And maybe dial back the s***hole comments: Obama says presidency has to do with 'shaping attitudes' and culture

  • President Trump vented about immigration from 's***hole countries' in a meeting with lawmakers
  • Said his language was 'tough' but 'this was not the language used' - only to have his claim rejected outright by a top Democratic senator
  • President met in the Oval Office Thursday with senators from both parties about proposals for immigration reform
  • He reportedly asked them why the U.S. had to shoulder the burden of refugees coming to the U.S. after Third World natural disasters 
  • 'Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?' he asked, according to a Washington Post report 
  • He also reportedly said: 'Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out'  
  • In addition to Haitians, he was referring to people from African countries
  • Trump said he wanted people from countries like Norway, whose prime minister he held a press conference with Wednesday
  • Barack Obama, the United States' first black president, has not commented directly on Trump's comments
  • In an interview that dropped on Friday that was conducted last fall, he said the presidency is about 'shaping attitudes, shaping culture, increasing awareness'

In an interview that was released on Friday, as Donald Trump was under fire for cringe-worthy comments he made about immigrants from 's***hole nations, former President Barack Obama apprised that true leadership is about influencing peoples' perceptions.  

'One of the things that Michelle figured out, in some ways faster than I did — was part of your ability to lead the country doesn’t have to do with legislation, doesn’t have to do with regulations, it has to do with shaping attitudes, shaping culture, increasing awareness,' Obama said.

The former president who is nearly a year out of office taped the interview for David Letterman's Netflix show 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction' last fall. 

Obama's comments happened to drop just as Trump was battling a humiliating incident on Friday as he prepared to leave town ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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In an interview that was released on Friday, as Donald Trump was under fire for cringe-worthy comments he made about immigrants from 's***hole nations, former President Barack Obama apprised that true leadership is about influencing peoples' perceptions

The former president who is nearly a year out of office taped the interview for David Letterman's Netflix show 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction' last fall

The former president who is nearly a year out of office taped the interview for David Letterman's Netflix show 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction' last fall

President Donald Trump has denied making a widely condemned comment railing against accepting immigrants from 's***hole countries,' even as he admitted to using 'tough' language in an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers. 

'The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used,' Trump wrote on Friday morning, in an effort to walk back the comment.

'What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!' Trump tweeted.

The tweet came hours after a bombshell report about Trump's comments, which the White House did not immediately deny. 

Trump made a public case against an immigration deal Friday by complaining that people from 'high crime' countries get to come here after getting blasted for ranting that people from 's***hole countries get to come here.' 

The president's claim – issued hours after the first reports of his comments that the White House did not deny at the time – were directly contradicted by Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, who was in the meeting. 

'In the course of his comments, [Trump] said things that were hate-filled, vile and racist,' Durbin told reporters Friday. 'I use those words advisedly. I understand how powerful they are. But I cannot believe in this history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday,' Durbin said. 

'You've seen the comments in the press,' Durbin said. 'I have 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.'

'He said these hate-filled things and he said them repeatedly,' said Sen. Richard Durbin (left of Trump) of Illinois, who was in the meeting

'He said these hate-filled things and he said them repeatedly,' said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, who was in the meeting

'When the question was raised about Haitians, for example. We have a group that have temporary protected status in the United States because they were the victims of crises, disasters, and political upheaval,' Durbin continued. 'The largest group's El Salvadoran, the second is Honduran and the third is Haitian. And when I mentioned that fact to him he said Haitians, do we need more Haitians?'

'And then he went on and he started to describe the immigration from Africa that was being protected in this bipartisan measure. That's when he used these 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.'

Trump's public argument against the emerging deal to protect DACA recipients and make other immigration policy came after a flurry of rebukes from Democrats as well as Republicans in Congress.

Trump also denied having said 'take them out' in regard to Haitians, as his administration moves to remove temporary immigration status for people who fled disasters in Haiti and El Salvador years ago. Democrats want to give some 'diversity' visas to these people as changes are made to a special program that lets people apply from around the world to come here.

'Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said "take them out," Trump wrote. 'Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!'

Among those condemning the comments were Hatian-American Republican Rep. Mia Love of Utah, who called the reported comments 'unkind, divisive [and] elitist' and demanded that Trump apologize.

Trump has not apologized, and the White House initially did not not deny he made the comments, which were reported by the Washington Post.

'NOT THE LANGUAGE USED': Trump's cleanup statement used an unusually passive voice, saying the words 'used by me' were tough

'NOT THE LANGUAGE USED': Trump's cleanup statement used an unusually passive voice, saying the words 'used by me' were tough

Trump denied a report he made a comment about removing people who came here from Haiti after disasters struck their home country

Trump denied a report he made a comment about removing people who came here from Haiti after disasters struck their home country

'S***HOLE COUNTRY': shows people walking past a street damaged by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, in western Haiti. The country's perilous state had meant its citizens have temporary protected status in the U.S. - apparently one of the causes of Trump's extraordinary outburst - which is now being rescinded

'S***HOLE COUNTRY': shows people walking past a street damaged by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, in western Haiti. The country's perilous state had meant its citizens have temporary protected status in the U.S. - apparently one of the causes of Trump's extraordinary outburst - which is now being rescinded

Trump reportedly criticized African nations (Somalia is pictured above) during the meeting, angering the African Union

Trump reportedly criticized African nations (Somalia is pictured above) during the meeting, angering the African Union

In Letterman's Nextlix series, the former president, Obama, was reflecting on his own White House journey when he made the comments that hit home for Trump.

