Treason. And a late night tweet amid all the drama. The president falsely claims he cancelled a london trip because the embassy was moved. Massive protests awaiting him may have had something to do with it and he gets plenty of facts wrong and details mixed up. We have reports this morning from the white house, from seoul, and london. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to early start. A remarkable 24 hours. Im christine romans. Im dave briggs. Its friday, january 12th. Eight years ago today an earth quake struck haiti killing more than 100,000 people. Today President Trump signs a proclamation honoring Martin Luther king day. Neither that proclamation or any amount of spin is likely to quiet accusations of racism stemming from the president s latest comments. This, a man who has defended White Supremacists mocked a disabled reporter, said a judge could not be fair because of his mexican ancestry. That judge is from indiana. Dont let these or any other examples normalize these latest comments from the president of the United States. Direct quote. Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here . We should bring in more people from places like norway. He later added, why do we need more hatians . Take them out. The remarks came during an Oval Office Meeting with lawmakers. Sources tell cnn when the subject turned to imgrants from haiti the president asked why do we want hatians and more africans in the u. S. The post says the comments shocked the lawmakers in that room with him. Late last night the hatian government summoned the top u. S. Diplomat there to discuss the president s remarks. If youre expecting an on camera response to the controversy from the white house it may not be today. We are told that news about the president s remarks broke just as he was recording a video message from Martin Luther king day. Kings daughter bernice has since weighed in with this tweet. Only in a country still haunted by White Supremacy and hounded by racism would a sitting president feel comfortable degrading africa and haiti while praising norway. Theres an ugly history that preceded trumps comments today. Sources say the president told aides he thought the media was throwing his comment out of proportion. The view there is that this may likely enrage washington. Reporter good morning. President trump setting off a fire storm on thursday when in a private meeting with lawmakers he was discussing immigration and the issue of restoring temporary protected status came up particularly for people from african countries as well as haiti. They did not deny the president made these remarks. Instead a spokesperson, raj shah said in part President Trump is fighting for Permanent Solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute our economy and assimilate to our great nation. All right. The president s comments drawing widespread condemnation from lawmakers. The only African American in the senate calling the remarks disappointing. He says our strength lies in our diversity. To deny these facts would be to ignore the brightest part of our history. This from mia love of uta whose parents are hatian immigrants. The president s comments are unkind divisive elitist and fly in the face of our nations values. My parents came from one of those countries. The president must apologize to both the American People and the nations he so wantonly maligned. Marco rubio firing off a line of tweets. The decision on whether to allow someone to immigrate here should be based on who they are, not where they are coming from. John kasich weighing in. And this from democratic congressman of massachusetts. Americas president is a racist and this is the proof. His hateful rhetoric has no place in the white house. Every single republican must denounce these comments now. The outcry over the president s vulgar remark has been global. Mexicos preceding president tweeted this. Your mouth is the greatest shithole in the world. Americas greatness is built on diversity or have you forgotten your immigrant background, donald . As for reaction in africa, lets go live in kenya. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, dave. Well, you know, this its early days here, just midnight in the capital of this east african country, but just a few mnlts ago i spoke to the so mali information minister who told me that he thought that these comments must be fake news and if they were real they do not deserve any response. Weve had reaction from another of the countries with temporary special status, which has always been in war, was only born in 2011 and there theyre saying that this is the concern of mr. Trump and it should not concern them and as a new country they feel that older countries have mr. To say on this incredible astounding comment about what country africa comprises of and th this word of shithole. And not owl of my colleagues will report in africa, but theres very much a disconnect between the work of american diplomats on the african continent. For example, in october the u. S. Charged affairs when a bomb went off and killed over 350 people. He took himself to the hospitals and gave blood for the survivors of that awful terrorist attack. Weve got u. S. Forces fighting in somalia. Kenya, a fairly prosperous country. U. S. Diplomats trying to maintain the peace. So these comments are being received in africa as another example of how far removed from diplomacy indeed, the usual patent of United States administrations in dealing with this continent. Thanks so much. We appreciate the context there. Another