or we can make an effort, as martin luther king did, to understand and to comprehend and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land with an effort to understand compassion and love. hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. if you have kids in school, they probably spent today and much of the week learning about martin luther king. my 6-year-old today told me he learned in kindergarten that king was a hero who wanted love for everyone and that he was shooted by a bad guy. donald trump became the first american president to honor dr. king with words that rang so hollow, they were drowned out by the shouted questions that followed them. >> mr. president, will you give an apology for the statement yesterday? >> mr. president, did you refer

to african nations -- >> mr. president, are you a racist? mr. president, will you respond to these serious questions about your statement, sir? mr. president, are you a racist? >> the shouted questions were in response to donald trump asking in a meet with bipartisan members of congress yesterday, quote, why do we have all these people from bleephole countries come here? it's an account first reported by "the washington post" during this hour yesterday and confirmed by democratic senator dick durbin. >> senator graham made his presentation. the president interrupted him seven times with questions. and in the course of his comments, said things which were hate-filled, vile and racist. he used those words advisably. i understand how powerful they are. and i cannot believe that in the history of the white house in

that oval office, any president has ever spoken the words that i personally heard our president speak yesterday. you've seen the comments in the press. i've not read one of them that's inaccurate. to no surprise, the president started tweeting this morning, denying that he used those words. it is not true. he said these hate-filled things, and he said them repeatedly. when the question was raised about haitians, we have a group that have temporary protected status in the united states because they were the victims of crises in and disasters and political upheaval. the largest group is el salvadoran, honduran and haitian. and when i mentioned that fact to him, he said haitians, do we need more haitians? and then he went on and started to describe the immigration from africa that was being protected in this bipartisan measure.

that's when he used the vile and vulgar comments calling the nations they come from shitholes. the exact word used by the president, not just once but repeatedly. that was the nature of this conversation. when it came to the issue of, quote, chain migration, i said to the president, do you realize how painful that term is to so many people? african-americans believe that they migrated to america in chains and when you speak about chain migration, it hurts them personally. he said oh, that's a good line. when i talked to him about the impact this has on family unification in a nation that values families with the flag as the most important symbols in our future, they scoffed at this notion. it was a heartbreaking moment. >> the picture emerging from news accounts since the meeting paint a picture of a president carefully weighing the political

response to his comments before recalibrating on twitter. taking in a full night and much of the morning of cable news coverage before this morning tweeting, quote, the language used by me at the daca meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. what was really tough was the outlandish proposal made. a big setback for daca. and while not denying that he described african nations as bleepholes, he carved out haiti tweeting, quote, never says anything derogatory about haishians other than haiti is obviously a very poor and troubled country. never says take them out. made up by dems. i have a wonderful relationship with haitians. probably should record future meetings. unfortunately, no trust. yeah, you probably should, sir. some quick facts about what immigrants from countries described by the president as bleepholes do when they get here. more than 41% of african immigrants hold a bachelors degree compared to just 28% of the u.s. total population. nearly two-thirds of nigerian immigrants of college educated.

african immigrants are also very likely to hold advanced degrees. many of which are earned at u.s. universities. and nigerian americans have a median household income well above the american average. let's get to our friends and reporters on this extraordinary day of news. nbc's jeff bennett joins us from the white house. phil rucker who i literally stole in the hallways and canceled a meeting with a very important person to have with us today. philip bump, also from the post. jen palmieri from the clinton campaign and obama white house and the rev al sharpton, host of "politics nation" and president of the national action network. jeff, can you start by taking us inside the white house response? i understand the first comment came from raj shah who said certain politicians choose to fight for foreign countries but the president fights for the

american people. he watched some cable and then mercy came out and says i wasn't in the meeting but made it very clear the language, the language was not used. of course, she undermined her own credibility by saying she wasn't in there and dick durbin was. take us inside the shifting tectonic plates of the white house response. >> it's interesting. the white house position hasn't changed beyond that statement from raj shah. one official said the real issue was that dick durbin went to the press and leaked his private conversations with the president and this person suggested if dick durbin went to do anything else with this white house with immigration, maybe he should take a different tact. the president himself as you read has sort of this vague denial. hallie jackson and i have done some reporting on this and learned the president last night was working the phones calling some of his close confidantes trying to gauge reaction to the fallout and really trying to see