Obama said he fell into a trap of droning on and on from behind a lectern.

'When you become president and you're in the Oval Office, you feel now I have to act presidential,' he said, 'and we lost track of what had gotten us there, and that was our ability to tell stories and relate to people.'

To be fair, Obama said, he had two wars and a collapsing economy to contend with, and that creates a sense of seriousness.

Moments later, Letterman asked him, hypothetically, about a country that has its voting process 'monkeyed with' by foreign countries. 'What is more damaging to that democracy?' Letterman asked. 'Would it be the diminishment by the head of the democracy of press, or would it be somebody screwing around with the actual voting process.'

Obama replied that one of the biggest problems with the U.S. is 'the degree to which we don't share a common baseline of facts.'

'What the Russians exploited but it was already here, is we are operating in completely different information universes. If you watch Fox News, you are living on a different planet than you are if you, well, listen to NPR.'  

Wreckage from natural disasters is endemic in nations like Haiti (pictured) and El Salvador, while African refugees from nations like Rwanda and Sudan flee oppressive governments and long-lasting civil wars between warring tribes and sects

Wreckage from natural disasters is endemic in nations like Haiti (pictured) and El Salvador, while African refugees from nations like Rwanda and Sudan flee oppressive governments and long-lasting civil wars between warring tribes and sects

TROUBLED: Members of the MS-13 gang, notorious for its brutality, detained in San Salvador, one of the many troubles the country is suffering from

TROUBLED: Members of the MS-13 gang, notorious for its brutality, detained in San Salvador, one of the many troubles the country is suffering from

IMMIGRATION FROM HAITI, AND EL SALVADOR, WHICH TRUMP CALLED 'S***HOLES'

Haiti

Until November, Haitians had 'temporary protected status', or TPS, which means hey are not subject to removal even if they have no other legal status. 

It was introduced after the devastating 2010 earthquake, which shattered the country and killed 230,000 people.

But that status is ending, with the change to take effect on July 22 2019, which will force all Haitians who have the status to either find a legal way to stay or face deportation. 

The total number of people affected is estimated at 46,000 but that may be a  significant under-estimate. 

Already large numbers of Haitians have fled to Canada, generating a mini-crisis there last year as it dealt with arrivals at its border crossings. 

Haiti, however, is itself in bad shape. It is by far the poorest country in the Americas, and rated 209th poorest country in the world, out of 230 in total, putting it below Afghanistan and Ethiopia.

Unemployment is 40 per cent, and less than a third of the workforce have formal jobs, while the economy is still recovering from the latest massive natural disaster, Hurricane Mathtew, which hit in 2016.

Other statistics are also appalling: illiteracy is as high as 40 per cent, average per capita income has been estimated at $400 per person, and even though the country's debt was canceled in 2010, it has already reached more than $2 billion, mostly owed to Venezuela.   

A mass arrival of tens of thousands from the U.S. would be doubly bad news, economists say, as there are no jobs for them and the cash from remittances which they sent has become a key part of the economy. 

El Salvador

El Salvadorans have had TPS since 2001, when an earthquake similar to Haiti's hit an already troubled country.  

It had never truly recovered from the 12-year-long civil war which started in 1980 and killed an estimated 75,000, and January 2001's earthquake and the mudslides it triggered caused more havoc.

The death toll was less than 1,000, but up to a quarter of a million homes and buildings were destroyed or damaged and the country lost half its economic output.

In total, an estimated 250,000 El Salvadorans are in the U.S. on TPS, compared to a population of 6.1 million - making their remittances once of the key sources of foreign cash. In total remittances from all emigrants account for a fifth of its gross domestic product.

Compared to Haiti, El Salvador is far wealthier, ranking 143rd in the world on wealth, and literacy rates are far higher, but it is scarred by gang crime which makes it one of the world's most dangerous places.

There were 81.2 murders for every 100,000 people in 2016, the highest casualty rate outside a war zone anywhere in the world. In 2016, there were 5,200 murders.

In comparison, the U.S. had 17,25 murders in 2016, a rate of 5.3 per 100,000. The rate in Norway - where Trump welcome arrivals from - was 0.6 per 100,000 in 2015.

The most notorious in the U.S. is MS-13, which ironically originated in Los Angeles, as did its rival M-18.

Their bitter rivalry fueled the murder rate and also overshadows the criminal justice system, with police constantly in the crossfire.

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