You have to ask yourself, where does it stop. You had a group on one side and you had a grip on the other end they came at each other with clubs and it was vicious, and it was horrible. And it was a horrible thing to watch. What took place was a horrible moment for our country, a horrible moment. But there are two sides. Does anybody have a final, does anybody have a final that was President Donald Trump late today and his charming News Conference from the tower in new york city. In washington, i am bill hammer in tonight for bret baier. Good evening from washington, d. C. The president pouring gasoline on a political fire as a from his saturdays the racial violence in charlotte. He defended his comments and said theres plenty of blame to go around on both sides. He mentioned what he called the altleft who he says violently attack legally permitted protesters. This afternoons impromptu press conference happened during what was supposed to be an announcement about infrastructure and the agenda going forward. But it became, as you just saw, much more than that. Correspondent kevin corke starts us off tonight with more on a sparring session between the president and reporters. Good evening. To put it plainly, it was really Something Else to see. This News Conference encapsulated the president s thinking, reasoning, and frankly his frustration over the events that took place over the weekend in charlottesville in the reaction to it, including his comments, and what he sees as dishonest reporting by the medi media. It started as a statement about his infrastructure plan but instead of pivoting toward the agenda and away from the controversy surrounding the violence over the weekend in charlottesville, the president turned back into the fire storm with a full on News Conference covering his response to the violence in virginia, confederate statues, the status of Senior Advisor steve bannon and even infrastructure. The majority of the questions were about charlottesville and the president saying his initial comments reflected the best information he had at the time. When i make a statement, i like to be correct. I want the facts, this event just happened. In fact, a lot of the event didnt even happen yet, as we were speaking. This event just happened. Before i make a statement, i need the facts. Toy dont want to rush into a statement. The president criticize the media for mischaracterizing who was there and why. Not all those people were neonazis, believe me. Not all of those people were White Supremacists by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statute, robert e. Lee. I think theres going on both sides, and ive no doubt about it, and you dont have any doubt about it either. Mr. Trump questioned the wisdom of removing statues and monuments that pay all managed to figures of american history. This weekend this i noticed Stonewall Jackson is coming down. Is it George Washington next week and Thomas Jefferson the week after . You have to ask yourself where does it stop. And revoking an obamaera executive order that required builders to consider how Climate Change might affect flooding and rising sea levels, President Trump today said by comparison his executive order would make it much easier to get moving on infrastructure projects. No longer will we allow the infrastructure of our magnificent country to crumble and decay. While protecting the environment, we will build gleaming new roads, bridges, railways, waterways, tunnels and highways. I even as the president hopes to direct the focus back on his agenda, his administration is facing new questions tonight about the fate of chief strategy steve bannon, who according to sources, is becoming increasingly isolated in the west wing. Is a good person. He actually gets a unfair press. We will see what happens. Bannon would join a long and growing list of officials to leave of their own accord or be fired since the president took office. Stick with the acrimony in the white house and the first seven months was the fault of great many people. My suspicion is that bannon is part of that. His identification with the old right is unhelpful, particularly in the aftermath of charlottesville. There are concerns inside the white house that should bannon be shown the door, he could actually prove to be a lot more destructive away from the west wing that he might be inside the white house which is why there are a number of people in the white house who feel like, despite the rift with the president , that bannon may not be leaving anytime soon. We are going to talk about the accessibility during the vacation with the panel. In your spirits at the white house, is this the president s decision to take these questions, or is there any conference in the floors upstairs before he comes down . Third administration ive covered. I can tell you without question this is a decision made by the man himself, the president makes the decision. Even when its suggested list, lets play it straight and by the numbers, he may veer off, and i think today may have been an example of that. He seemed to get out a great deal about what he really felt about what happened in the coverage that happened over the weekend as well. Bill thank you. Kevin corke in washington. For on the president s News Conference with our allstar panel. Charles krauthammer, laura ingraham, julie pace a little later in the program. But first, there are new questions tonight about what will happen to confederate statues and monuments all around the