this is cnn breaking news. >> hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm cyril vanier. jeff sessions finds himself at the latest controversy over campaign contacts with russia. >> they say he met twice with russia's ambassador last year. but that's not what he told searpts during his confirmation hearing. >> and if there is any evidence

that any one fillinataffiliatede trump campaign, communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? >> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and i did not have communications with the russians. >> sessions now says, i never met with any russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. i have no idea what this allegation is about. it is false. >> cnn spoke with "washington post" reporter greg miller who are helped break the story. >> it's true, senators do routinely meet with ambassadors. we reached out to 26 members and heard back from 19 of them. at last count, sessions is the only one who have met with the russian ambassador. you're talking about a meeting that happened in the middle of an unprecedented attack by the russian government, an alleged

attack by its intelligence services on the united states election, on the 2016 presidential race. the decision to meet with the ambassador in that moment and then fail to remember that several months later is really problematic. >> house democratic leader nancy pelosi is among those calling for sessions to step down. she tweeted this, attorney general sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign. >> all this comes as the top democrat and republican on the house intelligence committee have agreed on parameters for their probe of russian mettling. the investigation will cover what cyber activity russia used, whether russia had links to political campaigns, how the u.s. government responded, and whether anyone leaked classified information. >> so let's bring in james davis, he's the dean of the school of economics and political science at the university of saint gallen in switzerland. thank you for being with us.

we have learned from justice department officials that jeff sessions spoke two times with russia's ambassador to the u.s., but didn't disclose this during his senate confirmation hearing for attorney general. he denies any wrongdoing. what should happen next? should he resign or recuse himself from any investigation into alleged ties between russia and trump campaign officials? >> well, listen, senator sessions in his confirmation hearings, took an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. these allegations suggest we didn't get the whole truth. what do we do moving forward? the justice department is investigating ties between members of the trump campaign and agents of a government that has declared itself to be hostile to the united states. and it seems difficult to understand how the attorney general could supervise an investigation in which he himself is a subject. so i think at a minimum, he has

to recuse himself. >> so where does this leave the debate over whether a special prosecutor should be appointed to head up the investigation into alleged russian interference and contacts? that has been debated for some days now. >> right. i mean, a special prosecutor would, of course, be the way to go if one had the sense that the agents of the justice department were not able to conduct an investigation free from political manipulation or control. so far, i don't think we've gotten to that point, but that would be the logical next step. if the attorney general refuses to recuse himself from this investigation, i think members of the congress will have to demand that we have the appointment of a special prosecutor. >> now the white house says this is all about the democrats attacking the trump administration, because of the success of the president's tuesday address. is this a case of sour grapes and playing politics, or is there much more to this, do you think? >> well, look, this

administration has inflicted a number of wounds on itself. it seems to me that if you're trying to move a positive agenda forward, the last thing you want to do is pick a fight with the intelligence agencies, by calling them unamerican or partisan, by picking a fight with the press and calling the press the enemy of the american people, all the while knowing that there is some question out there about what kinds of contacts there were between the campaign and the russians. i think we need to put this in that larker context. we've already seen the firing of the national security adviser because of contacts with the russians. we have reports of numerous contacts, so this is one of many. this is not a political witch-hunt, this is a self-inflicted wound by the trump administration, and they've done a poor job of handling it to date. >> and with the early departure of former national security adviser michael flynn on day 24 of his tenure with the trump

administration, and now this issue with attorney general jeff sessions, what are the optics here? and what's the likely impact on the trump presidency? because we're seeing no matter the chaos linked with the rolling out of the travel ban, the markets are very happy with the presidency. it doesn't seem to matter what happens, does it? >> well, the markets are happy because the president is promising deregulation and some people seem to think that's going to lead to an uptick in economic activity. but the problem facing the president is not an economic one right now, it's a political one. if we have this steady flow of information suggesting that the campaign and now the administration has not been honest with the american people, has not been honest with the justice department, has not been honest with the fbi, has not been honest with the congress, this crisis is going to continue it unfold. if i were the president, i would want to get out ahead of this.

