they will continue to provoke people. they'll continue to anger people. people. but that's the point. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com a tweet from the u.s. president's account is raising troubling new questions. we'll take you behind the scenes of our exclusive cnn report, exposing slave auctions in libya. and watching and waiting in bali for a potential violent volcanic eruption. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm george howell. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. 4:00 a.m. on the u.s. east

coast. around the world. good day to you. a tweet from the u.s. president's personal account raises a stubborn and haunting question, what did the president know and when did he know it? the focus is on his fired national security adviser michael flynn. the tweet reads, i had to fire general flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. he has pled guilty to those lies, it is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. there was nothing to hide, explanation point, from u.s. president donald trump. if true this tweet is explosive. it means mr. trump knew michael flynn had broken the law when he asked the then fbi director james comey in february to drop the investigation into flynn. here's what the president said saturday. >> what has been shown is no collusion, no collusion. there has been absolutely -- there has been absolutely no collusion. so we're very happy. and frankly, last night was one

of the big nights. we'll see what happens. thank you, all, very much. thank you very much. thank you. >> the president there saying no collusion. but there are other questions here on top of mind. there are other things on top of that. new information that contradicts the white house claims that flynn was acting alone when he spoke with the then russian ambassador to the u.s. cnn's boris sanchez has this. >> reporter: the russian investigation and the dismissal of former national security adviser michael flynn likely the last thing the white house wanted to be talking about just hours after their first major legislative victory in passing tax reform. but with a swift tweet, the president has raised serious questions about what he knew and when he knew it. in this tweet, the president suggests that part of the reason he fired michael flynn as national security adviser was because he knew that he had lied

to the fbi. that raises serious questions possibly about obstruction of justice, if after all the president as has been reported asked former fbi director james comey to get rid of the investigation into michael flynn. further, it also raises questions about the white house's efforts to distance themselves from michael flynn. at first on friday calling hmm a former obama administration official and also making the case that president obama approved of michael flynn's conversations with sergey kisly kislyak, the russian ambassador, to discuss sanctions. the reaction from democrats was swift, including this tweet from adam shift, the ranking member of the house intelligence committee, he responded to the president's initial tweet writing, quote, if that is true, mr. president, why did you wait so long to fire flynn? why did you fail to act until his lies were publicly exposed? why did you pressure director

comey to let this go? the white house has a series of questions before them, clearly something that is not likely going to go away anytime soon. specifically now because there is a new new york times report that indicates that several key figures within the trump transition and within the administration were briefed on michael flynn's conversations with sergey kislyak before and after their meeting and so this investigation likely will explore where that goes. and as more information continues to leak out during this investigation, it really hangs a cloud over this white house as they continue moving forward with their legislative agenda. boris sanchez, cnn, in new york. >> boris, thank you. the white house says journalists are reading too much into the president's tweet on flynn. john dowd, an attorney with mr. trump's private legal team, tells cnn the following, quote, the tweet was a paraphrase of ty cob's statement yesterday, i

refer you to testimony before congress about fbi view of flynn's answers. end quote. ty cob is special council for the white house. in his statement on friday, after flynn pleaded guilty, did not mention lying to the fbi as a factor in flynn's firing. joining me to talk more about this is cnn legal analyst reeva martin. good to have you with us this hour. let's talk about the president's latest tweet. what do you make of it? >> well, george, the tweet is really interesting. the tweet suggests that donald trump knew that michael flynn had lied to the fbi. and it raises the tquestion as o if he knew that at the time he asked james comey to let flynn go. was he intentionally trying to obstruct justice? that's a big issue in this robert mueller investigation. what did trump know, when did he know it, and why didn't he act on it earlier?

something interesting that happened over the course of the last 12 to 14 hours and that's the white house is now trying to distance donald trump from his own tweet. they're suggesting he didn't write the tweet, but that it was written by his personal attorney and that personal attorney is now somehow apologizing for the tweet. so it is all very interesting, but clearly it is going to catch the attention of special counsel robert mueller. >> very interesting. it is important also to note cnn cannot back or confirm that reporting at this point, but certainly does raise a lot of questions about the nature of that tweet. reeva, let's talk about that. obstruction of justice, the president, the white house saying there is no obstruction, they say the flynn case specifically relates to michael flynn, but the question here as the specter of obstruction of justice comes into focus, what are the legal ramifications? >> well, you know, the white house has been trying to put the most positive spin on everything that has been happening with respect to the special counsel.

