here's an 1850 portrait of robert e. lee. been in the army for nearly three decades by the time this portrait was participated. and of course robert e. lee was very much a stupidity not only of military history but history in general. and you can see the quote down here. the best thing for an army on the defensive is to know how to take the offensive at a proper time and to take it. basically what that quote says, it's talking about one big word that i will toss around a few times throughout this talk -- initiative. robert e. lee is always looking to hold on to the initiative. if he has the initiative, george mclellen or the union army or whoever lee is fighting is going to have to dance to his tune. it's very important for the confederacy. so lee wants to take the initiative. and he knows from his studies the only way to do that is to take the offensive. a defensive battle is going to do no more for the army in northern virginia than get a stalemate, a draw. and robert e. lee and the confederate army are not in the business

talking about robert e. lee at the battle of antietam. even before last year's symposium when an e-mail was sent out asking for topic ideas for great defenses of the civil war there was a caveat left in the email that allowed us to quote think outside of the box. and the topic that i propose is the one that i'm proposing or presenting to you now, robert e. lee at antietam and i thought to myself that was going to be a very straightforward presentation about a great defense of the civil war. and the more i started looking into it, i realized that there's a bit more to robert e. lee's defense at antietam than what we had always thought. so as human beings, of course, we are always products of the past. as history buffs, people who love to study the american civil war, we are always reading and looking into what historians before us have said. what i'm going to ask you to do now is for the next 40, 45 minutes, forget everything you have ever heard about the battle of antietam. not everything. because then i got to go from square one. but clo

here's an 1850 portrait of robert e. lee. been in the army for nearly three decades by the time that this portrait was painted. and of course, robert e. lee was very much a student not only of military history, but of history in general. and you can see the quote down here from jomini. "the best thing for an army on the defensive is to know how to take the offensive at a proper time, and to take it." basically, what that quote says, it's talking about one big word that i will toss around a few times throughout this talk -- initiative. robert e. lee is always looking to hold on to the initiative. if he has the initiative, george mcclellan and the union army, or whoever lee is fighting, is going to have to dance to his tune. that's very important for the confederacy. so, lee wants to take the initiative, and he knows from his studies the only way to do that is to take the offensive. a defensive battle is going to do no more for robert e. lee and the army of northern virginia than get a stalemate, a draw. and robert e. lee and t

talking about robert e. lee at the battle of antietam. even before last year's symposium when a letter was sent out asking for topic ideas for great defenses of the civil war there was a caveat left in the email that allowed us to quote think outside of the box. and the topic that i propose is the one that i'm proposing or presenting to you now, robert e. lee at antietam and i thought to myself that was going to be a very straightforward presentation about a great defense of the civil war. and the more i started looking into it. i realized that there's a bit more to robert e. lee's defense at antietam than what we had always thought. so as human beings we are always products of the past. as history buffs, people who love to study the american civil war, we are always reading and looking into what historians before us have said. what i'm going to ask you to do now. is for the next 40, 45 minutes, forget everything you have ever heard about the battle of antietam. not everything. because then i got to go from square one. but close to everyt

as lee later said, a shade came over robert e. lee's face. and shortly after that, robert e. lee decides it is time to leave maryland. and this is where we think that the story of antetum typically ends. lee leaves maryland, gets back to virginia and the armies don't do anything for a while again until fredericksburg. but lee's withdrawal from sharpsburg on the night of september 18th is not really a withdrawal. it's a change of plans. it becomes known as the williamsport plan. here's lee's idea. september 18th his army is going to cross, starting with his cavalry, will cross upstream from sharpsburg, swing north as quickly as possible, get a bridgehead back into maryland at williamsport when lee is then going to follow behind with his infantry, swing it north, re-cross the potomac river into maryland and keep the campaign going. lee is simply looking for room to maneuver when he pulls back from his positions around sharpsburg. from there what is lee's intention in when he gets to hagerstown, here's what he says, one week after the battle of antetum to jefferson davis. when i

robert e lee at antietam. my pleasure is to introduce one of the great emerging voices in the field, kevin pollak. [applause] good morning, everyone. thank you to chris for that humbling introduction and thank you all for being here at my bachelor party. i think we might set a virginia state record for the largest bachelor party in all of history. it is about to get crazy, if you will. talking about robert at the battle of antietam. before last year pasta symposium last year'sby symposium asking for topic ideas , there was a caveat in the email that allowed us to "think outside the box." the topic that i proposed is the one i am presenting to you, robert e. lee at antietam and i thought it would be a straightforward hesitation about a great defense of the civil war. the more i started looking into it i realized that there is a bit more to robert e. lee's defense at antietam than what we have always thought. so as human beings, we are always products of the past. whoistory buffs and people love to study the ame

