South korean hospital two weeks ahead of the winter liolympics. 47 people killed, more than 100 injured. An investigation under way. All that, plus sick day. The flu epidemic, forcing entire School Districts to close. We made the best decision that we could. Oscars noshow, the scandal that has embattled Casey Affleck dropping out of this years ceremony. And seeing triple . A photo shop fail gives Reese Witherspoon three legs and Oprah Winfrey an extra hand. Their response today, friday, january 26th, 2018. This is today with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb live in from studio 1a. I dont know who did the photo shopping of that image but lets give them a hand, shall we . I mean oprah has had so many pictures taken of her and reese, theyll frame that one. The arrows tell the story. Well have more on that a little bit. That potentially explosive development connected to the russia investigation. Nbc news is confirming a report that the president asked a white house lawyer to fire special Counsel Robert Mueller. This happened last summer. Then the president backed off the demand. This morning, the president is weighing in on all of it from overseas. Nbcs chief White House CorrespondentHallie Jackson is traveling with the president in davos, switzerland. Good morning. Reporter hi, savannah. Good morning to you. Here in switzerland, President Trump wants to be talking trade. He wants to be doing dealmaking in davos. Instead he is talking about the russia investigation, facing new questions about whether he tried to fire the special counsel and already here today in switzerland, the president is pushing back. Fake news, folks. Fake news. Reporter this morning, the president downplaying new details about a stunning showdown inside the west wing. A source close to the white house telling nbc News Donald Trump ordered the administrations lawyer to fire special Counsel Robert Mueller in june. Nbc news has learned that lawyer, don mcgann, refused and even threatened to quit rather than ask the Justice Department to dismiss mueller. The president ultimately backing down and, just months later, denying he ever considered getting rid of mueller in the first place. I havent given it any thought. Ive been reading about it from you people, saying im going to dismiss him. Im not dismissing anybody. Reporter overnight, word of the near firing had democrats livid. These reports are absolutely stunning, deeply frightening because they show, again, that the president will stop at nothing to protect himself from this obstruction of justice investigation. Reporter a white house lawyer tells nbc, we decline to comment out of respect for the office of the special counsel and its process. President trump unable to escape the shadow of the russia investigation, even an ocean away, making his davos debut in switzerland where, this morning, hes apologizing, conditionally, for retweeting inflammatory, antimuslim videos from a farright british group. Can i get an apology out of you just for the retweets . I think it would go a long way. Here is whats fair. If youre telling me horrible racist people, horrible yeah. I certainly would apologize if you would like me to do that. I know nothing about them. Reporter that controversial retweet earned him a repair rebuke from theresa may at the time. Now in davos, alongside her, the president is insisting the all is relationship is not on the rocks. That was a little bit of a false rumor out there. Reporter today, among the global elite gathered in the swiss ski town, donald trump is set to deliver the first speech from a sitting u. S. President at the summit, since bill clinton in 2000. A Senior Administration official says you can expect to hear the president hammer home that the u. S. Is open for business. Hes expected to argue his Regulatory Reform and tax law changes make the u. S. More competitive. Hell reiterate he wants fair and reciprocal trade deals and call on the International Community for common goals Like Fighting isis and the Nuclear Threat from north korea. The president will be back in washington tonight, clearly with a lot on his plate. By the way, also working on that state of the union speech coming up quick, tuesday, at the capitol. Hoda, savannah . Put that in context for us. How big of a deal is it . Does it change the investigation . Reporter well, so remember where this has been going for months now. For a while, democrats have said if the president did actually fire the special counsel, that would be crossing a red line, even some republicans have said the president couldnt possibly be thinking of it because of how problematic it would be and this is, of course, with those denials from the president and his aides that he was even considering dismissing robert mueller. So, yes, this is potentially significant. That said, remember where we are at this moment. Robert mueller is still on the job. The president did not fire him or have don mcgann, that white house lawyer fire him. Don mcgann is still on the job, too, guys, at least for now. Hallie jackson, thank you. Here at home, the white house is defending the president S Immigration proposal, a path to citizenship for 2 million socalled d. R. E. A. M. Ers as well as a 25 billion trust fund for the border wall. Nbc White House CorrespondentKristen Welker with more on that. Good morning. Reporter good morning, savann savannah. Hi to you. Officials here at the white house are starting the hard sell on hiS Immigration proposal. One senior official calls the plan a dramatic concession to democrats and while some lawmakers on capitol hill are praising the proposal, Many Democrats and hardline republicans say theyre fiercely opposed. This morning, a new chapter in the fight over immigration. Nbc news has learned from senior white house officials President Trump is sending a plan to capitol hill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for 1. 