today, you have one spokesperson, in fact, denying that he said it. the president himself seems to be denying it, too. so for more on that, we'll go to jeff bennett who is at the white house. geoff, the president had a serious of tweets duick durbin referred to. how is that changing what you are hearing from the white house spokespeople? >> reporter: last night the white house released a statement seeking to clarify the president's comments. they didn't deny the remarks or the context in which the president is said to have made them. fast-forward what, 12, 16 hours, the president tweeting this, 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. the president then followed that up an hour later, hallie, with this. never said anything derogatory about haitians, other than haiti is a very poor and troubled country. never said take them out. i have a wonderful relationship reuters, jeff mason, and liz goodman from "the boston globe." out this morning on fox, they said the president didn't, in fact, say these comments. she admits she was not in the room. dick durbin was and dick durbin said this happened. he was on the record, on camera saying this happened. you have the fallout from allies like botswana seriously inquiring to the u.s. ambassador if botswana is in the s-hole category also. asking that question. there's obviously real-world fallout and impact to this, michael. >> there is. particularly for most of the countries on the continent of africa who have had over the years a very good relationship with the united states. certainly going back to the b h bush bubush era where all this work is now called into question. is this how you feel about our people that come from our continent to yours? that's one level. i think, though, on a broader level, just to put it on the street, the fact is, why are we walking around so shocked and awed by this? this is who the man is. the question we have to ask ourself as citizens is, does he represent us? is this us reflected in him? because if it is, america has a problem. if it isn't, we have to do something about it. and i think it's more important now for those members of my party who were in that meeting to step up. don't start this ducking and hiding. get your butt in front of a camera and relate exactly what was there. just because dick durbin was out there, don't make this a democrat/republican thing, this is an american thing. and you need to get your act together now. because you think you have a problem in january with the house and the senate, let this sucker simmer for the summer and the spring and into the fall along with all the other stuff that you have put out there that this president has put out there that has taken the republican party down from its once, i think, important place in the body of politics to gutter politics. this is unacceptable. so step up, guys, it's time to do it. >> so your message to tom cotton. >> all of you. if you were a republican in the room, this is not about protecting the president of the united states or giving him cover. this is about telling the american people, yes, the president said this, it is unfortunate. it's reprehensible. we reject it. it is not a reflection of us as republicans. it is not a reflection of us as americans. >> michael, you mentioned, the president has not been shy about saying controversial things about people from other countries before. the day he announced his candidacy, he said a lot of mexicans coming into the country are drug dealers, criminals and rapists. and he talked about refugees being isis-affiliated. that those in the visa program were of the worst. and the nigerians will never go back to their huts. "the new york times" was told that the haitian immigrants have aids and now this. jeff, you talk about the fallout, but the silence from the republican leaders. we have asked mitch mcconnell and paul ryan for comments on this. >> and i'm sorry they are getting tired of being asked questions like this. because of what happened earlier this week, when the president had the meeting at the white house with other lawmakers, 55 minutes, when he talked about immigration, daca the -- >> policy-oriented discussion. >> yeah. it called into question his mental acuity. two days later, this happens. >> liz? >> i think it also sabotages potentially his main goal on immigration, what he says is his main goal, which is to change it to a merit-based system. because now everyone is going to be asking, what does merit-based mean? if anything, immigrants from africa right now who live in the united states are more educated than the american population. because you have to be more affluent and scaled to get in in the first place. so does he want doctors and engineers from all around the world who are hmaritorious or those from count tries like norway? >> senator blumenthal was reporting last night. here's what he said. >> this remark made by the president of the united states smacks of blatant racism. the most odious racism masquerading poorly as immigration policy. >> you have that headline that we had out from the bottom of the screen from dick durbin's comments saying these are vile and racist. donald trump, you know the guy. donald trump, racist? >> you know, he plays at it very well. that's the thing. he uses race -- >> what does that mean? >> he uses race as a tool to move people emotionally to a space where he wants them to be to get a reaction out of him. we saw that continually throughout the campaign. the homage to david duke. oh, i don't know david duke, i don't