country. Some people have already taken the matter into their own hands, as weve seen overnight. Doug mckelway reports in charlottesville. In a sign of still simmering tensions, a man carrying an Assault Rifle held a Confederate Flag at the foot of the robert e. Lee statue in charlottesvilles emancipation park. He was confronted by protesters, ample police intervened and escorted him to a squad car and drove off. That, as activists rented her down the lead statue on their own with chains and trucks were a bulldozer. Its going to happen, jamie dyer told the Richmond Times dispatch. This is a beautifully question and charge you and i dont want to be like the delavan or bolsheviks but this has to go. Thats happened in durham, North Carolina. Protesters, some representing the world workers party, surrounded 1924 statue of a confederate soldier, slipped a court over its neck and yanked it down. Lee stood by and only later promised action. Let me be very clear. Dont make dont mistake restraint for inaction. No one is getting away with this. At 26 teen, North Carolina passed a law that prohibits removing monuments on public property without permission of e historical commission. There are over 1500 confederate symbols in u. S. Public spaces, statues, flags, schools, bridges, buildings. More than 150 years since the civil war, new skirmishes erupting. The Maryland Governor ordered the removal of the statue of Supreme Court Justice Roger taine knee lexington, kentucky,s mayor asking for the relocation of two statues. There is a difference between acknowledging and learning about our history and glorifying it. Its pretty crappy to have a monument to some people who sold human beings as property. In may, city workers in new orleans took down a robert e. Lee statue. These statues are not just stone and metal, not just innocence remembrances of event nine history. These monuments celebrate a fictional, sanitized confederacy, ignoring the death, the enslavement, the terror that it actually stood for. Speak of the biggest battle yet brewing in richmond, virginia. Its monument avenue is home to several statues, and richmonds mayor has suggested a compromise. Keep the monuments but add contextual material. That is not appeasing opponents. Saturday night, many of those richmond confederate monuments were defaced. Historians urging caution. They point to the soviet union were political figures were routinely airbrushed out of history if they fell into political disfavor. The end result of that was in a lot of trouble. It did nothing to erase history and nothing to erase the anger from the other side. Bill thank you. Doug mckelway in charlottesville again tonight. President trump calling Business Leaders who are bailing on his Manufacturing Council grandstanders. A fifth person has stepped out. They are not taking their job seriously as it pertains to this country. Some of the folks that will leave, they are leaving out of embarrassment. Because they make their products outside. I want manufacturing to be back into the United States so that American Workers can benefit. Liz claman joins me from new york. Good evening. This has snowballed a bit, has it not . In the last couple hours, as you saw, richard trumka. Something like 21 million active and retired employees. He is out, and when you talk about the players, we need to explain to people that the president today, its very complicated from both sides, but criticize the ceos, saying he believes they are embarrassed because they manufacture many of their goods overseas. While the ceo say divisive politics and contrasting values are at the heart of their departures from the council, a date ill start with Kenneth Fraser of merck who announced he was leaving, citing his belief in americas leaders having to reject hatred and group supremacy. After the president yesterday called the kkk and White Supremacists republic, three other ceos followed him out the door. Kevin plank, brian percentage of intel who arguably is the biggest feather in the councils cap. Hightech, global, massive. He exited. Then scott paul of the alliance for American Manufacturing said he was leaving the council after frazier announced his departure. President trump tweeted yesterday. More time to lower rip off drug prices. This relationship between he and the president had been sweet less than a month ago. July 20, President Trump welcomed frazier to the white house. Then the president , perhaps playing offense, tweeted today for every ceo that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, i have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. Jobs ceos jump on and off these councils. Weeks ago, disney, elon musk left the council have to be president exited the paris climate accord. This afternoon, walmart ceo Doug Mcmillan put out a statement saying in essence while he was Family Council we too felt the president missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together by unequivocally rejecting appalling actions of White Supremacists. There are many staying on this Manufacturing Council. Bill we shall see what happens. Thank you, liz claman from manhattan. Stocks mixed. Dow gained five points, s p 500 lost a point. Nasdaq down 7. There is that big deadline for the president requiring him to decide by next week whether to cut off subsidies to obamacare Insurance Companies. Thats a move the congressional Budget Offices warning could blow up Health Insurance premiums for many, as well as the federal deficit. Ed henry looks at the