To early start, im dave briggs. Im renee marsh. Its wednesday, april 4th. 4 00 a. M. In the east, 11 00 a. M. In damascus where well have a live report coming up. Breaking overnight, special Counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly told the president s lawyers he is not currently a criminal target of the russia investigation. The Washington Post reports muellers team told President Trumps lawyers he remains a subject of the investigation including whether he sought to obstruct the russia probe. One source tells the post that the special counsels office is writing a report on mr. Trumps actions since taking office and wants to interview him as a last step. And that, according to the post, has some trump advisers worried the president could be baited into an interview that would put him in legal jeopardy. Meanwhile, the mueller team with the first sentence in the russia investigation. A dutch lawyer tied to former Trump Campaign deputy chairman rick gates sentenced to 30 days in prison and a 20,000 fine. Alex vanderzwan pleaded guilty to lying and failing to turn over emails to the special counsel. His wife, daughter of a russian oligarch, in a voluntary interview with investigators said he thid his ties with intelligence ties. After days of escalating rhetoric on immigration backed one rehashed policy ideas, President Trump offered a brandnew proposal tuesday sending u. S. Troops to guard the u. S. Border. At a luncheon and joint News Conference with baltic leaders, the president surprised nearly everyone including the pentagon with his call to use the military to patrol the border. Until his longpromised border wall is built. More now from Boris Sanchez at the white house. Reporter President Trump hitting a broad array of topics on tuesday, dave and rene, talking about everything from syria in which he said that he wanted to bring american troops home from that country in part, in his words, so they could help rebuild the United States. The president also talked about mexico making news with the idea that he would be sending the military to protect the border in lieu of his longpromised border wall. Heres more of President Trump talking about that. Listen we are preparing for the military to secure our border between mexico and the United States. We have a meeting on it in a little while with general mattis and everybody. And i think that its something we have to do. Reporter late tuesday night the white house confirmed that the president had taken part in a briefing where having National Guard troops sent to help bolster protection at the border was brought up. We understand that certain numbers have been discussed in terms of how many personnel are going to be set. The white house doesnt have an official figure just yet. Something to keep an eye on moving forward. This clearly showcases that the president is frustrated that what he sees as a crisis he has not been able to fulfill longheld promises on. Thank you. At his luncheon with the baltic leaders, the president declared nobody has been tougher on russia than donald trump, but even the president s ironfisted talk about russia came wrapped in a velvet glove. He told reporters getting along with russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. And this was his response to a question about Vladimir Putin. How do you see Vladimir Putin . Is he a friend or a foe . Well find out. There will be a time when ill let you know. Youll find out very quickly. Last night in his final public remarks as National Security adviser, h. R. Mcmaster took a much harder line on russia. Russia has used old and new forms of aggression to undermine our open societies and the foundations of International Peace and stability. Russia brazenly and implausibly denies its actions, and we have failed to impose sufficient costs. Mcmaster did have some words of praise for the Trump Administration policy on russia, especially the coordinated expulsion of Russian Diplomats in response to the poisoning of a russian double agent in the uk. At the president s press conference or News Conference yesterday, he repeated his desire to withdraw american troops from syria. The president was very clearly in favor of doing so and soon. Its time. Its time, we were very successful against isis. Well be successful against anybody militarily. But sometimes its time to come back home. And were thinking about that very seriously. Not four minutes earlier, across town at the u. S. Institute for peace, the president s special envoy for defeating isis, bret mcguirk, seemed to say precisely the opposite. We are in syria to fight isis. That is our mission. And the mission isnt over, and were going to complete that mission. A source close to the white house tells cnn that defense secretary james mattis has avoided bringing up the topic of syria withdrawal with the president. The source says the pentagon sees its job as destroying isis, something trump likes. So theres no upside to discussing u. S. Troops in syria which he does not. Major breaking news at 4 06 eastern time. China is going to impose a 25 tariff on 106 products from the u. S. Thats according to state media cctv. The date the tariffs will go into effect will be announced separately. The 106 products from the u. S. Fall under 14 categories including, most importantly, soybeans. This according to cctv. A response to the white house detailing the 50 billion in chinese goods it plans to hit with tariffs. The list includes 1,300 items targeting Chinese Aerospace, tech, and