it's 1:00 in washington and 2:30 in pyongyang, north korea. thank you very much for joining us. we begin with the vile and vulgar comments by the president of the united states, echoing across washington and indeed around the world. president trump today tweeted a half hearted denial that he denigrated timmigrants. i won't use the slur, but let's

leave it as s-hole countries. dick durbin said the president did make those remarks. >> to no surprise, the president started tweeting denying he used those words. it is not true. he said these hateful things and he said them repeatedly. he said haitians, do we need more haitians? then he went on and started to describe the immigration from africa being protected in this bipartisan nature. that's when he used the vile and vulgar words calling the nations shitholes. >> he said the language used by me was tough, but this was not the language used. what was really tough was the outlandish proposal made a big set back for daca. jim accost a the president also denying hederogatory

comments about haitians. the white house didn't deny the remarks. >> that's where we are at this point. we have the conflicting comments the president in his press office with the group of lawmakers. we have should point out that senator tom cotton and david purdue put out a joint statement saying they do not recall, that's the word or the phrase being used in that statement. they do not recall president trump making those comments as described by senator durbin. the comments you played by senator durbin a few moments ago. we should point out in the south carolina coast newspaper in the last several minutes. tim scott, the african-american senator from south carolina said publicly that senator graham who was also in that meeting confirmed to him that the reports of the president's comments are accurate.

as the story is developing, we are starting to get different takes coming in and two of them, cotton and purdue said it didn't happen, but graham is telling tim scott in south carolina that it did happen. we should point out in the last several minutes, the president did hold an event at the white house signing a proclamation honoring martin luther king day on monday. during that event, reporters were in the room and asking the president questions, shouting questions at the president about the remarks at one point. april ryan who is a contributor at cnn asked the president point blank, are you a racist? he did not respond to any of those questions. we should point out the president is up at walter reed undergoing a physical examination. something the white house has been telling us was going to happen all week. as we are looking apt the president's health and looking for the report on the president's health, the focus is on what's in the president's

soul at this point because of the comments that became basketball yesterday. >> disturbing comments inindeed. the house speaker paul ryan was asked about president trump's remarks. listen to what he said. >> i read the comments later last night. the first thing that came to my mind was very unfortunate, unhelpful. >> he went on to talk about his own country immigrating from the united states to ireland. >> joining us is dyson. president trump brought everyone to the table this week. listen to both sides. regrettably it seems not

everyone is committed to a good fai faith. we do not recall them saying these comments specifically and what we did call out was the imbalance that does not protect american workers and the national interest. we along with the president are committed to solving an issue many in congress have failed to deliver on for decades. you have the two senators sort of denying these. >> what are is do not recall? >> do not recall the comments and sort of denying. lindsey graham saying that yes, all these reports which we have confirmed and other news organizations have confirmed are accurate. >> we have to talk to more people in the room. i don't understand what do not recall specifically means. i think that's a fudge completely. it isn't he did not say it. the president is now denying it, but trying to fudge it.

you have durbin saying that's exactly what he said. i think we have to try to get to the bottom of this more and more, but i know from my reporting and kaitlyn collins at the white house that the president has been calling his friends and thinking he did a great thing for his base although he is told that's not the truth. >> that's very disturbing if he thinks this is good. the words that were uttered in that meeting were good to resonate with that base. >> it's saying that resonates with the base is making racist comments and comparing africans to norwegians unfavorably and saying that the american immigration system should be race-based. not only that, but mia love's comments were spot on. she talked about the comments being divicive and elitist. that's what they are. they are elitist and classist

and turn on this notion that where you are from whether it's africa or haiti determines who you can be and who you are. that's a very dangerous -- exactly. it's a very dangerous anti-american idea and there the president seeming to be proud in expressing it to his base. >> the president tweeted this morning that the language used by me at the daca meeting was tough, but that was not the language used. what is the president needing to do now to fix this? certainly a lot of people would be grateful to him if he publicly apologized. >> probably staying at walter reed for the next three years. to tell the truth. that's something he is broadly incapable of doing. saying tough talk, what does that mean. press him a bit. what does tough mean? does it mean you are harkening back to the chinese exclusion act? are you harkening back to 1952

