happening now, breaking news. controversial visit. president trump travels to pittsburgh despite pleas to postpone the trip while the city reels from the synagogue massacre. local officials are noticeably absent as the president visits the scene of the attack. is he taking the focus off the victims? protesting the president. thousands of people marched near the synagogue in opposiion to the president's presence while jewish activists accused him of 'em boldening a growing white nationalist movement. constitutional stunt. another attempt by president trump to rally his base around immigration, this time threatening to single handedly defy the constitution and deny citizenship to children born in the united states to non-citizens. stone on the phone. special counsel robert mueller reportedly focused on long-time trump adviser roger stone and conference calls in which he talks about wikileaks and its founder, julian assange.

what did stone know about hacked democratic e-mails. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room". ♪ this is "cnn breaking news." we're following breaking news. a controversial visit by president trump to pittsburgh as the first funerals are held for rick tips of the synagogue massacre. the president is there despite pleas from local officials to postpone the trip as the city reels from the deadliest anti-semitic attack in u.s. history. tonight, mr. trump's presence has sparked a large protest with the president accused of insightment through his heated and divisive rhetoric. i will talk about the breaking news with the pennsylvania attorney general, josh shapiro, and our correspondents, analysts and specialists are also standing by. first, let's go to pittsburgh. our white house correspondent kaitlan collins is there at the tree of life synagogue where the president visited just a little

while ago. kaitlan, update our viewers right now. where is the president, where is the first lady right now? >> reporter: wolf, right now they're at upmc presbyterian, a hospital just a ten-minute drive from the synagogue that i'm standing outside of right now, and that is where several of the victims from saturday who were shot were treated originally. now, president trump is there, he is visiting with the medical staff that treated those patients and also some of the police officers who were shot on saturday here as well, including one who, according to the white house, is still in the intensive care unit. that is something that president trump told us he wanted to do right from the beginning, he wanted to be able to meet with the first responders and those who had treated those and those who had gone into this shooting despite knowing there was an active shooter inside of there. now, before that the president made an unannounced trip to the tree of life synagogue, and we weren't sure he was going to come here whenever the white house first announced he was going to be visiting pittsburgh to pay his respects. but he, the first lady, melania

trump, ivanka trump, jared kushmer, all arrived here earlier. they were greeted by the israeli ambassador and then went inside with the rabbi, jeffrey myers. while they were inside the entrance, not inside the actual synagogue because, of course, it is still an active crime scene and we saw fbi agents going in and out all day long. while in there, wolf, they lit a candle for each of the 11 victims from saturday's shooting. then they came outside. we saw them walk out here. there a star of david for each of the 11 killed with their named on it. this is where people have been coming to pay their respects all day, wolf, laying flowers, bringing balloons, signs saying they do not want any hate in this community. now, when the president and first lady came out here, he came and walked along the stars, he paused at some of them, they placed a stone on each one and really took a moment to reflect, wolf, while the treasury secretary, steven mnuchen, ivanka trump, jared kushner and other white house staffers remained outside watching it all happen, while, of course, the

reporters were here watching as well. then he went on to the hospital where he is now. but, wolf, i do want to note one thing we have seen here, and that is an obvious backdrop to all of this and something we talked about before the president arrived. there are several people in this community who think this is an ill-timed visit from president trump. we heard it the loudest from this mayor of pittsburgh who said he didn't think it was an appropriate time for the president to visit and they wanted him to wait until they had buried the dead. they said it wasn't the appropriate time to come. all of this conversation about the president's rhetoric, and we have seen protesters in the area protesting peacefully the president's visit here today. now, wolf, while the president was inside the entrance lighting those candles for the victims of saturday's shooting, we could actually hear the victims from right outside. now, it wasn't just us out here. the chief of staff, john kelly, several other senior white house officials were standing out here as well. you can only assume when president trump came out here to visit those stars, to pay his respects, he could likely hear those protesters protesting his visit here to pittsburgh as