numbers and what they mean. President trump has been touting it as a virtual backdoor way to crush if not outright repeal obamacare. Possibly cutting off federal subsidies that Insurance Companies use for discounts on coverage for low and middle income americans. The best thing we can do politically speaking is let obamacare explode. An explosion is exactly what the Budget Office is forecasting if the president goes through with terminating costsharing reductions payments. The cbo warned that gross premiums for silver plans opposite the market places would be 20 higher in 2018 and 25 higher by 2020. Killing the subsidies would mean 194 billion added to the federal deficit. However, on the Positive Side for the president , the cbo also suggested the number of people without Health Insurance would be slightly lower in two years if he cuts off the subsidies. With insurers in line to get 10 billion in these payments next year, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer jumped on the new report to charge tried to wriggle out of his responsibilities as he might, the cbo report makes clear that if President Trump refuses to make these payments he will be responsible for American Families paying more for less care. Hes the president and the ball is in his court. American families await his action. A bigger headache for the president maybe hes on another collision course with Mitch Mcconnell who has said in the wake of the failure to repeal obamacare. Marketplaces have to be short appeared republican Lamar Alexander has urged the president to keep making the subsidy payments on the senator can work democrats to stabilize the exchanges in september. Without payment of these costsharing reductions, americans will be hurt. The president can shortcircuits that by stopping the next round of subsidies. The last time he tweeted about this, the president warned of obamacare was not rebuilt or replaced he would cut off what he called bailouts for Insurance Companies. Bill thank you, ed henry here in washington. What did they know, when did they know what . New report says the Obama Administration was well aware of russian plans to undermine u. S. Democracy. Democracy. That report is for years, centurylink has been promising fast internet to small businesses. But for many businesses, its out of reach. Why promise something you cant deliver . Comcast business is different. We deliver superfast internet with speeds of 250 megabits per second across our entire network, to more companies, in more locations, than centurylink. We do business where you do business. Bill Catherine Herridge tonight on what they knew, when they knew it and why nothing was apparently done about it. After political reported the Obama Administration was warned by National Security officials as early as 2014 that the russian government was acquiring tools to disrupt u. S. Elections, President Trump tweeted. According to report, president obama knew about russian interference three years ago but didnt want to anger russia. Congressional source independent lee confirmed to fox that after russias annexation of crimea and efforts to influence the ukraine president ial election, there was deep concern putin was developing the capacity to influence other elections. These warnings, according to the republican chairman of the house intelligence committee, were dismissed because the Obama Administration wanted to reset its relationship with moscow. Nunez told fox tuesday he stood by the statement for march. Committee members have issued repeated and forceful pleads for stronger action against russian belligerents. The Obama Administration was committed to the notion against all evidence that we could reset relations with putin. And routinely ignored our warnings. Edward price countered the Obama Administration was nothing but proactive. The measures did not constitute the sum total of our retaliation in the faves of moscows aggression. At a recent conference, price and another official said their efforts were eclipsed. On october 7, when the Us Government formally attributed the meddling to the seniormost levels of the russian governmen government, at 3 30 p. M. And at 4 00 p. M. , and access Hollywood Tape comes out via the Washington Post and at 5 00 p. M. Or later that afternoon, you have John Podestas emails trickling out. At dinner with a Clinton Campaign staffer and all he could talk about was the access Hollywood Tape. Its not clear how widely the intelligence about russia was shared in 2014 and whether it reached a policy level. Bill thank you, Catherine Herridge in washington. The Justice Department wants to know whos visiting an antitrump website. Ordering the Web Hosting Service for the site to turnover data. The Company Fighting the order the concerns distruptj20. Org. Says the search warrant cannot survive First Amendment scrutiny. Doj says the website was used in the developed and planning of a violent riot in washington on january 20. Voters in utah and alabama going to the polls right now to vote in a special election. In utah, three republican candidates are in a race to replace the retired utah congressman jason chaffetz, now a fox news contributor. Whoever wins today will face a democratic challenger november in that state. Also today in alabama, voters choosing among nine republican candidates hoping to fill the seat of former senator and current attorney general jeff sessions. If no one gets to 50 in that race, there will be a Runoff Election next month in alabama. Up