>> james davis, thanks so much for your perspective on this. appreciate it. so once again, there's the perception in the u.s., at least, that moscow is playing a central role in what is front-page news here in the u.s. let's get the reaction in moscow. matthew chance is with us. matthew, to date, what has moscow said about the trump-russia connection and the allegations? >> reporter: well, cyril, i think they're watching the political theater playing out in washington, with quite a degree of alarm and concern. because they, first of all, have denied they've had any involvement in manipulating the u.s. political process. they deny, of course i'm talking about kremlin officials, deny that they have coordinated inappropriately with any members of the trump administration or before that, trump campaign. but they are looking at this crisis effectively in the united states and worrying about what it means for u.s. policy towards

russia. of course the kremlin had been expecting a president trump to come into office with sympathetic views towards russia. but because of the way that the russia issue has become so toxic now in american politics, that's raised alarm bells. russians are concerned, russian government officials are concerned this is going to have a really discernible impact on the policy of the united states towards russia, and it's going to be much harder than it would otherwise be because of internal political considerations. again, they've denied any involvement in this. they're saying it's an anti-russian witch-hunt, an attempt to cast russia in a bad light. >> matthew, you've been observing the relationship between the trump white house and moscow since before trump was -- mr. trump was inaugurated. big picture, are you getting a sense of how this is affecting the u.s.-russia relationship?

>> reporter: i think we all are in the sense that donald trump spoke repeatedly during his campaign about building a better relationship with russia. he spoke about doing a deal with russia over syria, and in the fight against international terrorism. he spoke about the potential of recognizing crimea, which russia annexed from ukraine in 2014, as being a legitimate part of russia. he criticized nato, and nato expansion. and all of this was music to the ears of the kremlin. as i say, they were expecting or hoping that donald trump, when he became president, will be able to follow through some of these policy goals that he set out. or at least some of the sentiments that he set out in terms of policy. but that hasn't been the case at all. particularly over the past couple of weeks, we've seen much tougher rhetoric coming from various trump officials, particularly the u.n. ambassador to the united states, when it

comes to crimea and ukraine, and the idea that the trump administration was gonna be able to turn around the relationship with russia, has basically been lost, for a couple of reasons. first because of that toxic environment in the political process, the political situation in russia, but also because, i think it's becoming increasingly apparent to the trump administration that russia and the united states do not share a similar outlook when it comes to all of these big issues of international diplomacy. >> matthew chance in moscow, thank you very much. well, president trump's tuesday speech to congress is inspiring confidence from capitol hill to wall street. the dow soared into record territory wednesday, topping the 21,000 mark. >> but a surging stock market won't pay the bills for president trump's ambitious agenda. here's's cnn's jeff zeleny. >> reporter: as president trump basked in the glow of his big speech to congress --

>> thank you very much. >> reporter: -- the hard work of turning those promises into reality was the first order of business today at the white house, with the president sitting down with republican congressional leaders. >> we're just here to start the process. it begins as of now, and we think we're going to have tremendous success. >> reporter: yet tremendous success depends not only on senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and house speaker paul ryan, but on persuading the party's rank and file to pay for his agenda. the president delayed again today the signing of a travel ban to replace the one blocked in the courts. cnn has learned the secretary of state, defense secretary and national security adviser are all pushing for iraq to be removed from the list of majority muslim countries included in the ban. but in most of his primetime address, the president struck a more optimistic note. >> a new national pride is sweeping across our nation. >> reporter: but it remains an open question whether it was a lasting pivot or a one-night performance, after a rough start

to his presidency. in either case, his wish list is expensive and complicated. even amongst republicans, not to mention democrats. from health care -- >> we should ensure that americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage ask that we have a stable transition for americans currently enrolled in the health care exchanges. >> reporter: -- to tax reform. >> it will be a big, big cut. at the same time, we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class. >> reporter: -- to infrastructure. >> to launch our national rebuilding, i will be asking congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure of the united states. >> reporter: after the speech, speaker ryan offered praise. but walked away when asked about the price tag. >> i thought he did a great job. >> did he answer questions as to how he would pay for things tonight? >> reporter: so speaker ryan not

answering our question how much this will cost. but several fiscal conservatives are raising the question, how much will all of the president's agenda items tack on to the federal budget? deficit spending no longer in vogue like it was some decades ago, this is all a key part of the question of how much the president will have to push to get his agenda enacted. jeff zeleny, cnn, the white house. >> all right, stay with us. we'll take a quick break. a lot more when we come back. the u.s. attorney general at the center of controversy over contacts with the russian ambassador during the presidential campaign. more on that still to come. a anb and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans,

these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. rates are competitive, and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans let you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long.