even going as far as to suggest that the entire investigation will be wrapped up by the end of the year. that seems to be a very naive perspective on the part of the president and the white house. what we know about the guilty plea that flynn entered into is that that wouldn't happen unless he had some very, very vital information to give to the special prosecutor in exchange for him getting what essentially is a slap on the wrist. we know that flynn was facing a plethora of charges. and only to be charged with lying to the fbi really suggests that he in his cooperation with the special counsel is giving information about donald trump's inner circle. now, we don't know if he has given information pertaining to jared kushner, donald trump jr. or the president himself, but surely looks like robert mueller is getting closer to donald trump and his inner circle with this recent plea deal by flynn.

>> reeva, let's talk about what we do know at this point. the timeline of events, we do know now that michael flynn lied to the fbi in january. he was subsequently fired in february and a day after he was fired, the president tells james comey to drop the investigation. just given that timeline of events, reeva, what does it tell you? >> very troubling, timeline, very troubling for the white house, and we know that special counsel mueller is looking at this. obstruction of justice has always been on the table. ever since donald trump went on national television, talking to nbc where he basically said he fired james comey because of the russia investigation. now, we know trump's story about why he fired comey has changed multiple times. but it doesn't look good for the white house, for us now to see this tweet, where he's admitting that he knew that flynn lied to

the fbi, and to know that he also asked james comey shortly there after to lay off michael flynn. so why would the president ask the fbi director to lay off michael flynn. that is a really big question. >> reeva martin, thank you so much for your perspective. >> thank you. >> during the 2016 presidential election, michael flynn stood alongside the u.s. president as one of his most loyal strident supporters. loyalty very important to this president. tom forben looks at their history. >> the next president of the united states, right here. >> reporter: on the campaign trail, michael flynn seemed a true fan of donald trump, and the admiration mutual as the candidate courted votes from the military community. >> we have tremendous military support, unbelievable military support. and having as you know general flynn here and having so many of the generals on our side.

where is general flynn? he's around here some place. >> reporter: flynn was once a member of barack obama's team and a top military intelligence officer. then he fell out of favor, he was fired, and by the summer of 2015, he had done an odd about face, and began talking to republican candidates. and when he met donald trump, i knew he was going to be president of the united states. >> for donald j. trump to be the next president of the united states. >> reporter: flynn began advising the campaign in early 2016. by the time of the republican convention, that summer, he was leading the chants against democrat hillary clinton. >> lock her up. that's right. if i did a tenttenth, a tenth o what she did, i would be in jail today. >> reporter: on twitter, trump praised flynn's book on how to defeat radical islam. and ten days after winning the election in november, he chose

flynn as his national security adviser. flynn took the job in january after the inauguration. >> yes, general flynn does enjoy the full confidence of the president. >> reporter: then it all unraveled. flynn admitted he misled the trump team about his russian communications. >> at some point that trust eroded. to a point where the president did not feel comfortable. >> reporter: still, even as flynn was given the boot and the russia investigation swirled, the president seemed reluctant to let him go. >> when i looked at the information, i said, i don't think he did anything wrong. if anything, he did something right. >> reporter: tom foreman, cnn, washington. >> tom, thank you. we'll continue following the russia investigation. moving on to israel, some top u.s. officials and foreign diplomats tell cnn the white house could announce that the u.s. recognizes jerusalem as the capital of israel, and an announcement that could come as early as tuesday.

