Curling. A show of force of north korea is the story. Good morning. Thanks for getting an early start with us. Im dave briggs. Im christine romans. It is thursday, february 8th. It is 5 00 a. M. In the east in the u. S. Major questions this morning about who knew what and when after a Top White House official is forced to step down over allegations he abused two exwives. Were told rob porter will be out of the west wing today. He is the staff secretary effectively gate keeper to the president whose reputation had been on the rise. Sources told cnn that john kelly and others have known for months about the Domestic Violence claims which porter, we should note, denies. Sources say President Trump was upset when told about it this week. His daughter ivanka said to be deeply disturbed. Especially by the photos of the abuse. Porters exwives accused him of abuse during a background check which held up the permanent security clearance. One exwife told the Washington Post why she thinks more p
Well we have seen north koreas leader clapping before, often after he tests a new weapon. But sunday was a very different. [ applause ] kim jongun came out for a landmark concert by a group of south korean artists, including kpop stars red velvet. Its the first time south korean performers have played in the north in more than a decade. Sundays diplomatic push also included this event, the south korean tae kwon do team put on a display for thousands of North Koreans. They kicked, jumped, and even did their own kpop dance. The shows are a sign of better ties for the koreas. But they also come as the u. S. And the south kick off annual war games. And those will be short their year, but are set to be similar in scale to past drills like these. For more we turn to cnns alexandra field who joins us live from seoul. Good to see you, alex. How significant is this moment in north and south korean relations, pop stars from the south performing for kim jongun in pyongyang, and as the leaders of
Reinstated into the g7. Russia was ousted after its annexation of crimea in 2017. President trump why are we having a meeting without rush of being in the meeting . As i would recommend, and its up to them, but russia should be in the meeting. They should be part of it. And g7, which used to be g8, they threw rush out. They should let russia come back and because should have russia at the negotiating table. We are also learning that President Trump will be leaving the summit a little bit really to travel to singapore. Trump is aside criticism for saying attitude is more important than preparation. President trump i have been preparing all my life. You know, these oneweek preparations, they dont work. Just ask hilary what happened to her in the debate. So ive been preparing for this all my life. Frankly, its really just fake news. Because if you run peter, just a little bit longer the clip, you will see that ive been preparing all my life. But the news doesnt pick that up because its fa
Two people still missing in the wreckage. We know from authorities that the body of one person has been pulled from that wreckage earlier today. A total of nine employees were working last night, inside that building, when this blast occurred. It happened at ab specialty silicones, they manufacture specialty silicone chemicals, and reports are that the blast just rocked that entire neighborhood, it could be felt for miles and miles away, and you can see, it leveled that building, and the ground was shaking, according to reports, a million in damages, four people did go to the hospital, with differing injuries, but again, the main focus right now is finding the two people that are reportedly still inside that building, and as you said, its on hold right now, that search, because the building is not stable enough for authorities to get in there. They have to bring in special equipment, they think they know the area that they need to focus on, but they just cant do that, just as of yet. S
Interests are a complete democratic idea and, you know, to keep a political attack on the president. The fact that richard burr, the chairman of the committee, a republican from North Carolina, authorized this subpoena is very significant and thats why you see there is so much push back against him from rand paul, another republican senator, and, of course, from donald trump jr. Himself who calls burr a socalled republican in his response. Before we get to the politics of it and david gregory, one more legal question. What does chairman burr do if donald trump jr. Ignores the subpoena because from reports it doesnt sound like he is inclined to show up . Thats a great question. I think the obvious legal possibility is that the committee could vote to hold to hold donald trump jr. In contempt. Will burr really want to take that step against the president s son . That would be a considerable Political Risk for burr when you consider that North Carolina is a state even though he is not up