today, unlimited gets the network it deserves. verizon. (mic thuds) uh, sorry. it's unlimited without compromising reliability, on the largest, most advanced 4g lte network in america. (thud) uh... sorry, last thing. it's just $45 per line. forty. five. (cheering and applause) and that is all the microphones that i have. (vo) unlimited on verizon. 4 lines, just $45 per line.

we continue to follow breaking news out of washington, where u.s. attorney general jeff sessions says he never met with any russian officials to discuss the 2016 presidential campaign. >> but the justice department says sessions met twice last year with russia's u.s. ambassador when he was a top trump campaign adviser. sessions failed to mention those contacts during his senate confirmation hearing. a growing number of democrats are calling on sessions to

resign. >> we're joined now by lonnie chen who joins me from mountain view, california. lonnie, first of all, i'd like your reaction on what we're learning that the attorney general jeff sessions gave information, during his confirmation hearings, both orally and in writing, that directly contradicts the facts. he said he had had no contact with anyone connected to the russian government. turns out he's met the russian ambassador to the u.s. twice while he was a trump campaign surrogate. >> well, it may technically be t the case, that he was meeting in his capacity as a senator, as a member of the armed services committee, but more broadly, there's a concern about why the meetings weren't disclosed even if they were taken in that capacity. do i think it's the case, cyril, that it's not unusual for campaign officials to meet with officials from other governments. in fact, when i led the policy

team for governor romney, we took meetings with several foreign governments interested in u.s. policy, but the broader question is why those meetings were not disclosed and the content and subject matter of those meetings. >> and especially given the context. the first of those two meetings, at least two meetings took place in july during the republican national convention. already at the time, russian alleged mettling in the u.s. election was a talking point. it was already something that was in the public domain. >> and it is a broader concern here in the united states, regarding the trump administration, questions about their policy toward russia and whether in fact as senator graham and senator mccain made the contention tonight at a cnn town hall, that the president and his administration have a soft spot, so to speak, for russia. i think all of this taken as a whole should be concerning. maybe the news of itself might

not be as big a concern, but if you put it together with everything, there are clearly calls for further investigations. >> and a couple of early reactions at this point. the first i want to read to you is the one from a white house official who says, this is the latest attack against the trump administration bipartisan democrats. general sessions met with the ambassador in an official capacity as a member of the senate armed services committee, which is entirely consistent with his testimony. do you think that defense holds water? >> look, the issue that you see here is that the trump administration has repeatedly tried to turn this into an issue of partisanship. they've said that the whole russia line of attack is one that's being pursued out of partisanship. my own view is they would be much better off if they said, we don't think there's anything here, but we invite congress to investigate, with the knowledge that congress is currently controlled by republicans and those investigations would likely give them some political cover at the very least.

but that's not where they are. it is an interesting response. i think at some point they'll have to assess whether it's sustainable for the long run. >> what's most striking to me, he was asked in writing, jeff sessions, during his confirmation process, whether he had had contact with anyone connected to any part of the russian government. his answer in writing was one word -- no. >> the confirmation process is designed to elicit information of this sort, information obviously that in an ideal situation, the candidate for that office would be completely transparent and honest about. we'll have to see where this goes, cyril. the reality is that the sessions team and the trump administration have their response, which is to say, these meetings were held in an official capacity. the ultimate question of whether that holds water, will be up to the american people, and whether the american people feel that explanation is sufficient. >> you saw what happened with general flynn, when it became

clear he had lied to the vice president about the content of his conversation with the russian ambassador. politically speaking, do you think jeff sessions can stay in office, stay in his position as attorney general, seeing how this story is going? >> well, the flynn situation, you know, obviously misleading the vice president was a problem within the administration, it was something that required president trump to act. this situation is a little bit different, and potentially more problematic, because it implicates the relationship between the trump administration and the congress. the congress has an oversight authority. it's their job to make sure the administration is following the law. when it's not, it's also congress's job to call them out on it. so this potentially has greater significance because of the implications for the relationships between the presidency and the congress. >> lonnie chen, former public policy director for mitt romney, thank you very much.