when we aimed policies at trying to keep the communists out or 1965 when you said let's open wide our borders and have the masses come in. let's let puerto ricans and brazilians and people from across the world be american. this is the theme we have. u plur bus u numb. out of many, one. he is incapable of acknowledging the truth. he is thinks he base is racially charged. white resentment against the perception of brown and black people taking over is what they are talking about. they won't go back to their hut. it's the hutted masses. the wet food policies in america. haitians stay back. white folks come in. the practices of america to deny the legitimacy of haitians and

after c africa africans. the president of the united states of america is insults a continent and a group of people who are black with a pernicious stereotype that all good americans are called upon to reflect. when paul ryan said it's unhelpful, he is a coward. stand up and say this is a racist comment that is unacceptable in america. >> the problem now is the words were ugly. very vile and vulgar. they will have an impact on this negotiation to allow 800,000 dreamers as they are called to stay here in the united states. it will have an impact on u.s. relations with a lot of countries around the world. >> yes. of course. we have ambassadors being called in in various african nations like botswana to explain the language of the president of the united states. as you have these negotiations, i want to remind you of that open meeting we saw where the

president said bring something to me and i will sign it. i'll take the heat. now he is saying no, no, what they have come up with, i don't really like. yes, it's going to have an impact. there is a larger impact which is the reputation of this nation. the values that we stand for. the divisiveness that this will sow within our own country. if the president and the president's people believe that this is going to be supported by all of his base, i would like to disagree with this. you are short changing people who voted for donald trump perhaps because they were sick of everything in washington. i don't think that means they are going to support the president on this 100% at all. i thank is selling them short. >> because a lot of the conversation around president trump was this idea that he was connecting with people over economics. he is in some ways being

truthful to a portion of his base. they were motivated by racial an muss and motivated by what is clear. you are right. i said a portion of it. >> enough to make what he is doing rewarding to him. enough to say that parts of my base will say go get em, tiger and stand up and tell the truth. the unfortunate reality is here's a president who is piping this vicious bigotry and horrendous thoughts about african people and about haitian people at a time when we need to forge connections and build bridges so that the world which is increasingly shrinking because of threats of terror and globalization and the like, this president is not only failing to deal with race, but the very economic problems that poor white people are suffering anyway. >> there were seven lawmakers in this meeting and we now heard from republican senators purdue and cotton.

very different assessments of what exactly happened during that meeting in the oval office. lindsey graham, we need to hear directly from him. he is quoted as saying the reports are accurate. we need to hear from lindsey graham. kevin carthy is the house majority letter. we have to hear from the others as well if there is going to be a full assessment. they were there. >> martin luther king,jr. said the greatest lack of courage is shown when you are silence in a time of crisis. if these men cannot speak up and say you know what, he did say it. if we are arguing over the facts and can't have united states senators tell the truth about what actually happened, we are a at poor point in american politics where we can acknowledge it and get over it. if we can't even acknowledge the basic fact of the man saying it, they are collaborationists with normalizing the mendacity that is pouring with venom out of

this man's mouth. >> someone told me who speaks to trump regularly and is a friend of trump's. he said donald trump loves taking things to the edge. and then proving he won't fall off. when he called his friends he was sort of calling people around to take their pulse. he was sort of saying you know what, i said what i said and a lot of people are going to agree with me. he has this faith in himself that whatever he does and remember he said i could shoot someone on fifth avenue. whatever he does, he will be ratified by his supporters and he does it over and over and over again. >> it speaks to the self centered nature of this president. it's all about him. it's not about the country. it's not about the brand of the republican party or the brand of america globally. it's about him and his faring and standing, particularly among his base.