next, north korea backs down as iran threatens to gear up. Plus the panel weighs in today on President Trumps late day News Conference. I want to make sure when i make a statement that the statement is correct. And there was no way, there was no way of making a correct statement that early. I had to see the facts, unlike a lot of reporters. Bill the taliban has released an open letter to President Trump calling on him to withdraw u. S. Forces out of that country after 16 years of war in afghanistan, the letter saying the president has recognize the errors of his predecessors by seeking a review of u. S. Strategy. The pentagon has recommended an increase of about 4,000 troops. North korea may have blinked first in a Nuclear Standoff with the u. S. The leader kim jong un has apparently decided to wait on a Missile Launch toward the u. S. Territory of guam. Senior Foreign Affairs correspondent greg palkot tells us where we are tonight. Back from the brink, for the moment. After north korean officials presented a plan to leader kim jong un about launching missiles or the u. S. Territory of guam, state media reported he decided to hold a fire and watch a little more of the foolish and stupid conduct of the yankees. Some say threats of military action by President Trump made the difference. In the past, weve not really used that credible threat of military force, and that may have an impact on the leader of north korea. That message backed up by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and defense secretary mattis. We are part of a sentinel for our nation and we stand ready. Beyond tough military talk, many think diplomatic and economic measures by the administration and others, including china, swayed the regime. Secretary of state tillerson said hes open to negotiation with kim jong un. We continue to be interested in finding a way to get to a dialogue, but thats up to him. As south korea marked the anniversary of a victory over japan in world war ii, its president talked of heading off new nuclear war. Translator they government will do all it can to prevent a war from breaking out. No matter what twists and turns we undergo. The north Korean Nuclear problem must be addressed in a peaceful manner. Also relieved by the president piece, the people at officials on the island of guam. We are happy the rhetoric is starting to calm down perhaps in kim jong un not pursuing his threats to fire missiles at guam. As North Koreans mark their victory over japan, the regime was still talking about the victory over the u. S. , threatening to revive if guam the attack plan if the u. S. Was reckless. U. S. South korean joint military exercises had to start next monday have been harshly criticized by the north korean regime, a new, possibly Nuclear Trigger point could bloom again. Bill greg palkot in london. Now to iran, tehran threatening to restart its Nuclear Weapons program, after new u. S. Sanctions announced. Rich edson is the latest. Irans warning to the United States, stop hitting us with more sanctions or we are pulling out of the nuclear deal. Translator iran will certainly within a short period not on a scale of weeks or months but on a scale of hours and days. Irans president threatened the restored Nuclear Program would be more dangerous than the one suspended two years ago. Translator if the u. S. Administration is willing to repeat previous experiences, we will return to a much more advanced position then when they talk started. United states and iran clashing around the edges of our 2015 iran nuclear agreement. The Trump Administration claims iran has violated the spirit of that deal. Im not going to respond to that threat or the hypothetical from the president. The Trump Administration remains committed to countering a full range of threats iran poses. Ballistic Missile Launches, human rights violations, and support of extremist groups across the middle east. Iranian activities largely outside the scope of the nuclear agreement. Some lawmakers chanted death to america, Irans Parliament voted to spend more on the Ballistic Missile program and revolutionary guard corps foreign operations. The Trump Administration is catalyzed iran through sanctions for that behavior, though it is twice certified iran is complying with the major components of the nuclear deal. And continues to spend sanctions against iran for nuclear activities. State Department Says the administration is examining the full u. S. Policy towards iran including whether to remain in the nuclear agreement. Also known as the jcpoa. We believe that what iran is doing is destabilizing and that the jcpoa doesnt fully recognize and copperhead and encompass the destabilizing activities iran is engaged in. Trump administration is given no timeline for policy review. The Administration Must a handful of senior republican senators urge the state department to reject the certification. The next deadline is in october. Bill rich edson reporting. President trump goes to war with reporters over racial violence in virginia. We will talk about that with the panel after the break. Im not putting anybody on a moral plane. What i am saying is you had a group on one side and your group on the other and they came at each other with clubs, and it was vicious and it was horrible and it was a horrible thing to watch. But there is another side. There was a group on the side. You can call them the left. You just call them the left. They became violently attacking the other group. Say what you want but thats