how it resonated among his base and one said the president was taken aback for a couple of reasons. the president has made fairly clear he's tried to position himself as a nationalistic warrior. and the inflammatory phrase is new but the president's intent to remake the immigration system is not. so that really is the latest context and color as to what's been an extraordinary 48 hours. >> phil rucker, we've been covering this guy for a long time. we've all been covering him for a long time. you've known him for a long time. i spoke to two of donald trump's close friends and they said this is exactly how he talks. it's surprising it took this long for something like this to

leak. >> look at his track record in business and real staets. accusations of racial discrimination in housing. a whole litany of things he said that were racist, insensitive, really concerning to a lot of americans which is one of the reasons his approval rating is at historic lows. this is not a one-off remark. it speaks to what he truly believes and what his character is. >> philip bump there was -- i think it was ashton kutcher who had the tv show or web series punked. he punked all the republican stooges who said i didn't hear that or -- what a laughing stock he's made of his republican allies. >> as soon as reports broke of him saying this thing, a lot of people, particularly on fox news said it's okay for him to say this. it's how his base talks and how average americans talk.

he's expressing the views of how americans feel. and trump himself as he does so often, he said oh, that's not what i said which left them in a precarious position. trump's tweet this morning was very true to what trump does. he sort of leaves open the door. i didn't say particularly that, but i did say something mean. don't worry, usually to his base. i think one should have learned that leaping into donald trump's defense is a risky proposition. >> ask chris christie how well it works out. it didn't stop senators cotton and perdue from releasing this statement. president trump brought everyone to the table this week and listened to both sides. regretsably it seems not everyone is committed to negotiating in good faith. in regards to senator durbin's accusations, we do not recall the president saying those things directly. so they said they acted in bad faith by leaking the president's

racist comments and then falling on the "we do not recall" defense, jen palmieri, which is one of my favorites. i hear it's being trotted out by lots of folks when it comes to context of russians but not in the context of a racist president. >> what i found interesting about those comments, i do not recall. there could be a number of -- >> we were in the little boys room together. >> there could be a lot they don't recall about his formulation. the president's tweet is very telling in that he is saying, i didn't use -- he was saying i didn't use that word but i believe in that sentiment. so he is doubling down on the sentiment, which is what people find so offensive. and it does continue to astound and trouble me that republicans just continue to defend this guy. and i just, like, at my core. but it's not surprising that trump said this, that he feels this way. i am reassured by the reaction, though.

you see everyone from journalists, although it could make them uncomfortable, to senators just visibly shaking with rage and you see the way average americans are reacting, too. and i find that to be somewhat reassuring. >> i had two thoughts, rev. one back to the discussion that consumed political shows like this one last week about the president's stability and presence of mind that he even had the audacity to walk out into the mlk ceremony today while people are literally shouting, are you a racist? we'll rewind that and play it again. i worked for a president who had approval ratings sometimes in the 20s and he was never shouted questions like the ones shoutd at donald trump today. it's remarkable that he's living -- he's governing at a time when reporters doing their job have to shout -- your colleagues have to shout out, are you a racracist? do you think african countries are bleepholes?

i can't believe that's where we purpose i wonder if you feel that the story here is the silence, the deafening silence of people like lindsey graham. >> i think that a couple of things. when you think about, we sat around this table less than a month ago when he was to have said that all haitians had aids and that -- >> right around christmas. >> around christmastime. >> people from nigeria, if we let them in, they'll never go back it their huts, and he denied it. he did not make that firm denial today as he did then. so for three weeks later, for him to say this, and not turn around to the cameras today after he signed this martin luther king proclamation and not affirmatively state, no, i'm not a racist. no, this is untrue, is to only confirm what all of us have been saying all along about him. clearly he makes bigoted, racist statements and, therefore, in my

opinion, you're racist. you do not have to spray paint the "n" word over the oval office and sleep with a kkk robe in the lincoln bedroom to make you a racist. but the danger here is he was in a meeting about immigration laws and policies. let's remember, dr. king didn't fight with george wallace said. he fought the jim crow laws. he is trying to have foreign policy based on race because he didn't just say what he said about haiti and el salvador and african nations. he says why don't we bring people in norway in. why, mr. trump? what is the rationale, other than they're white? we have a trade relationship with african nations and we need them for security of the united states because isis is there. why is norway outweighing that, mr. trump, other than race? are we really seriously sitting up here discussing that we are

