Sen. Mark Warner: Trump Should Have Denounced White Nationalists Sooner | Andrea Mitchell

WHITE HOUSE IS BEING RENOVATED. VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC SENATOR AND
FORMER GOVERNOR MARK WARNER JOINS ME NOW FOR HIS FIRST
NATIONAL INTERVIEW SINCE SATURDAY'S INCIDENTS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR JOINING US SENATOR.
DID THE PRESIDENT SAY WHAT YOU WANTED HIM TO HEAR BY NAME
CHECKING THE KKK, WHITE SUPREMACISTS, RACISTS,
NEO-NAZIS? >> ANDREA, I THINK THE PRESIDENT
IN HIS LAST STATEMENT ACTUALLY SOUNDED PRESIDENTIAL.
I WISH HE WOULD HAVE SAID THOSE SAME WORDS ON SATURDAY WHEN
LOCAL LEADERS, ELECTED LEADERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WERE CALLING
OUT THIS KIND OF VILENESS THAT WAS EXHIBITED BY SOME OF THESE
HATE GROUPS ON SATURDAY. I'M DISAPPOINTED IT TOOK HIM A
COUPLE OF DAYS, I KNOW I GOT CALLS FROM SENATORS IN BOTH
POLITICAL PARTIES ON SATURDAY SAYING THIS IS AWFUL WHAT WAS
HAPPENING IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, BUT I WILL GIVE THE PRESIDENT
THE BENEFIT THAT TODAY HE SAID THE WORDS, NOW WE HAVE TO MAKE
SURE THAT HIS DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ACTS ON THOSE WORDS AND
THAT WE FULLY PURSUE NOT ONLY THIS ONE INDIVIDUAL WHO
RECKLESSLY MURDERED THAT ONE INDIVIDUAL AND HURT OTHERS, BUT
THAT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WILL GO AFTER SOME OF THESE HATE
GROUPS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, BECAUSE THEY'LL BE BACK.
>> YOU WERE THE GOVERNOR AND I KNOW YOU KNOW CHARLOTTESVILLE
WELL. TALK TO ME ABOUT WHAT NEEDS TO
BE DONE THERE TO HEAL THESE WOUNDS AND DEAL WITH THE
UNDERLYING PROBLEMS. >> WELL, CHARLOTTESVILLE IS A
COMMUNITY WITH A RICH HISTORY OF TOLERANCE, DIVERSITY, IT'S A
UNIVERSITY TOWN, IT'S GOT A LOT OF FOLKS THAT HAVE MOVED THERE,
IT'S RATED ONE OF THE BEST SMALL CITIES IN AMERICA.
SO I THINK FOLKS WERE SURPRISED AT WHAT HAPPENED IN
CHARLOTTESVILLE, THEY HAVE GONE THROUGH A LENGTHY PROCESS ON
TRYING TO SORT THROUGH THE FULL STORY OF RACE IN
CHARLOTTESVILLE, WHICH INVOLVES BOTH THESE CIVIL WAR MONUMENTS
AND THE FACT THAT FOR AN AWFUL LONG TIME VIRGINIA HAS A PROUD
HISTORY, BUT WE HAVE SOME DARK SPOTS ON THAT HISTORY, FROM HOW
WE TREATED AFRICAN-AMERICANS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, AND
IMMIGRANTS BACK IN THE 50s. MYMY HOPE IS OUT OF THE TRAGEDYF
SATURDAY, THAT I'M CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH A SENSE OF
TOLERANCE AND A SENSE THAT THIS COMMUNITY WILL STILL REMAIN
GREAT. >> THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CALLED
IT DOMESTIC TERRORISM, I DON'T THINK THE PRESIDENT DID.
BUT DO WE HAVE TO CALL IT WHAT IT IS, WHICH IS TERRORISM?
>> I THINK WE DO, ANDREA. THIS WAS DOMESTIC TERRORISM.
IT WAS THE SAME TYPE OF EVIL TACTICS, USING A CAR AS A WEAPON
THAT WE HAVE SEEN IN EUROPE. AND FOR A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
