President Trump Vetoes Congressional Bill against President's National Emergency Declaration; Retrospective on President Nixon Compares Similarities with President Trump.
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. President Trump is digging in on the cornerstone of his campaign, a border wall. After the House and Senate passed a resolution to block his national emergency declaration, the president used it as an opportunity to issue his first veto. His reasoning? The invasion that's unfolding at the border, his words. That invasion rhetoric eerily echoing that of the New Zealand gunman who killed 49 innocent worshippers at two mosques. CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta has more.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Surrounded by supporters, the president turned a veto into the day's main event, officially rejecting a bipartisan measure in Congress that rebuked Mr. Trump for trying to use a national emergency declaration to go around lawmakers to build his border wall.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congress has the freedom to pass this resolution. And I have the duty to veto it.</s>ACOSTA: The president also sounded off on the mosque terror attack in New Zealand.</s>TRUMP: It's a horrible, horrible thing. I told the prime minister that the United States is with them all the way.</s>ACOSTA: Earlier in the day, the president offered his condolences, tweeting "My warmest sympathy and best wishes go out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the mosques." But the president's critics question whether that response should have been more forceful in condemning the attack, allegedly carried out by a rightwing extremist. Mr. Trump was asked by reporters whether he thinks white nationalism is a rising threat.</s>TRUMP: I don't really. I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems. I guess if you look at what happened in New Zealand, perhaps that's a case, I don't know enough about it yet. They're just learning about the person, and the people involved. But it is certainly a terrible thing.</s>ACOSTA: As a candidate, Mr. Trump once called for a ban on Muslims coming into the U.S., a campaign promise the administration later tried to turn into policy.</s>TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.</s>ACOSTA: Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke said thoughts and prayers are not enough, adding that attacks like the one in New Zealand are now all too common.</s>BETO O'ROURKE, (D) PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: They're on the rise around the western world. They're on the rise right here in this country. They're part of a larger disease of intolerance that has taken hold in what was thought to be the most tolerant, most open, most welcoming country the world had ever known.</s>ACOSTA: Before the mosque attack, authorities say the killer in New Zealand wrote a long manifesto expressing his anti-Muslim and anti- immigration views, even describing the president as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose. Top White House officials are blasting the notion that the president's rhetoric had anything to do with the violence in New Zealand.</s>KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: He says I'm not a conservative, I'm not a Nazi, it sounds like be an eco-terrorist. And he certainly absolutely is a ruthless killer, and he's to blame.</s>ACOSTA: But just this week, questions are being raised whether the president's rhetoric simply crosses the line. In an interview with the conservative Breitbart website, Mr. Trump bragged about his support coming from, quote, "tough people," saying, "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump. I have the tough people, but they don't play it tough until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad. Very bad." Democrats say the president is playing with fire.</s>SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, (D) CONNECTICUT: I interpret that kind of comment as a danger to peaceful transition of power in our democracy. That's one of the fundamental principles of our constitution, that we have that kind of peaceful transition of power, and respect for the rule of law, which that kind of comment utterly betrays.</s>ACOSTA: The president said he hadn't read the New Zealand killer's manifesto, so Mr. Trump declined to weigh in on that. But as for the president's claim that white nationalism is not a rising threat, he might want to consider recent FBI figures and other figures showing rightwing extremism is a growing concern, from the neo-Nazi violence on the streets of Charlottesville to the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh last year, and now the mosque attack in New Zealand, it is a threat that can't be denied. Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.</s>WHITFIELD: Joining me right now, CNN's political analyst and national political reporter for "The New York Times," Lisa Lerer, Washington bureau chief for "The Toronto Star," Daniel Dale, and CNN.com opinion contributor and "Daily Beast" contributor Dean Obeidallah. Good to see all of you. So Lisa, you first. What does it say, that the president has this platform to strongly condemn white supremacy, but his first response on Twitter to the attack used words like "warmest sympathy" and "best wishes" and didn't even say the word "Muslim," "Muslim community," "Muslim victims," anything like that?</s>LISA LERER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, this is not a president whose known for being cautious with his words, or not wanting to get out in front of an issue. He usually charges right in. So the fact that he didn't automatically jump in and condemn this as an attack of white supremacy is notable, but it is not surprising. We've seen the president condemn hate in the past. But he tends to condemn certain kinds of hate. He was really vocal after the Pittsburgh shooting at the synagogue about condemning anti-Semitism. He's talked about when there was an attack in Egypt against Coptic Christians, about attacks on Christians and condemned that. But when it comes to condemning attacks that are linked to racial issues, that are conducted by people who have ties to white supremacist organizations, he really has not condemned those attacks in the same way, certainly not forcefully, and certainly not without a wave of criticism first.</s>WHITFIELD: Why is he or even the White House not concerned more about that, I mean that avoidance, so to speak?</s>LERER: Well, look, part of the -- the president has played footsy in a way with the groups, and not necessarily white supremacist groups, but people who may share some of those concerns, who may worry about the influx of immigrants coming into the country, or the changing racial composition of the country. So that is part of his base. Now, it may be a small part of his base, but it is part of his base. So it's hard not to see politics at play here. We are in an election year, or we're in his reelection cycle.