story developing at the white house, the president refusing to confirm whether he has talked directly to kim jongun. Instead, teasing the possibility he did in an interview with the wall street journal. He says i dont want to comment on it. Im not saying i have or havent. I just dont want to comment. But he did say he probably has a quote, very Good Relationship. Expressed an openness to negotiating with north korea. Hes also promised to destroy the regime with fire and fury if the missile tests continue. The president now suggesting the stop and go is intentional. Youll see that a lot with me and then all of a sudden somebodys my best friend. I could give you 20 examples. Im a very flexible person. When we asked a Senior Administration official if President Trump has actually spoken to or contacted kim he told cnn thats not something we would discuss, but we are not aware this contact has occurred. So whats the view from pyongyang regarding this relationship with the United States . Will ripley with more on that. Reporter the remarks to the wall street joushlg that he probably has a Good Relationship with kim jong urn took a lot of career watchers by surprise. At the you nated nations in new york and elsewhere for example, but every source that ive spoken with in the u. S. And north korea over the last several years and certainly in recent months has given zero indication of any remote possibility of direct communication between the leaders of the United States and north korea and there are plenty of reasons for that. Tensions between the two countries are at some of the highest levels they have been in years. Just last week President Trump was taunting kim jongun about the size and strength of his nuclear button. Three months ago he told Rex Tillerson that he was wasting his time trying to engage with the North Koreans and then of course who can forget little rocket man and the other insults he has hurled at kim jongun. The north Korean Leader hurled them right back calling him a lunatic. There has highly unlikely that theres been communication between President Trump and kim jongun. And nobody would describe their relationship good. Thanks so much for that. President trump telling the wall street journal he should be getting credit for firing james comey. He suggests many things have been found out about the former fbi director. He calls him a leaker and a liar. Mr. Trump says a text sent by peter strok to an fbi lawyer he was having an affair with was treasonous because it suggested collusion getting trump out of office if he won. In case youre wondering treason is described as aiding enemies of the u. S. Or levying war against the nation. Ahead, major protests were set to greet the president during a planned visit to london. Now the visit is off and the president s claim as to why just might have you shaking your head once again this morning. Try coverage of shithole gate, President Trump posted tweets on a series of topics. Among them that he dropped a recent visit to britain next month. Having sold perhaps the boast located and finest embassy for peanuts only to build a new one in an off location for 1. 2 billion. Wanted me to cut ribbon, no. Fact check, thats just not true. The decision to move the embassy was made in 2008 under president george w. Bush. The visit by trump was expected to draw huge protests. This is a president clearly tweeting in the very waning hours of the day just before midnight about cancelling this trip. Making news with the cancellation of this trip but it was fraught with difficulty from the beginning, wasnt it . Its strange what appears to be on his mind in the early hours of the morning. Look, there was never a formal date organized for this visit. There was suggestion perhaps it was going to happen around february, but thats the first sort of factual problem with this late night tweet. The second is that it was not the Obama Administration that made this move taking property from not far where i am in a very nice part of town out to sort of south of the river here. Also a very nice part of town. On the surface and the numbers arent entirely clear it may well have actually made some money for the state department because the value deal announced by the council here, the local officials is about 1 billion pounds. 1. 3 billion or so for the fund thats supplied for Hotel Planning permission to turn the embassy into a luxury hotel. The property on the outskirts is expected to in fact be fully paid for by the sale of that property. It was moved on security grounds, but lets put aside the fact that this particular Real Estate Developer doesnt appear to have a particularly good grasp of the London Real Estate market. The reason everyone in london thinks he wants to strike down the idea of him coming here is yes, there was expected to be substantial protests and we have in fact just heard from the mayor of london known for his anti trump views. He said just now, londoners has made it clear hes not here. It seems he finally got that message and that has been echoed by many other politicians here in london. It is above all really bizarre to many londoners that you would have someone in this position, such a divisive figure choosing a Property Price issue as the reason for not coming. Nobody thought that would be the reason in the late hours last night that he chose not to come here. Thank you, sir for the context and the facts around that deal. All right. The house of representatives voting to reauthorizes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act over the objections