well, wolf. >> i'm sure the president wasn't very happy about that. kaitlan, we will get back to you. thank you very much. cnn national correspondent miguel marques is also in pittsburgh, only about a block or so away from the tree of life synagogue. miguel, we have seen the protesters marching as the president visited the synagogue. what is going on now? >> reporter: yeah, i want to show you exactly where we are. we are at murray and forbes avenues, and there are thousands of people who have marched today. they started much earlier today. they've gathered at the sixth presbyterian church here and will have a series of speakers. it has been for the most part peaceful. the there were some concerns when the president left, you could hear the sirens when the march started earlier today, it wasn't quite clear what was going to happen. there were a couple of different groups that ended upcoming together and then marching as one. there was a really amazing moment as marchers went by the fire station and police station nearest the synagogue. they just started applauding the

firefighters and the police officers who stood outside. some of them running up to them and hugging them. some of those police officers starting to tear up. this is such a close neighborhood. walking around here today, there was not a person who had a dry eye. people walking their dogs, people in the park, people just walking down the street, everyone keyed on this, everyone talking about it and everybody very emotional about it. when they knew the president was coming, he was clearly not welcome in this neighborhood. they felt that he just added an element to their grief that was just not welcome. wolf. >> yeah, they were clearly fired up earlier in the day. before the singing, they were pretty angry that the president was there. >> reporter: they were incredibly angry. now it has been a lot of prayers all day. it has been a lot of jewish traditions and customs. there was one point where they tore small black pieces of paper and held them up for several minutes to signify that they are

not whole, that they have lost so many in their neighborhood. you talk about squirrel hill, you talk about, you know, this being literally mr. rogers' neighborhood where fred rogers was from and where he lived and where he died, it is that neighborhood. people are that close. everybody knows everybody, and what happened a flew blocks from here on saturday has just shot through every single person in this area and through this town and across allegheny county. i have been all over this place, and people who are so tough -- these are blue collar, tough, steel-working people, the tears flow everywhere i go, wolf. >> totally understandable. thank you, miguel. all of this is unfolding just one week before the midterm election, which has the president making an all-out push for republicans. let's go to our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta. jim, the president has been ramping up his rhetoric as election day nears. >> reporter: he certainly hats, wolf. the white house says president trump is not on a political trip

to pittsburgh. he is simply there to offer condolences to a grieving community, but the president appears to be on a political mission nearly everywhere else he goes with the strategy of divide and conquer to come out on top in next week's midterm elections. >> mr. president, any message for the people of pittsburgh? >> reporter: with the first lady at his side, president trump traveled to pittsburgh, a city in mourning after the mass shooting at the tree of life synagogue. the city of pittsburgh is split over mr. trump's presence with some community leaders wishing he would stay home. >> we are trying to heal right now, and, yeah, i think a later time would be better. >> reporter: while the synagogue's rabbi left his door open. >> this is not about any one person. this is about hate and that good must win. >> reporter: mr. trump is igniting passionate reactions with nearly every move he makes in part because he is inflaming a bitterly divided country. just one week before the mid terms the president is resurrecting a controversial proposal he has made before, to

end birthright citizenship in the u.s., something he claims he can do with an executive order. >> it was always told to me you needed a constitutional amendment. >> right. >> you don't. >> reporter: but he's wrong. the 14th amendment to the constitution guarantees citizenship to people born in the u.s.. presidential scholars and members of congress from both parties agree mr. trump would have to amend the constitution. >> well, you obviously cannot do that. you cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order. >> reporter: the citizenship issue is straight out of the president's midterm playbook to energize his base with racially-loaded rhetoric, like his claim that the convoy of migrants, many women and children, heading for the border is an invasion requiring a military response when it doesn't. >> i don't know how much political calculus he has put into this. i think maybe he thinks there is, but my point is i don't like it. i don't think it is effective. it is not good for our country. >> reporter: the president is also using questionable language in describing florida democratic candidate for governor, andrew