know who david duke is, knowing full well what the reaction would be. and what that says to various constituencies. here's the rug for me, the fact of the matter is, there are a whole lot of folks like donald trump. white folks in this country who have a problem with the browning of america. who have a problem with the way this country is changing and transforming itself naturally. you talked about people who come to this country highly-educated, highly-motivated people from around the globe. a lot of people from color moving into the country. and a lot of folks have a problem with this. when they talk about wanting their country back, they are talking about a country very safely white, less brown, and less committed to that browning process. >> so can i just ask you again, because you said the word yes and don't know if you were responding to my question, but do you think this president is racist? >> yeah, i do. at this point, i mean, the evidence is incontrovertible. >> have you talked to him about that? >> no, he doesn't talk to me anymore. that conversation stopped a while back because i was not si like that. i wasn't here, here's your towel, sir. that's not the way i play. your chances of having a conversation ends abruptly. >> michael steele, great to have you on the show. thank you. jeff and liz, stick around. this is not the only thing causing international fallout happening in the trump universe, happening in the donald trump white house. you have new reaction today from the frankly overnight announcement that the president is not going to go to london next month. the reason is interesting. he's blaming president for that, but it was a decision made by president trump. nbc's lucy cavanaugh is outside the u.s. embassy in london to explain. lucy, what happened? >> reporter: well, good morning, hallie. i'm actually standing outside the brand new u.s. embassy here in london, which president trump was supposed to open next month when suddenly overnight he backed out of this deal on twitter saying, erroneously, this was because of a bad deal made by the obama administration who sold the former embassy for peanuts, according to the new president. $1.2 billion. the fact of the matter is, that decision was made under president george w. bush for safety and security reasons. this is a more isolated location. but i should mention, hallie, the president was swooped on his announcement last night reporting that he was not coming here next month. he was not happy with the scale of the reception he would get there. and he didn't want to face protest. just to give you a sense of the political climate -- go ahead, hallie. >> i want to get into the political climate as it remitted to london and the international fallout from the president's comment we have been talking about here. the s-hole remark that dick durbin says he made in the oval office. i'm wondering if you can put that in perspective when it comes to the climate you're seeing from overseas. >> reporter: well, that's clear in the reaction we have seen from lawmakers. the former labor leader, ed gillibrand, taking to twitter this morning to respond to trump saying, nope, you're not coming because nobody wanted you to come. the mayor of london who has crashed with trump in the path saying, the mayor is not due here. there was push-back from the british foreign secretary. the fact of the matter, hallie, is donald trump is a divisive figure here who clashed with the british prime minister, who was the first foreign leader to visit him at the white house for re-tweeting a series of inflammatory anti-muslim tweets made by the far right here. the fact of the matter is, there's a lot of push-back for president trump. the relationship is strained like never before, hallie. >> thank you. we are also following our conversation coming up in a couple minutes with ohio governor john kasich. at any point in the next 40 to 50 minutes, if lindsey graham, tom cotton or any other republican want to call in to talk about the meeting, we'll take that call. and we are keeping our eye on this decision coming down about iran. president trump is deciding on whether to keep the sanctions related to the nuclear deal intact. we'll have a live report on that in just a minute. digital id cards, they can even pay their bill- (beep) bill has joined the call. hey bill, we're just- phone: hi guys, bill here. do we have julia on the line too? 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walk us through it. >> reporter: well, hallie, here we go again. the fate of the nuclear deal hanging in the balance as we wait for the president to decide whether he's going to wave nuclear-related sanctions or violate the agreement. now, as you mentioned, the general consensus is that he will continue to suspend sanctions, but at the same time slap new sanctions on other issues like iran's missile program, human rights and on individuals and firms as he's done every time for certification or every time nuclear sanctions has come up. he could also set a deadline for congress and european allies to improve the deal. and if they don't, he could abandon it. hallie, you will remember in october when he didn't certify the deal, he also warned that in the event of a solution, not being reached, working with congress and the u.s. allies, then the agreement would be terminated. now, the president has put a cloud of uncertainty over the deal, putting him at odds with european allies, making them very very us nonervous, but the continues to limp along. now the european union