of civil libertarians. U. S. Intelligence agencies call the law a critical tool for protecting the country. A measure was expected to pass easily with support from the white house. That is until the president started tweeting. The president had backed the extension but chaos broke out on capitol hill after this tweet. This is the act that may have been used with help of the discredited and phony dossier. This came moments after this aired on fox news. I dont understand why donald trump is in favor of this. His woes began with unlawful Foreign Surveillance and unconstitutional domestic surveillance of him before he was the president of the United States. And now he wants to ins institutionalize this. Mr. President , this is not the way to go. Nearly two hours of the fox inspired comment put everything in flux the president was tweeting again. With that being said, two hour space, with that being said i have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process. We need it. Get smart. Weve learned House Speaker paul ryan spoke to trump between those two tweets perhaps clarifying the matter. The white house made the puzzling claim there was no contradiction in the two tweets. The entire episode leaving lawmakers frustrated by the president s impulses. If i could make one suggestion to the president it would be stop watching judge on fox. If the president of the United States were watching cartoons in the morning instead of something else. Wow. The fisa reauthorization bill now goes before the senate. By the way, judge a big sup porter of the president who spoon fed him that tweet said last night these shithole remarks were a quote, new low for the president. Did not mince words on that. One week until the u. S. Government runs out of money. A deal on immigration remains in limbo. Even more so after those comments about haiti and african nations. They are close to a compromise. It involves a path to citizenship for d. R. E. A. M. Ers. The proposal also includes a 1. 6 billion request for Border Security and limits to chain or family based migration. But the deal is not dpaning traction. Several republican senators dismissed the agreement as not serious and House Minority leader nancy pelosi complained that the majority leaders were led by white guys. Pelosis minority whip, one of the white gooe guys involved in the talks called the talks offensive. But she can thank the president for all the cover of those remarks. A mixed bag for walmart thursday raises and pink slips the very same day. We sort it out next. For walmart quickly turned into a p. R. Problem giving workers a raise on the same day it closed stores with no notice and laid off thousands of employees. Walmart is the countrys largest employer and it stands to gain big time from lower taxes some of those riches will go to employees. The starting wage will go up to 11 bucks an hour. Theres a onetime bonus up to a grand for full and part time workers you have to have worked there for 20 years so its a sliding scale. Also expanded family benefits. Walmarts ceo credits its cheaper tax bill. It is one of the biggest winners of Corporate Tax cuts. Walmart has been promoting workers to keep turnover down. Ivanka trump applauded the new raises in a tweet at the White House Press briefing the press secretary Steve Mnuchin phrased walmart. It only confirmed closures later via twitter. Walmart wouldnt say how many jobs would be lost at sams clubs but the effective stores employ about 9,500 workers. So closing 63 stores with no notice, now, ten stores apparently are going to be converted into Fulfillment Centers but thats ten out of 63. So very good day for walmart, then quickly had an asterisk by the end of the day. They employ a million and a half people in this country, many of whom are getting a significant raise and love this tax break. And the company crediting the tax bill. I mean, you look at the tax rate of walmart. It was 30 before tax reform. Its cutting its tax bill by a third. Thats a lot of money. And theyre going to get a lot of those workers. And dont be fooled or stunned by our program this morning as most of you. One of the craziest days of the past year in this Trump Administration. Remarks being roundly criticalized as racist. To all of our friends in haiti, and to all of our friends in little haiti you are so amazing. Theyre amazing but come from a shithole. The president s own words during immigration negotiations capping off a head spinning day that included tweets putting a National Security program potentially at risk. The president also with some bizarre claims in a new interview, apparently he has a Good Relationship with kim jongun. He thinks an fbi agent kmitdcomd treason by texting about him in the campaign. And the president falsely claims he damaged a london trip because the embassy was moved. Massive protests awaiting him may have had something to do with that. Well check in there. We have reports this morning from the white house from nairobi, seoul, south korea and london. Welcome back to early start. A lot to get through this morning. 