president trump is expected to sign a waiver keeping the u.s. embassy in tel aviv for another six months. but our sources believe mr. trump will announce plans to move the embassy to jerusalem in the future. they also expect the u.s. will specify west jerusalem as the capital, because palestinians want to claim east jerusalem as their own seat of government. syria says that one of its military sites was hit by an israeli missile strike on saturday. syrian state media say it happened near the city of damascus, and the site was damaged. israel didn't comment on the report, but hours later took aim at a syrian ally on twitter in a video prime minister benjamin netanyahu game this warning to iran. listen. >> so let me reiterate israel's policy. we will not allow a regime held bent on annihilation of the jewish state to acquire nuclear weapons. we will not allow that regime to entrench itself militarily in

syria as it seems to do for the express purpose of eradicating our state. >> that statement from the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. this after reports that his country had just launched missiles into syria. yemen's former president is offering to open talks with saudi arabia. he says if the saudi led coalition stopped dropping bombs on rebel bases and if it allows food and supplies into the country, then he would be open to turning the page in the ongoing war in yemen. but the houthi rebels disagree. the latest sign of splintering rebel factions in the conflict that killed thousands of civilians. a week after honduras went to the polls to pick a president, it is still unclear who won. next deerks tails on the violent protests, a mandatory curfew and allegations of voter fraud. ♪ this holiday,

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell. in honduras, the opposition is condemning a mandatory curfew as

a government power grab. the curfew was imposed after violent protests over voter fraud allegations. the opposition is accusing the incumbent president of manipulating the results from last week's presidential election. the president denies the allegations. he and the opposition candidate have both claimed victory. honduran election officials are reviewing the ballots for any irregularities there. protesters in germany clashed with police as the country's anti-immigration party appears to be leaning further into the far right. that party, the alternative for germany party, the afb, as it is known in that nation, elected a right wing nationalist as their new co-leader. alexander gehlen said that germany should be proud of what their soldiers accomplished during the two world wars. the afd is now the third largest

party in the german federal parliament and is hoping to gain more political ground in regional elections next year. the u.s. official says the missile launched by north korea on tuesday probably broke up in re-entering the atmosphere. pyongyang claimed the missile could strike the entire u.s. mainland. it also says the trump administration is, quote, begging for nuclear war. all of this as the u.s. is set to start a military drill with south korea come monday. the u.s. national security adviser said on saturday north korea represents the greatest immediate threat to the united states, hr mcmaster told a defense forum that the potential for war of pyongyang is, quote, increasing every day. which means that we are in a race, really in a race to be able to solve this problem, end quote. the u.s. state of hawaii is preparing for the worst when it comes to the situation with north korea. on friday, it restarted monthly

tests of its nuclear warning sirens. the system hasn't been used in decades. cnn's sara sidner reports it still could save lives. >> reporter: this the sound of a test hawaii hasn't done since the cold war era. the attack warning siren, once used because of russia's nuclear capabilities, now reintroduced because of north korea's. >> you could see where they were going with their development and we wanted to make sure we got ahead of that. >> reporter: officials in hawaii watch closely as north korea's capabilities increase rapidly, and as rhetoric escalates between leader kim jong-un and president donald trump. >> we're stuck between inflammatory and off the cuff rhetoric by two relatively unstable leaders that put us all at risk. >> reporter: in 2016, hawaiian emergency management officials began revising plans to get the public prepared in the remote chance of an attack. for hawaii, timing is

everything. how much time do you have once north korea launches? >> for a launch to impact, 20 minutes. >> what do you say to skeptics who say plan, in plan, we have 20 minutes, nothing is going to save me? >> they're wrong. if they know what to expect and what to do, they can save themselves. >> reporter: in hawaii, experts estimate that more than 90% of the population would survive a nuclear attack outside of ground zero. even though experts now believe north korea possesses a warhead ten times more powerful than the bomb the u.s. dropped on hiroshima in 1945. so far, there is no evidence north korea could launch a nuclear warhead that far. hawaii is taking no chances. deep inside the diamond head crater, they make critical decisions. how long ago was this built? >> all the complexes inside die mand head crater were built before world war ii. part of the artillery defense of

the entire island. >> reporter: the public can't get in here, but they used to have official fallout shelters. that was 30 years ago. what are the big problems with the fallout shelters that exist today? >> well, most of them aren't labeled. most people don't even know that -- where they are, and it is important to know where they are, not only for survival, but for extrication after the event. >> reporter: it was the nuclear fallout that killed the majority of people in hiroshima. >> we see people coming, all burned, skin. you cannot even tell man or woman. >> reporter: she now lives in hawaii and is beside herself that it is even a possibility again. >> really scared me. yeah. for -- not just for myself, but for my children, my grandkids, not only mine, everybody's. >> reporter: sara sidner, cnn, honolulu. italy's president is