>> thank you, cyril. we shift to europe now and voting in the french presidential election is more than seven weeks away. but dramatic twists could seriously undermine some of the candidates. in the next few hours, far-right politician marie le pen, will face a vote in the european parliament, where she could lose or immunity from prosecution. le pen is under investigation for posting graphic images of isis executions. >> one of her rivals, françois fillon, is facing his own criminal investigation. his wife and two adult children allegedly got about 1 million euros for jobs they did not do. fillon is vowing to stay in the race. >> >> translator: i will not give in. i will not resign. i will not withdraw. i will go to the end, because that is democracy, which is being defied. >> the one candidate who may benefit most from the turmoil

emmanuel macron. recently polls give the former economy minister an edge in a two-way match-up against le pen. british lawmakers dealt a blow to prime minister theresa may's brexit plan. on wednesday, the house of lords voted in favor of an amendment to may's brexit bill. it calls for european nationals legally living in britain to be guaranteed the same status after the uk leaves the european union. >> amendment 9b is to ensure that the rights of eu citizens here would have, had we remained in the eu, that those should stay the same on exit day. because these people need to know now, not in two years' time, or even 12 months' time. they simply can't put their lives on hold. i now want to say to the government, you can't do negotiations with people's futures. they're too precious to be used as bargaining chips.

>> the amended bill now has to go back to the house of commons. that could push back the march 31st deadline to trigger article 50, the formal start of the brexit process. well, the accountants blamed for the stunning oscars mix-up won't be handing out academy awards envelopes in the future. brian cull nan and martha ruiz will no longer work the ceremony, but they will keep their jobs at price water house coopers, the firm that manages the award ballots. >> they gave the wrong envelope to the presenters and la la land was mistakenly named best picture. it's still a mystery how the cards were mixed up, and why it took more than two minutes to fix the mistake and declare "moonlight" the actual winner. >> such a public mistake, isn't it? >> we were covering it, and you know, what do you do? it was cringe worthy. >> very. and we're still talking about, right?

well, oprah winfrey is signaling she may be open to running for u.s. president one day. >> the former talk show host has long dismissed this idea, but donald trump's victory has her rethinking a bid for the white house. >> never considered the question even a possibility. i just thought, oh, oh. >> right. because it's clear that you don't need government experience to be elected president. >> that's what i thought. oh, gee, i don't have the experience, i don't know enough. now i'm thinking, oh. [ laughter and applause ] >> oh. just like that. >> a few people thinking that, maybe. >> she's no stranger to the political arena. she often addressed political issues on her show and supported barack obama and hillary clinton during their campaigns. stay with us. we'll have a lot more on our breaking news this hour, including the legal implications of the attorney general's contacts with russia. and a record-setting response on wall street.

ahead how president trump affects the markets. back in a moment.

this is cnn breaking news. a very warm welcome back to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm cyril vanier. a growing number of democrats are calling for u.s. attorney general jeff sessions to resign. >> the one-time trump campaign adviser met twice with russia's u.s. ambassador last year, but failed to disclose those contacts during his confirmation hearings in january. >> and if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with

the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? >> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate a a time or two in that campaign, and i did not have communications with the russians. >> sessions issued a statement late wednesday saying i never met with any russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. i have no idea what this allegation is about. it is false. >> earlier cnn's senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin talked about the legal implications about this news about the attorney general. >> he says the first step will be finding out whether it was just an honest mistake, or a deliberate lie. >> there's a legal matter, what we need to determine or what the authorities need to determine, is whether he didn't tell the truth because he made a mistake, or because he lied.