32 minutes past the hour. Today the president signs a proclamation honoring Martin Luther king day. Neither that proclamation or any amount of spin is going to quiet racism stemming from the president s latest comments. He has mocked a disabled reporter, he has called mexicans rapists, he said a judge could not be fair because of his mexican ancestry. The judge by the way from indiana. Quote, why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here . We should bring in more people from places like norway. He later added why do we need more hatians . Take them out. The remarks came during a Oval Office Meeting thursday with lawmakers. Sources tell cnn when the sources turned to hatians the president asked why do we want more hatians and African Americans in the u. S. . The president s comments shocked lawmakers who were there. The hatian government discussed some of the president s remarks. If youre expecting a response to the controversy from the white house it may not be today. There is no briefing on the schedule before the president leaves formaralago. Kings daughter bernice has since weighed in with tweet. Only in a country still haunted by White Supremacy and hounded by racism would a sitting president feel comfortable degrading africa and haiti while praising norway. Dont pretend as though mechanic hasnt been racist. The president told aides he thought the media was blowing his comment out of proportion. A white house official tells cnn is that story may enrage washington, but will likely resonate with trumps base. For more, lets go to sarah murray at the white house. Reporter good morning, dave and christine. President setting off a fire storm on thursday when in a private meeting with lawmakers he was discussing immigration and the issue of restoring temporary protected status came up, particularly from people from african countries as well as haiti. As for the white house, they responded they did not deny that the president made these remarks. Instead, a Spokes Person raj shah said in part, President Trump is fighting for Permanent Solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation. Back to you guys. Thanks so much. The president s comments joined wide spread condemnation from lawmakers. Tim scott of south carolina, the only African American republican in the senate calling the remarks disappointing. He says our strength lies in our diversity including those from africa, the caribbean and every other corner of the world. To deny these facts would be to ignore the brightest part of our history. And this from congresswoman from utah. P president s comments are unkind, divisive, elitist and fly in the face of our nations values. My parents came from one of those countries. The president must apologize to both the American People and the nations he so wantonly maligned. The outcry over the president s remark has been global. Mexicos former president fox twooeted at trump, your mouth is the foulest shithole in the world. Americas greatness is built on diversity or have you forgotten your immigrant background, donald . As for reaction in africa lets go to nairobi, kenya. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning again, dave. Well, yes, the reaction is petering through, but already on social media, many african commentators are saying things that are quite unpalatable usually at this time of the morning, dave. We have one man who says sadly, we have shithole leaders like that man doing this to everybody every single day. We heard as well from the so mali Administration Minister who said to me on the phone that he suspected that these comments were fake news, that if they were not fake news then they didnt deserve any reaction whatsoever. The sudanese would leave it to other countries to comment. There are only three countries on that temporary status. The disconnect that happens between the statement of the president and the work of his diplomats can be illustrated when in october a massive window and american charged affairs led his entire staff to a hospital where they donated blood for survivors of that blast. So african are reacting that the diplomats who have always been there through the state department are still doing their work but getting conflicting messages from the leader of the free world at the moment. Thank you. Another story developing at the white house, the president refusing to confirm whether he has talked directly to kim jongun. Talked directly. Instead teasing the possibility he did in an interview with the wall street journal. He says this. I dont want to comment on it. Im not saying i have or havent. I just dont want to comment but he did say he probably has a quote, very Good Relationship with the dictator. The president has recently expressed an openness to negotiating with north korea. Hes also promised to destroy the kim regime with fire and fury if kims missile tests continue, mr. Trump now insists the stop and go strategy with north korea is intentional. He tells the journal youll see that a lot with me and then all of a sudden somebodys my best friend. I could give you 20 examples. You could give me 30. Im a very flexible person. When we asked a Senior Administration official if President Trump has actually spoken to or contacted kim he told cnn thats not something we would discuss but we are not aware this contact has occurred. What is the view from pyongyang regarding relationship with the United States . Will ripley with more on that from seoul, south korea. Reporter President Trumps remarks to the wall street journal that he probably has a Good Relationship with north Korean Leader kim jongun took a lot of korea watchers by surprise. Yes, there are back Channel Communications between the u. S. And north korea. At the United Nations in new york. But every source ive spoken with over the last few years has given zero indication of any remote possibility of direct communication between the leaders of the United States and north korea and there are plenty of reasons for that. Tensions between the two countries are