over his disparaging comments about immigrants from haiti and other african nations. did you see what the senators in the room said about my comments? they weren t made reporter: some differing accounts about whether he referred to these countries as shitholes. he said them, and he said them repeated. reporter: senator dick durbin saying he did use the vulgar characteration while two republican allies said they did not recall the phrase before insisting sunday that it did not happen. he did not use that word, george. i m telling you, it s a gross misrepresentation. i didn t hear that word either. reporter: senator tim scott telling the charleston post and currier said lindsey graham said the comments were basically accurate. i was in a meeting directly afterwards where those who presented to the president our proposal speck about the
president trump. you have a president who says things but has the power to execute and create racism. that s a dangerous power and a dangerous position! we got it find a way to work on this man s heart. we begin on this martin luther king day with a conversation about race and about prejudice with a dispute over whom to believe and whose memory to trust. today conflicting accounts over what the president of the united states said. sources telling cnn he disparaged haitians and african nations. you might recall on friday, senator dick durbin, a democrat who was in the room with the president, told reporters that, yes, the president used the word forgive me shitholes in the context of the african nations. and he used it repeatedly. don cotton and david perdue first said they did not recall him using that word
some african nations. did you see what various senators in the raofpl said about my comments? they weren t made reporter: lawmakers offering different accounts about whether mr. trump referred to these countries as shitholes. he said these hate-filled things, and he said them repeat repeatedly. reporter: the lone democrat, dick durbin, said he the president did use the vulgar characteration while two republicans said they did not recall the phrase before insisting sunday that it did not happen. he did not use that word, george. it s a gross misrepresentation. i didn t hear what senator durbin said repeatedly. reporter: senator scott saying fellow republican lindsey graham said the comments are basically accurate. i was in a meeting directly afterwards where those presented to the president our proposal spoke about the meeting. and they said those words were used before those words went
quoting president trump using language that could be considered offensive. calling the nations they come from shitholes. the exact word used by the president. not more, not just once, but repeatedly. it was an impassioned conversation. i don t recall that specific phrase being used. i m telling you he did not use that word, george, and i m telling you, it s a gross misrepresentation. i didn t hear it and i was sitting no further away from donald trump than dick durbin was. nbc s garrett haake is live on capitol hill. members of the senate, as long as i can remember, always consider themselves the more professional, the more refined house, you know, they would look down on the members of the house. it is extraordinary. you have these senators now basically calling each other liars. yes, chris, it s just not usually how business is done here in the senate. even senators who don t like each other put forth the effort to fake it most of the time. to have essentially two republi
been summoned by their host nations. they labelled the president s language racist. this came after president trump at a meeting in the white house labelled african nations as shitholes according to senator dick durbin who was there. that word is having deep impact. joining me to discuss are the former foreign secretary of the united kingdom, he now runs the international rescue committee and the executive director of the center for immigration studies. david, what is your reaction and what is your guess about how other countries, you know, you were foreign secretary. how will they react to this? obviously, the language that the president used has taken u.s. diplomacy into the gutter. and i think that on its own would have been enough to relief the summons that you re talking about.