what it is. This week it is robert e. Lee. I noticed Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder is a George Washington next week and Thomas Jefferson the week after . You really do have to ask yourself where does it stop. You had people, and im not talking about the neonazis on the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally. You have many people in that group other than neonazis and white nationalists, okay . The press has treated them absolutely unfairly. Now, in the other group also, you had some fine people but you also had troublemakers. You see them come with the black outfits and the helmets and the baseball bats. Youve got a lot of bad people in the other group. Bill that from the lobby of the drum tower earlier today. We should stay late this afternoon, a surprise questionandanswer session with President Donald Trump. It was an instructional event that was quickly, it was overridden with questions about virginia and the clarification that came after that, the explanations. Questions and on and on it goes. Editorinchief of Lifezette Laura Ingraham and julie pace and White House Correspondent for the associated press. Associated syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. Julie, lay down the facts for how this came about today. Why today, whats the back stor story . Sick of the president was planning to go to the lobby of trump tower to talk about infrastructure. He was flanked by members of his cabinet and we had been told, journalists that been told he was not going to take questions. He was just going to make a statement. This was trumps decision. He decided that he wanted to take questions and aides said afterwards it was his decision to take questions and his decision to revert back to his initial statements on the violence we saw around the university of virginia over the weekend. I think what this clarified is that the cleanup effort yesterday that was largely driven by advisors of the president trying to get him to get ahead of the criticism and get past it, he was an unwilling player. The statements we heard today down and really reiterated the initial comments he had that this was a problem on both sides. Bill laurel, what did you think . Was he defending, explaining . I like to think about it this way. Is he advancing his agenda with what happened this afternoon . I will say when you had gary cohn talk about hitting the ground running on tax reform, spent the whole day. I wanted to hear more. Thats great. And then we got sidetracked on this horrific event over the weekend which he had made the statement about. That was really, really good. Couldve been more specific on saturday but when he said we it must love each other, show affection, unite together. It was great yesterday. Today he is really torched about people conflating trump support with white nationalists. You can see it and hear it in his responses, and i understand that. Hes not there to win every debating point. People want to see a calm president in the storm. I think today, he made some points that were factually rights. There was violence on both sides in that event saturday. Anyone who watched the video could see it. Hes not there to win every point. He is there to calmly guide the nation through what at the moment is a very troubled time. Advance an agenda of economic empowerment, streamlining regulations, and keeping very optimistic and positive about the american spirit. When he does that, i think its really positive. Today i think he got caught in the pundit trap. To critique what he did today on the grounds that it distracts from the agenda or was a tactical mistake, i believe is a copout. What trump did today was a moral disgrace. What he did is reverted back to where he was on saturday. Made it very clear that what he read on sunday was or monday, two days later, was a hostage take. Clearly reading off a prompter, saying these denunciations by name of the kkk et cetera. That wasnt trump speaking. That was the aids speaking. The reason its a moral disgrace is this generation, for the last 50, 60 years, all the modern president s. Woodrow wilson, you could say was exempt. They understood it was something unique about the history of slavery and racism in this country that we had to cure this original sin. It was not cured by the civil war, as lincoln had hoped, because it was followed by 100 years of statesponsored oppression. The quality of rights, this generation, the last 50 years have done a splendid job and redeeming itself. What trump is missing here is the uniqueness of white supremacy, kkk, nazism. Yes, there were bad guys on both sides. Thats not the point. This was instigated, instituted, the riots began over a nazi rio riot, nazi rally. The only killing here occurred by one of the pronazi people. Bill if youre looking for nuance, from this president come hes not going to give you nuance. I am not asking for nuance. Bill you may not like what they are saying and its hate speech and you can disagree but we fought and died for it. Racism is evil. Those who engage in violence are criminals and thugs. Charles assange donald trump doesnt mean that. If you are going to say donald trump is racist or stupid who is doing a hostage take, i guess you can tell our viewers that. I resent what you said it was a copout what i said. To critique what he did today is what we were asked to do. Im not going to pass moral judgment on whether donald trump is morally on the same plane as you are, charles. Im sure you are a better