</s>WHITFIELD: So Dean, in your latest piece for "The Daily Beast," you write, "At this point Trump lies somewhere between an apologist for white supremacist terrorism and a person who inspires people to commit such acts. While ultimately those who commit the violent acts are responsible for their crimes, we can't ignore the connection between people who support Trump and white supremacist violence." So expound on your thoughts there.</s>DEAN OBEIDALLAH, CNN.COM OPINION CONTRIBUTOR: Sure. Politicians can inspire good, bad, and ugly, and Donald Trump, he has continually inspired some of the worst in this country to commit acts. And, Fred, we talk about the big incidents. There is other ones that I note in my article, where people who were arrested who were self-avowed Trump supporters, self-avowed white supremacists, plotting to kill Muslims like in the New Zealand attack, but they thankfully were stopped. And in January, four young men were arrested who were going to New York state to a place called Islamberg, primarily a African-America Muslim community, to kill them. You had three men, self-avowed white supremacists, who were also Trump supporters, sentenced in January to 25 years in prison for plotting to kill Muslims in Kansas, Somali Muslim community. So these incidents are not getting the press they deserve so Americans don't see how dangerous this is. So they would push, I hope, Donald Trump to say, white supremacist terrorism. He called all of it to say radical Islamic terrorism, because you can't solve it if you can't say it, but Trump doesn't have the courage politically to say white supremacist terrorism, and he won't address it.</s>WHITFIELD: And then, Dean, you're particularly incensed that the president doesn't say anything compassionately about Muslim, the victims, the community impacted, particularly in this incident, and beyond.</s>OBEIDALLAH: Absolutely. And in fact, we have the opposite with this man. I'm Muslim and this is a man who has demonized my community in ways that I only saw those on the fringe in the past, the real anti- Muslim bigots. Trump has amplified that, saying Muslims cheered on 9/11 in New Jersey, lying about us, too, Islam hates us. Calling for a ban of Muslims, we are navigating through a difficult time when we think the president of the United States hates us for our faith, but sadly that's where the Muslim community stands right now. It's heartbreaking. I hope things can change. But we are going into an election year. And I fear it is going to be get much worse going into now November 3rd, 2020, with this man.</s>WHITFIELD: So when asked whether white supremacy and nationalism is on the rise, this is just yesterday following the veto, this is the president's response.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you see today white nationalism as a rising threat around the world?</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't really. I think it is a small group of people who have very, very serious problems.</s>WHITFIELD: So you just look back, you know, at when the president is asked about incidents like Charlottesville, Pittsburgh. Here's an example of how he has handled it.</s>TRUMP: I condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides, on many sides. It is a terrible, terrible thing, what's going on, with hate, in our country, frankly, and all over the world. And something has to be done. Something has to be done.</s>WHITFIELD: So Daniel, is there a pattern, is it concerning, if that is the case, that he is ambiguous about things, he is reluctant, he speaks in real vagaries here?</s>DANIEL DALE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "THE TORONTO STAR": Sure, I think there is an obvious pattern, when there was a terror attack perpetrated by a Muslim, to him it's evidence of a group problem, it's a problem with Muslims more broadly. Where in many cases, when there is an attack perpetrated by a white person, especially a white person with rightwing leanings, then it is evidence that this individual person is sick, or demented, or weird. He does not describe it as a group problem in the same kind of way. And I agree with Dean. I think we have to be careful in trying to assert any kind of causality, but it is fact that the president campaigned on a campaign of promoting anti-Muslim bigotry. It was not only the Muslim ban policy. He enthusiastically told an entirely fake story about a U.S. general ordering a massacre of 49 Muslims, coincidently 49, with bullets dipped in pig's blood, and he enthusiastically cited that as a way to combat the terror problem. When a man asked him during the primary in September, 2015, how do we get rid of the Muslims from this country, he said, well, we're looking at a lot of different things. So he has made an active effort to promote this kind of sentiment.</s>WHITFIELD: So Lisa, you talked about potentially, it may not change because we're coming up on election year, but some of this began right after taking office, the Muslim ban, the travel ban. So is it election season that really is the explanation?</s>LERER: Look, I think you can date it even further than that. Don't forget this is a president who became a national political figure, really, by pushing this birther conspiracy against President Barack Obama. So he is someone who has long dabbled in conspiracy theories, particularly those that have links to white supremacy, and those that are deeply tied to anti-Muslim and racial sentiments. So I'm not sure, we have a long pattern of behavior here. It's hard to imagine it changing in any dramatic way, particularly as we move into this election year where the president is going to be more and more eager to court and inflame his base. That is the White House's political philosophy. They believe that it is not about reaching out. It is about firing up the supporters they have. And this is a way that the president at least believes that he fires up a portion of his base.</s>WHITFIELD: Lisa Lerer, Daniel Dale, Dean Obeidallah, thanks to all of you. Appreciate it. We're also following this breaking news out of Paris. We're just learning that police have now detained nearly 200 people in the clashes with the yellow vest protesters. The protests turned violent as police used water cannons and teargas to disperse the crowds, as you see right there. Protesters could be seen throwing rocks, setting up barricades as well. Other groups have been demonstrating for months, starting with the protest on gas tax hikes and evolving into a push against French President Emmanuel Macron's policies. All right, still ahead, the ripple effects of that massive college admissions cheating scandal unveiled earlier this week. Universities now pledging their own investigations. And students now suing, saying they weren't given a fair shot.