reacting to cnn's exclusive reporting on slave auctions in libya. exposing the modern day buying and selling of african migrants. the president of nations says the brutal images show how slavery is still present around the world and he says all forms of slavery are, quote, an aberration. can't be tolerated. he released a statement to mark the international day for the abolition of slavery and to reaffirm italy's commitment to the fight against that trade. that cnn exclusive report is also sparking global shock and outrage after revealing african migrants auctioned off as slaves. >> 400. 700. 700? 800. the numbers roll in. these men are sold for 1200 libyan pounds, $400 a piece.

>> now, our senior international correspondent and her team are recounting what they went through to uncover this story. >> reporter: once we arrived in tripoli it was essentially a waiting game. we knew that there were a number of these auctions going on in a variety of different locations. we knew that they happened once or twice a month. it was, i think, probably the longest few days, among the longest few days of my life waiting to hear whether this was actually happening. we needed to push and try to get access to those people. there are one to two of these auctions every month and there is one happening in the next few hours. so we're going to -- i don't know what i was expecting going in. i think i -- i couldn't figure out how you could mentally process selling other human beings and then when i heard

them -- we heard them speaking about these people that they were selling as merchandise, it made sense, because you need a certain degree of distance, you to dehumanize someone. finally, it is time to move. still have a job to do. so distracts you a bit from what you just witnessed, but when we were actually sitting there watching the auction, it felt like everything was going in very, very slow motion. there were all the things that we knew we needed to hit as journalists, getting him to use the word auction on our audio, to confirm it is an auction, getting the auctioneer to confirm they had sold 12 people on that night, having all of that as evidence. >> i remember being outside at the center. i went around the corner and there was this massive room and the front was open to the elements. and it was a cage, right, it was a wire cage and people were

looking at you from the other side. and i remember thinking, you know, in was a single gorilla in there, people would think how sad. he hasn't got a lot of room. and then it turns out there were over a thousand people in there. >> every day in an environment like that counts, not being able to take a shower, sitting there and not having the food you need, being thirsty, so every hour counts. leaving them behind in an enclosed space like that and not being able to help because you can't help one of them you have to help all thousand plus within that, because you can't just go to a few people and be, like, how i can help you, you really need to help them all. >> there was a point where alex and i were interviewing victory, the 21-year-old who had been enslaved. and i was overwhelmed because victory was overwhelmed.

his dream was to be a designer. he wanted to come to italy and work as a stylist, and maybe one day work with dole dolce and g. it was such a relatable dream. >> and why not? >> why not, exactly. >> i think this is the first story in a long time where i had my moments. there was something really fundamentally heart breaking about people's dreams being exploited in that way. i think we were all thinking that, you know, we just hope we can do justice to this. >> this week's cnn freedom project looks at how african migrants get caught up in this dark web of human trafficking when they risk their lives to find better lives. on monday, arwa damon speaks to a young nigerian woman from

benin city that is where thousands of people have been trapped with false promises of safe passages to europe. it is the first piece in our in depth five part series. >> you trusted him. >> yes, very much. i trusted him. most of the time i don't -- >> sandra is talking about her deputy pastor who told her he had a vision from god that she traveled overseas. then he said his sister in russia could get her a job in a hair salon. when she arrived in russia, it was more than she ever could have imagined. >> she took away my passport. unless i finish paying money for $45,000. >> $45,000? >> yes. that is what she said. >> the only way to pay that off was prostitution. >> tune in to cnn on monday to see the rest of this woman's story. the story at 8:00 a.m. in london, 3:00 a.m. here on the u.s. east coast, only on cnn.

still ahead here on "cnn newsroom," a closer look at michael flynn's guilty plea and what it might mean for donald trump's future. you're watching "cnn newsroom," live from atlanta, georgia, this hour, simulcast on cnn.s. in the states, cnn international worldwide. stay with us. cannot live without it.