robert e. lee believed in white supremacy. because robert e. lee made the wrong choice more soldiers died in the civil bar on both sides. a less skilled commander of the confederate army would have lost the war sooner for the south. saving lives on both sides. donald trump knows none of this and never will. donald trump and his white house and his presidential campaign are under investigation tonight for among other things collusion with russia. if donald trump is proved to be guilty of collusion with russia to steal the presidency, there won't be any statutes of president trump in this country. but there might still be stat ice of robert e. lee who committed treason and then forced america into its bloodiest war. general lee's troops killed at least 360,000 union soldiers and general lee led about 260,000 confederate soldiers to their deaths. and robert e. lee got away with all this. but he left a legacy that continues to kill americans today. where's gary? 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico. goin' up the country. later, gary' i h

after all this, he does more than that and i asked him to speak about robert e. lee. robert e. lee on the front lines of battle. let us welcome barton myers. [applause] mr. myers: i want to thank dr. carmichael for letting me speak about one of the greatest battlefield commanders and one of her most controversial american historical figures, robert edward lee of virginia. for the last five years i have been a professor at washington and lee university where robert e lee is very. has become a bit of a cottage industry over the last years for folks. i have dealt with a lot of issues related to lee an historical memory over the last few years. career intarted my the academy i was at the national park service ranger. i live in chancellorsville on the battlefield. i spent a lot of time thinking about robert e. lee. today i want to talk a little bit about lee, one slice of his military career. the moments when he was in the greatest personal danger on the battlefield. had beenobert e. lee commander of the confederate army of northern virginia for precisely 1041 41 days when he of a o

robert e. lee of virginia. for the last five years i've been a professor at be washington and lee university where robert e. lee is buried in the lee chapel museum. so he's become a cottage industry over the last few years for folks and i've dealt with a lot of issues with lee and the historical memory over the last few years. before i started my career in the academy, i was a national parks ranger and lived on the battlefield. so i spent a lot of time thinking about robert e. lee. i want to talk about lee, one slice of his military career. the moments when robert e. lee was in greatest personal danger on the battlefield. general robert e. lee had been the commander of the northern army of virginia6, 1865, he gra staph of a worn confederate battle flag to rally the fleeing remnants of his army. at the battle of sailors creek lee was for the final time personally placing himself in line of battle to lead his soldiers. reaching the crossing of the river road overlooking sailors creek, the disasters which had over

lee. this week it's robert e. lee. i notice stonewall jackson is coming down. i wonder, is it george washington the next week? and thomas jefferson the week after? you really have to ask yourself, where does it stop. george washington was a slave owner. was george washington a slave owner? will george washington now lose his status? >> reporter: the president's words today echo what he said saturday, when he blamed many sides for hatred, bigotry and violence, not condemning then the white supremacists and neo-nazis who participated in the weekend rally. he did denounce them explicitly monday, but today -- >> you had many people in that group other than neo-nazis and white nationalists, okay? and the press has treated them absolutely unfairly. >> reporter: the president said he never spoke with his controversial chief strategist, steve bannon, about his original statement this weekend. >> i like him. he's a good man. he is not a racist, i can tell you that. he's a good person. he actually gets a very unfair press in that regard. but we'll see what happens with m

grant and confederate general robert e. lee. this hour-long talk was part of a day-long seminar on civil war leadership hosted by long wood university in farmville, virginia and appomattox courthouse national historical park. >>> thank you, patrick. our last speaker of the morning here and he'll also be

lee. this week it's robert e. lee. i notice stonewall jackson is coming down. is it george washington the next week? and thomas jefferson after? you really have to ask yourself, where does it stop. george washington was a slave owner. will george washington now lose his status? >> reporter: the president's words today echo what he said saturday, when he blamed many sides for hatred, bigotry and violence, not condemning then the white supremacists and neo-nazis who participated in the weekend rally. he did denounce them ex flis itly monday, but today -- >> 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. >> reporter: the president says he never spoke with had controversial chief strategist, steve bannon, about his original statement this weekend. >> i like him. he's a good man. he is not a racist, i can tell you that. he's a good person. he actually gets a very unfair press in that regard. but we'll see what happens with mr. bann ban