dealing with anything other than race? and cotton and perdue are becoming accomplices to racism. we're not sitting around here. did he release some word he shouldn't have said in front of children. we're talking about race ump and we're talking about making it law in terms of immigration here. >> but let me ask you one more thing, rev. can you believe that in the year 2018, the second week of work, we're talking about racism? >> i can believe it when they announced in november of '16 that donald trump was the president because i've known donald trump. what i can't believe is that the republican leadership has laryngitis when we are sitting up, discussing not just racial language but how we're going to embed that into the immigration laws and policies of the united states. >> phil rucker, let me show you paul ryan's reaction and why he's not acting more like bob

corker. >> first thing that came to my mind was very unfortunate, unhelpful. we've got great friends from africa in janesville who are doctors, who are just incredible citizens. and i just think it's important that we celebrate that. >> oh, my god, did you say that? an ice storm is unfortunate, and we have friends from africa. that's like 20, 40 years ago when people would say, i have a friend that's a lesbian. that was the most outrageous thing that happened today. what's wrong with him? >> this is paul ryan. this is how he was during the campaign. it's how he's been -- >> it's the incredible shrinking man. his spine has been removed and he's trying to diminish himself as a moral human being, as a leader by the hour, by the day. >> he sees himself as a moral leader. he doesn't actually challenge this president and he'll say it's because he wants to advance the tax cuts or whatever. >> tax cuts have been passed. >> i know. but he just -- he can't bring

himself to stand up to trump and call a spade a spade. >> at least lindsey graham wants something. and it's obvious. lindsey graham is willing to sacrifice his decades-long brand as a maverick who stood shoulder to shoulder with mccain. what is paul ryan's explanation for doing what we just saw. >> he's the leader of the republican party on the hill. he wants to have a relationship with trump. they all try to stroke trump's ego and satisfy him and try not to enrage him and set him off. at the end of the day, trump is the leader of their party, the republican party, and the republican party is defined by this president and his actions and behavior. >> jeff, before we let you go, the president went to the doctor's office today. any news from his checkup? >> not just yet. i can tell you that dr. ronnie jackson, the same white house physician that treated president obama, former president obama, he is the one that did the exam of president trump today. it won't be dr. harold bornstein, remember, the eccent

rick -- >> i miss him. >> the personal physician to donald trump who wrote that letter that said he'd be the fittest person. >> i'm going to release him when i have to release my weight and height some day. >> donald trump is having the kind of exam anyone his age would have. 6'2", 6'3", weighs about 260-plus pounds. technically overweight. he subsists on a diet of fast food and steak well done with ketchup. we'll see how diet, combined with the stresses of office, how that's affected his health this past year. could get a statement later today and we'll find out more from the doctor on tuesday, sarah sanders says. >> keep on it. i'd advise weight watchers points for the president. thank you both for starting us off. when we come back, donald trump's decades-long pattern of flagrantly racist comments. why does anyone even indulge the debate over whether or not he's a racist. also is it america first or flat-out un-american to trash

the people of haiti and africa who our past president sought to lift up. guess who won't be coming to tea? donald trump's trip to london canned as the special relationship takes a hit amid constant tensions. at ally, we offer low rates on home loans. but if that's not enough, we offer our price match guarantee too. and if that's not enough... we should move. our home team will help you every step of the way. still not enough? it's smaller than i'd like. we'll help you finance your dream home. it's perfect. oh, was this built on an ancient burial ground? okay... then we'll have her cleanse your house of evil spirits. we'll do anything, (spiritual chatter) seriously anything to help you get your home. ally. do it right.