person than he has. He had a moment today where he could have been calm and could have gone through the facts of what happened again if necessary address the issue of the day which is to get this infrastructure going in this country. Getting caught in the trap of the left which is what the media wants us to do is not going to help a single black person get a job, a single hispanic person have a better life. We have to be honest about the evil of racism and also honest about the evil of the far left that is trying to tear down history and intimidate free speech in the country. Thats not defending neonazis, not defending White Supremacists, stating a fact about antifa. I never said he was defending neonazis. We are not discussing jobs, we are not discussing an agenda. We are discussing the unique role of a president of speaking for the moral conscience of a country going all the way back to abraham lincoln. Not comparing him to me. Comparing him to his great predecessors and to the modern predecessors who, on occasions like this, would rise to the occasion, speak on behalf of americans, and denounce unequivocally he did that. Yes, but that he tempered it today. He undid all that by saying yes, reading the statement yesterday, what he really meant is there was anger, violence, evil on both sides. Bill laura. Missing the point here. Bill your position is leave the statement as it was made on monday. I think the statement yesterday was clear and strong. And it was compassionate. He should have said it saturday. I have no i idea why he didnt. Its not about the statues. Its not about people being offended by the statues. Its about power and control. Whats going on with the debate in this country people drive by the statues every day. People dont even know whats on the statue. Now its become a symbol. Tear down statues, take them down. Now what, are we going to put people back to work . White supremacy, evil. Violence, evil. Murder, terrorism, what happened to that poor woman, evil. Hes called out that it will never be enough for the people who despise him and his agenda. There are people on the right and people on the left who do not want him to succeed no matter what. Did he make tactical mistakes . Yes. No idea why he didnt say on saturday. I will tell you why. Because thats not whats in his heart. You can read a heart. You really are a phd. Yesterday when he was reading off a prompter, he was not asked to do the press conference. His staff was shocked he went into this. The reason he did it, he has a point to make and he made it very plain to the country that what he believes in what he feels is what he said on saturday and not what he read two days later. Bill this conversation will continue in a moment. We are going to enter a part of this debate is even more complex than what weve seen already. This is fascinating. Coming up when we continue. I like mr. Bannon, hes a friend of mine. He came on late. I went through 17 senators, governors. I won all the primaries. Mr. Bannon came on later than that and i like him, hes a good man. Hes not a racist, i can tell you that. Hes a good person. He actually gets a very unfair press in that regard. But we will see what happens with. For years, centurylink has been promising fast internet to small businesses. But for many businesses, its out of reach. Why promise something you cant deliver . Comcast business is different. We deliver superfast internet with speeds of 250 megabits per second across our entire network, to more companies, in more locations, than centurylink. We do business where you do business. I think there is blame on both sides. You look at both sides, i think there is blaine blame on both. I have no doubt about it and you dont either. And if you reported it accurately, you would see. Bill from the press conference. We moved to another issue. If you look at the number of cities in america in the south and southeast that have confederate symbols, the list is long. These are cities that are either removing or considering it. Nashville, baltimore, louisville, jacksonville, lexington, gainesville. If you look at next map, the red dots, they represent 718 confederate monuments and statues that remain. 300 of them in georgia, virginia, or North Carolina. According to the southern poverty law center. In addition to that number, there are 109 Public Schools named for robert e. Lee, the confederate president , Jefferson Davis rather. More figures in the civil war era in the south. We wonder where it goes from here. This really is one of the fundamental statements the president is making. What do you do with this . He said ultimately where does it stop. I think more speech is better than last speech. I think what a lot of folks want is to not be offended. That would be a nice world to not be offended. To be able to walk down the street and never see anything that offends your personal sensibility. There is extreme sensitivity, with good reason, and the issue of slavery and the civil war and all that was done. But i think donald trump rightly said, maybe it wasnt the right time. Where does this end . The seven poverty law center, which has its own issues with being fair and unfair, apparently is drawing a line that they are not yet in favor of digging up the graves of confederate soldiers. I guess we are not going to do that. But could that happen . You dont know where this goes. I lived in the old soviet union. I remember the history books there. They did a good job whitewashing history. I think its better