robert e. lee, stonewall jackson. who's next? so foolish and the beauty is being taken out of towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able be to comparably replaced. why do you think he chose these words? our history and saying you're changing the culture. remember his response? >> uh-huh. i think what this is all about is he doesn't like the idea that some people keep dwelling on the past. once again that bar stool unsophisticated person. let the past go. he doesn't understand how the past extends into the present. he doesn't understand what an unpleasant symbol might mean because he is not a victim to one of them being of the ethnicity that he is. and so for him he sees that statues are pretty and i suppose in the aesthetic sense you could say that they are. he doesn't understand that they stand for people who fought to keep black people in chains. that just means let's not go back the past. but for most of us it means a great deal more and for him, he simply doesn't understand significance. here's what it comes down t

grant and confederate general robert e. lee. this hour-long talk was part of a day-long seminar on civil war leadership hosted by long wood university in farmville, virginia and appomattox courthouse national historical park. >>> thank you, patrick. our last speaker of the morning here and he'll also be speaking in the afternoon is william c. jack davis. and mr. davis is from independence, missouri. has a bachelor, masters gree from sa notice

lee. this week it's robert e. lee. i noticed stone wall jackson is coming down. is i george washington next week and thomas jefferson the week after? we do have to ask, where does it stop? you're changing history. i'm not talking about the flee over nazis and the white supremacists. but there were many others. >> and wait, there's more. this is how the president of the united states described the events of friday night. when white nationalists holding tiki torches marched. >> there were people in that rally. if you look, there were people protesting, very quietly. he the taking down of the statue of robert e. lee. >> now, trump play seen a group of people protesting quietly but what is the the rest of us saw. [ chanting ] >> the president's performance today left the political world in utter shock and apparently his aides as well. lawmakers in both parties were rushing to distance themselves. but former kkk grand wizard david duke was delighted, tweeting, thank you, president trump, for your honesty and courage to tell the truth about charlottesville and condemn

robert e. lee, who's built himself up. he's made himself this man he is and he's idolized because he starts winning. he gives the southeast great victories. by the way, to use another modern team, by the time he's lea marching on the road to gettysburg, he's drunk his own kool-aid. by the end of the war because of his personal pride, he cannot quit. he is a brilliant tactician and a good operator. his misfortune is to face an officer ultimately who's not a very good tactician, who's a good operator but is a brilliant strategist, you -- grant. if you're a soldier, if you've studied campaigns, you realize the inherent genius of sam grant. lee, i admire him to a point. but he even writes, if we're locked into petersburg in a siege, it's a matter of time. because of his pride, he cannot quit. lee knows the war is lost but he will not give up. he hides behind the idea that, well, only president jefferson davis can decide that. he can't be the one to make a decision. by the time the break through comes he still knows it's lost.

they were fighting for robert e. lee. they loved him. lee knew by the same -- the same day as high bridge, his sun order nature officers, generals coming to him and saying, sir, is isn't fair. you've lost. it's not fair. right here in farmville, brigade commander who goes to lee while lee is washing up in the morning. he just reads lee the riot act and lee's responses gently, he says, you know, you realize what you've just said is a court martial offense and, you know, basically go and then lee turns his back and walks away. so lee -- more than that, this is a classic example soldiers can't break out of the old pattern. lee is thinking in the that poll onic terms he has studied. napoleon used the tactic of -- but that's when faced well converging enemy forces, instead of moving off -- or retreating nap ollie yon would thrust himself between them, use a small olding force on one side while he troid the other force and turned. and lee is thinking in terms of that. that's what napoleon did. i unite with joe johnston's force in north carolin

lee. this week it's robert e. lee. i notice stonewall jackson is coming down. is it george washington the next week? and thomas jefferson the week after? you really have to ask yourself, where does it stop. george washington was a slave owner. was george washington a slave owner? will george washington now lose his status? >> reporter: the president's words today echo what he said saturday, when he blamed many sides for hatred, bigotry and violence, not condemning then the white supremacists and neo-nazis who participated in the weekend rally. he did denounce them explicitly monday, but today -- >> you had many people in that group other than neo-nazis and white nationalists, okay? and the press has treated them absolutely unfairly. >> reporter: the president said he never spoke with his controversial chief strategist, steve bannon, about his original statement this weekend. >> i like him. he's a good man. he is not a racist, i can tell you that. he's a good person. he actually gets a very unfair press in that regard. but we'll see what happens with mr. bannon.