gillum. >> look, here is a guy who in my opinion is a stone-cold thief, a disaster. >> reporter: that followed a tweet from mr. trump that described gillum's opponent as a harvard educated man. gill lum fired back saying, i heard trump ran home to "fox news" to lie about me, but as my grandmother told me never wrestle with a pig. you both get dirty but the pig likes it. the white house is scrambling to clean up after the remarks. mr. pence tried to claim that mr. trump respects the american press, despite dubbing some news outlets the enemy of the people. >> this is often mischaracterized by some, the president says fake news is the problem, not news. >> reporter: the question is whether any will have an impact on the midterm as democrats are hopefully voters have grown weary of the president's rhetoric. >> i am sick and tired of this administration. i am sick and tired of what is

going on. i am sick and tired of being sick and tired and i hope you are, too. >> reporter: and the president's attacks on the press are also right out of the president's midterm playbook. a source close to the white house says inside and outside advisers are urging the president to keep on slamming the media despite the pipe bombs made to cnn just last week. wolf, perhaps the president is having trouble coming across as a uniter in pittsburgh tonight because so many americans across the country see him as an inciter. wolf. >> jim acosta at the white house. thank you very much. i want to get more on all of this. the pennsylvania attorney general josh shapiro is joining us. thanks so much for joining us. a sad day for clearly everybody in pittsburgh, throughout pennsylvania, indeed throughout the nation. let me get your thoughts on the president of the united states right now. you said yesterday that the president hasn't risen to the level that americans need him to, at least not yet. do you think the visit today will make things better?

>> well, we will see, wolf. we will see what comes after this visit, whether he offers words of healing, words of unity, or whether he continues to divide us with his speech and with his tweets. i think the ball is really in the president's court. as i've said before, i think we need a healer in chief. we need someone to help tone down the political rhetoric, turn the temperature down on that, and bring people together. words matter, wolf, and the president so far has failed to find the words to bring the american people together. >> what do you make of the protesters in pittsburgh who came out only a block or two away from the tree of life synagogue to protest against the president's visit? >> well, wolf, i was on those streets just a day or two ago and i was visiting with a lot of the people in the squirrel hill community. just an incredibly wonderful and diverse place. they're sad. they are angry, and they're trying to channel that sad and, you know, angry feelings into

something that is constructive. so they come out on to the streets peacefully and they stand arm in arm, and they speak up and they lift their voices, and that's the american way. that's what they should be doing at this time of grief. sadly, i think the president's presence there today and those protesters who came out in the street to follow the president's visit distract from the real issue, and that is the 11 pittsburghers, the 11 pennsylvanians, the 11 americans who have to be buried today and in the days ahead. the focus should be on them and the lives they lived and the indelible marks that they left in our community, and that is the story that i hope people would focus on. >> as you know, there are some white nationalists out there who believe that the president actually sympathizes with their views. some of the protesters were complaining about that in pittsburgh today. do you believe the president has gone far enough in denouncing those people?

>> not even close. and the president continually allows his words to be misappropriated by white nationalists like those you are describing and other hate organizations. he allows his words to fuel some of their activities. understand this very clearly, wolf, hate speech begets hate crimes. we need to understand that words matter in this country, and perhaps no one's words matter more than the president of the united states. so when he tweets and when he speaks in these divisive ways, it tears us apart and it gives these other individuals, it gives these groups sort of a permission slip to go forward. i think there's another group here that also have to be condemned, and that is people who remain silent in the face of this type of hateful rhetoric coming from the president, whether they're people in his own party or others. we all have a responsibility to stand up and speak up and speak

out loudly against this type of die vis divisive rhetoric. whether it is on the left or the right, we all have a responsibility to do that hard work. >> do you believe, attorney general, that the shooter in this particular case who went into that synagogue saturday morning as these 11, mostly elderly individuals, one 97 years old, were simply praying. they had their prayer books out with them, and he came in with an ar-15, three glock pistols and simply started shooting and killing these individuals, do you think this individual, if convicted, should get the death penalty? >> i do, wolf. let me be very clear though, this is a case being handled by our very able federal partners. i have worked closely with the u.s. attorney in the western district as well as with folks at the department of justice. it is my understanding they will be seeking the death penalty. while it is not our case in the state, it is a decision i support to seek the death