THAT WAS SO OBSESSED ABOUT CALLING OUT BARACK OBAMA FOR
FAILING TO USE THE TERM ISLAMIC TERRORISTS, THAT SAME STANDARD
SHOULD BE APPLIED WHEN WE'RE SEEING FOREIGN BASED TERRORISM
TAKE PLACE HERE IN AMERICA OR WHEN WE SEE WHAT WE SAW ON
SATURDAY, A HATE GROUP THAT PRACTICED DOMESTIC TERRORISM.
>> AND WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE ALSO TO -- IT'S A UNIVERSITY TOWN AS
YOU POINTED OUT, IT'S A GREAT UNIVERSITY, OBVIOUSLY INCOMING
FRESHMEN AND OTHER STUDENTS ARE ABOUT TO ALIVE ON CAMPUS,
THERE'S A LOT OF ISSUES IN THAT WONDERFUL COMMUNITY, WHICH IS
THE HOME OF JEFFERSON, THAT IS A COMPLICATED HISTORY AS WELL, BUT
ALSO A GREAT INTELLECTUAL FORCE IN CHARLOTTESVILLE.
>> I THINK YOU'LL SEE FRESHMAN WHO ARE STARTING SCHOOL IN A
SHORT TIME WILL CONTINUE TO COME IN, CHARLOTTESVILLE IS A GREAT,
GREAT COMMUNITY. IT'S GOT A GREAT ACADEMIC LIFE,
IT'S GOT A GREAT TOURISM. AND CHARLOTTE HAS HAD A HISTORY
OF WRESTLING WITH TOUGH ISSUES, THE LOCAL CITY COUNCIL THERE DID
THIS WHOLE MONUMENT OVER 18 MONTHS, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF
PUBLIC HEARINGS. BUT SOME OF THESE ALT-RIGHT
GROUPS, AT LEAST IN TERMS OF THEIR PRESS YESTERDAY AND TODAY,
THEY SAW-THE FACT THAT THESE ALF RIGHT GROUPS, THEY HAVE ALREADY
APPLIED FOR THE RIGHT TO RALLY IN RICHMOND AT A LATER TIME,
THEY HAVE ALREADY SAID THEY'RE GOING TO RALLY ACROSS THE
COUNTRY. AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT
AMERICANS OF ALL POLITICAL STRIPES STAND UP AND SAY WE
SUPPORT FREE SPEECH BUT THE KIND OF HATE SPEECHES AND NEO-NAZI
AND VILE EFFORTS THAT THESE GROUPS REPRESENT, THEY HAVE NO
PLACE IN ANY POLITICAL DIALOGUE IN OUR COUNTRY.
>> HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE EQUITIES OF FREE SPEECH, THIS
GOES BACK TO THE ACLU DECADES AGO, WEST VIRGINIA IS AN OPEN
CARRY STATE. THERE ARE MANY OPEN CARRY STATES
IN THE U.S. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE ARRIVE
WITH CONFEDERATE FLAGS AND HELMETS AND MILITARY UNIFORMS?
>> I THINK DEMOCRACY IS MESSY AND OUR FIRST AMENDMENT IS WHAT
SEPARATES US FROM BASICALLY ANY OTHER WESTERN DEMOCRACY IN THE
WORLD. SO WE HAVE GOT TO PROTECT THAT,
THERE'S GOT TO BE, THOUGH, I THESE APPROPRIATE POLICE
PRESENCE THAT WAS AVAILABLE ON SATURDAY, SAND MY HOPE, THOUGH,
IS A MORE MORE UNIFORM CONDEMNA OF THESE GROUPS FROM ACROSS THE
POLITICAL SPECTRUM. I WAS VERY PROUD WHEN I SAW SO
MANY OF MY REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES ON SATURDAY EITHER CALL
TWEET OUT MESSAGES CONDEMNING THESE TYPES OF GROUPS.
THERE IS NO SPOT -- THERE IS A SPOT FOR ANYBODY IN THE
POLITICAL DIALOGUE, BUT NOT FOR ANYONE THAT PRACTICES HATE THAT
CALLS FOR RACIST -- A RACIST APPROACH TO OUR COUNTRY.
THAT IS NOT WHAT AMERICAN DEMOCRACY IS BUILT

Sen. Mark Warner: Trump Should Have Denounced White Nationalists Sooner | Andrea Mitchell | MSNBC

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