLLOWED.
HEAR NOW SOME OF THE PRESIDENT'S WORDS ON THE VIOLENCE IN
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA. >> WHY DID YOU WAIT SO LONG?
>> I DIDN'T WAIT LONG. I WANTED TO MAKE SURE, UNLIKE
MOST POLITICIANS, THAT WHAT I SAID WAS CORRECT BE.
NOT MAKE A QUICK STATEMENT. THE STATEMENT I MADE ON
SATURDAY, THE FIRST STATEMENT WAS A FINE STATEMENT, BUT YOU
DON'T MAKE STATEMENTS THAT DIRECT UNLESS YOU KNOW THE FACT.
IT TAKES A LITTLE WHILE TO GET THE FACTS.
YOU STILL DON'T KNOW THE FACTS. AND HONESTLY IF THE PRESS WERE
NOT FAKE AND IF IT WAS HONEST, THE PRESS WOULD HAVE SAID WHAT I
SAID WAS VERY NICE. BUT UNLIKE YOU AND UNLIKE --
EXCUSE ME. UNLIKE YOU AND UNLIKEE THE MEDI,
BEFORE I MAKE A STATEMENT I LIKE TO KNOW THE FACTS.
UNLIKE A LOT OF REPORTERS -- >> Reporter: NAZIS WERE THERE.
>> I DIDN'T KNOW DAVID DUKE WAS THERE.
I WANTED TO SEE THE FACTS. WHEN YOU SAY THE ALT RIGHT,
DEFINE ALT-RIGHT TO ME. YOU DEFINE IT.
GO AHEAD. DEFINE IT FOR ME.
>> Reporter: SENATOR McCAIN DEFINED THEM AS THE SAME
GROUPS -- >> EXCUSE ME.
WHAT ABOUT THE ALT-LEFT THAT CAME CHARGING AT THE, AS YOU
SAY, THE ALT-RIGHT. DO THEY HAVE ANY SEMBLANCE OF
GUILT? WHAT ABOUT THE FACT THEY CAME
CHARGING, DO THEY HAVE ANY FAULT?
I WATCHED IT MUCH MORE CLOSELY THAN YOU WATCHED IT.
YOU HAD A GROUP ON ONE SIDE THAT WAS BAD AND YOU HAD A GROUP ON
THE OTHER SIDE THAT WAS VIOLENT AND NOBODY WANTS TO SAY IT BUT
I'LL SAY IT RIGHT NOW. YOU HAD A GROUP ON THE OTHER
SIDE THAT CAME CHARGE IN WITHOUT A PERMIT AND THEY WERE VERY VERY
VIOLENT. >> Reporter: DO YOU THINK WHAT
YOU CALL THE ALT-LEFT IS THE SAME AS NEO-NAZIS?
>> THOSE PEOPLE -- ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE -- EXCUSE ME.
I'VE CONDEMNED NEO-NAZIS. I'VE CONDEMNED MANY DIFFERENT
GROUPS BUT NOT ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE WERE NEO-NAZIS, BELIEVE
ME. NOT ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE WERE
WHITE SUPREMACISTS BY ANY STRETCH.
>> Reporter: MR. PRESIDENT,Y U PUTTING WHAT YOU'RE CALLING THE
ALT-LEFT AND WHITE SUPREMACIST ON THE SAME MORAL PLANE?
>> I'M NOT PUTTING ANYBODY ON A MORAL PLANE.
WHAT I'M SAYING IS THIS. YOU HAD A GROUP ON ONE SIDE AND
A GROUP ON THE OTHER AND THEY CAME AT EACH OTHER WITH CLUBS
AND IT VICIOUS AND HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE TO WATCH.
BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER SIDE. THERE WAS A GROUP ON THE LEFT
THAT CAME VIOLENTLY ATTACKING THE OTHER GROUP.
YOU CAN SAY WHAT YOU WANT BUT THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS.
>> Reporter: YOU SAID THERE WAS HATRED AND VIOLENCE --
>> I THINK THERE'S BLAME ON BOTH SIDES.
YOU LOOK AT BOTH SIDES, I THINK THERE'S BLAME ON BOTH SIDES AND
I HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT IT AND YOU DON'T HAVE ANY DOUBT ABOUT IT
EITHER. GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS A SLAVE
OWNER. WAS GEORGE WASHINGTON A SLAVE
OWNER? >>.
>> Reporter: YES, HE WAS. >> WILL GEORGE WASHINGTON NOW
LOSE HIS STATUS? YOU'RE CHANGING HISTORIES AND
CULTURE. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE
NEO-NAZIANCE THE WHITE NATIONALISTS.
THEY SHOULD BE CONDEMNED. BUT YOU HAD OTHER PEOPLE IN THAT
GROUP OTHER THAN NEO-NAZIS AND WHITE NATIONALISTS.
IF YOU LOOK, THERE WERE PEOPLE PROTESTING VERY QUIETLY THE
TAKING DOWN OF THE STATUE OF ROBERT E. LEE.