at some of the highest levels they have been in years. Just last week President Trump was taunting kim jongun about the size and strength of his nuclear button. Three months ago he told Rex Tillerson that he was wasting his time trying to engage with the North Koreans and then of course who can forget little rocket man and the other insults President Trump as hurled at kim jongun. The leader has hurled them right back calling President Trump everything from a mentally deraged person. It is highly unlikely there has been communication between President Trump and kim jongun and nobody would describe the relationship between those two leaders as good. Thank you for that. Major protests were set to greet the president during a planned visit to london. Now the visit is off and the president s claim as to why will still have you shaking your head. \ trying to distract from coverage of the shithole remarks. President trump posted tweets on a series of topics late last night. Among them that he dropped a working visit to britain next month. The reason i cancelled my to london is im not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold the embassy only to build a new location for billions of dollars. Wanted me to cut ribbon, no. Fact check, that is a lie. The decision to move the embassy was made in 2008 under president george w. Bush. The trump visit was expected to draw huge protests. More from london. Reporter well, there are a number of factual problems with that late early hours tweet. I mean obviously you have to first of all ask yourself what exactly was on the commander in chiefs mind so late in the day, that this particular issue came to mind, but factually it was not the Obama Administration that arranged this deal to move the u. S. Embassy from a very nice part in Central London to also a very nice part of south london on the river. It was the Bush Administration nearly ten years ago now on security grounds. Also the deal may not have been that bad frankly. Were told by local officials that actually the hotel deal which the embassy is being turned into by those that purchased the embassy, thats worth about 1. 3 billion or so and the state department is clear that the whole move would be funded by the sale of this initial building and so that to some degree is confusing. It is perhaps suggested that the central lon bonn property was worth less because it has certain restrictions on what can or cant be done to it on the local legislation, but put that aside, nobody really thinks trump was angry about a property deal. Thats the reason he sort of shut down this properly fixed date for a working or state visit. It was well known there would be protests accompanying any such visit as soon as teresa may announced the original idea earlier on this year. In fact, the mayor of london has stepped forward in the last few minutes and said many londoners have made it clear that donald trump is not welcome here while pursuing such a divisive agenda. Hes finally got that message, but many here will be puzzled at the state of mind of the u. S. President that in the very early hours of the morning Property Prices in london and his visit here was the forefront of his mind. Back to you. Thank you. The house of representatives voetsing to reauthorize a foreign intelligence act. U. S. Intelligence agencies call the law a critical tool for protecting the country. The measure was expected to pass easily with support from the white house. That is until the president started tweeting. The president had backed the fisa extension but chaos broke out on capitol hill after this tweet. This is the act that may have been used with the help of the discredited and phony dossier to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by Previous Administration and others. Not surprisingly that came moments after this aired on fox news. I dont understand why donald trump is in favor of this. His woes began with unlawful Foreign Surveillance and unconstitutional domestic surveillance of him before he was the president of the United States. And now he wants to institutionalize this. Mr. President , this is not the way to go. So nearly two hours after the president s fox inspired comment put everything in flux, then he was tweeting again. So a twohour gap where he apparently changes tune here. With that being said i personally directed the fix to the enmasking process since taking office and todays vote is about Foreign Surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it. Get smart. We have learned House Speaker paul ryan spoke to trump between those two tweets perhaps clarifying the matter for him. John kelly even went to capitol hill to ensure the fisa extension passed. White house made the puzzling claim there was no contradiction in the president s tweets. None. An entire episode leaving lawmakers frustrated by the president s impulses. If i could make one National Security rk men dags of the president it would be stop watching judge napolitano on fox. This may be the only time where the country would benefit from a National Security point of view if the president of the United States were watching cartoons in the morning instead of something else. Cartoons. One week until the u. S. Government runs out of money. With that shutdown looming a deal on immigration remains in limbo this morning. Even more so after those comments about haiti and african nations from the president. A Bipartisan Group of six lawmakers say they are close to a compromise. It involves a palt to citizenship for d. R. E. A. M. Ers. Even if they werent enrolled in daca when it ended. The proposal also includes a 1. 