i'm the least racist person that you have ever met. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can

figure out what the hell is going on. >> when mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. they are bringing drugs. they're bringing crime. they're rapists. >> we have our inner cities, african-americans, hispanics, are living in hell because it's so dangerous. you walk down the street, you get shot. >> i've been treated very unfairly by this judge. now this judge is of mexican heritage. i'm building a wall. >> are you going to include the congressional black caucus and -- >> i'll tell you wharkts i would. do you want to set up the meeting? >> no, no, no. are they friends of yours? >> look at my african-american over here. look at him. are you the greatest? >> we have a representative in congress who they say was here a long time ago. they call her pocahontas. >> i don't know anything about david duke. i don't know what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacist. >> i think there's blame on both

sides. you look at both sides, i think there's blame on both sides, and i have no doubt about it and you don't have any doubt about it either. >> just a sampling of some of donald trump's most racist remarks. but it's his conduct in the oval office that's making headlines today. and yet another report. this one from nbc's vivian salama that's adding gasoline to the pr fire at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. she reports that a career intelligence analyst who was an expert in hostage policy went in to brief trump on the release of a family being held in pakistan. the president asked her, where your from? new york she replied. trump was unsatisfied and asked again referring to the president's hometown, she offered she, too was from manhattan. he wanted to know where are your people from? after the analyst revealed her parents are korean, trump turned to an adviser in the room and seemed to suggest her ethnicity should determine her career path asking why the pretty korean

lady isn't negotiate with north korea on his administration's behalf. vivian salama joins us now and evan mcmullin, former cia operative and one-time independent candidate for president. we'll get to your incredible reporting in a second. let me start with you. phil bump, just about the body of evidence that renders stupid any debate about whether or not the president is a racist. >> i mean, i think people forget from the first three minutes of his campaign he started off by saying we've got immigrants coming over the mexican border and they're criminal. some of them, i assume, are good people. and that, quite frankly, is the statement and argument, the fight that built a core base of support to carry him through the primaries. you played, again, that was, what, 30 seconds worth of what could probably be a two-hour documentary. >> that was the trailer. the movie version would have

made me slit my wrists. >> it's important to know the ways in which donald trump has expressed racist thoughts are very diverse. sort of ironically. he's gone after hispanics. he's gone after african-americans. he has gone after muslims, as you saw in the clip there. he's gone after essential ly every population that's not white. and, you know, whether or not this is great video clip which we'll come back to by jay smooth, a deejay in new york. he asks you differentuate between someone making a racist comment and calling someone a racist. it's beyond question that donald trump says racist things and to the reverend the point that he's trying to take those racist statements and instantiate them in american law and that is the real question as to when the republican party and when other americans are going to say that's not what we should be doing. >> when you see kkk members, young ones, marching in broad

daylight without anything covering their face, does it matter whether he's a racist or says racist things when racists think they have a president who is sympathetic to their cause? >> no, it doesn't. that's -- what he has given them is he's mainstreamed them and emboldened them because they don't feel they have to hide. he has said as you've shown, he has said the most bigoted, racist things, and he got elected. now he's trying to legislate that. so why wear a hood now? why cover your face now? when you are what has become acceptable in many circles in this country and reached the ultimate power. it's frightening for many people because he said it contributely. he's ridiculed and does this done the line. not just african-americans but muslims and latinos and everyone. but whites.

you are talking about a man who has never said a bad word about putin, our sworn enemy, but has insulted everybody who is not white. you wonder why we call him race sni ist? he started with birtherism. he founded his political career by saying the first and only so far black president of the united states is not one of us. that's how he entered politics. >> and found a very receptive audience which then bolstered him. >> do young he has any idea -- i know most presidents attend naturalization ceremonies at walter reed for wounded soldiers who sometimes become citizens during their service. do you think he has any idea how ethnically diverse the combat force is? do you think he has any idea how completely dependent on immigrants who came to this country and serve in our intelligence agencies, this

country's national security. do you think he has any idea that groups that i think in his head he considers as part of his base how ethnically diverse and dependent they are on the kind of immigrants he suggests come from bleephole countries? >> he may or may not. >> you think he might know? >> in the mind of a racist, they don't care. i really don't think he cares. this country was founded on this ideal of equality that we've been aspiring to a greater perfection over time. it's even more so than you describe. our entire power ultimately as a nation relies on this concept of equality. in my days as a central intelligence officer operating overseas, a lot of the countries and individuals who worked with us, worked with us because they bought into the idea of america. and when we faltered in some way and it became national or international news, we heard about it. i'd hear about it. and it would harm our ability to advance our country's interest overseas. >> vivian, can you speak to your