penalty for mr. bowers. >> could he also face state charges? >> yes. my understanding is the allegheny county district attorney is pursuing charges as well. >> one final question before i let you go because i know you have been investigating this media platform gab where this individual was posting all sorts of anti-semitic, hateful comments. where does that stand, your investigation of that right now? >> well, wolf, i'm a strong supporter of peoples first amendment rights to speak, whether it is speech i agree with or disagree with. what is not tolerable in this country and what is not constitutional in this country is when -- to allow speech that incites violence. what we are examining from both a criminal and civil perspective here in pennsylvania is whether these platforms are enabling language that is inciting violence. i think it is too soon to tell where our investigation will lead, but i can tell you it is an issue we are focusing very closely on. >> josh shapiro is the pennsylvania attorney general.

thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me, wolf. >> we will clearly stay in close touch with you. we have a lot more on the breaking news right after this. s on making it easy to get your windshield fixed. with safelite, you can see exactly when we'll be there. saving you time for what you love most. >> kids: whoa! >> kids vo: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ that skills like teamwork, attention to detail, and customer service are critical to business success. like the ones we teach here, every day. hundred roads named "park" in the u.s. it's america's most popular street name. but allstate agents know that's where the similarity stops. if you're on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the washoe zephyr could damage your siding. and that's very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. but no matter what park you live on, one

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♪ breaking news tonight. a very large protest greeting president trump as he visits pittsburgh and the synagogue where 11 people were killed in the deadliest anti-semitic attack in u.s. history. the president making the trip despite calls from local officials to postpone it at a minimum. let's get some more from our

correspondents and analysts. jeffrey toobin, the rabbi in pittsburgh in the squirrel hill neighborhood at the tree of life synagogue, he treated them and other officials declined to meet with the president. protesters, as you saw, a block or two away were protesting on the streets that the president had even come to pittsburgh on this day. first of all, what do you make of this decision by the president to go there? >> well, it is certainly a bizarre situation because, of course, it is customary and appropriate for the president to visit the scenes of national tragedies like this, and certainly the president, you know, should go there at some point. but it is also customary for the president to coordinate with the people who are actually there and not just show up essentially uninvited. you know, that was just such a weird scene at the airport where the president arrives and basically the only person there

is the local general in the national guard. i mean it is just indicative of how just clumsy and awkward any attempt by this president to show sympathy turns out to be. >> gloria, how did this visit come about? you have been doing some reporting. >> look, this just worked for the president. it worked for his schedule. he has 11 campaign rallies coming up, and this was the day he -- you know, he didn't want to have a rally in the afternoon and go to the synagogue to pay his respects on the same day, so they decided that today would be the day. unfortunately, this was the day that people were being buried. as you know, in the jewish faith you bury very quickly, and the mayor said, you know, the pittsburgh mayor, said, look, there might be a better time, we want to focus on burying our dead and our friends and our family members today. i gather there wasn't an awful lot of communication about that, so you had this kind of -- as

jeffrey was saying, you had this kind of strange picture of a president walking off the plane alone with his wife, not being greeted, traveling alone, getting there, putting the rocks on the memorials, but it was -- you know, it was just striking because he wasn't speaking and there weren't a lot of people around him to offer even support for a president, because in a time of crisis like this even presidents need support. but aside from the rabbi of the temple, there really wasn't -- and his family, there really wasn't anyone there to give it to him. >> what did you think, ryan? >> i think your reporting about the timing makes it all the more worse, right? the fact that his political rallies were the reason he had to do it now and it is also notable, of course, that the white house wanted the congressional leadership there today and every member of the constitutional leadership came up with an excuse for why they