8 million d. R. E. A. M. Ers, young undocumented immigrants brought to the u. S. Illegally as children. The president also wants roughly 25 billion for a border wall and another 5 billion for Additional Border security. The plan calls for an end to the visa lottery system and a limit on familybased migration so they could only sponsor spouses and children for citizenship not parents or siblings. Defending that in davos. I would consider that a great achievement to solve the daca problem. Its been out there a long time. These are good people, people that should be able to stay in this country. Reporter on capitol hill, Mitch Mcconnell sounded a note of optimism, writing he hopes lawmakers will look to this framework for guidance as they work towards an agreement. But most democrats blasted the proposal. Top senator dick durbin saying d. R. E. A. M. Ers should not be held hostage to President Trumps crusade to tear families apart, the caucus calling zenophobic, isolationist and unamerican. And even some of his base lashing out saying giving d. R. E. A. M. Ers citizenship is amnesty, reversing his Campaign Pledge to get tough on immigration. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, i assume, are good people. Reporter white house officials insist they have to address d. R. E. A. M. Ers in order to get critical democrats on board and they say the president is making good on another central promise of his campaign. We will build a great wall along the southern border. Reporter the stakes for a deal, high , with daca set to expire in march. President trump saying earlier this week d. R. E. A. M. Ers have nothing to be worried about. Tell them not to be considered. Reporter expressing support for the president s proposal but not everyone. Senator ted cruz telling everyone, i do not believe we should be granting a path to citizenship to anybody here illegally. Its all setting up a bruising battle with another major deadline looming. The government runs out of money again in about two weeks, savannah and hoda. Where have i heard that before . Kristen welker at the white house, thank you very much. A Major Development tied to the sex abuse scandal rocking the sport of gymnastics. The u. S. Olympic committee is now demanding the entire board of usa gymnastics step down within days. Nbcs Stephanie Gosk is here with the latest on all of this. Hey, steph, good morning. Good morning, guys. Big news overnight days after dr. Larry nassar was sentenced for abusing young gymnasts in his care, ioc taking action, six strict requirements must be followed in order for usa gymnastics to move forward as the sports governing body, including the immediate resignation of all of its Board Members. Overnight, an ultimatum to usa gymnastics. The u. S. Olympic Committee Says the Sports National governing body will face termination unless the entire board of directors resigns by next wednesday. We do not base these requirements on any knowledge that any individual usag staff or Board Members had a role in fostering or obscuring nassars actions, Scott Blackman wrote in an email late thursday. Our position comes from a clear sense that usag culture needs fundamental rebuilding. Usa gymnastics responding, not saying its Board Members will resign but instead that it completely embraces the requirements outlined. Only three of usa gymnastics 20 Board Members have resigned amid the sex abuse scandal rocking the sport. This morning, nbc news has learned dr. Larry nassar was not licensed to Practice Medicine in texas, where he was accused of molesting dozens of young gymnasts. Olympic Gold Medalist aly raisman first made the point in an interview on the today show wednesday. Whether they knew or didnt know thats a big problem. We need to investigate how this happened. How is that possible . He doesnt have a medical license in texas. Reporter nassar was a doctor at the famed Karolyi Ranch in texas, Longtime NationalTraining Center for usa gymnastics until just last week. Legendary coaches marta and Bella Karolyi said they have no knowledge of nassars licensing. They were mentioned multiple times but the couple never offered any Public Comment and their attorney did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Ive just signed your death warrant. Reporter judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced nassar to between 40 to 175 years in prison. Accuser Lindsay Lemke was cocaptain of the Michigan State gymnastics team. These people had the chance to stop larry nassar from what he was doing and they were selfish and they chose to pick their own reputation and themselves over these young little girls. Reporter Michigan State released a statement that reads, we are committed to continue supporting those in our community affected by these terrible crimes. And usa gymnastics now says it supports an independent investigation of nassars time as head doctor. Just as he was being sentenced wednesday, usa gymnastics argued in court it had no legal duty to protect the young women from nassars criminal conduct. And Michigan State argues complaints made prior to 2014 dont support a title ix claim because the young women didnt complain to an appropriate person. Michigan