robert e. lee, a lot has been said about robert e. lee and it's kind of a shame. robert e. lee i think was a man of integrity, a great leader, great general. he was not a traitor to his country. he was a defender of virginia. and you have to understand the context of the times. and yes, he was a slave owner, and that is irreconcilable. but robert e. lee released his slaves before he died. and the men who were -- lost their lives in the north are buried in mrs. lee's garden across the river from here in arlington national cemetery. that's where robert e. lee -- that was his home and now is a cemetery. so i think we have to see all of these things in context. i do completely agree with the charlottesville city council decision to remove this statue, because it's -- robert e. lee had nothing to do with charlottesville. he wasn't born there. there was no great battle there that he was a part of. it was put in out of context of the times, and so we have to remove it. but we do have to think about what our history is, and what it is, and as a country how we overcame these great a

. >> should the statue of robert e. lee stay up? president trump: that depends on the local town of community or the federal government, depending on where it is. >> race relations -- do you think things have gotten worse or better since you have taken office? president trump: they have been frayed for a long time, and you can ask president obama about that because he makes speeches about that, but i believe the fact that i brought in -- it will be soon -- millions of jobs. you see where companies are moving back into our country. i think that will have a tremendous, positive impact on race relations. we have companies coming back into our country. he had two companies that was just announced. we have many companies pouring back into the country. i think this will have a huge, positive impact on race relations. you know why? it is jobs. what people want now is jobs. they want good jobs with good pay. when you watch our race relations will become and we are spending a lot of money on inner cities. we are fixing the inner cities. we a

. >> should the statue of robert e. lee stay up? president trump: that depends on the local town of community or the federal government, depending on where it is. >> race relations -- do you think things have gotten worse or better since you have taken office? pres. trump: i think they got same. or stayed the look, they have been frayed for a long time, and you can ask president obama about that because he makes speeches about that, but i believe the fact that i brought in -- it will be soon -- millions of jobs. you see where companies are moving back into our country. i think that will have a tremendous, positive impact on race relations. we have companies coming back into our country. he had two companies that was just announced. foxconn just announced. we have many companies pouring back into the country. i think this will have a huge, positive impact on race relations. you know why? it is jobs. what people want now is jobs. they want good jobs with good pay. you see that and you watch our race relations will become and we are sp

. >> should the statue of robert e. lee stay up? >> i would say that is up to a local town, community, or the federal government depending on where it is located. >> are you against the confederacy? >> how concerned are you about race relations in america, do you think things have gotten office. >> they've avenue gotten better or the same. they have been frayed for a long time. you can ask president obama about that. he would make speeches about it. but i believe the fact that i brought in, it will be soon, millions of jobs, you see, where come pans are moving back our country. i think that is going to have a tremendous positive impact on race relations. we are going to fix, fixing the inner cities. doing far more than anybody has done with respect to the inner cities. a priority for me. and it is very important. >> are you putting what you are calling alt left and white supremacists on the same moral plane. >> i'm not putting anybody on a moral plane. i am saying this, you had a group on one side, a group on the other came at each

lee. >> should that statue of robert e lee stay up? sentrump: i would say that to a local town, community, or the federal government, depending on where it is located. do you think things have gotten worse or better since you have taken office. >> i think they have gotten better. they have been frayed for a long time. you can ask president obama about it because he made speeches about it. i believe the fact i brought in it will be soon millions of jobs. you see where companies are moving back to our country. that's going to have a tremendous, positive impact on race relations. we have companies coming back into our country. we have foxconn in wisconsin just announced. we have many companies i say pouring back into the country, if it is going to have a huge, positive impact on race relations because it's jobs. what people want now is jobs. they want great jobs with good pay. when they have that, you watch how race relations will be. we are spending a lot of money on the inner cities. we are doing far more than anybody has done with resp