didn't want to be there. i think nancy pelosi said she was doing it out of respect for the mayor who said, you know, stay away, it is not the right time, and the other three leaders basically made up excuses about scheduling conflicts. of course, something this important, you don't have a scheduling conflict if you think you need to be there. it just brings home the fact that trump, he's really governing only his coalition, and the country is -- his presence at anything like this further enflames and divides. he doesn't have the capacity even when he tries to bring people together. >> we are told, david, that the president's daughter, ivanka and son-in-law jared kushner, both are jewish. they encouraged the president, you know, they said, "dad, this is the right thing to do." >> right, and you can imagine that the president's daughter and son-in-law, who are observant jews, feel very strongly about this and did encourage the president. on the other hand, it is remarkable, one, that the president would need encouragement to try to say the

right things at this moment after the tree of life massacre and it is also remarkable that the president is in this position, as ryan was just describing, where there's not a sense of coming together around this tragedy but rather those people that have to be there out of respect and welcome the president have done so, and i think appropriately, and those people that sort of have a reason why they wouldn't be there have found a reason not to be there. the president just has run out of sort of the benefit of the doubt when it comes to these issues. >> can anyone remember people protesting the president coming in the wake of a massacre? >> no. >> no. >> i can't remember -- >> how bizarre. wow. >> i can't remember another time in american history where people were murdered, the president shows up and he's heckled and protested. >> yeah. >> after 9/11, george w. bush goes to new york and it is a traumatic moment. i was the white house correspondent for cnn in 1995 in the aftermath of the oklahoma city bombing when bill clinton

was president. he went to oklahoma city, he delivered a beautiful speech and it was very, very warmly received. there were no protesters going -- jeffrey, you remembr those days. >> and how about, you know, president obama who unfortunately had all these mass shootings on his watch, in south carolina, in connecticut, and, you know, he led the grieving in all of those places. you know, we can argue about, you know, whether -- you know, how effective it was, but certainly there was no protests. i mean no one -- i mean, frankly, it wouldn't even occur to me that there would have been protests. it was just not considered a political act. but, you know, the nation now is so polarized and trump himself is such a polarizing figure that everywhere he goes this goes to -- it also shows that when he goes away from these highly-protected rallies where, you know, it is only his supporters, he sees that it is

not -- the whole nation isn't for making america great again. >> you know, we didn't hear donald trump today, and i think that's not a coincidence. i think they wanted him to go pay his respects quietly because they knew what was going on outside and they know what is going on in the country, and he did that with his wife and he went inside and then he came back out and he met with the police officers who were the survivors, which was a very good thing to do obviously, and then he left. so it was very quiet. unlike bill clinton who gave a speech and barack obama who was welcome to give, you know, a speech, to be pastoral. that was not the case today, and i don't think anybody there wanted it, probably including the people at the white house. >> yeah, the president, he could have gone within the next few days and not interrupt the funerals if he wanted to, but that would have meant, david, he would have had to postpone or cancel one of his political

rallies that were a week away from the election. >> right. you know, i don't want to second guess what the thinking is inside the white house except that they know that they have this problem. no gloria's point, it is appropriate -- maybe the timing is wrong. it is appropriate for the president of the united states to pay his respects to the dead in a massacre like this, but he also does not have that ability to bring the nation together like in a situation when congresswoman gi congresswoman giffords was shot or like newtown. him being quiet today is like the last resort and the only option for them. >> a good option. >> because the president doesn't have the facility. >> i have said this many, many times, he doesn't have the ability to bring people together. the more i think about it, it is not that he doesn't have the ability, it is a conscious political strategy not to do it, right? his political strategy is to divide. that's how he thinks he is successful politically, and it is like we are constantly saying, you should bring the country together. that's not what he wants to do.

>> i agree with you. he doesn't have the rhetorical ability, but what he doesn't have is the credibility. people will not take him as sincere because of what he says the rest of the week. >> everybody stand by. we have a lot more to discuss including a very disturbing trend of hate crimes and domestic terrorism on the rise right here in the united states. u that chevy won a j.d.power dependability award for its midsize car-the chevy malibu. i forgot. chevy also won a j.d. power dependability award for its light-duty truck the chevy silverado. oh, and since the chevy equinox and traverse also won chevy is the only brand to earn the j.d. power dependability award across cars, trucks and suvs-three years in a row. phew. third time's the charm...