met the counterpart in brussels yesterday and reaffirmed their commitment to the deal. they said the deal was working. and they said that iran is in complian compliance. let's take a listen to what they said in brussels. >> the deal is working, it is delivering on its main goal, which means keeping the iranian nuclear program in check. and under close surveillance. >> iran is in compliance with this agreement according to the international atomic energy authority. and that is very, very important for us. >> reporter: hallie, those at the meeting warned that iran's continued compliance is dependent on washington honoring the deal. and that is the reality, hallie. this deal would never have come to fruition without america's involvement. and it won't stay alive if the u.s. pulls out of it. even if the european and the chinese and everybody remained committed, the iranians say this is not going to stay afloat. if washington doesn't honor it, because nothing is going to come to fruition if the u.s. is still very much against this deal. hallie? >> ali arouzi in tehran, thank you. i'm joined by the former director of defense strategy at the national security council. and also the author of a new book "safe passage: the transition from british to american himagony." how does this happen? >> neither the europeans or iranians are going to make a significant change to the deal. >> so what is the point? >> i think what the president is doing is by being hesitant on whether allowing the deal to be enforced, he's preventing iran from allowing it to be enforced. because they are hesitant to make long-term investments if the united states might withdraw from the deal. so it is a soft non-compliance by the united states. >> it is a smart strategy? >> well, it is aggravated the iranians. and it puts the president at risk if he pulls the trigger on this. we are the people who spoiled the deal for the iranians, and that is bad for america. >> you had the president on the phone yesterday with manuel macron of france. we know the european leaders want the president to comply and go along with everything he's supposed to be doing here. >> for sure. this is an example of the international deal he was critical of during the campaign. he pulled out of the paris agreement on climate last year. >> much to the dismay of the european allies. >> much to the display of the european allies, particularly macron in france. and in addition to what you were saying strategically, he's keeping in touch with the base that he said during the campaign, i'm going to pull out of the deal. he may not do that, but he wants to keep showing he's opposed to it. >> and there may be an opportunity for him to impose new sanctions that don't go so far as to wreck the deal and then kind of sell it as being tough on iran and sort of getting out of the deal, even as the deal continues. >> so something along the lines of what his treasury secretary eluded to yesterday in the white house briefing room, new sanctions, not related to the nuclear deal, but still cracking down. it is not just iran though, right? we have news, by the way, the president did an interview yesterday with "the wall street journal" that got, frankly, absolutely buried when "the washington post" scoop by josh dossi, a friend of the show, came out. lest me forget, that was news as well. the president said to "the wall street journal," i probably have a very good relationship with kim jong-un. i have relationships with people. i think you people are surprised. he has not responded to speaking to kim jong-un, he may not have, but would it make sense for that conversation to have happened? >> it would make sense for that conversation to have happened. and it may dial down the tension over the korean peninsula. but one of the things the president and the white house is in general is really bad at is understanding that decisions you make on the iran deal are going to affect the judgment of the north koreans as well. >> that's exactly right. it is tied together here. corey shock, thank you for joining us. jeff and liz, hang out because we have more show coming up. it's not just the fallout from the president's comments we have been discussing. governor john kasich has been joining us. but we are keeping an eye on the midterm maps. the list of the gop retirements now getting longer. we're taking it district by district looking at the seats up for grabs and we'll explain what the dems have to do to take control of the house. 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. that goes beyond assuming beingredients are safe...ood to knowing they are. going beyond expectations... because our pets deserve it. beyond. natural pet food. anyone ever have occasional y! constipation,diarrhea, gas or bloating? 