. >> reporter: robert e. lee iv is 94 years old. he is proud of the lee family 2345i7 name, the statues of robert e. lee and his place in history. i asked his reaction to the violence that occurred in charlottesville because of the city's decision to remove the statue of general lee. >> we don't believe in each other, we don't have any love for each other anymore, we don't have any respect for each other anymore. >> reporter: i also asked his reaction to the decision to take down his great grandfather's statue. >> it's something if the people want to take it down, take it down. i have no problem with it. however, as i said, i think if you're going to take it fine. if you had the choice, i'd say let's take that money and build a better history courses. >> reporter: he knows for many people his great grandfather's statue is a symbol of slavery, but he doesn't see it that way. >> he owned slaves only by marriage. and then when he got the plantation back in shape, whatever that meant, and i don't know what that meant, he let them go. >>

robert e. lee goes to west point because it's a free education. and lee, we talk about the american self-made man, there is no better example in the truest sense, a self-made man than robert e. lee. in a sense that he literally makes himself over. he makes himself into the person he wants to be. and it really starts at westpoint where he works out his diction. his speech is not rapid. he doesn't gush. it's called controlled speech. his posture is perfect. his manners will always be the end of his life those of a perfect regency era gentleman. he's not a particularly religious man early in life, and his wife disparages about that until his later years where he undergoes conversion. but robert e. lee works diligently to be the best at everything he does. when he falls in love with mary custis, he still hasn't gotten there. old man custis, the proprietor of arlington, he doesn't want his daughter to mary robert e. lee. because he's from the bad side. they're just about white trash. his father should have been a jailbird. but mary custis, she sticks t

lee. so this week it is robert e. lee. i notice that stonewall jackson is coming down. i wonder, is a george washington next week, and is a thomas jefferson week after? you really have to ask yourself, where does it stop? they were there to protest -- excuse me -- you take a look at the night before. they were there to protest the taking down of the statute of robert e. lee, infrastructure question. >> should the statue of robert e lee state of -- stay up? president trump: that depends on the local town of community or the federal government, depending on where it is. >> do you think things have gotten worse or better since you have taken office? they have been: frayed for a long time, and you can ask president obama about that because he makes speeches about that, but i believe the fact that i brought in -- it will be soon -- millions of jobs. aresee where companies moving back into our country. i think that will have a tremendous, positive impact on race relations. we have companies coming back into our country. he had two companies that just a nance -- just announced

go ahead. >> should the statue of robert e. lee stay up? pres. trump: i would say that is up to a local town, community, or the federal government, depending where it is located. >> race relations -- do you think things have gotten worse or better since you have taken office? pres. trump: i think they got better or stayed the same. look, they have been frayed for a long time, and you can ask president obama about that because he would make speeches about it. but i believe the fact that i brought in -- it will be soon -- millions of jobs. you see where companies are moving back into our country. i think that will have a tremendous positive impact on race relations. we have companies coming back into our country. we had two car companies just announced. foxconn just announced. we have many companies pouring back into the country. i think this will have a huge, positive impact on race relations. you know why? it is jobs. what people want now is jobs. they want good jobs with good pay. and when they have that, you watch how race relations will be. we

. >> should the statue of robert e. lee stay up? president trump: that depends on the local town of community or the federal government, depending on where it is. >> race relations -- do you think things have gotten worse or better since you have taken office? president trump: they have been better. they have been frayed for a long time, and you can ask president obama about that because he makes speeches about that, but i believe the fact that i brought in -- it will be soon -- millions of jobs. you see where companies are moving back into our country. i think that will have a tremendous, positive impact on race relations. we have companies coming back into our country. he had two companies that was just announced. foxconn in wisconsin. we have many companies pouring back into the country. i think this will have a huge, positive impact on race relations. you know why? it is jobs. what people want now is jobs. they want good jobs with good pay. when you watch our race relations will become and we are spending a lot of money on inner

lee. this week it's robert e. lee. stone wall jackson is coming down. i wonder, is it george washington and then thomas jefferson. you have to ask yourself where does it stop? >> reporter: do you think things have gotten worse or better since you took office? >> i think they've gotten better or the same -- look, they've been frayed for a long time.