manufacturing, also contains unexpected items like flame throwers and medical supplies such as malaria test kits, hearing aids, and artificial teeth. It also excludes many popular retail items shoes, clothes, furniture, products that would prompt the Bigger Consumer backlash should prices rise. The tariffs are punishment. The u. S. Accuses china of stealing trade secrets, but they also fulfill a Campaign Promise of President Trump. We intend to get along with china but have to do something substantial about the trade deficit. I campaigned on that. I talked about that. China wont be the only country. But i did, in fact, campaign on it. In a statement, the Chinese Embassy condemns the list writing that as the chinese saying goes, its only policy to reciprocate, and that worries experts. They say the administration has diagnosed the problem correctly, but sweeping tariffs are the wrong remedy. They could spark a trade war. A devastating event for u. S. Consumers, companies, and investors. In fact, u. S. Futures fell overnight. The tariffs do not begin immediately, and the administration plans to hold a public hearing for u. S. Businesses in may. Environmental Protection Agency chief scott pruitt getting votes of confidence from President Trump and chief of staff john kelly. An Administration Official saying the president called pruitt monday and told him keep your head up, keep fighting, we got your back. The president echoing the sentiment yesterday. Scott pruitt, sir . You support scott pruitt . I hope hes going to be good. The president s phone call monday was followed up by a call from kelly on tuesday. Theres growing scrutiny over the epa chiefs housing situation. He rents a room from lobbyists whose firm has lobbied the epa, his frequent firstclass travel has also sparked controversy. Pruitt has made good on the president s Campaign Promises for fewer environmental regulations and to withdraw from the paris climate agreement. Stormy daniels lawyer sending a letter to treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin asking he publicly release a banks suspicious activity report. Michael avenatti wants more information on the source of the porn stars 130,000 hush money deal with michael cohen, President Trumps longtime attorney. Avenatti says he believes the report will undercut cohens claims about the flow of the money and what exactly happened. Cohen says the funds came from his own pocket. The white house continues to deny that trump had an extramarital affair with daniels back in 2006. Were following breaking news out of california. An investigation is underway after a marine Corps Helicopter crashed on a Training Mission on tuesday afternoon. The marine corps says it presumes all four crew members are dead. Video from the screen shows another helicopter circling the crash site near plaster city about 20 miles north of the u. S. Mexico border. The names of the four crew members have not been released at this point. Its unknown what caused the crash. Also breaking overnight, police in san bruno, california, have identified the youtube shooter as nasim aghdam, a san diego woman in her late 30s. Officials say she shot three people at youtube headquarters in the San Francisco suburb and then apparently took her own life. One of the wounded, a 36yearold man in critical condition. A fourth person was injured trying to escape the gunfire. A witness described the scene to cnn after shots rang out on youtubes campus tuesday afternoon. First i heard three or four shots. I ran around the building. I encountered a girl running from the street to me. Grabbed her, told the people inside put her open the door, open the door, put her inside the building. Reporter she was by herself . By herself, running. Reporter was she saying anything . Yeah, i been shot in the leg, i been shot in the leg. Investigators are trying to determine a possible motive. The Los Angeles Times cites a Law Enforcement source saying investigators are looking at a website that appears to show pictures of the shooter as well as grievances against youtube. Coming up, thousands of teachers putting their careers on the line and walking off the job in protest. Why they say its worth the risk. At a comfort inn with a glow taround them, so people watching will be like, wow, maybe ill glow too if i book direct at choicehotels. Com. Who glows . Just say, badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com. 50 years ago today, Martin Luther king jr. Was assassinated in memphis, tennessee. His legacy being remembered all over the country m. Last night in memphis, an event honoring dr. King, city leaders held tribute in honor of kings ive been to the mountaintop speech, the final speech he gave on april 3rd, 1968. Events also being held today to honor the civil rights hero including a march scheduled later this morning on the mall in washington, d. C. Many faith leaders from across america are expected to attend. Many oklahoma schools will be closed again today as teachers continue to protest at the state capitol. More than 1,000 teachers and their supporters swarmed the Capitol Building on tuesday, taking their case for higher pay and more School Funding directly to state lawmakers. We get more from cnns nick valencia in oklahoma city. Reporter it was a historic day here in oklahoma with thousands of teachers descendsing on to descending on to the state capitol. Theyre asking for an additional 200 million in revenue to be appropriated toward education spending. Last week, legislators passed a bill to