reporting today? the idea that this is somehow a side of donald trump that they've talked away now that he's president is completely false, as your piece reveals. >> they can't tuck anything away that donald trump does. he's on twitter. he's out there. he loves to speak to the media and loves to express himself. there's something really important to remember and that donald trump loves to be his own spokesman. so one thing that we have seen time and time again for the last year is despite multiple efforts to try to reign that in and avoid controversy since these are just added controversies. remember, there's also the russia investigation going on and the administration has tried to get away from that. but this is just adding to the pile. general john kelly coming in as chief of staff last year and there was this big perception maybe he was going to offer some order to the chaos. but we haven't seen that yet. any indication, the last 12 days

and this year have been some of the most chaotic since the beginning. >> let me ask you about your piece. does the woman that the president calls a pretty korean woman, obviously, these are career professionals who go back and keep their head down and do their job. but did anyone go to the president and explain how deeply offensive that would have been? she was an expert on hostage negotiations and that's been a bit of a bright spot for this national security team. >> my understanding is that it passed and there wasn't a discussion about it. in fact, it was probably even taken as a light remark of him just trying to strike a more casual tone in the meeting. ultimately, the story got out because there were people observing it who, you know, passed it around. of course, briefings, readouts that circulate and so people who were privy to information of that briefing obviously it was just per decorum and that's

something that we see time and time again. a lot of people in the administration really raising concerns about where this is going. we saw, today, the u.s. ambassador to panama resigned because of these remarks that keep on coming up time and time again where he said i can't just be affiliated with this government anymore. >> thank you for your reporting and for joining us. how past american presidents embraced the very nations that donald trump called a bleephole. tomorrow, it's a day filled with promise and new beginnings, challenges and opportunities. at ameriprise financial, we can't predict what tomorrow will bring. but our comprehensive approach to financial planning can help make sure you're prepared for what's expected and even what's not. and that kind of financial confidence can help you sleep better at night. with the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant.

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and after suffering so much for so long to face this new horror must cause some to look up and ask, have we somehow been forsaken? to the people of haiti, we say, clearly, and with conviction, you will not be forsaken. you will not be forgotten. in this, your hour of greatest

need, america stands with you. the world stands with you. we know that you are a strong and resilient people. you have endured a history of slavery and struggle of natural disaster and recovery, and through it all your spirit has been unbrokened in your faith unwavering. >> those powerful words from president obama just days after a 7.0 earthquake shook the poorest country in the western hemisphere. today makes eight years since that catastrophe. some 220,000 people died. 1.5 million people left homeless, and the united states was there to help. behind obama's leadership, $4.7 billion was made available to the country. but that's just a slice of what's become a presidential legacy. fighting poverty and disease in africa. long before that earthquake, there was pepfar, george w. bush's plan for emergency aids relief. the bush center says the plan has saved nearly 12 million lives from hiv and aids. bill clinton is helping out as

well. since 2010, the clinton foundation has raised more than $30 million for haiti. 9 million people have lower cost hiv and aids medication because of their work. hillary clinton tweeted the anniversary of the devastating earthquake eight years ago is a day to remember the tragedy, honor and resilient people of haiti and affirm america's commitment to helping our neighbors. instead, we're subjected to trump's ignorant, racist views of anyone who doesn't look like him. jen palmieri, i was struck yesterday, and this story broke in my hour. so i was like mom rage. but i was struck by how un-american it is to view poverty as being a place that a president of the united states described as a shithole. most presidents are so moved by extreme poverty, by the humanity, by that which is accomplished in the face of those long odds that most presidents, carter, bush and clinton, devote their post-presidencies when they

could have gaudy, ugly gold plated apartments like president trump already has. instead, they focus on extreme poferty in places like africa and haiti. >> it's such a proud moment for the united states when they stand up to do that and raises our moral standing in the world. and there's two thoughts i had about listening to president obama talk about the haitians and your lead-up which is, one that then former president bush, former president clinton banding together to continue to aid those and other disaster efforts. >> the tsunami was the first one. >> that's the very best. and katrina, too. that was 41, but that's like the very best of america and that during haiti, the obama white house put together a team that sent dennis mcdonagh, down to haiti to help orchestrate the u.s. response in a way that you would have hoped the american government would have done in