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we are following breaking

news. protesters taking to the streets moments ago as president trump visits the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh, the site of last weekend's massacre that left 11 wonderful people dead. that attack as well as last week's series of package bombs are just part of the spike in hate crimes and domestic terrorism here in the united states. cnn's brian todd is working this part of the story for us. tell us more, brian, about this deeply disturbing trend. >> reporter: right, wolf. we are getting new information tonight on an alarming rise in extremist attacks in the u.s. getting more deadly. we are learning violence from right wing extremists have been outpacing islamic-inspired attack in the u.s. for several years. carnage in pittsburgh, thought to be the deadliest attack ever on jews in the u.s., multiple assassination attempts with mail bombs, a white man tries to enter a predominantly black church. when that failed he shot up a

kroger shopping center killing two african-americans. it is part of what experts say is a jarring trend in america. >> the terrorist is here, in pittsburgh, kentucky and elsewhere. >> there's a definite spike. it has been rising since 2012. we are seeing a lot of hate group activity. >> reporter: a u.s. government report last year said there had been almost three times as many attacks by far right extremists than by islamist-inspired extremists in the u.s. since 9/11. what caused the spike in attacks by right wing extremists and others like them? >> they saw political changes, the election of president obama, demographic changes and fear of outsiders as well as a decline in employment during the first part of this decade. >> reporter: those who track hate crimes say that while president trump may not intend to incite racist violence, extremists tend to use his words as an excuse. >> but you also had people that were very fine people on both

sides. >> in white supremacist circles they took it to mean this person supports us and we have a champion in the white house and we can now fight for a white america. >> reporter: the president and his press secretary have vehemently denied inciting extremist violence. >> the president has denounced racism, hatred and bigotry in all forms on a number of occasions. >> reporter: august 2012, a white gunman kills six people at a sikh temple in oak creek, wisconsin. june 2015, charleston, south carolina, white supremacist dylann roof sprays the methodist episcopal church with gun peoplpeoplfire, killing nine people. those lone wolf attacks are what security officials have been worried about in recent years. >> there's a new phenomenon of the terrorist-inspired attack, the lone woflf, and it keeps me up at night. >> reporter: analysts say since the charlottesville violence last year when counter-protester

heather heyer was struck by a car and killed, the lone wolf threat has increased. >> after charlottesville the leadership structure of the white nationalist movement imploded, leaving an opportunity for the more violent lone wolves, who are not just content to go to demonstrations, rising to the surface. that's the risk we face now. >> reporter: experts say that while most of the recent attacks have been perpetrated by right wing extremists, that this kind of terrorism sometimes tends to be retaliatory in nature so we have to watch out for attacks from left wing extremists, anarchists and others like them. >> brian, what are you hearing about how the attacks can be stopped? >> reporter: it is not easy, wolf. the people that track the crimes say law enforcement has to keep a close eye on so-called trigger events like elections, immigrant caravans, they also say politicians like the president absolutely have to tone down the incendiary rhetoric. that has to happen right now pretty much. >> thank you, brian. brian todd reporting. let's get back to our

analysts and correspondents. jeffrey toobin, what do you think about the president's words? do you really think that they inspire, they encourage these white supremacists? >> well, the guy who shot up the synagogue, you know, he was talking about the caravan, which is something that's been of obsessive interest on "fox news" and with the president. you know, manufacturing a crisis where none existed. and then the guy who was trying to bomb cnn and everyone else, i mean he was very explicitly trying to do president trump's bidding. so, i mean, you know, let's just look at what happened. it doesn't appear all that complicated. >> what do you think, david, is fuelling this increase in these white supremacist attacks, this domestic terrorist? >> i think it has to be said when someone commits the acts of violence, the onus is on that individual. of course, president trump -- or i should say it seem it implausible that president trump wants these acts of violence to happen, but it also defies common sense to think that his