6 billion request for Border Security and limits to chain or family based migration. But the deal is not gaining traction. Several republican senators dismissed the agreement as not serious and House Minority leader nancy pelosi complained that negotiations were led by white guys with no involvement from minority members of congress. Pelosis number two minority whip, one of the white guys involved in the talks called her remark offensive. All right. No work, no medicaid for the first time ever, the Trump Administration will let states make medicaid recipients work for benefits. The Administration Released New guidance yesterday. It allows states to cut off benefits from adults unless they meet work requirements, meaning they have a job, theyre in school, theyre a care giver or a volunteer. This fulfills a long time republican goal but critics argue it can be grewed used to e rules. 60 of adults on medicaid already work. 6 out of 10. Most who dont work cite disability or illness. But many are exempt along with pregnant women, children and the elderly. The guidance also says states should give some americans due to factors like high unemployment. Also opioid addiction. In fact, the administration recommends that drug treatment should count as a work activity. A really important detail in that medicaid change. Officials in sourn californ Southern California goes on. 43 people still missing in those deadly mud slides. The victims range in age from 3 to 89. Weve told emergency crews have completed a primary search of 75 of the debris field. No rain in the forecast for the region over the next week thankfully. All right. 51 minutes past the hour. Facebook is making your news feed more personal, this after criticism for the spread of fake news. An overhaul here on how youll use and see facebook next. Its no laughing matter. Still comedians taking on the president s vulgar comments about african nations and haiti. Im sure fact the countries he described as [ bleep ] holes are most popular by people of color and the immigrants he wants from norway are not because if it was it would mean we voted for a racist and wed have to get pitch forks and chase him out of the white house. I also would assume the white house would deny he said that. He did not. You just cant believe that this is the guy running our country. At what point does this have some common dee scency, some hu emotion . I mean now, consider these shows are at 11 30, 12 00, 12 30 and they had to edit, censor the president of the United States. That in itself is rather fascinating. It was fascinating to follow the internet reaction too. A lot of people to point out if someone were to move here from norway, theyd have to take a cut in their state of living. Its not as if people from norway are beating down the door trying to get in. Thats what completes the story. Just the edited remarks there, in and of itself are not racist, i dont think. You need norway for context and this wont really change the debate. Trump supporters are okay with this. I spoke to many of them throughout the night, none of them had a problem with it. Hes a bomb thrower and thats what he did and thats what they like about it. Lets get a check on moneystream this morning. Global stocks higher today. A wall street rebounded to a fresh round of record highs. The dow jumped 205 points. Tax cuts have been the rocket fuel for the bulls but the head of the Federal Reserve now worries those tax cuts may overheat the u. S. Economy calling tax cuts unnecessary when the economy is so strong. Earning season kicks off today. Wells fargo and pnc, so watch for that. That will likely direct the direction of trade today. Zuckerberg plans to fix facebook. Now facebook is overhauling its news feed to focus on posts from friends and family at the expense of publishers and brands. In an exclusive interview, he says facebook will change how it ranks posts. The idea is to try and focus more on bringing people together by trying to put more emphasis on facilitating more meaningful social interactions between people. And the way we do that in ranking is to value things like commenting or writing a long comment more and valuing things like how long we think you might watch a video for less. Facebook will elevate posts you interact with and demote those you use passively like news stories and business posts. Facebook has 2 billion users to any change is a seismic event. This update comes after a year of criticism about the content on its platform including fake news and posts used to meddle in the election, things that look like real conversations is really just garbage. All eyes on how they handle 2018 and 2020 and beyond. Early start i do not early start continues right now. To all of our friends in haiti, and to all of our friends in little haiti you are so amazing. Theyre amazing but they come from a shithole. The president s own words during immigration negotiations capping off a staggering day in washington, d. C. Tweets, putting a National Security program potentially at risk. The president also with some bizarre claims in a new interview, apparently he says he has a Good Relationship with kim jongun. What does that mean . And he thinks an fbi agent committed treason by texting about him during the campaign. And a late night tweet amid all this drama. The president falsely claims he cancelled a london trip because the embassy was moved. Mazdaive protests awaiting him may have had something to do with that. Well have reports this morning