[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] America's heart is with the victims of the horrific synagogue shooting in Poway, California. Just happened. Our entire nation mourns the loss of life, prays for the wounded, and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community. We forcefully condemn the evil of anti-Semitism and hate which must be defeated. Just happened. Must be defeated.
[Cabrera:] That was President Trump condemning the hateful acts inside a synagogue in Poway, California. It is a theme he has been forced to confront several times since he took office but with varying degrees of success, particularly in the wake of Charlottesville. But tonight, he's receiving praise from the rabbi hurt in yesterday's attack.
[Goldstein:] As I was in my house, I received a personal phone call from our President, Donald Trump. I was amazed to answer the phone and say the Secretary of the White House is calling. And he spent close to 10, 15 minutes with me on the phone. I mean, it's the first time I've ever spoken to a president of the United States of America. He shared with me condolences on behalf of the United States of America, and we spoke about the moment of silence. And he spoke about his love of peace and Judaism and Israel. And he was just so comforting that I'm really grateful to our President for taking the time and making that effort to share with us his comfort and consolation.
[Cabrera:] Joining us now, CNN's senior political analyst and former adviser to four presidents, David Gergen; CNN political commentator and former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings. David, do you think, after all the criticism that this president has received for his response to the violence in Charlottesville or questions about the rise of White nationalism, do you think he has struck the right tone now?
[David Gergen, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Yes, I think he did. I think he deserves credit for that, special credit for calling the rabbi and spending time with him. I think that shows sincerity we haven't sometimes seen from this president. Having said that, you know, the we should agree that Donald Trump is not directly responsible for these shootings in the synagogue or in Pittsburg six months ago. He's just not directly responsible. But the responsibility is, first and foremost, with the White House to set a tone for the country and to deal seriously with the fact that we have a gun culture with too many guns in the hands of mentally retarded they're mentally unbalanced individuals. And we now have, increasingly, in our politics, led by the President who has poured his vitriol onto this culture, has divided people has, in effect, given light, I think, that has been seen by some of the crazies. He's giving more license. And he just hasn't been serious about trying to clean this up or trying to deal with it. Listen to these statistics. The FBI in 2018 came out with a report saying, in the previous 12 months in the previous 12 months, in 2018 that hate crimes against Blacks had increased by 16 percent. Hate crimes against Latinos had increased by 24 percent. Hate crimes against Jews hate crimes against Jews went up 37 percent. Where are the efforts by this White House and by Republicans the Republicans need to choose. Is Donald Trump going to be their role model or in fact is it going to be a fellow who died today, Dick Lugar, who was so, and I think Scott Jennings would agree with this, so bipartisan. A statesman and tried to bring us all together. Which way is this President, which way is this party going to go?
[Cabrera:] Scott, do you think that this administration is doing enough on this issue of white nationalism?
[Scott Jennings, Former Special Assistant To President George W. Bush:] Well, first of all I agree with Mr. Gergen. The President got it just right on this statement. I think calling the rabbi was perfect and I'm glad the rabbi then talked about that, because it, I think, reinforce this issue of anti-semitism, the issue of violence has reached the highest levels of our government and the highest levels of our government are engaging with the people who are directly affected. I think that sends a powerful signal. I also agree. I don't think the President is responsible for people who make violent actions. Frankly, I think we have anti-semitism on the rise around the world not just in the United States, but there is a global rise in anti- semitism. The roots of it, I don't know. I also think right here in the United States we're still grappling with a lost generation of young white males, this cohort of age between 18 and 24 who seem to be off the grid with nothing to live for and therefore willing to engage in violence for terrible, terrible reasons against their fellow citizens. So no one has a silver bullet answer for this, no one has a magic answer. There's not one way to wave a magic wand here, Ana. But I think the President's statement today in his engagement is a step in the right direction, but clearly we have a long way to do.
[Cabrera:] I hope he's turned a corner, because I mean just two days ago he said in his response after Charlottesville when he was questioned about his "very fine people on both sides" comment, he said it was a perfect response. He also just recently about a month ago said that white nationalism wasn't a big problem or didn't see it as a big growing threat. But to your point in his credit seems to be taking it very seriously and say the right things that are helping to heal in this case. David, let me pivot to
[Jennings:] Ana, I think you raised a good point, you raised a great point. What is required in these moments is unambiguous messaging. You have to have clarity. You have to have clear statements that aren't clouded by superfluous words and phrases and that's exactly what the president on this instance. He's done it before. He did it after the Congressional baseball shooting as well. He has it in him to get this right and all we can hope for is that he continues to get it right and continues to improve and then we hope that our politics then affects our culture. But I was proud of the President on how he handled it this weekend because of the clarity of the statements.
[Cabrera:] I mean as we look ahead to 2020, we know Joe Biden sees this as a potential vulnerability for this president using his entire announcement video to rebuke the President's response to Charlottesville. Here's a bit of that.
[Joe Biden, Former United States Vice President:] He said there were, quote, some very fine people on both sides. Very fine people on both sides. Those words the President of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with a courage to stand against it. And in that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime.
[Cabrera:] In talking a strategy here, David, was that a smart play?
[Gergen:] Was that a smart play by Joe Biden?
[Cabrera:] Yes.
[Gergen:] Yes, absolutely and, look, I don't think it's the beginning or it's only the beginning of a campaign, he's going to have to have a much broader narrative about why he should win and why he should be the next president, and he has, but was that a decent place to start? Absolutely. There are some people who think we shouldn't politicize things like Charlottesville or politicize the synagogue. Scott will remember we went through years when Republicans banged on Democrats and I thought was some justification that they were too soft on crime. And now it is the Republicans who bear that responsibility and I agree with Scott that the messaging is important, but what is also important and in fact more important in many ways is whether actions are taken to really change the culture. And a president who is really sympathetic and wants to deal with this would call in leading rabbis from around the country with the law enforcement, he would call in leading advocates for Latinos and African-Americans. How do we deal with these hate crimes in a more constructive way? How do we actually act and not just talk.
[Cabrera:] David Gergen, Scott Jennings, thank you both. Good to have you with us.
[Gergen:] Thank you.
[Cabrera:] Coming up, will he or won't HEA? Attorney General William Barr warning Democrats he may not show up for a highly anticipated hearing this week, so what's behind the tension?