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Vice President Mike Pence says he is standing by President Donald Trump in regards to the presidents contentious comments in a Tuesday press conference. Trump saidboth sides were to blame for the violence that ensued at a white nationalist-run rally in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend.

At a press conference on Tuesday, a reporter asked Pence three questions, all of which he effectively dodged. The first question was whether Pence agreed with Trump that there were good people among the white supremacist protesters, the second was whether Confederate statues should be removed, and the third was whether Robert E. Lee should be considered in the same pantheon as George Washington.

Pence took a beat and evaded all three questions entirely, saying:

What happened in Charlottesville was a tragedy and the president has been clear on this tragedy and so have I. I spoke at length about this heartbreaking situation on Sunday night in Colombia and I stand with the president and I stand by those words.

Pence also said that despite being in Chile, our hearts are in Charlottesville and paid tribute to the 32-year-old woman who was killed in the protests.

Just a few short hours ago, the family and friends gathered to say farewell to a remarkable young woman, Heather Heyer, he said.

Weve been praying, weve been praying for Gods comfort for her family and her friends and we are also praying in America, we will not allow the few to divide the many, he said. The strength of the United States of America is always strongest, as the President has said so eloquently, when we are united. Around our shared values and so it will always be.

Since his statements in Chile, Pence has canceled a planned appearance he had scheduled for Saturday with Ed Gillespie, who is currently the GOP nominee for governor of Virginia. Gillespie tweeted on Wednesday that the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who invaded [Charlottesville] espouse reprehensible views that have no redeeming value whatsoever.

Trumps comments during the Tuesday press conference, which was supposed to be about infrastructure, have united both Democrats and Republicans in saying the president needs to do more to fight against white supremacists. White supremacists, on the other hand, have praised his remarks.

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Mike Pence Says He 'Stands With The President' On Charlottesville - HuffPost

Jennifer Rubin dreams of Vice President Mike Pence as president to cure all ills and make the country sane again. She cites a CNN poll which states that 60 percent of respondents say the Russia probe is a serious matter. So even though President Donald Trump has been investigated for over a year now with absolutely no proof of collusion, people believe this might be the case. Could it be Rubin and the media pushing this narrative?

Say Rubin gets her wish. Does she really believe Trumps core supporters will just say, Oh well, Pence is still a Republican and better than a Democrat.

No, I suspect Trump loyalists will be offended enough to sit out the 2018 elections and give Democrats the U.S. House. Then watch as Democrats start impeachment proceedings on Pence. You see, to Democrats the only good Republican president is an impeached president.

Ken Nelson, Chicago

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Go ahead, impeach Trump. Then see what happens. - Chicago Tribune

Hicks, who came into Trump's orbit via work she did for his daughter, Ivanka, has been with him since the first day of his presidential campaign. She, along with then-campaign-manager Corey Lewandowski and social media guru Dan Scavino -- as well as the Trump family -- have always been on the innermost branches of the Trump trust tree.

To understand fully what Hicks' elevation to communications director -- even on an interim basis -- signals about Trump's mentality, consider who she follows in the job. (And remember: Outside -- maybe -- of his chief of staff, Trump views the communications director as the most important staff job in his White House. He is uniquely focused on the media and how they portray him.)

"With the appointment, which a White House official confirmed Friday, President Trump is reaching outside his circle of trusted campaign aides to try to bolster his messaging operation....

As word of Dubke's hiring trickled out, however, some Trump loyalists chafed at the idea of recruiting an establishment Republican operative with ties to strategist Karl Rove and other forces they see as having been hostile to Trump's candidacy."

The job then sat open until late last month, when Trump brought on Anthony Scaramucci, a friend and fellow New York City guy to run the press shop. The hiring of Scaramucci was regarded as a sign that Trump was throwing over the guidance of his DC advisers -- Priebus and Spicer were both vehemently opposed to the Mooch's hiring; Spicer quit as a result -- in favor of the New York-based team that he had always trusted more.

Scaramucci had to be fired -- and Trump acquiesced to new chief of staff John Kelly's request to do so.

But the promotion of Hicks is an indication that Trump has zero interest in reconsidering his decision to seed many of the top positions in his White House with unquestioning loyalists.

If anything, Hicks is even more of a Trump devotee than Scaramucci; while he would occasionally acknowledge that the president, who he routinely said he "loved," might have done something less than perfectly, Hicks is not willing to do even that. She is for Trump: First, last and always.

That's who Trump wants around him. He wants to shoot the bull with his aides. But, at the end of the day, he wants them to say "Yes, boss, you're right." That's the way you stay in Trump's good graces. And Hicks has never been out of those good graces.

Hicks has a very light public profile for a communications director. She rarely does interviews, much less on-camera. That makes it hard to know just how influential she is on Trump's thinking. Or whether she is willing to confront him when she disagrees.

What Hicks' promotion also signals is a recognition of something anyone paying attention has known for a while now: Donald Trump is the real -- and only -- communications director. If past is prologue, Hicks will carry out Trump's wishes without complaint or contradiction. He will dictate the how, whether and whys of White House messaging without any resistance now.