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you mentioned the magic number, look, 24. if democrats get a net gain of 24 seats, this november in the midterm elections, they win back the house. and you just said it there, martha mcsally is one of 23 republicans from districts, republican-held house districts, that hillary clinton carry in the 2016 election. so when you think of these as these districts here are collectively are the first tier of targets for democrats. they say, look, if hillary clinton could beat trump in these districts, maybe trump's midterm, we, the democrats, could beat the republicans here. that's how democrats are thinking about this. so mcsally running for the senate opens up one of those. there was other news this week in california, this is darrell issa who is retiring. another clinton-won republican held district. ed royce this week in california. a clinton-won republican held district. he's now retiring, now an open seat. democrats like open seats in these districts. dave ryker up here in washington. a clinton held district. the republican is now retiring. he announced that a while ago. and also one in florida. in total, five republicans are giving up seats, creating vacancies, creating open seats in districts hillary clinton won. so for democrats, trying to get to 24, those are five ripe and juicy targets. look at the other ones, they will target those as well. if you back this up and go to the next tier, these are districts closed. trump won them, republicans hold them, but trump's margin was within five points. you have already got two republicans from in here who say they are retiring. that's two more ripe targets for the democrats. this is extending it further out. trump won these districts. republicans hold them. the margin was within ten here. you got two more republican retirements. so in the three tiers, clinton won them, trump won them and they were close. trump won them and they were less close. you have a total now of nine republicans who say, i'm not running in 2018. that's nine seats you can bet democrats are going to make a big play for. again, they are trying to get to 24. >> that's the magic number. steve kornacki, thank you very much, sir, for joining us on the show. appreciate it. coming up next, the criticism from both sides of the aisle, including new criticism from senator jeff flake about the president's comments on immigrants yesterday. this comes days after the white house announced very big changes for people from el salvador. ohio governor john kasich is joining me next after the break exclusively to talk about his new op-ed in "the new york times." all that and more. we'll see if he sticks around. how do you win at business? 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>> every sign is that. he speaks like a racist. he comes up with those fears, but he's a misinformed man with power. he's a man of mass destruction. >> that's the reverend jesse jackson taking aim at donald trump at an mlk breakfast in chicago. the backlash is building against the president after his s-hole comment, expletive comment, to describe comments made for those from the african continent. but earlier, senator dick durbin who was in the room for the bipartisan talk, says the president is not telling the truth. i'm told by a senior white house official that the president got frustrate in the oval office meeting when the discussion came up about the visa lottery program and how that would protect those withtemporary status. the white house announced they would be removing the protection for those from el salvador. in a new op-ed focusing on immigration, ohio governor john kasich and jeb bush together write, singling out salvadoran families for separation is simply a bad idea that should be dropped. they add, if we believe america is made stronger by families, then let's do everything we can to strengthen families of those who call america home. at the very least, the federal government should not become the instrument for attacking them. i'm joined now by one of the co-authors of the op-ed, governor john kasich is back on the show. governor, thank you for being here on the incredibly busy morning focused almost entirely on immigration. you wrote the op-ed focus on el salvador before the news of this comment related to the s-hole countries came out. and we know that el salvador is one of the nations mention in the oval office meeting. so i have to start to get your reaction to that comment from donald trump. >> well, it's not helpful, it's a terrible comment. and, i mean, maybe the one good thing we can say he's trying to say, he didn't say it, because he realized it was a big mistake. but when you talk about africa, for example, we -- this is a place that is right for both growth and problems. and we -- i have been involved with africa in helping the countries in africa for a very long time. in fact, with bono, we did debt relief because we think it is important. if you don't have economic growth, you don't feel right with terrorism and we don't want to demean people. we are all made in the image of the lord and don't want to say disparaging things. we all make mistakes, but there's no excuse, when you do it, you have to apologize. and the piece that jeb bush and i wrote was not just about those el salvadorans invited here, president bush said they should stay. but i also wrote about daca, the young kids brought to the united states, and they live on the edge on a razor's edge with the fact they could be shipped out, breaking up a family. look, immigration needs to look forward. we need to protect our borders. that's a given. there's no argument about that. how we do it, well, that can be a discussion. but we need to look through the windshield, through the front, not use the rear-view mirror to try to fix things that ultimately can divide families. >> i get that, governor, but do you believe this president is looking forward through the windshield when as dick durbin says, dirkck durbin confirmed tt the president made an s-hole comment in the oval office talking about african countries. is that looking forward? >> no, i think what we need to do is resolve the issue of daca immediately. republicans and democrats working together with the democrats saying, of course we'll do border security. but