I'M SURE IN THAT GROUP THERE WERE SOME BAD ONES.
THE FOLLOWING DAY IT LOOKED LIKE THEY HAD SOME ROUGH BAD PEOPLE.
NEO-NAZIS, WHITE NATIONALISTS WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL THEM.
BUT YOU HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THAT GROUP THAT WERE THERE TO
INNOCENTLY PROTEST -- >> NO MENTION OF HEATHER HOOIR
BY NAME OR THE TWO POLICE OFFICERS WHO DIED.
THE PRESIDENT DID SAY HEATHER'S MOTHER HAD SAID NICE THINGS
ABOUT HIM. THE NEWS CONFERENCE IS ONE OF
THOSE ARE YOU WATCHING THIS LIVE TELEVISION MOMENTS ACROSS CABLE
TV. WE KNEW AS HE WAS SPEAKING THAT
THE NORMAL SETTING ON THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY HAD BEEN
SWITCHED TO OFF. PEOPLE LINED UP TO CRITICIZE THE
PRESIDENT. BUT THERE WERE SOME THANKS
EXPRESSED AS WELL. QUOTE, THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP
FOR YOU HONESTY AND COURAGE TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT
CHARLOTTESVILLE AND CONDEMN THE LEFTIST TERRORIST AND THE BLACK
LIVES MATTER, THE ANTI-FASCISM MOVEMENT, THAT FROM FORMER KKK
GRAND WIZARD DAVID DUKE. LET'S BEGIN OUR CONVERSATION
TONIGHT. WITH US, MICHAEL STEELE, DUE TO
THE PRESIDENT'S TRAVEL TO NEW YORK, WASHINGTON POST WHITE
HOUSE REPORTER ASHLEY PARKER IS ABLE TO JOIN US HERE IN THE
STUDIO FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER THIS EVENING.
ALSO POLITICAL REPORTER AND MODERATOR OF WASHINGTON WEEK ON
PBS, ROBERT COSTA. ASHLEY, THIS FALLS INTO A
PATTERN IN THAT WHILE THE WORDS TODAY MAY BE JUNLED MORE
EGREGIOUS THAN MOST, THAN ALL. THE PRESIDENT SAYS SOMETHING
THAT CREATES A HUBBUB. MAYBE THE NEXT DAY, SIGN OG F A
STAFF INTERVENTION, HE SAYS SOMETHING TO CLEAR IT UP.
AND THEN ON A RARE OCCASION YOU GET WHAT WE GET TODAY.
NO ONE CAN ARGUE THAT DONALD TRUMP THAT WE HEARD FROM TODAY.
>> U WAS STRUCK BY SOMETHING THAT THE VICE PRESIDENT IN
ARGENTINA SAID. THIS WAS PRESIDENT TRUMP OFF
TELEPROMPTER IN AN AREA WHERE HE'S MOST COMFORTABLE, THE LOBBY
OF HIS GILDED TOWER DOING WHAT HE DOES -- I DON'T WANT TO SAY
BEST BECAUSE THAT IMPLIES A POSITIVE CONNOTATION.
BUT RIFFING AND SPEAKING HIS MIND UNFILTERED.
>> AND IF YOU ASK HIM, HE'LL SAY THAT'S WHAT GOT ME THIS JOB,
THAT'S WHAT GOT ME TO THE DANCE. >> HE WILL SAY THAT.
THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS HAS WHEN YOU BRING IN AIDES,
INCLUDING GENERAL KELLY, WHO IS TRYING TO ADD DISCIPLINE AND
ORDER, THAT HE'S RESISTANT TO THEIR ADVICE BECAUSE AT A
CERTAIN POINT HE SAYS ALL OF THE POLITICAL WISEMEN SAID I
COULDN'T DO THIS AND THAT, I DID THAT AND I WON THE PRESIDENCY
AND I'M GOING TO KEEP ON TRUSTING MY GUT.
>> MICHAEL, THERE ARE OTHER NEWSPAPERS ASIDE FROM THE
WASHINGTON POST. I WANT TO READ YOU TO WORK OF
HABERMAN AND THRUSH TONIGHT. NO WORD IN THE TRUMP LEXICON IS
AS TREAD WORN AS UNPRECEDENTED. MEMBERS OF THE STAFF STUNNED AND
DISHEARTENED. NEVER EXPECTED TO HERE A VOLUBLE
AR TIGS LAS VEGAS OF OPINIONS THAT THE PRESIDENT LONG
EXPRESSED IN PRIVATE. HE FUMED TO AIDES ABOUT HOW
UNFAIRLY HE WAS BEING TREATED, EXPRESSED SYMPATHY WITH
NONVIOLENTNT PROTESTERS WHO HE SAID WERE DEFENDING THEIR
HERITAGE, ACCORDING TO A WEST WING OFFICIAL.
HE FELT HE HAD ALREADY GIVEN TOO MUCH GROUND TO HIS OPPONENT.