Which is what Trump has always wanted. Now he has it. But, getting what you want is almost always less satisfying than you thought it would be.

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Donald Trump is the White House communications director now - CNN

Photo President Trump speaking to reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan on Tuesday. Talking about the removal of Confederate monuments, he said, I wonder, is it George Washington next week? Early this morning, the city of Baltimore took down several Confederate monuments. Credit Al Drago for The New York Times

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Heres what you need to know:

White supremacists rejoice.

Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth, David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, said on Twitter on Tuesday.

Trumps statement was fair and down to earth, tweeted another white nationalist leader who participated in last weekends demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va.

Their remarks came after a wild shouting match of a news conference during which the president again blamed both sides for the deadly violence, equating activists protesting racism with neo-Nazis and white supremacists. (Read and watch Mr. Trumps comments here.)

What about the alt-left? he asked. Heres an answer.

After adopting a unifying tone on Monday, saying that racism is evil, the president reverted to a more familiar Trump approach on Tuesday, our White House correspondents write.

Costs of letting the health law fail.

President Trump has threatened to end some subsidies to insurance companies as part of a strategy to let Obamacare implode. We looked at what would happen if he did.

Premiums for the most popular insurance plans would shoot up 20 percent next year, and the federal budget deficit would increase $194 billion in the coming decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.

G.O.P. runoff in Alabama primary.

Roy Moore, a former chief justice of the State Supreme Court, will face Senator Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and who is backed by President Trump.

The Republican runoff is Sept. 26.

A city turned to mud.

Rain in Freetown, Sierra Leone, caused mudslides that killed hundreds and left many more missing or homeless.

The Daily, your audio news report.

On todays show, we discuss President Trumps tense news conference on Tuesday.

Listen on a computer, an iOS device or an Android device.

A ceiling-fan manufacturer in Lexington, Ky., offers proof that obituaries for American manufacturing are premature.

But as the Trump administration begins renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, company executives worry about potential new impediments to trade.

Airlines have a dress code, of sorts. Dressing up could increase your chances of an upgrade.

U.S. stocks were mixed on Tuesday. Heres a snapshot of global markets.

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

Maybe you dont need iodized salt.

Recipe of the day: If you have a pressure cooker, put it to work with this excellent black bean soup.

Can algorithms fly a plane?

In todays 360 video, take to the skies with a glider, built by Microsoft, that is guided by artificial intelligence.

Microsoft is building an autonomous glider guided by artificial intelligence, part of an effort to help machines make decisions when faced with uncertainty.

Bhutan holds its breath.

China and India the worlds two most populous nations have taken their battle for regional dominance to the remote kingdom of Bhutan, evoking memories of their bloody conflict in 1962.

There are fears that ambition and nationalism could lead them to war again, but with more firepower at their disposal.

A whiskey crusade.

When Jack Daniels backed away from a pledge to recognize the Tennessee slave who had taught its founder to distill, a writer came to town and took up the cause.

Roaming horses versus modernity.

Since medieval times, the people of Galicia, in northwestern Spain, have ritually rounded up the horses that roam in the wild.

But like many traditions, the roundup is colliding with modern rules and sensibilities. Animal rights activists say the ritual mistreats horses.

Modern society is losing a way of life that has kept us and animals in harmony, one rancher told our correspondent.

Have you seen this?

Eight little cultural touchstones including a TV scene, a building, a pizza and a painting worth your time.

Best of late-night TV.

Looking to England, Jimmy Kimmel suggested a new title for President Trump: king.

Quotation of the day.

After all, its not what the president thinks or says America is bigger than that, greater than that.

Hani Ali, 35, an accountant from Sudan who was sworn in as an American citizen on Tuesday in Manhattan.

On this day in 1930, a dancing frog set a new standard in animation.

Fiddlesticks, featuring Flip the Frog, was a stand-alone cartoon with synchronized sound. (Watch it here.)

Music was already widely used to accompany animations; some of the more laborious animations were even in color. And there had been steps toward combining the two features.

In Germany, Lotte Reinigers character silhouettes of the 1920s used changing background colors to create atmospheric scenes. In the U.S., King of Jazz in 1930 featured a short color animation with synchronized sound.

In Fiddlesticks, Flip the Frog tap-dances his way through a world of merry animals, but then is moved to tears as he plays the piano alongside a violin-playing rodent that resembles Mickey Mouse.

The animation was released by Ub Iwerks, who had helped produce Mickey Mouse, shortly after he left Walt Disneys growing enterprise. The Flip franchise ended in 1933, and Mr. Iwerks returned to work at Disney.

But he never stopped innovating.

His obituary noted that he invented a panoramic camera arrangement. Imagine his excitement if he could see todays 360-degree cartoons.

Patrick Boehler contributed reporting.

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Donald Trump, Luther Strange, Sierra Leone: Your Wednesday Briefing - New York Times

Under the proposal, Britain would quit the actual customs union, but seek to temporarily join an almost identical accord. That would allow the country to sign but not put into effect trade deals with other partners. (Heres the full text.)