to confront the evils of the past and get through them with truth and understanding. And i hope, a lot more love. Bill charles, you and i were discussing this last night. Where does it go . Its a complicated question because it does not have an easy answer. Its not a question of scaring people offense. Its a question of, when you have a public monument, you are making a public statement. You are saying certain things as a society and you want to elevate or glorify or honor certain people. The question is, when its associated with the cause that involves slavery, what do you do . I think there is an interesting to be learned from those who suffered in the civil war who were closer to the carnage and the pain. If you go to Arlington National cemetery, which is a union cemetery, and you go to section 16, believe it or not, thats a section of confederate soldiers who are not dog up, were buried there by their union compatriots with money monument honoring the south without giving glory to the cause. I think the reason theyre so much heat around the monuments is not so much having to do with the civil war. I think the problem is some on the far right extreme right, kkk, neonazis, have decided that they will adopt the symbols of the confederacy as a symbol of their beliefs. It complicates things. Many monuments were not established after the civil war. They were established in the 1960s as a way of expressing defiance for civil rights. There is a complicated history here. I would prefer to leave them up, but if they become symbols and centers of racism and need neonazis and the kkk, then theres a case for bringing them down. Bill for the local communities to decide, the president made the case. Reports out today that steve bannon is on thin ice. H. R. Mcmaster was asked about it on sunday. U. N. Steve bannon Work Together in this white house or not . I work with a broad range of talented people and its a privilege every day to enable the National Security team. Can you and steve bannon work in the same white house . To go im ready to work with anybody who will help advance the president s agenda and advance the security, prosperitf the american people. Will he be gone . That is up to the president. If it was up to me, he would be gone, but its not up to me. Bill i dont know if the frazier knows but julie pace, is it thin ice or not . We have been through these cycles with trump involving bannon and other senior staffer staffers. Bannon is trying to keep his head down this week but he knows hes under pressure. People who i have talked to say this feels more real than its felt in previous attempts to push them out. Ultimately this rests with trump and we know trump can go back and forth on these personnel decisions. He did not give a rousing endorsement of bannon in the Trump Tower Press Conference today. Trump tends to change his mind pretty quickly. Bill thanks to all the panel. Julie, laura, charles. Constipated . Trust 1 doctor recommended dulcolax. Use dulcolax tablets for gentle dependable relief. Suppositories for relief in minutes. And dulcoease for comfortable relief of hard stools. Dulcolax. Designed for dependable relief. Bill finally tonight, the Arlington County Virginia Police they want a lot of their residence to attend an upcoming block party. So much so they have done a Promotional Party and that has gone viral. Five officers armed with goggles and swim caps with their uniforms. Jumping in the pool. And this is part of their synchronized swimming routine. Its august. Its summertime. They say it took several days to make the perfect video. We had so many takes because we were laughing so hard. Humanizing the bad. For taking something some people have one perspective of, be it good or bad, and then showing them, you know, hey, you strip us down, we are just like you. Bill good deed. Well done. Thanks for watching us tonight. Im bill hemmer in for bret baier live here in washington, d. C. Stay with us throughout the evening here. Tipped reaction from the president s comments from the lobby of trump tower earlier today. Martha takes over on a moment on the story. Tucker follows at 8 00. The five will be with you at 9 00 and sean hannity at 10 p. M. Eastern time. Full reaction. And where we go next. Tomorrow rob it is august 16th, blame on both sides, donald trump sparking a new firestone taking on the old left reiterating hate is not welcome in our country. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. There is blame on both sides. Rob big press conference, with bipartisan backlash the president is facing. And american killed on american soil by a nazi is not acceptable. Heather Michael Moore using his broadway audience to protest the president. Breaking out overnight. Rob new york city mayor Rudy Giuliani was rushed to the hospital. Fox and friends first starts now. Heather good morning to you, it is a lovely day to wake up and get the day started with fox and friends first on wednesday. Thanks for starting your day with us at 5 00 on the east coast, donald trump sparking a new firestorm taking on the alt left and defending his comments, his initial comments on the chaos in charlottesville. Sparking backlash from both sides of the aisle. Garrett tenney has the latest reaction from washington. Reporter donald trump doubling down on his initial comments following his initial science that many sides were to blame. In a wideranging conference it trump tower he specifically called out groups in the socalled all left. What about the alt