MICHAEL, THERE'S THE WORD HERITAGE AGAIN.
IT COMES UP EVERY ONCE AND AGAIN.
>> IT DOES. AND IT HAS A LOT OF CONTEXT IN
THIS DISCUSSION WE'RE HAVING ABOUT RACE AND THE BODIES OF
INTEREST THAT ARE INTEREST OUT THERE, WHETHER IT'S THE KU KLUX
KLAN WERE WHOM EVER. YOU HEARD THE SLOGANS COMING
BACK FROM THE 1950s AND '60s, BLOOD AND SOIL AND ALL OF THAT
CRAZY. TODAY THIS WAS THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES BASICALLY DOING A WTF MOMENT AND TAKING IT
ALL THE WAY LIVE. HE HAD BEEN BOXED IN, PUSHED AT
AND IT WAS VERY CLEAR THROUGH YOUR REPORTING AND OTHERS THAT
THE PRESIDENT WAS NOT HAPPY WITH HAVING TO GO BACK AND DO A
RETREAD OVER WHAT HE SAID ON SATURDAY.
HE THOUGHT HE WAS CLEAR. HE THOUGHT HE WAS EXPLICIT AND
HE THOUGHT HE SAID ALL HE NEEDED TO SAY ON SATURDAY.
AND YET THE STAFF AND OTHERS IN WASHINGTON, THE LEADERSHIP ON
THE HILL COMING OUT AND SAYING THAT IS NOT JUST ENOUGH.
IT IS WOEFULLY INSUFFICIENT. SO THE PRESIDENT IS LIKE, OKAY.
AND INSTEAD OF TURNING AROUND AFTER HIS LITTLE THREE SECONDS
ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND GOING BACK UP TO ELEVATOR, OH NO, HE'S
GOING TO TURN AND TAKE THE QUESTION AND OFF TO THE RACES.
THIS IS HIS WAY OF SAYING NO, I'M GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT I
REALLY THINK BECAUSE THERE'S VERY LIT.
YOU CAN DO ABOUT THAT. AND THAT I THINK IS A STUNNING
MOMENT. AND A STUNNING ADMISSION BY THE
PRESIDENT THIS IS HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS, DEAL WITH IT.
>> A LITTLE SIDE NOTE, I FIND IT FASCINATING.
THIS IS THE WHITE HOUSE TRANSCRIPT TODAY.
THE TITLE FOR ALL OF THOSE WHO SEARCH FOR HIS REMARKS TODAY
HERE AFTER WILL BE REMARKS ON PRESIDENT TRUMP ON
INFRASTRUCTURE. THAT'S HOW IT'S GOING IN THE
ARCHIVES WHEN IT DOES. MR. COSTA, THIS IS NORMALLY THE
PART OF THE BROADCAST WHERE I ASK YOU, GIVEN YOUR PROXIMITY TO
CAPITOL HILL AND YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF IT, GEE, THIS LATEST ACTION X
BY PRESIDENT TRUMP WILL MAKE IT HARDER FOR HIM ON CAPITOL HILL,
ESPECIALLY WITH REPUBLICANS. BUT TONIGHT I'M GOING TO ASK YOU
WHEN COURAGE WILL BREAK OUT. BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE WANTED
TO KNOW THIS TODAY. WHEN REPUBLICANS WITH BIG NAMES
ARE GOING TO STAND UP AND PERHAPS BREAK WITH THIS
PRESIDENT. >> IT IS THE QUESTION, BRIAN.
AND I THINK THE TITLE OF THE PRESIDENT'S REMARKS ABOUT
INFRASTRUCTURE ARE REVEALING BECAUSE THE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL
HE SPOKE ABOUT DOES NOT EXIST. IT'S STALLED ON CAPITOL HILL.
THIS IS A PRESIDENCY THAT IS CONSUMED NOT ONLY BY THE CRISIS
OVER THE CHARLOTTESVILLE EPISODE AND THE TRAGEDY THERE BUT ABOUT
ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
WITH REGARD TO THE QUESTION OF COURAGE, YOU'RE SEEING -- AFTER
SENATOR FLAKE OF ARIZONA CAME OUT WITH STRONG WORDS FOR
PRESIDENT TRUMP, THERE'S BEEN A HEIGHTENED KIND OF RHETORIC
COMING FROM REPUBLICANS LIKE SENATOR GARDNER OF COLORADO AND
OTHERS WHO DO NOT LIKE THE EQUIVOCAL NATURE OF THE
PRESIDENT'S APPROACH TO CHARLOTTESVILLE.
BUT WE DON'T SEE A FULL BORE ATTACK ON THE PRESIDENT FROM THE
REPUBLICANS IN PART BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE THE PRESIDENT STILL, IN
SPITE OF ALL OF THIS CONTROVERSY IS SPEAKING TO A PART OF THE
PARTY'S BASE THAT IS POWERFUL AND POTENT AND THEY WANT TO