The British government hopes the proposal will bring two years of stability for businesses post-Brexit, but theres concern about additional red tape. Today, the government is set to unveil a plan for the delicate subject of the Irish border.

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Our Cairo bureau chief delves into the strange twists, betrayals and secrets in the case of Giulio Regeni, an Italian graduate student who was tortured and murdered in Egypt last year.

Former U.S. officials said that the U.S. had informed the Italian government of incontrovertible evidence that an Egyptian security agency, which they did not name, was behind Mr. Regenis murder and that the leadership in Cairo was fully aware of the circumstances around his death.

This morning, several Italian newspapers carried Italian government denials that evidence had been passed on to Rome.

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Hundreds of people remain missing after deadly flooding and mudslides in Sierra Leone. At a morgue in Freetown, the capital, a resident said he was given a mask and led past hundreds of bodies to look for his 10 missing relatives. He could not find them.

Separately, suicide bombers killed at least 20 people in Nigeria, some at a camp for people displaced by the fight against the Boko Haram militant group.

Meanwhile, mayhem among armed militias is spreading in the Central African Republic. Aid groups warned that they may be forced to leave amid attacks on civilians.

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Finally, our correspondent in Spain talked to ranchers in Galicia, who since medieval times have ritually rounded up their horses in the summer, letting them roam wild in the green forests and hills of northwestern Spain for the rest of the year.

But tougher regulations and higher costs have forced some to abandon keeping horses in the wild. Animal rights activists say the roundups cause unnecessary stress to the wild animals, and should end.

Modern society is losing a way of life that has kept us and animals in harmony, one rancher said.

As talks begin on the renegotiatiation of Nafta, heres a look at how the agreement changed trade between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. (For one, the cross-border supply chain made U.S. carmakers competitive with European manufacturers.) And heres a look at Canadas negotiating strategy.

The German government provided Air Berlin with a transitional loan to keep the carrier, the countrys second-largest, running after it had filed for insolvency. Ryanair, the budget airline, claimed that Air Berlin was being set up for a takeover by Lufthansa.

Heres a snapshot of global markets.

At least 13 people were killed in Madeira, Portugal, when a tree fell on a crowd that had gathered for a religious festival. [The New York Times]

Irans president, Hassan Rouhani, warned that the countrys nuclear program could be restarted in a matter of hours, if the U.S. government imposes further sanctions on Tehran. [The New York Times]

Italys government seeks tougher punishments for the promotion of fascism amid a resurgence of nativist sentiment. [Politico]

The British government said that its inquiry into the deadly Grenfell Tower in June would also look into the conduct of the local authorities in London. Yesterday, our correspondent explored the disconnect between the citys elite and its poor residents, which the tragedy highlighted. [The New York Times]

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

Recipe of the day: Put your pressure cooker to work with this excellent black bean soup recipe.

Maybe dont buy that iodized salt.

How much should you invest in stocks?

Sam Sifton, our food editor, considers it a nearly sacred process: the slow, deliberative steps in the making of a pizza. And whether you call it a kaiser or a Vienna, heres an ode to the buttered bread roll, a distinctly New York City phenomenon with Central European roots.

Soccer: Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrids coach, was hopeful that Cristiano Ronaldos five-game ban would be overturned before a match against Barcelona today.

Maria Sharapova has been granted a wild-card entry into the U.S. Open, her first Grand Slam appearance since serving a 15-month suspension for doping.

In memoriam: Dr. Ruth Pfau, a German-born medical missionary who was hailed as the Mother Teresa of Pakistan, died at 87.

Children who sleep less may be at increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, researchers say.

Today in 1930, a dancing frog set a new standard in animation.

Fiddlesticks, featuring Flip the Frog, above, was a stand-alone cartoon with synchronized sound. (Watch it here.)

By that year, music had been widely used to accompany animations. Some of the more laborious animations were even in color. Then around 1930, those two features were combined.

In Germany, Lotte Reinigers character silhouettes of the 1920s used changing background colors to create atmospheric scenes. In the U.S., King of Jazz in 1930 featured a short color animation with synchronized sound.

In Fiddlesticks, Flip the Frog tap-dances his way through a world of merry animals, but then is moved to tears as he plays the piano alongside a violin-playing rodent that resembles Mickey Mouse.

The animation was released by Ub Iwerks, who had helped produce Mickey Mouse, shortly after he left Walt Disneys growing enterprise. The Flip franchise ended in 1933, and Mr. Iwerks returned to work at Disney.

But he never stopped innovating.

His obituary noted that he invented a panoramic camera arrangement. Imagine his excitement if he could see todays 360-degree cartoons.

_____

This briefing was prepared for the European morning. You can browse through past briefings here.

We also have briefings timed for the Australian, Asian and American mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters here.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online.

What would you like to see here? Contact us at europebriefing@nytimes.com.

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Donald Trump, 'Brexit,' Madeira: Your Wednesday Briefing - New York Times