and legally there's a world of difference between the two. but, you know, based on what the "washington post" said and based on evan's reporting, we know there were at least two meetings, one a group meeting with the russian ambassador, and the other, a meeting in sessions' office, which is unusual for a senator to meet with an ambassador in those sorts of circumstances. i mean, it's not unprecedented, but it is an unusual thing. and for him then to say, i did not have communications with the russians is simply false. now, the explanation that is being put out by the justice department is that he met with the ambassador as a member of the foreign relations committee, not as the leading senatorial surrogate for the trump campaign. that's the kind of metta physical distinction that i'm not sure exists in the real world. but certainly it is something

that merits investigation. i'm not here to convict or accuse jeff sessions of anything. but any reasonable prosecutor would say, these are statements that need to be investigated by an independent prosecutor. now wall street has welcomed president trump's address to congress with record-breaking numbers. the dow soared more than 300 points to close above 21,000 for the first time ever on wednesday. >> that milestone comes just 24 trading days after the dow hit 20,000. richard quest gives us his take on the market's reaction. >> the market opened straight into record territory, and never looked back. a gain of over 303 points, but it wasn't just that. it went right through 21,000, over to 21,115. a 1.5% rise in a day, at a time when everybody had been expecting the market would take

a breather, having had so many gains and records in a row. the reason is really very simple. donald trump's speech to congress. that address gave people the hope that the expectations will come to fruition. a trillion dollars in infrastructure spending, a tax reform, which eventually will arrive, and greater deregulation, which the president can do without congressional approval. put it all together, from what i've been hearing in the market, most traders seem to believe the rally has legs and still has got further to go. of course, if the expectations don't arrive, then it's a different matter. but for the time being, i would describe this market as quietly confident in the direction of travel. richard quest, cnn, new york. >> and for more perspective on the market reaction, michael houston joins us now from london. he's a chief market analyst for

cmc markets. thanks so much for being with us. >> good morning. >> so the dow in record territory, crossing the 21,000 mark. what's behind the soaring dow, do you think? and just how sustainable is this? >> well, i think on every level, momentum is everything. and what i would say is, i'm calling this the fomo trade. fear of missing out. essentially in the wake of that speech by president trump, i think investors are jumping on the bandwagon and basically trying to get ahead of the projected infrastructure spending boom, the building of the wall, you know, investment in railways, investment in airports. but there's one other thing as well. you're also getting a little bit of an improvement in the global economy. and i think against that backdrop, and the prospect as well that the federal reserve feels confident enough to start talking about multiple rate

rises, and ultimately what you've got, you've got investors coming out of bomb markets aum putting their money to work in equity markets. as richard quest rightly said, this is based on a promise. and if that promise falls short, ultimately we could well see this rally unravel. but at the moment, momentum is everything. we've broken higher. the likelihood is, we're probably going to maintain that momentum, unless something prompts us to -- prompts it to falter. and the federal reserve may well have a part to play in that. >> so what would it take to burst the bubble? the early departure of president trump's national security adviser, the chaos surrounding the rollout of the trump travel ban, the destabilizing daily tweets from the president appear to have no impact on the market's clear joy about the trump presidency. so what does that signal to you?

>> it signals to me that ultimately investors are looking at this through rose-tinted glasses. but i think there is a concern, and what struck me over the past week or so, rosemary, is the fact that the federal reserve has virtually done a full reverse on the prospect of a potential march rate rise. they've ramped up expectations. a week ago, we were talking about a 36% possibility that the fed was going to go in march. now i think the fed is behind the curve on this. and i've said so on a number of occasions. the tact that they've switched tack so very, very quickly, if they now don't go and raise rates in march, then ultimately the market could take fright in that. because we've gone from 36% probability to 86% probability in five working days. so the fed is really ramped up expectations here. they now need to deliver. >> and what impact might this new scandal surrounding attorney

general jeff sessions have on the markets, if any, given previous scandals and chaos appear to have no impact? >> i think given previous scandals, the way the market shrugged them off, i think they're looking through the political turmoil in the trump administration as growing pains of someone who is not a career politician and a little bit fumbling around in the dark. so i don't expect that to have a significant effect on the markets at this point in time. >> michael houston, thanks so much. we'll see if it continues to rise. >> we'll see, thank you. and people in the mid western u.s. are starting to clean up after more than two dozen tornadoes tore through the region. more on the severe weather when we come back. d want more covera, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. rates are competitive, and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans let you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long.