give them an average of 6,100 pay increase. Teachers are asking for 10,000. While they say theyre asking more money for them, it really, they say, is about the children in the classroom. They say some of them are rescuing being fired or fined for showing up at the walkout. After a very threatening letter was sent to our teachers reporter why was it threatening . It indicated that we would be disciplined, that wed be in violation of our contracts. We asked could we be fired, we were not given a direct answer. Reporter because if you walked out . True. If we walked out to do something we already thought we had the right to do, and now at the Board Meeting they voted not to let us do that. Instead we would be in violation of our contracts. We decided its worth it. Reporter and later this morning, educators and their supporters are expected to rally for a Third Straight day here inside the capitol. Dave, rene . Thank you. Today the president s of russia, iran, and syria meet to discuss their own resolution to the war in syria. Many observers say the absence of the u. S. From planning for syria is a big mistake. For more on that, lets bring in Fred Pleitgen live for us in damascus. Good morning to you. What is on the agenda . Outside is like were having technical difficulty. Well check back as the show continues in a bit. Ahead, doctors struggle to contain the spread of a socalled nightmare bacteria. Why most antibiotics are no match. If youd have told me three years ago. That wed be downloading in seconds, what used to take. Minutes. That guests would compliment our wifi. That we could video conference. And do it like that. snaps if youd have told me that i could afford. A gigspeed. A gigspeed network. Its like 20 times faster than what most people have. Id of said. Id of said youre dreaming. Dreaming definitely dreaming. Then again, dreaming is how i got this far. Now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. Facebook is announcing it has removed 300 more pages and accounts run by a kremlinlinked troll group. They got rid of 138 facebook pages, 70 facebook profiles, and 65 instagram accounts it determined were run by the Internet Research agency. Facebook said the pages which were followed by more than a million users were mainly aimed at russian speakers around the world. Last summer, the company removed hundreds of pages and accounts run by the ira. They were designed to look like they were run by american activists. The department of Homeland Security confirming it has detected mobile snooping devices in washington. The agency says the devices could be selfsite simulators planted by foreign agents. However, they have not determined their origin. Essentially the devices act as fake cell phone towers. They intercept phone signals and spy on calls and texts. The use of such devices has long been a concern. But Law Enforcement agencies have been silent on the issue until now. California lawmakers are eyeing a new lethalforce law following the deadly shooting of Stephon Clark. Legislators announced a bill replacing the current reasonable force rule with a stricter Necessary Force standard. The legislation would authorize officers to use deadly force only when it is necessary to prevent imminent and serious Bodily Injury or death. The call for action comes after 22yearold Stephon Clark, who was unarmed, was gunned down by police in his grandmothers back yard in sacramento last month. Wisconsins republican governor, scott walker, sounding the alamp after a democratic alarm after a democraticbacked candidate won a seat on wisconsins supreme court. The results leading walker to tweet that the gop is at risk of a blue wave in november. Liberal Rebecca Dallet trumped michael skrenok for the tenyear term on wisconsins high court. The candidates did not run with party affiliations, but the state Democratic Party helped the campaign. Its the first time a liberal candidate who was not an incumbent has won a seat on the sevenmember court in more than two decades. A report from the centers for Disease Control says socalled nightmare bacteria that are resistant to most antibiotics are popping up across the United States. A program for testing suspect bacteria found more than 220 cases in 27 states contained an especially rare resistant gene. Health Officials Say the cdc is working on an aggressive containment strategy. Some two million americans get sick from antibioticresistant bacteria each year. And 23,000 die. Pretty scary. Indeed. Straight ahead, President Trumps lawyers reportedly get what sounds like good news from mueller investigators. Well have the breaking details next. You wont see these folks at the post office they have businesses to run they have passions to pursue how do they avoid trips to the post office . Stamps. Com mail letters ship packages all the Amazing Services of the post office right on your computer get a 4 week trial plus 100 in extras including postage and a digital scale go to stamps. Com tv and never go to the post office again breaking overnight, President Trumps lawyers are reportedly told he is not a criminal target of the russia investigation. We are preparing for the military to secure our border. The president talks about deploying National Guard troops until the wall he promised is built. Also breaking overnight, Police Reveal the identity of the woman they say opened fire at youtubes california headquarters wounding three people. Welcome back to early start. Im rene marsh. Good to see you. Im dave briggs. 31 minutes past the hour.