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flynn had broken the law before asking the then fired fbi director james comey to drop the flynn investigation. president trump is telling reporters the new republican tax reform plan is spectacular. his comments came after the u.s. senate passed the overhaul. democrats railed against the measure, which will reportedly add $1.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. syrian state media say that israel launched missiles at a military site near damascus on saturday. israel didn't comment on the reports, but hours later issued a warning to iran about troops in syria. in a video tweet, the prime minister of that nation benjamin netanyahu said israel won't let tehran have a military presence in syria. back to the russia investigation that we're following, we heard reaction to the flynn plea deal here in the united states, but what about the reaction in russia? cnn's brian todd looks at

russia's intensions and the lengths they went to reach them. on russian state sponsored tv in recent days, sergey kislyak, russia's former ambassador to washington, the man at the center of michael flynn's legal troubles, had some great lapses with his hosts as they mocked the mueller investigation. >> translator: if it is not difficult, can you list those with whom you met and spoke with on the phone so we know who will soon be going to jail? or at least be summoned for questioning? flynn, sessions, who else? >> translator: there are two problems here. first, i will never do this. second, the list will be so long that i won't be able to tell you in 20 minutes. >> reporter: it carries a sting as we get new information from court filings about flynn's urgent back channel calls with kislyak. president obama just ordered sanctions to retaliate for russia's meddling in the elections. after flynn consulted with a top trump aid at mar-a-lago, he

called kislyak and asked for russia not to escalate the situation. a source told cnn flynn told kislyak that the trump administration would revisit u.s. sanctions and look favorably on russia if it didn't retaliate. a key question now, what were the trump team's and flynn's motives for reaching out to kislyak. >> the larger trump team wants a better relationship with russia. i think that for flynn his motivation had to do with what he saw as the main threat against the united states, which is not russians interfering in our election and trying to undermine our democracy, but a world view that sees islam as the real threat and i think that flynn thought he could make some kind of bargain or arrangement with the russians on this. >> reporter: soon, vladimir putin's surprise response to the overture, no retaliation, at least for now. trump tweets his appreciation. great move on delay by putin. i always knew he was very smart. what was putin's motive for making that deal? >> one is he wants to see

whether or not there is a possibility of having a better relationship. two, sanctions are hurting russia. they're biting. and they're biting at an entourage around putin. and, three, putin hates the -- act. that's a piece of it. trying to figure out if there is a strategy to roll back. >> reporter: it is an american law which sanctions individual russians close to putin. putin is furious over deals, mi was the perfect mention for both sides. >> we know that flynn was present at and sitting next to vladimir putin and was friendly enough with him to be seen joking and laughing with him in that context. >> reporter: did vladimir putin get what he wanted from those early dealings with the trump team? some ways he hasn't.

sanctions against russia are still in effect and another round is about to kick in. the magnitsky act is still in place. putin hasn't been punished by trump as much as he might be by hillary clinton. all of those developments, they say, are victories for vladimir putin. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> brian todd, thanks for the reporting. let's bring in scott lucas to talk more about this. scott, of course, professor of international politics at the university of birmingham, in birmingham, england. good to have you with us this hour. let's talk about the president's tweet, because it certainly does open a pandora's box of questions. what did the president know, when did he know it. what is your take on the tweet, scott? >> this tweet breaks down an important firewall. up to now, the idea was that

when donald trump approached james comey in february of this year, said drop the investigation into michael flynn, he did not know the extent of what flynn had done with his testimony to the fbi. this tweet makes the connection. and that is that trump knew that flynn had possibly committed a felony offense, yet asked comey to go ahead anyway and halt the investigation. and that, of course, is possible obstruction of justice. what compounds this, we now find out is, is this tweet was apparently drafted by one of trump's lawyers, john dowd. this is not just a case of trump tweeting off the top of his head, the white house teep ham gone ahead with this unusual strategy to somehow distance itself from the flynn investigation while actually compounding its difficulty. >> just to point out a matter of technical importance, that reporting that you're talking about from cbs news, cnn has not

