Pence on message, despite Trump's troubles at home

WASHINGTON (AP) — The day after President Donald Trump sparred with reporters on live television over assigning blame for violence at a white supremacist rally, White House aides were stunned, advisers were whispering their frustrations, business allies were cutting public ties with the White House and Trump was out of sight.

But Vice President Mike Pence was on message.

At a press conference 5,000 miles away in Santiago, Chile, Pence offered a robust defense of the president, while neither endorsing nor denouncing his words.

"What happened in Charlottesville was a tragedy, and the president has been clear on this tragedy and so have I," Pence said Wednesday in response to a reporter's question during a weeklong trip to Latin America.