president trump tells the world that the u.s. is open for business. but putting america first on trade might make that difficult. and while the economy and the market are booming, one american industry's decline can be tied directly to the president's election. ♪ i'm stephanie ruhle. and my friend david gura is back while my partner ali velshi joins us in a moment from the world economic forum in davos. >> while the world is busy making deals and investment, the u.s. was threatening to rip up existing deals. >> so much news coming out of

the world economic forum as president trump puts his america first agenda on the big stage, which is where we start. in between meetings with british prime minister theresa may and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and other world leaders and business chiefs, president trump and his delegation spent their days in davos contradicting each other on the strength of the dollar and trade deals. it all culminated with trump's much-anticipated speech on friday. >> as president of the united states i will always put america first, just like the leaders of other countries should put their country first also. but america first does not mean america alone. when the united states grows, so does the world. >> sounds pretty good, right? the details are the issue. joining us now from davos, our friend and partner ali velshi.

ali, you have the home court advantage. you're in trump territory. what was your biggest takeaway? >> reporter: well, so i think there are two key take aways from the president's speech. the first is how much it wasn't. i mean, what an opportunity, the first time since the year 2000 that an american president has been here. usually each year there's a leader or two who shine, because they put forward a notion, a world view. this year we saw one, emmanuel macron of france, prime minister justin trudeau of canada, taking on the mantle. what an opportunity for president trump to have shown that vision. but he didn't. he basically listed a bunch of things we've all heard in trump speeches over the last year. he talked about lower unemployment. he talked about the tax by me. he talked about immigration. he talked about reducing regulation, on and on and on. but in the end, did not articulate a view. even the view that he said he

was going to articulate, the america first view, i think it was like the punch they serve you on a sunset cruise, it was watered down, it wasn't really strong. he said it a couple of times and he referred to it alongside a phrase, america first doesn't mean america alone. well, okay, one could take issue with that. the bottom line is, this wasn't an aggressive speech, and he took yet another swipe at the media, talking about fake news, eliciting boos from the crowd. he didn't step in it, he didn't mess up, he had a bit of a rough morning on thursday after his meeting with benjamin netanyahu. but on friday for his big speech, he didn't do anything particularly wrong. there was no particular news in the speech. whether he understands that the world is moving along with trade, whether he wants to be part of it or not, is an open question. >> i want to ask you just about

this problem, steph, i know you've been to davos before. give us insight into who was there, and contrast this speech with the speech of china president xi jinping. >> reporter: you bring up a good point, this is a gathering of some world leaders, far more business leaders and ceo's, some of them the wealthiest people in the world, some people who run ngos and philanthropies. sometimes the philanthropies want access to the wealthy people who can influence change. there are projects they decide upon, and themes. this year one of the themes was college together in a fractur coming together in a fractured world. a lot of these people think in terms of that theme, donald trump is the problem and not the solution.

a lot of people say it doesn't matter what our goals are domestically in a given country, when you come to this place, that is about the world coming together, you speak a certain way and do things a certain way to try to build a certain consensus and tell people that you're doing things in their interest. again, donald trump bucks tradition in doing it a different way. his most pointed comments in his speech on friday morning were, without saying it, to the chinese, about intellectual property and manipulation, things like that. and there's really a good argument for the fact that the world does need to toughen up on the chinese with respect to their trade practices. but everybody else is moving ahead, saying we probably want more trade rather than less. and this is an important point, we have to mitigate the effects in any given country where jobs are lost because of trade. where donald trump looks at tpp and nafta as badly negotiated deals, really what the issue is, is you can have these trade deals but then you have to mitigate the effects of them in a given country.