state president luanna simon resigned late wednesday, saying in a statement as tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable. As president it is only natural i am the focus of this anger. A contract review by nbc news shows simon has insured her 750,000 salary for at least one year if she chooses to return as a faculty member which might be controversial. I would say so. Flu outbreak is hitting schools especially hard. Nationwide. Some are closing their doors in an attempt to slow the spread of this virus. Kerry sanders is in port st. Joe in floridas panhandle where several schools will not open today. Kerry, good morning. Reporter good morning. Im at the port st. Joe high school. Theyre taking a collective sick day. In fact, this school and all the schools in gulf county are closed. Yesterday at this time, 220 kids who should have shown up to school did not because of the flu. As you can see today, all the schools here in the district are closed. And they brought in special teams to sanitize this and all the schools to try to beat back the spread of the bug. This morning, the flu outbreak has reached a critical Tipping Point as a growing number of students and teachers come down with the virus, schools across the country are being forced to close. Nearly 20 of the students in gulf county, florida, are out sick. All the schools here are closed today. Were trying to be proactive, just to let those who were contagious not have a chance to continue spreading it. Reporter there are now widespread flu outbreaks in every state except hawaii. And schools in more than a dozen states have closed their door. We know we made the best decision that we could. Reporter in gunther, texas, north of dallas, the entire School District closed for four days after 30 of its students called out sick. Now reopened, only 8 of its students are absent. We have ten weeks left of flu season and know its not over yet. Our hope is that the cycle of dramatic sickness weve seen has been stopped. Reporter sadly a growing number of children are dying from the flu. The family of this boy is stunned how quickly he was overcome. Days before he was fine. Reporter robo calls parenttoparents urging them to be on the lookout for symptoms, fever, body chills. And offering this advice. If you notice any of these symptoms please keep your child home for at least 24 hours. Reporter dylan widdicks brother says heed the warnings. Not something to be taken lightly. Reporter almost a third of the teachers called in sick. And the real problem is, they couldnt even call subs because the subs themselves are also home with the flu. Guys, back to you. So scary, kerry. Thank you very much. We have a lot more to get to, including a tragic fire overnight at a hospital in south korea, just two weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics. More than 30 people have died. This morning, we are learning that the building did not have sprinklers installed. Nbcs chief global correspondent bill neely is in seoul for us. Whats the latest . Reporter really heartbreaking scenes here, deadliest fire in south korea, just two weeks before the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics here. As you said it was a really cruel fire because most of those who died were either elderly, ill or helpless. The fire began at the hospital around 7 30 this morning, when nurses reported flames in the emergency room. Most of the 200 patients were still asleep, half of them in a nursing home for the elderly. The fire spread quickly, trapping dozens too weak or too helpless to escape. Some did. One man guided slowly down a ladder amid billowing smoke. Another, who had been shouting from the rooftop, winched to safety by a helicopter. There were shouts and screams around the hospital. Another survivor escaping through a window. Many elderly patients were carried out on the backs of firefighters, wrapped in blankets against subzero temperatures. Many different survive the journey to other hospitals. The fire chief revealing most died from smoke inhalation, none from burns. Dozens dead, dozens more injured, the cause of the fire unknown. But the hospital chief admitted there was no Sprinkler System anywhere in the hospital as it wasnt required by law. So many of the patients were very frail or ill already before the fire took their lives. A National Tragedy that in every sense casts a dark cloud over south koreas proud preparations for the upcoming olympics. South koreas Public Safety record has been under real scrutiny recently after another fire last month that killed 29 and a ferry sinking four years ago that killed 300, mostly teenagers. More questions here this morning, especially about that Sprinkler System. Authorities say it was due to be installed next week. Hoda, savannah . Bill neely, bill, thank you so much. 7 18. Time to check in with al and get our first look at the weather. Lets check it out, see what weve got for you. Sunny weather and it will be a little milder along the east coast. Thats going to be gorgeous. Cooling down, though, behind this frontal system and a wintry mix good morning, im meteorologist bill henley. The coldest of the morning of the week, but weve got lots of sunshine. The suburbs up to 43 and 46 in philadelphia with sunny skies. A little bit of a breeze coming off the ocean. Thatll keep temperatures right at 40 degrees at the shore, but youll see sunshine all day long. A high of 44 for delaware, and then its even warmer this weekend. Have a great day. And thats your latest weather. Ladies . Thank you, al