look, the bottom line is, let's look forward and not backward. here's the interesting thing, hallie, i guess there was a meeting a couple days ago where the president said, well, let's work this all out. and then there were members of congress that said, oh, no, you can't. so left to his own judgment, do i think he might work something out? yeah, but i'm not sure that -- i'm not sure who he's talking to or listening to. >> are you confident there's going to be a deal to protect d.r.e.a.m.ers by march? >> i'm not confident of anything in the crazy city right now. everything has become partisan, political, we went through this on health care. and now we're going through it on daca. look, let me explain to our viewers who these folks are. these are folks, these are young people who were brought to this country by their parents. they were so young, they probably didn't exactly know where they were going. they have lived in this country, and they aught to be made, at least they aught to be legalized in this country, not shipped home. we have been dwortieporting the. the picture in "the new york times" op-ed piece showed armed folks in the federal government going to grab a young boy out of a house in miami many, many years ago. the country was divided. that's not america to have, you know, a s.w.a.t. team going in to grab somebody. and we're seeing some of that happen. people being deported right now. we don't need to be deported. we're america. we're a home of immigrants. >> you are very passionate on immigration. i know this is obviously going to be a major political discussion. it is right now today and will be for the next year. and it will be, as we look to the midterms. you have right now a republican congressman from your state who was asked about everything happening this morning with the president. and i want you to listen to what he had to say. >> it's difficult for the president because many times you want to say what you're thinking, but in the end, i know a lot of times he's saying what people are thinking. so look, i always say, judge the president after four years. let's judge the president after what we have done. let's not judge the president on what he says. >> do you agree on that, given what we have heard from dick durbin? is that the op-ed you want from somebody representing ohio? >> hallie, i'm not getting into the senate race, i can say -- i'm just not getting -- anything i say about it becomes big news. i'm serving -- >> that's why i ask governor, respectfully. it is your opinion, you're the governor. >> you want to make news, i don't want to make news on that. i want to make news on the fact that we want daca -- i don't agree with him. i just told you i don't. i don't think you wait four years. i have been supportive of the president when i think he's been right, and i have been opposed to him when i think he hasn't been right, including on health care and particularly in light of these comments. and my feeling is, we need to get some immigration things done, border protection, all these other issues, visa, lottery, do it separately. just make sure that the people who are daca, the d.r.e.a.m.ers and folks who came here, at the invitation of the united states, they get to stay and don't divide their families. and move forward, get it done. >> what about the temporary protected status designation for, for example, people from haiti, honduras and el salvador. listen, the homeland security officials say, original conditions no longer exist for this program that was not intended to be permanent. so how do they pass that? do they have a point? >> look, the bottom line is that there are -- the countries, for example, el salvador says, we can't take all these folks back. this is, again, looking in the rear-view mirror. if we want to stabilize the program, i'm for it. but don't be trying to divide people, people fully integrated into the united states who are law-abiding and constructive, no reason to grab them and ship them out. if george w. bush thought they should stay and barack obama thought they should stay, you got republican and a democrat president saying that, no reason to pick on them at this point. move forward. straighten that program out. make it clear, but don't be grabbing people and shipping them out. you're scaring their children, you're dividing families, that's not what america is. we are the -- the republicans are a pro-family, build strong families, wherever they are, whoever they are, live up to that. >> governor, i have limited time before i have to let you go and have two quick questions for you. number one, given the conversation we're having on immigration and given the conversation about the president's comment on s-hole countries -- >> i have no idea what i'm doing in the future, hallie. i'm sorry. >> i didn't ask about 2020. >> but you were leaning towards. >> no, i was going to ask you about something else, the comments dick durbin said today with the comments being racist. michael steele was on the show, someone you know from the rnc, he definitively believes that the president is racist. do you call donald trump is racist? >> i don't call names. i thought the president's comments were inappropriate. charlottesville, they were inappropriate. >> were they racist? >> i don't call names. i just don't. >> it's a category, not a name, respectfully, sir. >> it's a name. it's a name. look, hallie, i have said what i have to say. i'm not saying anymore. appreciate you letting me come on. >> i will ask about 2020, does this make you want to run? you brought it up. >> hallie, i have no idea what the future is going to bring. and i believe in that old proverb, the lord will fulfill the promise of my life. and i want to help build the country, i want to be a positive force in the country. and i hope i'm being one. >> governor john kasich, we'll have you back on the show soon, i hope. thank you for talking about immigration. appreciate it. president trump, we're talking about his first official formal medical checkup as president today. and we'll hear from his doctor after it all happens. so coming up, we're taking a look back at the history of how much presidents have revealed about their health and what we're likely to hear this time around, that's next. the maem? 