cnn is learning more about the weapon capabilities of isis, and it comes after arwa damon spent a harrowing day trapped in

mosul. >> on november 4th, arwa damon and camera man bruce lane entered mosul with advance units of the iraqi army, looking to liberate the city from isis. their convey was ambushed and they spent 28 hours under siege. two months later, they returned. in this excerpt from their special report, return to mosul, iraqi soldiers unearthed a surprising find. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: we've always wondered how isis had so much ammunition in mosul. and it's obvious when you see the weapons factories they had everywhere. they were making everything from scratch. mortars, rockets. in one factory, they even had fake humvees made out of wood that they were using as decoys. >> this feels like it should be should sort of crafts workshop.

there's a childish feel to everything, but that is what makes it all the more sinister. isis had even begun building its own planes. planes not designed to land anywhere, but instead to be flying suicide bombs. >> they found this inside the industrial zone in one of the areas used for manufacturing, along with some manuals. it is fairly crudely put together, but this would take a certain level of expertise, creativity, and ingenuity. they've cobbled together all sorts of different parts, and even used glue to try to fix some of the wires into place. >> return to mosul, a cnn special report with arwa damon, airs several times this weekend. see it on saturday at noon in hong kong, or later at 3:00 p.m. in london right here on cnn. more than two dozen tornadoes ripped through eight u.s. states tuesday and wednesday. this is video of one of them

south of nashville, tennessee, barrelling toward a building. >> storms killed at least three people and left cars scattered on highways. the twisters also tore through homes, and the national weather service reported hail throughout the region. well, for more on the severe weather across the u.s. this winter, our meteorologist pedram javaheri joins us from the cnn weather center. it's just been extraordinary, the weather conditions, to see this. >> certainly has. and we're talking about the heart of winter, seeing this pattern as well, which is really all the more remarkable, when you think that's happening. the above average temperatures have been in place, record heat in place as well. we had a pretty consistent front spawn 900 severe weather reports, 27 of which were related to tornadoes. you think that number is small, but that's about an entire month

of tornadoes coming down in one event. it's been an incredible pace. in january, we saw 141 of them in the united states. 36 is normal. that's almost 400% of normal. in february, 29 is what is normal. about 200% of normal. so we're at a pretty historic rate here. the most tornadoes in the first two months of the year going back for the last 17 years. about 1,200 record low temperatures as well. the pattern changes a little bit over the next couple days. we will feel like winter for at least a brief period. look at the northeastern united states. 80 degrees in washington, d.c. on wednesday. going for 49 today. in new york, record temperatures of 20, dropping down into the 40s as well. we get a shot of winter, temps

down to 16 degrees on saturday night, sunday morning, and climb back up to well above average for later next week. very quick pace in what is happening across parts of the country. in northern peru it's a very wet climate. rainfall amounts typically upwards of eight inches, about 200 millimeters every month of the year. but what has occurred the last 24 or so hours, share with you some dramatic video out of northern peru. look at this landslide caught on tape. a good reason for the highway to be shut down. officials had seen rainfall amounts over the past several months that have been the highest amount in 30 years come down across this region. so a lot of the area had been destabilized. a lot of the landscape jeopardized as well. you see some of the rivers bursting their banks, the streams overflowing. in 2017, a quarter million people in peru have been displaced. 26 people have lost their lives as well. pretty devastating scenario.

just in the past seven days alone, the rainfall amounts, talking four to eight inches or so. again, this is a seven-day period, almost all of 2017 has been a soggy one, much like parts of california, parts of peru dealing with a lot of rainfall as well. >> unbelievable images there, thanks so much, pedram. >> thank you, guys. and now take a look at this spectacular footage of italy's mt. etna. pedram would have liked this, which roared back to life this week with a bright orange river. >> the mountain is the highest volcano in europe and one of the most active in the world. it's been quiet for years, the last major eruption was 25 years ago. incredible image there. we'll have a short break and be back in a moment.