>> stand by. there is more news we are following right now. congresswoman tulsy gabbard is going to reaction for the first time to the president's remarks and also he is called kim jong un short, fat, crazy and little rocket man and said he has a very good relationship with the north korea leader. he cites a bogus reason of why he won't be visiting the uk citing the embassy in london. all that and more. how much do you think it cost him? $100 a month? $75? $50? actually,duncan got his $500,000 for under $28 a month. less than a dollar a day. his secret? selectquote. in just minutes, a selectquote agent will comparison shop nearly a dozen highly-rated life insurance companies, and give you a choice of your five best rates.

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don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can do more with my family. talk to your doctor today. see if lyrica can help. joining us now is the hawaii congresswoman, tulsi gabbard, a member of the foreign affairs committee. i quickly want to get your reaction to what is so widely

reported about what the president said to the lawmakers. >> growing up in hawaii we learn about and i believe in what's called the aloha spirit and what that means is showing respect to others no matter their race or religion or what country they come from or how much money or education they have or anything else. unfortunately his comments fly directly in the face of that aloha spirit and the values our country stands on. it's important for us as we look at this and the path forward to remember that our nation for generations has been shining light on the hill for so many immigrants. people who sought to come here sometimes risking their lives to seek that opportunity and be in a country of freedom and opportunity not only for themselves, but their families and have the true sense of

appreciation of what that means. coming from countries, they don't have the freedoms. >> the words were incredibly ugly, but do you believe the president of the united states is a racist. >> name calling doesn't accomplish anything. when we look at what's important for the american people, they are concerned about what do donald trump's policies mean to them? when you look at his merit-based rules that he is advocating for, they are talking about people who have a certain degree who maybe have a certain amount of money in the bank or may be coming from countries that maybe they don't necessarily need to leave. as opposed to having a definition of merit that may not meet those color requirements, but where we are talking about people who have that hunger and have that drive and determination to come to this

country, work hard for themselves and their families and that deep appreciation of what that freedom and opportunity means that this country represents around the world. >> if the rules were in place over the many years of our country's history. merit-based. only highly educated, only wealthy people who speak english and come from certain countries. if only they were allowed in, most of us who were children of immigrants wouldn't be here right now. >> that's right. that's the issue here. the very people that president trump seeks to exclude from this country are those who have contributed so greatly to making our country the great strong country that it is. >> in the interview with the "wall street journal," i top the get to national security foreign policy issues, the president said this. i probably have a very good relationship with kim jong un. you are smiling. he wouldn't say whether or not he had actually spoken with kim jong un, the north korea leader.

someone he likes to call rocket man. do you have information to back that up that the president probably has a very good relationship with kim jong un? >> we have been given no information that there have been no direct talks between president trump and kim jong un or other members of his administration. you and i have talked about the threat that the people of hawaii feel from north korea given we call squarely within the range of intercontinental ballistic missiles and hawaii started these tests every month. this is a very real threat. i have been calling for direct negotiations between the united states and north korea. trump and kim jong un to begin to deescalate and denuclearize the north korea peninsula. we don't have time to waste. >> the u.s. officials are saying after the president this that they are not aware of any

contact that the president may have had. there may be indirect contacts, emissaries, if you will, between the u.s. and north korea, but nothing direct between the president and kim jong un. that's what you are hearing as well. in all the briefings you had. >> i wish that he would. >> i know you are passionate about this fisa legislation that they passed yesterday. you opposed it? >> yes and i supported the am d amendment that allowed 702 to continue. as a veteran, i know firsthand how important it is for our intelligence personnel and community to be able to access information and communications of foreign targets to prevent terrorist attacks. however there are incidental communications of american citizens that are swept up through that collection and currently law enforcement is able to access those innocent americans's communications without a warrant. our amendment that we offered

yesterday fixed that. it provided that solution of striking that balance. it was. we had over 180 votes in support of. >> you need 218. >> absolutely. the underlying bill that passed and goes to the senate where i hope they address these issues does not provide the reforms that maintain the protection of our security, but also protect the civil liberties of americans. >> tuls i gabbard, thouch for joining us. alo aloha. pouring in from around the globe on the president's disparaging remarks and kenya to haiti on the ground. thanks, but no thanks. president trump cancels his trip to london and blames former president obama. i take pictures of sunrises,