puerto rico a few months ago. this is -- >> good point. >> that is what we did for our neighbors and is a great moment for america. it's a bipartisan reaction. and then you see with trump, within our own part of the united states, puerto rico, not be willing to use a fraction of the effort we used in haiti. >> i was going to say watching that clip of president obama, it just -- what strikes me is that donald trump has a very fervent core base of support that he has said all sorts of untrue things to and he's accepted and chachbchanged positions on and they've accepted. if donald trump were to stand up and say we need to rise to the defense of people from haiti and rise to the defense of people from countries less fortunate than our own, his base would really around. >> they would send money. that's the squandered opportunity. that was the most tragic thing about puerto rico. if donald trump said to his base and got fox to amplify the message, let's rebuild puerto rico electrical grid and call it

trump power and put his name on it he could have saved lives. >> let me just -- >> that may not help build his base. >> i actually don't think that's the case. that's the case with many issues. this problem with his base, i won't even call it the republican base writ large. this problem has been around for a long time. some of the staffers in the white house now talking about how maybe this, you know, this bleephole comment won't be such a bad thing. it may resonate with the base. just like the nfl thing did. >> and that -- that -- >> still stoking the base. >> they are speaking to some feelings that we would like to feel like or pretend like are no longer there. they are still there. people out there with these biases and bigotry and this is who trump is. we try to tell ourselves it was bannon. we tried to tell ourselves -- all of that is gone. we tried to tell ourselves that

general kelly will calm him d n down. it's him. it's the same guy who took out the ads on central park and was sued for discrimination. it is who he is. it's not about him playing to a base. he is that base. he just has money, but he's that guy. >> you're so right. so when do you call a bleephole something else, and should we really have said grab them in the bleep. the political price of making donald trump family friendly, when we return. mom,

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i think the president might be racist. no, no, wait, hear me out. i sound crazy. i know i sound crazy. you know what, personally, as someone from south shithole, i'm offended, mr. president. >> so the "daily show" went for it but news organizations around the world are debating when to

use bleephole and when to use the other words just as they debated how to use the now infamous "access hollywood" tape. sometimes a picture says it all. here's how the new york daily news covered trump's comments this morning. here's the new yorker. and last, but not least, "time." our panel is still here. jen, i -- the first thing i thought, this story broke in our hour. we said bleephole. it's 4:00. other shows here and other places, you know, called it what the president said. i instantly thought, though, if everyone heard pussy grabber instead of bleep grabber, was he done a favor by his own vulgarity that we didn't air the "access hollywood" tape in his entirety and so people didn't hear how profane and how disgusting his comments were about women? >> just hearing you say it now is -- every time, it's like a little punch. >> was that an editorial decision that changed how he was

viewed? >> i had a big discussion last night with some colleagues about this. some were saying if you use his words if we continue to say shithole, think of how that's reverberating in the world and how every kid in haiti hears that and we're reinforcing that and we shouldn't do that. i think it's a terrible position he's put us in that we have to and that you have to so that people -- that americans aren't hiding from it and that we're calling out what our president is saying. so it's important for standing in the world. and i think we can't sugarcoat or try to clean up for him and make it more comfortable to people what the president of the united states says. and i think you have to use the actual words, even though like it brings you -- makes you nauseous. >> phil? >> it's so exceptional, it's worth the exception. i do understand. one of the interesting bits of blowback is defenders of donald

trump have said you're so upset about the vulgarity. no one is upset about the vulgarity. it's astonishing the president would use it and in the context he used it. talking about immigrants in particular places and particularly in contrast to how people from norway are great. because it is so odd and this great interview the washingtonion did and he simply said flat out, this is a word the president said. of course we'll use it and talked about it briefly because it's not what you would ever expect a president to say. >> you've known him longer than anyone at the table. i was told by two of his friends last night that, of course, he said this. this is how he talks. >> he talks. he certainly didn't talk in a racial context, but he in terms of -- let's say he's always been more profane than profound under any circumstance, but i think that the real danger i want to repeat this is that if you are

right now in africa and you are trying to recruit people to help against terrorists cause, remember now, the kenya, all of that was in africa and you have people from isis or from al qaeda saying look what their president thinks of us. how do you recruit people to help with intelligence? that might be hard for people to -- think of watching "homeland." you're trying to get some assistance here and they are showing this is what they think of us? this is a national security danger we're looking at here. >> is that true? >> it's absolutely true. i mean, you see and feel and experience the tangible change in our partners overseas when stuff like this happens. what does it mean? it means maybe somebody who could give you information to stop a terrorist attack or to inform you about a terrorist cell that's growing and plotting and planning. we'll decide maybe not to do the