confirmed or verified the information there, but, again, certainly that reporting is out there and it raises questions about the nature of the tweet. the white house has described flynn as someone who acted alone, of course, despite the fact that he was one of the president's most vocal supporters. there is a reporting for the new york times that we want to talk about, reporting that contradicts this, showing that flynn was, in fact, in close touch with other senior members of the trump transition team before and after he spoke with the russian ambassador. what are your thoughts on that? >> i mean, the curtain has been raised on what we thought was the drama anyway. that is when michael flynn not on december 22nd approached the russians, about getting the u.n. resolution blocked which was considered anti-israeli, he did so on the instructions of a very senior administration official who reportedly is jared kushner. a week later on the russian

sanctions question, flynn made the calls, five calls, sergey kislyak, after he spoke with k.t. mcfarland. k.t. mcfarland was deputy national security adviser. who was katie mcfarland speaking for when she told flynn, look, let's tell the russians we will work with them basically against this sanctions measure. that's an open question. let me add one more thing to you, george, on this. when katie mcfarland went to flynn, she had just written an e-mail that acknowledged that russia had interfered in the u.s. election. so in other words, if all of this is connected up and if all of it is confirmed, the trump team was approaching the russians knowing full well they had interfered in u.s. elections, knowing that barack obama had just imposed sanctions because of that interference, and they were going to work with moscow and assure them that the sanctions might be eased. that's where we are now. >> so with that, katie mcfarland

e-mail, one thing that is of important note and i would like your thoughts here, you know, whether she believed that, you know, democrats would portray it that way or was that her belief specifically, that's unclear. but, still, the information alone on the face of it, what does it say to you? >> well, in fact, if you look at what the sentence is from the mcfarland tweet, it doesn't say democrats believed this, it doesn't say according to democrats. it says russia tipped the scale in favor of donald trump. now, the white house is now spinning it, she was just saying that the democrats think that we didn't necessarily think that. that's a bit of a strained reading. at the very least, at the very least, the trump team knew that it was possible that the russians had interfered, yet they still went ahead with this approach to moscow and they did so not because of one person, michael flynn, but as a team. >> scott, there are a lot of moving parts to this. we appreciate you helping to

kind of parse it out, break it down, because i'm sure a lot of people are trying to follow the details and just the details come wave after wave. again, thank you for taking time. >> thank you. >> the u.s. tech industry relies heavily on immigrant talent, some skilled workers are returning to the homeland because the president's anti-immigration stance is in an impact. details next. [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette and her new mobile wedding business. at first, getting paid was tough... until she got quickbooks. now she sends invoices, sees when they've been viewed and-ta-dah-paid twice as fast for free. visit quickbooks-dot-com.

welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell. the united states says that it will no longer take part in the global compact on migration. it is a u.n. effort to address the worldwide migrant crisis. the u.s. ambassador to the united nations nikki haley issued a statement saying this in part. quote, america is proud of our immigrant heritage and our long-standing moral leadership in providing support to migrant and refugee populations across

the globe. but our decision on immigration policies must always be made by americans and americans alone. we will decide how best to control our borders and who will be allowed to enter our country. the united nations refugee agency says the world is seeing the highest levels of human displacement on record, tens of millions of people have been forced from their homes over the past few years. in the meantime, a federal judge has ruled the trump administration cannot delay an initiative to admit foreign entrepreneurs into the country. that program allows foreigners who launch certain startups to live in the united states legally. in the meantime, president trump's anti-immigration stance is leading some in the united states tech industry to leave, to return to their homelands. our matt rivers reports from beijing. >> reporter: it is tough to get a meal like this in the united states. >> did you miss this? >> of course i did. >> reporter: though as tasty as chongqing needles can be, it is

not why this 28-year-old moved back to shanghai from san francisco earlier this year. you are pushed out of the door and people are closing doors to you? he used to work for twitter as a data analyst, but decided to start his own company. he is developing an app which is a messaging program that relies exclusively on video. >> say hi. >> reporter: he planned on developing it in the u.s., applyi applying for his green card last year but things changed. >> we have taken historic steps to secure our border. >> reporter: the trump administrati administration's anti-immigration stance spooked many in the tech world. trump's travel ban back in late january was the first omen for many, but the more relevant move could deal with visas called h1bs. he called for review and reform

