republican senators tom cotton and david ferdu also attended the meeting. theyish issued a joint statement saying we do not recall the president saying these comments specifically. >> president trump denied use the language in these questions. but neither he nor the white house disputed comments that he suggested immigrants from other countries. >> so first thing that came to my mind was very unfortunate, unhelpful. >> the controversy could derail negotiations over immigration reform including protection if lawmakers don't reach an agreement by january 19th, the talks may spill into a spending deal to keep the government open. weijia jiang pbs news the white house. >> the president's comments came as senators came on a detailed bipartisan. so they've got to go figure it out all over again. >>> the court of public opinion. a lot to say about this. >> unfortunately we can't air most of it. this is from edith writing if his mouth is wide open it is full of bs and lies. all he's doing is causing another war. he doesn't care about anybody but himself. and look w