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while president trump denies

using vulgar language to describe certain countries, there is still outrage around the world. if are more joining us from san salvador, in nairobi, kenya. joining us from port-au-prince in haiti. first of all, what's the reaction in your region. ? >> wolf, the reaction has been swift and scathing. the government said they found the american president's actions as being irresponsible, reprehensible and racist. we had reaction as well from the somalis who thought this was fake news and if it were true that he said these things about the country, they do not deserve any response whatsoever. people of course have been talking on social media and saying really weighing in and saying africa is not what the president said it is. posting pictures of beautiful

scenes from the cape to cairo. here i am today on a friday in the word that the president is supposed to have used. it has been a completely united front for the african and it did. people are wondering why there is such a disconnect between the americans and the president's officers. together with his team they went and donated blood for the survivors. people have been talking about this all day long in our part of the region. it has been an interesting thing to see how they have reacted. what has been the reaction there. >> today's anniversary of the earthquake, the timing really

couldn't be worse. the government is mostly focussed on that and people focus on that and people are just mostly outraged. they consider that donald trump's remarks are racist. they are disrespectful. some don't think we should even give these words and remarks any attention because they are not worth their attention. haitian people are known to be very proud and resilient. we overall although people are very angered that president trump can't really destroy or sway haitian dignity. unfortunately we are mourning so we haven't gotten a lot of flash back. people are focusing on the anniversary of the earthquake. >> exactly eight years ago, hundreds of thousands of haitians were killed in the earthquake. patrick, you are in el salvador for us. what's the reaction there?

>> we just had a few minutes ago, el salvador's president, this is a close ally in the region. he is getting back saying that these comments by president trump hit at the dignity of the people and they reject him entirely. you don't have to understand why. this is the newspaper that said trump calls these comments racist and don't understand them when they have a close relationship and they should say it is adding insult to injury. just a few days ago they said they are changing immigration policy and deporting some 200,000 salvadorians and aliens who would be up for deportation that would have a massive impact on those that rely on those who

come from them in the united states. it is really a turn of the relationship. it would have been a good relationship. u.s. diplomats here are trying to repair the damage saying that it's a beautiful country, but perhaps it's damage that cannot be undone, wolf. >> thanks for the reports. the comments may be shocking, they are not necessarily all that surprising given what he said in the past, but as secretary for political affairs, ambassador to nato nicholas burns points out, this may be a new low. this is what he tweeted. the damage overseas from trump's ignorant and racist remarks can't be exaggerated. no president in the last 100 years reduced america's moral authority as he has. let's bring in the global affairs analyst and former deputy national security adviser

and deputy secretary of state under president obama. i want to get to more of the reaction. there is news that you are getting just now on the u.s. attitude towards iran. this is the deadline that the u.s. has to certify that iran is complying with the nuclear agreement. >> what he was 130supposed to d today was decide whether to waive or reimpose a host of sanctions about several sets of sanction that is the u.s. was obligated to wave under the iran deal. they continue to waive the sanctions under the deal, but he is saying this is the last time he is doing this. he wants to work with congress. he wants to work with the europeans to fix legislation that governs how the u.s. stays in the deal and he wants a stronger deal in effect. he is saying he doesn't want a

10-year deal that is going to expire. he wants a stronger deal to impose new sanctions on the nonnuclear activity. keeping the focus on other activities such as the ballistic missile programs and support for terrorism. he said i want a stronger deal. >> he is saying that iran is complying on the nuclear frond. >> he had already decertified a few months ago saying that iran is not meeting the spirit of the deal as he said. today he has to make those decisions whether he is going to waive the sanctions in the national security interest. he is saying in effect that iran

is not meeting the spirit of the deal, but under u.s. national interests, i'm going to waive those sanctions reimposing. he decertified a while ago. >> he is supposed to do that every 90 days. >> there are five sets that are coming up. some 120 days and 180 days. between now and next week it's about five different sets of sanctions that the obama administration agreed to waive for this president. >> they will waive it this last time. >> you were very much involved in the negotiationing that president trump said is the worst agreement and the worst deal the u.s. ever had and it was awful and he hates it clearly. what do you think of this decision. >> they are saying to stick with the deal and he did the right thing and letting the deal continue. if he did the opposite, he would crave the deal and the united states would be blamed. it's the only thing that is