robert e. lee, stonewall jackson. whose next? washington, jefferson? so foolish. also, he continues, the beauty taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced. a lot to discuss. let's start with ron brownstein joining me now. ron, oh, my dear friend, ron, tell me -- let's start with the statues and the tweet for the president. why is the president -- why does the president want to make this about statues, confederate statues? >> he's trying to blur two lines here. first, he is suggesting that the violence in charlottesville is fundamentally about the statues as if they came from the deep southern culture. it was a pretext for a rally that was about expressing white nationalist views. jews will not replace us. it's not a slogan of the confederacy. second, he is also, you know, he is trying to do a second line saying there is no difference between robert e. lee and george washington and thomas jefferson because they owned slaves. robert e. lee and stonewall jackson led a rebellion against the united states. t

lee, robert e. lee. he didn't think it was a good idea, james grossman, to memorialize him. what do you make of that? >> i'm impressed by his level of humility and perhaps his wisdom in that regard. i wish his political descendents had listened more closely. you just mentioned the absolutely crucial issue which is when people say we can't whitewash history or we can't erase history, the history that is being addressed with these statues is two things. one is the confederacy but more important is the historical context in which these statues were built, which as you say were during the jim crow era. most of these statues were built between around 1900 and 1917, 1920, and between 1955 and 1965. they had a specific purpose. that purpose was less to honor individuals like lee or jackson, which they did, but they did that for a purpose. that purpose was to maintain white supremacy. if you look at the historical context. so yes, take down the statues, maybe leave the pedestals, because the erection of the statues, that is itself an important historical moment. >> james grossman, p

lee named after his grandfather. >> not the general, but he's a robert e. lee in virginia. we worried how many people share his famous name. within 30 miles of the con federal homes -- what is it robert e. lee today? >> it's easy to get messages, remembered. people when i call and say tell them robert e. lee is calling. >> rob says he doesn't have any haters, but with everything happening today, he is certainly taking time to reflect. >> i understand why lots of people react to that name. it's apart of our past. >> should the monuments go? rob says leave it up to each community. >> unless it's a historic artifact. that's something different. if we're talking about, like, a stone that marks a battle or something that happened some where, but it's just a monument that certain people find doesn't represent the full story, i think they have the right to take it down. i think they should have the right to take it down. >> it made all the noise and fear and fury, robert encourages people to talk to him and each other. >> we're not having that conversation. we're bad mouthing each

. >> should the statue of robert e. lee stay up? president trump: that depends on the local town of community or the federal government, depending on where it is. >> are you against the confederacy? america,e relations in do you think things have gotten worse or better since you have taken office? president trump: they have been frayed for a long time, and you can ask president obama about that because he makes speeches about that, but i believe the fact that i brought in -- it will be soon -- millions of jobs. you see where companies are moving back into our country. i think that will have a tremendous, positive impact on race relations. we have companies coming back into our country. we have two companies that was just announced. we have many companies pouring back into the country. i think this will have a huge, positive impact on race relations. you know why? it is jobs. what people want now is jobs. they want good jobs with good pay. when you watch our race relations will become and we are spending a lot of money on inner citie

lee infrastructure question. >> statues of robert e. lee stay up? >> i would say that's up to a local town, community or the federal government depending government, depending on where it is located. >> do you think things have gotten worse or better? >> i think they've gotten better or -- look. they've been frayed for a long time. you can ask bropresident obama about that. he would make speeches about it. i believe the fact i brought in, it will be millions of jobs. you see companies are moving back into the country. i think that will have a tremendous positive impact on race relations. we have companies coming back into our country. we have two car companies who just announced, fox con in wisconsin that just announced. we have many companies, i say pouring back into the country. that i think will have a huge, positive impact on race relations. do you know why? it's jobs. people want jobs. they want great jobs with good pay. when they have that, you watch how race relations will be. and i'll tell you, we're spending a lot of money on the inner citi

protest in some ways against the removal of a statue of robert e. lee and ended with people chanting anti-semitic slogans, he said there were very fine people at this assembly. listen. >> you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. you had people in that group -- excuse me, excuse me, i saw the same pictures as you did. you had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of to them a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from robert e. lee to another name. >> all right. we are getting new reaction from leaders all around the country. there are new developments this morning. want to go first to cnn's jeff zeleny, outside trump tower. what are you learning? >> reporter: good morning. the reaction here at trump tower and indeed at the white house is simply one of people putting their heads down and getting back to work. i talked to one senior administration official a short time ago who told me this. we have work to do and we are

the great great grandson of robert e. lee. what we're losing in american life, we only punish people for things they did. we don't punish you because you look like someone else or sound like someone else. we treat people as individuals. >> we treat each person as individual but it's important to consider context, history. that's what we're dealing with here. >> tucker: that was a justification for the interment of the japanese, wasn't it? it's just context because -- >> the japanese american interment is very different. >> tucker: i don't get it. it's context, right? maybe if we stick to principal -- >> in that case, there was no evidence that was there was no espionage or -- >> tucker: this guy behaved badly at the second battle of manassas. do you hear what i'm saying? >> we're in a different realm here. talking about two different things. we're talking about this individual, robert lee, the sports caster and what espn should have done. we can have debate about that. but i do think it's also appropriate to recognize the cont