meeting or something like that. it has real impact. we have to understand that countries allow us to preposition military equipment on their soil around the world. countries allow us to do incredible things in partnership with us because they trust that we're committed to our ideals. and when we abandon -- >> and that they can take our word. >> and when we abandon those ideals we lose a significant source of our national power. if we don't just do what's right just because it's right, even in our own self-interest -- >> do it so we don't get hurt. when we come back, another casualty of the trump presidency. our special relationship. ♪ this is what our version of financial planning looks like. tomorrow's important, but, this officially completes his education. spend you life living. find an advisor at northwesternmutual.com.

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meeting and subsequent denial donald trump managed to ruffle the feathers of yet another ally. one of our closest friends on the world stage quoting, i canceled my trip to london i am not a big fan of the obama administration having sold the best located and finest embassy for peanuts building a new one for $1.2 billion. bad deal. wanted me to cut ribbon. no. many brits called out the president including london mayor sadiq khan saying londers made it clear donald trump is not welcome here pursuing such a divisive agenda.

finally got the message. during the bush years i think 2008, the decision was made and actually a 999 year lease and wasn't really sold at all. the real estate guys got his real estate facts wrong. >> if you see that tweet and you are sort of outside of the bubble of donald trump, you read that tweet and clearly that's not what happened. donald trump isn't going to skip the pomp and circumstance of a trip because he's mad about what happened with this building. >> i don't know. like, a real estate guy? mad about location? i don't know. >> if he owned it -- he'd actually owned the leetes leaas. it's ridiculous. at least the third time he's done something to be frustrating to the british. first, his administration seize on the idea british intelligence was involved in something that wasn't true, more recently a terror attack, frustrating the

prime minister. >> and an e-mail, please don't, dear one. >> it is clear his relationship with britain is not what one would expect. >> and evan, did you ever -- i imagine everyone who has served this country in the military or in an intelligence capacity worked alongside our friends from the uk. i was in a room for a lot of interactions with tony blair and george w. bush. one, july 7th, the bus and train bombings, and to see the relationship deteriorate to twitter taunts and racist retweets is devastating to me. >> absolutely. this is our closest relationship, our closest international relationship. we cooperate on all kinds of very sensitive national security issues, and i know from talking to my friends in the uk who come from the national security establishment there, they're

looking what's happening in the united states and are completely bewildered, especially by behavior in republicans in congress and they wonder. why are the republicans attacking your national security establishment? why are they supporting a president that has a strange relationship to be kind with vladimir putin? and that is harming our relationship? the special british-u.s. relationship? makes no sense to anyone and is harmful to our interests. >> i don't know how hillary clinton thinks about this stuff but i imagine seeing america's role in the world -- i mean -- >> i can imagine. >> she's got to look up at the tv and say, oh my god, we're fighting with the brits? >> wow. yeah. i think that, it is what it is. what you -- experience is whatever -- >> what could have been? imagine if we weren't fighting with the brits what we might be doing? >> every president learns, president clinton, president

obama, even not inclined going in how important that relationship is, when the united states needs backup, you know, you need backup, and you rely that they are always the first in line and our most important ally and you have to be on the job to appreciate how really valuable and precious that is. >> all right. >> just walked away. >> sneak in one more break and give the rev the last word when we come back. i accept i don't conquer

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distortsed the facts about whether president obama was responsible for selling the embassy. >> of course he did. >> one, the trip, the foreign trip america needs to be concerned about is his going to davos. can you imagine this man with his intellect, insecurities sitting there with the elite? i mean, the whole country is going to be embarrassed. >> you and i should go. >> i'll take you up on that. >> my thanks to you all. that does it for our hour. i'm nicolle wallace. "mtp daily" starts right now. hi, chuck. >> hi, nicolle. >> happy friday. >> yeah. that's about what we can say. at least it's friday. >> right? >> that's right. well, if it's friday, an expletive spurs a new existential crisis. tonight -- president trump and race. the country is now openly debating whether the president of the united states is a racist. >> couldn't imagine it. nor did i ever imagine i would be sitting in the