an unlimited data plan is only as good as the network it's on. and verizon has been ranked number one for the 7th time in a row by rootmetrics. (man) hey, uh, what's rootmetrics? it's the nation's largest independent study and it ranked verizon #1 in call, text, data, speed and reliability. (woman) do they get a trophy? not that i know of. but you get unlimited done right. (man 2) why don't they get a trophy? (man 3) they should get something. (woman 2) how about a plaque? i have to drop this. my arm's getting really tired. unlimited on verizon. 4 lines, just $45 per line.

welcome back, everyone. ride-sharing giant uber is facing another pr disaster. ceo travis cal nick, already a controversial figure, was caught on dash cam video, arguing with one of his drivers. here's that footage, published

by bloomberg. >> i lost $97,000 because of you. i bankrupt because of you. >> look, look -- >> yes, you keep changing every day. you keep changing every day. >> hold on a second. what have i changed about black? >> you changed the whole business. >> what, what? >> you dropped the prices. >> on black? >> yes, you did. $20. how much is the mile now? $2.75. >> you know what, some people don't like to take responsibility for their -- they blame everything in their life on somebody else. >> e-mail for town car. >> good luck. >> good luck to you too. >> so calla nick promptly apologized after that in an e-mail to his employees. he wrote, to say that i'm ashamed is an extreme understatement. i must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up. >> well, there has been reaction to the video and his apology,

thousands of miles away at a tech show in spain. >> o >>. >> reporter: this is one of the biggest tech shows on earth. i spoke to one of the top pr people for one of the biggest tech companies out there. they told me, samuel, let's be honest. plenty of high-powered silicon valley ceos speak this way, but only in private. they would never go and speak to their lower-level employees in an environment where they could be recorded. so the ceo of uber, who has an estimated $6.3 billion network frankly does 234have the luxury talking to somebody this way, especially to an employee who is trying to voice criticism that many people agree with. now, i will say, this could not come at a worse time for uber, except that i said that last week. this is the third pr nightmare that uber has had in the past few months, starting with the trump travel ban, which whether

fairly or not, they were perceived as being too close to. then a former female employee making serious allegations about sexual harassment at that company, and that the company didn't help her, and in fact blamed her, she said. and now they have this issue caught on tape. with just the first crisis, the trump travel ban, and the #delete uber, they lost 200,000 users. no company, no matter how big it is can afford to lose that many users, with just one crisis, much less three. all right, samuel burk there. saudi arabia's king is on a nine-day trip to indonesia. >> and it's safe to say he does not like to pack light. cnn's jonathan mann explains. >> reporter: arriving in style, saudi arabia's king salman landed in indonesia wednesday, an escalator lowered the 81-year-old monarch to the tarmac, bringing new meaning to

the phrase "luxury travel." the king also brings an epic entourage of 1,500 people, including 800 delegates, 25 princes, and ten ministers, according to the jakarta post. along with more than 500 tons of luggage and cargo, two mercedes-benz limousines and two electric elevators. the king also brought his own elevator on a 2015 trip to france, which he used to get down to the beach, a move that prompted outcry from many locals. but outside jakarta, crowds of schoolchildren cheered the king as he arrived in the pouring rain at the presidential palace, where he was greeted by a marching band and a mounted honor guard, with a 21-gun salute. it's the first visit by a saudi monarch in nearly 50 years, and security is tight, with 10,000 indonesian police officers on

alert. while the trip is lavish, indonesia's president calls it hift hi historic. >> thanks so much for watching cnn newsroom. "early start" is next for our viewers in the united states. >> for everyone else, stay tuned for more news with max foster in london. stay with cnn.com. >> have a great day. . . . .

definitely one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. >> i am the masaiah.

>> join the spiritually curious. "believer" sunday at 10:00. breaking overnight. did president trump's attorney general mislead congress? talks with the russians during the campaign. his testimony raising questions. top democrats calling for him to step down. >> a lot of developments. wow. >> so much for the goodwill over the joint session speech. thanks for getting an early start with us. i'm dave briggs. >> i'm christine romans. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. jeff sessions met with the russian ambassador to the u.s. twice last year. what is in question is whether he did s