working. >> this is the last time. >> he said that a few times. he put the deal in a permanent purgatoriy that. creates uncertainty about whether we are going to stick with it. it makes it hard eer for us to focus on things we want to crack down about. detablizing activities and it's the wrong thing to do. the one thing that is working is a deal that iran is complying with by our own estimates andob this. we should focus on the other aspects. >> on the other big story and the breaking news, the world reaction to the president's vulgar comments about immigrants coming to the united states from africa and haiti and other countries. this is going to have an impact on attitudes. there will be fallout and national security fallout as well. >> that's right.

it's impossible for us to know what's in the president's heart and we know what's coming out of his mouth is incredibly vile. it's districtive at home and also around the world. if you are explaining about the way they are treating their own people, it's a great gift from vladimir putin who likes to paint us as a divided society. one of the biggest weapons is to try to paint it as a society. luckily they took that away from them. now we are giving this back. they are trying to appeal to young people and to be able to show us and show our president as a racist and as a bigot, that is a wonderful tool. this is going to do real damage. >> the u.s. ambassador all of a sudden a career foreign service officer resigned. >> he did it in december actually. he notified the white house and the state department just fount

out a few weeks ago and in the letter he said that he was sworn in as a junior officer, he was bound by the constitution. united states and to uphold the policies of any given president at any given time. he was told by his mentors that if there was any time he could not fulfill that duty, if he couldn't stand by the president it was time to resign. he said that was the time. to build on what was said about the u.s. view around the world, the state department is doing clean up. the affairs in haiti had to go in to see the president of haiti on the anniversary of that devastating earthquake to reaffirm the u.s. commitment to hai haiti. in africa, the president of botswana going in. they also want to know am i in there as the president said, a shithole country. today the state department is

advising ambassadors to go into the countries and go to your host country and reaffirm the u.s. commitment to africa and all nations and say i'm honored to serve here and i'm honored to serve your country. >> i want to read another tweet from the president from overnight. late last night he tweeted this. the reason i canceled my trip to london is i'm not a big fan of the obama administration of selling the finest embassy location for 53 nut only to buy one in an off location for $1.2 billion. bad deal. wanted me to cut ribbon and he blames president obama for the awful deal. >> first of all, as everyone knows, this was a decision made by the bush administration. >> to move the embassy. >> for good reasons, we couldn't secure it adequately. we had to find a new place for it and they did that. >> under law, by the way. >> we have gone unfortunately from a first president who

couldn't tell a lie to the current president who can't tell the truth about anything. >> after 9/11 if you know where it was. very hard to put barriers around there to protect. >> the concerted program. to make sure that every single one. >> did you sell it for peanuts. >> i won't comment on the deal. >> he's a real estate guy. >> that's his business. we did what we had to do and it was the right thing and it was initiated by president bush. >> more news we are following. the president's disparaging comments sparking backlash across the nation. the highest ranking standing by to join us. lots to discuss. we'll be right back.

>> the president's comments were completely inappropriate. he should not denigrate the citizens of other countries and it also does not help us come up with a bipartisan approach to immigration for him to make comments like that.

i think it was highly unfortunate and really out of bounds. >> another republican senator, susan collins of maine reacting to the president's vile remarks about african countries and he ignored questions about whether he made the comment. ironically as the president signed a proclamation for the dr. martin luther king, jr. holiday. let's get more from the house of representatives. democratic congressman, james clyburn of south carolina joining us from columbia right now. thanks so much for joining us. what's the impact of the president's comments? >> first of all, thank you so much for having me, wolf. i think the impact has been dramatic. i think that the president has really stepped into it here. i think that the congressional black caucus solidified efforts and one of which is to pursue

the essential resolution. i hope we can do that and get bipartisan support for it. the president is the commander in chief. this is kind of the conduct of unbecoming of an officer. if a general or some other line officer in the military were to say something like this, he would be censured. it should occur here with the commander in chief at a minimum. and then of course when we get back next week, i think that the congress ought to sit down in a bipartisan way to find what it is we are trying to do on behalf of dreamers and get daca done. let's look at what we should do for border security and let's take this discussion about immigration off of this issue. it should not be in here.