constant resort to his overheated rhetoric, making people fear each other, dividing people, one group against another as if our society is this sort of zero sum competition of different groups, gives permission to people who are weaving these threads of ill logical hatred together that, okay, they're not alone. this has to be toned down. >> gloria? >> well, just look at what happened today. i mean the president proposed something that's not going to happen, that's unconstitutional, an executive order to override the 14th amendment on birthright citizenship. why do you do that when you know it is not going to happen the week before election? you do it because you want your base riled up. you send 5200 troops to the border, talk about tax cuts for the middle class, but that's a separate story, you warn of voter fraud. you know, this is a president who thrives by punching enemies. that's what he does. that's why he likes campaigns, that's what this campaign has been about. that's why he is so involved in it. when you do this kind of thing

during a campaign and people are already riled up and you talk about the caravans and the migrants and the middle easterners who might be in it, you have an environment here where there is a sense of us and them, and almost anything goes because at a certain point you wonder when the country says, they're almost numb to this, which of course you cannot be as a human being. they see the president, you know, after the pipe bombs are sent talk about the media as the enemy of the people after people at cnn and then cnn itself got pipe bombs. well, what message does that send? >> what do you think, ryan? >> well, i remember in the 2016 election trump's closing message was about globalists and international kabul that was in league with hillary clinton, and at the time a lot of people pointed out that that was echos of really historically anti-semitic language and, you know, we all know we have seen

an up surge in anti-semitism the laos couple of years. this election, his closing message seems to be, not to put too fine a point on it, racism. when he is talking about a threat to the country from, you know, refugees coming through central america who are just this, you know, rather down-and-out group of people, as if hundreds of miles from the border, as if they're somehow going to harm us in any way and making this big theatrical show of sending troops to the mexican border. i think he's discovered or he has rediscovered that that kind of racial demagoguery works in american politics. for a good long time it didn't work, right? i mean no one would say that race -- that racism didn't work i, i mean, up until at least the '60s, racism was a central part of national politics, right? but there was a period, '80s, '90s, into the 2000s where candidates were penalized for the kind of even coded racial

language that they used, and trump rediscovered in 2016 he can activate voter it with race on immigration and he doesn't pay a price. until he pays a price he will keep doing it. >> i'm anxious, jeffrey. you are a constitutional scholar, you have written books about the supreme court. the president says now with a pen, an executive order, he can change the interpretation of the 14th amendment to the constitution and deny what is called birthright citizenship to kids born in the united states whose parents are here illegally. >> you know, wolf, it is very nice of you to give me all of those credentials, but all you have to know about the absurdity of this proposal is how to read. because if you read the 14th amendment, it says people who are born here are citizens here. that's it. there's no interpretation needed. there has never been a controversy about that until this was invented by certain fringe elements on the right wing. but, i mean, it really is not

complicated. the amendment says what it means, and if they want to amend the constitution, they're perfectly capable of trying. but the idea that the president of the united states can overturn the plain words of the constitution, not even with an act of congress, just on his own signature, is really absurd. >> all right. everybody stand by. there's more news we're following including the former white house chief strategist, steve bannon, reportedly questioned by the special counsel, robert mueller's team. plus, more on the breaking news. a large, very large protest greeting president trump as he pays a controversial visit to the scene of the synagogue massacre. your brain changes as you get older. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

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tonight cnn has returned that the former trump white house chief strategist steve bannon has been interviewed again by the special counsel, robert mueller's team, this time about the long-time trump adviser roger stone. our political correspondent sara murray is working this story for us. sara, why is the special counsel focusing in on associates of roger stone? >> reporter: as you pointed out, steve bannon went in. it was his third day of interviews with the special counsel team, but this time "the washington post" reported that the questions the special counsel's team were regarding roger stone, of course the long-time political adviser to

president donald trump. what this tells you is there is still an active investigation in mueller's team into whether roger stone may have communicated with wikileaks. we have learned another roger stone associate, jason sullivan, roger stone's social media he told "the wall street journal" even though we know he previously talked to the special counsel and previously gone before the grand jury he told "the wall street journal" that they're circling back again and has even more questions. again, this all gets back to roger stone's claims he was in touch with wikileaks. part of the stuff that jason sullivan has been asked about are conference calls that roger stone did for his paid subscribers in 2016. i want to read one thing he said. we know there are going to be many, many turns in the road including the material that i assume julian assange or wikileaks, his organization, drops on the american people.