of the policy. critics complained it allows companies to hire cheaper foreign workers instead of americans. most of the 85,000 people granted the visa each year work in tech. but exactly how the president plans to reform the program isn't yet known. the uncertainty is what is really driving the fear because nobody really is clear on what's going to happen. >> reporter: michael solomon runs ten x management and says foreigners in tech are trying to get into the u.s. fast or figure out what to do if they're already in the country but forced to leave. he says trump's policies and rhetoric could impact silicon valley's reputation as the best place in the world for tech talent. >> we are going to see a tarnishing of those images if we continue to have this anti-immigration sentiment. >> reporter: solomon also says there is just not enough qualified americans to fill out all the jobs that the tech world needs. so if companies can't find the

workers they need in the u.s. -- >> they're going to move those functions off shore. and we're going to see the jobs evaporate in a different way and probably in larger numbers. >> reporter: and then there is people like xia. he started his company in china, this is a booming market for tech and because starting a company is hard enough. >> i'm building a business and you're asking me to worry about my status, my immigration status, and -- >> reporter: you got enough to worry about already. >> exactly. i think, okay, that's too much. >> reporter: if it takes off, the company will pay taxes in china and create jobs in china instead of doing so in the united states. matt rivers, cnn, beijing. coming up here on "cnn newsroom," waiting for the skies to clear over bali as ash from an erupting volcano keeps flights on the ground and tourists on the island. hi, i'm mike ditka.

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the mount agung volcano, indonesia is warning residents in bali not to underestimate its strength. for weeks now, it has been actively erupting ash clouds, steam and debris into the sky

and authorities say it is still threatening a major eruption. around 100,000 people have been evacuated from the villages in the immediate danger zone. the lingering ash cloud around that -- on that volcano, it is affecting the international airport and our derek van dam is here to tell us about that. derek, you know, obviously with this happening, these planes are grounded. >> absolutely. specifically the airplanes flying from australia to the main location for the international airport there. the tourists and residents have been in awe of this volcano, but also in fear of its looming eruption. there was an eruption last week, several different types of eruptions, last week there was a medium sized eruption from mount agung. they are -- experts are warning of a larger eruption that could be catastrophic for this area. that's why there is an

evacuation zone around mount agung. and it is interesting because the flights from australia to bali have been canceled as of right now, but there are -- there are flights that are still coming in and out of den pasa. this is what happens when we have the plume of smoke and ash from the volcano reach the jet engine, it can actually stall out the turbines causing a catastrophic failure in the jet engine allowing for the plane to fall to the ground. not what you want to hear about when you're traveling 30,000, 35,000 feet in the air. that is the threat, that volcanic ash has to jet engines. now, it is all about where that smoke cloud travels. so we pay attention to the wind direction, the weather patterns, that's why we're discussing this right now. and the latest from authorities in and around bali has raised

the threat level from a 3 to a 4, which means people in and around ten kilometer radius of mount agung need to be aware this could erupt at any moment in time. there is the weather map showing kind of a large expansive area of wind around a tropical system to the south. hey, really quickly, point your eyes to the sky tonight. this is sunday evening across the world in fact. a super moon is coming. what is it? it is that one moment when the moon appears about 7% larger and 16% brighter. we get this opportunity three times within the next two months. so tonight, once again, on january 1st, and january 31st. best viewing in the morning and early evening as well. >> that's cool. super moon. thanks for being with us for "newsroom." hour number two right up after the break. stay with us. cannot live without it.

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yes! yes, indeed. amazing speed, coverage and control. all with an xfi gateway. find your awesome, and change the way you wifi. a new tweet from the u.s. president donald trump raises serious questions about his fired national security adviser michael flynn. also, questions about the future border between northern ireland and the republic threaten to bring brexit talks to a stalemate. plus this -- >> allegations would come out 40 years later after a man has run for office six to eight times. >> we check in on a highly polarized alabama senate race where the republican candidate there roy moore is denying charges of sexual