i said to my colleagues yesterday this is a smoke screen. i think the president is doing what he does so often that he is going to stick it to daca recipients and give the backhand to dreamers and using this discussion as a camouflage for doing that. we ought to step out of these discussions about immigration policy, put it in something where it ought to be and get back to discussing a budget resolution and get a continuing resolution to go forward or put a budget in place and tie it all to the president's wishes on border security, our wishes on behalf of dreamers and let's go forward and start to discussion. this is a cam garage. >> on twitter the president sort of denied make the the vulgar comments or denigrating comments about haitians.

a congressman who said that -- who was there, a democratic senator i should say said the president did in fact make those remarks. dick durbin of illinois. what did you think when you heard the comments the day before. it's going to be together with all of us, weremembering dr. martin luther king. what went through your mind when you analyzed all of this. >> i will tell you what went through my mind. i thought about dr. king's letter from birmingham to the jail. you may recall when he wrote his letter, he was responding to a letter he received from eight white clergy men. they said to dr. king in the letter they believe that his cause was right. they thought his timing was wrong. dr. king in his letter said to them time is neutral. time is never right. time is never wrong. time is always what we make it.

then he said something i think is critical. he said that he was coming to the conclusion that the people of ill will in our society make a much better use of time than the people of good will. i will call upon my republican colleagues and say to them that if they are in fact people of good will as i think they are, let's break our silence on this. let's not be quiet and pretend you didn't hear it or didn't recall it. the fact of the matter is, senator scott i am told this morning said that he says that senator lindsey graham confirmed that it was said. i believe senator durbin said that senator graham responded to it when it was said. so let's stop this foolishness

because dr. king said that we are going to be made to repent in this generation. not just for the vitriolic words and deeds of bad people, but for their silence of good people. let's break our silence. >> congressman pourt, german puerto rico, germany, why latest remarks have become to a lot of people par for the course. nswer. with zicam cold remedy. it shortens colds, so you get better, faster. colds are gonna call. answer them with zicam! zicam. get your better back. now in delicious fruit drops.

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president trump's recent comment slurring so many immigrants, asking why the u.s. would want these people from, quote, s hole countries, it may be shocking to some, but it shouldn't necessarily be all that surprising. that's because the president has said things like this before. listen. >> 40,000 have come from nigeria, mr. trump added once they have seen to the united states they would never go back to their huts in africa. >> germany is a mess. she's ruining germany. >> when mexico sends its people, they are not sending their best. they are bringing drugs. they are bringing crime. they are rapists. >> if we are attacked, japan doesn't have to do anything. they can sit home and watch sony television.

something is going on. we have to find out what it is. i do want surveillance. i'll absolutely take databases on the people coming in from syria. >> that's poor leadership ability by the mayor of san juan and others in puerto rico who are not able to get their workers to help. they want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. >> you call china an enemy. why is it okay to do business with an enemy? >> because it's an economic enemy. it's the greatest theft in the history of the world. >> the president allegedly said that haitian immigrants, quote, all have aides. >> white house by the way denied that the president said those words involving haiti back in december. our breaking news coverage on cnn continues right after this.

this is cnn. the most trusted name in news.

this is cnn breaking news. hi there, i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn. thanks for being with me. moments ago the kind of history was made that no nation should be proud of. seconds after the president of the united states pro claims the day for martin luther king jr. reporters in the room shouting out questions asking the president if he's a racist. >> mr. president, will give apology for the statement yesterday? >> mr. president, did you refer to african americans as -- >> mr. president, are you a racist? >> mr. president, will you respond to these serious questions about your statements, sir? >> no. >> mr. president, are you a racist? >> this is the controversy president trump has created after he called