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what is the precedent? >> there is no standard or requirement for this type of physical. the presidents in the past is to give a fairly comprehensive physical. this doctor was also president obama's doctor during the last term and during that last physical he released a fairly detailed one. this one head to toe. vital statistics height, weight, blood pressure, pulse. those are released as far as physical exam. everything head to toe. eyes, ear, throat, lungs, stomach, the whole bit. then he went through the laboratory examines looking at his blood levels, cholesterol levels his immunizations and his past medical history. this doctor we know has done comprehensive exams in the past and we're not sure what will happen here. >> i know you'll watch that and back on this network later on today. thank you for joining us on this show. i want to bring in on set robert dallek whose latest book "franklin d. roosevelt" and jeff and liz are back with us. pleasure to have you here. i know presidential health is kind of a specialty for you. first historian to be granted to jfk's records. walk us through history. what the arguments have been for being very transparent about a president's health. and then for maybe not being so transparpt. . >> the latter. >> that's what we've seen a lot in other presidencies. >> presidents generally have hidden their health situations. we know grover cleveland had cancer in the jaw. it was hidden. we didn't know about this until ten years after he died. woodrow wilson was incapacitated by a stroke, and that was largely hidden from the public. fdr, when he ran for his fourth term, saw him and said the president will be dead in three months time. this was three months after he had been elected to a fourth term. and, you know, eisenhower, lyndon johnson and, also, what i wonder about, how did mr. trump's physician know that he's the healthiest man to ever assume presidency in american history. he has the medical records of thomas jefferson, andrew jackson abraham lincoln. i mean, it's exaggeration. >> i think that is a very fair way to characterize it. do you see that the lack of information that we have very specifically about this president's health as a break in precedent then or not really given what you point out happened? >> break in precedent and i don't think after his physical today that the public is going to learn some extraordinary things about his current health. because after all his position client patient confidentiality. unless the president said you can tell them everything about me. so, i would doubt it. >> why is it important, just to make it very clear, why do you think it's important for people to know about the commander in chief's health? to override that privacy aspect there? >> well, because after all they're in a unique position. the president has its finger on that nuclear button. and nobody in the world has as much power as a president of the united states. and the same holds true for a vice president because if the president is immobilized or disabled, present to take over. i am of the opinion that presidential candidates, vice presidential candidates should give us a full recording of what their health is like. >> quickly, guys. we'll see dr. jackson come to the white house briefing room on tuesday, we're told. the person who is examining president trump today. what is the top question you would have for him on tuesday? >> i think one of the questions a lot of people have been asking is about their mental fitness. i'm not sure the white house would want to talk about that. i think we'll have to ask. >> i agree. the mental fitness is the big kind of elephant in the room. >> bob, very quickly before i let you go. just strikes me how much has changed since the 1940s when photographers were told told show fdr and -- >> yeah. >> we're in a different era now. >> we are in a different era and one would think there would be greater openness and, also, i think if presidents give out malarkey about their health and we then find out that there's something wrong with them, it's not going to help their credibility. so, credibility, richard nixon, i could go on for half an hour about that. >> i wish we had a half hour. thank you for coming on and talking through this. thank you. we end today, as always, with today's big picture. today it is coming to us from haiti because today marks eight years to the day since the country was devastated by an earthquake. upwards of 300,000 people killed. the trump administration, as we've talked about recently announced the end of this temporary program that let haitian citizens live and work in the u.s. because the trump administration has said that conditions improved significantly since the earthquake. let's talk about these