. >> does the statue of robert e. lee stay up? >> i would say that's up to a local town, community or the federal government depending on where it's located. >> do you think race relations have gone the better or worse since you have taken office. >> they have been frayed for a long time. you can ask president obama about that because he would make speeches about it. i think the fact that i brought in millions of jobs, you see where companies are moving back into our country. i think it will have a tremendous positive impact on race relations. we have two car companies that just announced. we have foxconn in wisconsin just announced. we have many companies pouring back into the country. they will have a huge, positive impact on race relations. you know why? it's jobs. people want jobs. when they have that, you watch how race relations will be. we are spending a lot of money on the inner cities. we are fixing the inner cities. we are doing far more than anybody has done with respect to the inner cities. it's a priority for me and i

>> one of robert e lee's descendents talks to us about the future of the confederate statue. news at 11:00 starts now. >> we begin with breaking news, the terror attack in barcelona, 13 people are dead and more than 100 were injured. we will get to the latest developments there but will first set the scene. this happened on a stretch of street-- a stretch of street nearly a mile long and it is very popular with locals and tourists. we have been tracking the story all night. >> leslie we just learned this. police say terrorists try to make another attack nearby in a resort town southwest of barcelona. police say they have killed five terrorists. they think this is connected to the original attack there. police have arrested 2 men but the driver who turned a van into a weapon is still at large tonight. >> isis says it is responsible for the terror that left bodies in the streets. late thursday afternoon, a van ripped through this pedestrian plaza. americans were among the tourists who flock here. >> it became absolute pandemonium. and then suddenly everything-- everyone was run

. >> should the statue of robert e. lee stay up? >> i would say that is up to a local town, community, or the federal government depending on where it is located. >> are you against the confederacy? >> how concerned are you about race relations in america, do you think things have gotten worse or better since you took office. >> they've avenue gotten better or the same. they have been frayed for a long time. you can ask president obama about that. he would make speeches about it. but i believe the fact that i brought in, it will be soon, millions of jobs, you see, where come pans are moving back our country. i think that is going to have a tremendous positive impact on race relations. we are going to fix, fixing the inner cities. doing far more than anybody has done with respect to the inner cities. a priority for me. and it is very important. >> are you putting what you are calling alt left and white supremacists on the same moral plane. >> i'm not putting anybody on a moral plane. i am saying thisu group on one side, a group on th

crews taking down robert e. lee and stonewall jackson monument. they started to do it around midnight. also, another crew took down the roger taney statue in baltimore as well. a story developing this hour, we will continue to follow. eun? >>> dozens took part in a peaceful march around the monuments on the national mall saying it had nothing to do with president trump. it started at the jefferson memorial as the sun was going down. there were no torches, just candles. most participants were alumni of uva, others lki they didn't agree on politics but were committed to healing each other. >> this is not about donald trump, this about our community, our university, and also symbols of hate that created this type of conflict. >> extremism that does not help. we're not going to be able to solve the issues unless people are reasoned about it. >> the march ended at the lincoln memorial. the group says they would like to organize more peaceful events like this one so people can talk. >>> today, benjamin stoddard middle school new principal has an informa

robert e. lee was a democrat of course. in addition i don't think we should be giving out participation trophies for those who didn't win something. slavery and the war were divisive. in terms of letting local rule decide whether to let statues go. they are a part of history. i'm not a big believer in seeing them. people use them for cherished memories and identifying parts of what you care about if you will in terms of mount rush more, i don't think that's something we should do in terms of destroying mount rushmore. jesse: that will take a lot to do that. and there will be americans lined up in case someone does something silly? >> i any we should not get rid of these statues. just because we have a statue doesn't mean we are celebrating what happened. it commemorates a moment in history: just like we have a 9/11 memorial. trying to erase history is putting us backyard, not forward. jesse: as an african-american woman. >> put them in museums. we can repeal and replace them like obamacare. jesse: they can't even do that. i