and, remember, roger kind of seemed during the 2016 campaign when you look back at it like he knew this stuff was coming from wikileaks before he dropped it. of course, now he vehemently denies that he knew anything ahead of time and here he is just last week saying that at a political event in florida. >> let me say yet again, i had no advance notice of the source or the content or the actual release date of the devastating material that wikileaks published. >> now, as of today, wolf, roger stone still has not been contacted directly by special counsel robert mueller's team but it's very clear they're still trying to nail down what roger stone received from wikileaks, if anything, either directly or through a back channel and what, if anything, he shared with members of the trump campaign team. >> lots of developments unfolding behind the scenes right now. even as we get ready for the midterm elections. we'll see what mueller does afterwards.

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search crews are combing hundreds of square miles of the java sea right now looking for wleka wreckage. the brand-new 737 crashed minutes after taking off from

jakarta with 189 people on board. cnn's will ripley is working the story. will, some bodies and wreckage have been recovered but so far not the critical voice and data recorders. what's the latest? >> even in shallow water, wolf, investigators are having a hard time getting to the fuselage and those all important black boxes that will provide vital clues. this is an investigation that every air traveler should be following closely because it does affect everyone who flies. one of the most popular jetliners in the world and the urgent question facing investigators right now. how could a brand-new plane that passed all preflight safety checks suddenly fall out of the sky? as indonesian crews recover more fea pieces of a mangled plane and remains, more questions emerge about the can youing-edge airliner that tumbled out of the sky 13 minutes after takeoff. the boeing 737 max is one of the

newest, most advantagesed place the world. flown by some of the largest u.s. airlines including southwest and american. indonesia will now inspect all of the aircraft in the country. lion air is one of the biggest customers for 737s spending nearly $22 billion in 2011. at the time boeing's largest single order for commercial jets ever. the plane that crashed was delivered just three months ago with only 800 flight hours. >> kind of the top of the line. it's one of the best you can buy. >> reporter: but the rollout has not been trouble-free. boeing temporarily grounded the entire 737 max fleet last year citing concerns about a manufacturing quality issue inside its new engines. boeing said it resolved the issue and quickly resumed production. now, the worst commercial airline crash in three years is

triggering an urgent investigation. boeing issued a statement saying, they're providing technical assistance at the request and under the direction of government authorities investigating the accident. the key questions, why did the pilot ask to turn back just minutes into the flight without declaring an emergency? did a technical issue the night before the crash play a role, even the lion air says it fixed the problem. and with no severe weather and no evidence of an explosion or fire, how could a brand-new plane plunge so suddenly from 5200 feet? >> something happened to lose control of that aircraft or something that lost power or something that made that aircraft go down. >> reporter: the clues to solving this aviation mystery may lie in the plane's fuselage and the so-called black boxes lying somewhere at the bottom of the java sea and for the millions of people who fly in these planes, answers can't come soon enough. before lion air flight 610

vanished radar indicated dramatic changes in speed and direction which experts say likely indicates equipment failure but won't know for sure until they find the black boxes. >> will, thank you. will ripley reporting for us. thanks very much for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. outfront next. the president facing fierce resistance in pittsburgh. protesters telling him he's not welcome. the allegheny county executive who refused to meet with him is my guest tonight. they reinterviewed steve bannon, the topic roger stone. the president claims he can defy the constitution and end birthright citizenship. melania trump's immigration attorney, well, he begs to differ and he's my guest too. let's go "outfront."