c coal workers out of work, manufacturing workers out of work, how do you retrain them and get them into different jobs. that's what seems to be missing from president trump's agenda. >> ali, the other thing missing, whether hearing from president trump or his commerce secretary wilbur ross who says we've been giving it away since 1945, these are antiquated views, and our bargaining stick in terms of trade has gotten specifically lower. the wto reports you have 35 nations with trade pacts that don't include the united states. when you hear the president bring up tpp in his speech and that he wants to renegotiate, you almost sense a bit of panic on their hands, uh-oh, this train has left the station, we'd best get on it. >> reporter: not something you will hear the president say, but there are concerns. the one good thing about the president coming to davos is you

got to see justin trudeau say, we're moving ahead with the tpp without the united states, and other big deals being made. was the message heard? we'll have to wait and see. >> remember, that's that infighting within the white house, the wilbur ross faction versus the gary cohn faction who doesn't want to see the president leave nafta. now the president sees what's going on around the world, maybe he will take a bit of a different perspective. thanks so much, ali. >> gary cohn reportedly wrote that speech for the president to deliver in davos. a lot was happening elsewhere in the world of trade. negotiators from the united states, canada, and mexico were engaged in their sixth round of talks to update nafta, an agreement that trump has threatened to walk away from. canada announced it will be joining ten other countries as part of a revised trans-pacific partnership, a deal the president did walk away from a few months after he took office. earlier this week the president

signed off on tariffs on foreign-made solar panels and washing machines. >> and the u.s. is still a major player, you cannot understate that, but the world is moving on. europe, japan, china, all moving on. i mean, you have to realize, the fact that justin trudeau announced tpp being renewed while they were in davos, that says a lot. and some concern about this argument, it's a huge drain on our system. it's not. >> you look at what happened immediately after the u.s. pulled out of that deal. the other countries in that tpp partnership meeting with each other, working to move that deal forward. this conversation about nafta continuing, they were up in montreal, having these negotiations. it's worth remembering, you look at business interests through the u.s. chamber of commerce, other lobbying groups, they're in favor of what they've seen broadly speaking. if you look at that trade deal and other trade deals in place

that the u.s. is party to, these agreements need to be updated, technology has changed so much. >> okay, david. there's a huge difference between updating, renegotiating, and tearing up. you have industries like the auto industry, the agriculture industry. when the president first started going after nafta last year, he had his ag secretary walk into his office with a map and say, mr. president, let me show you the farm counties think voted for you, please stop. >> and you see this tariff move this week, talking about washing machines, talking about solar panels as well. we don't have a trade war yet. there was fear we would get one when the president first began talking about trade policy. these tend to start when you have salvos like that. >> except of course wilbur ross did say this week, we are in a trade war, and the president said we're not, not exactly on the same message. mean while, back in washington and across the country, time is ticking on on the immigration deal getting done. on thursday, the white house released details of their framework for that deal, including a path to citizenship for daca recipients, in exchange

for a $25 billion fund for its mexican wall. remember the one that was supposed to be paid for by mexico? and an end to the visa lottery program and an end to family reunification provisions, what the president calls chain migration. congressional democrats have called this proposal a nonstarter. you will recall that president trump upended immigration negotiations just a few weeks ago when he reportedly lashed out at s-hole countries where some u.s. immigrants come from. what exactly he meant is debatable. but these are just -- and this is the issue -- these are just his latest in a long line of comments about u.s. immigrants who he says bring crime, disease, lack of skills, the list goes on, pose a big burden to this country. but for facts' sake, our partner ali velshi tells us why the president has it wrong. president trump makes no secret that he wants to roll back immigration to the united states and restrict entry to

highly skilled immigrants only. let's just say give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, does not resonate with this president. he's referred to immigrants from poor countries, legal and undocumented, in crude and even vulgar terms. he says they contribute little to u.s. society except for maybe crime. he's way off. take for example foreign residents with temporary protected status. the program applies to people fleeing violence or natural disasters in their home countries, places like haiti, el salvador, somalia. the vast majority of them want to stay. sure, studies show that tps recipients haven't attained the same levels of education that native born americans have. but as a group they tend to be more educated than their peers back home. so already we're attracting some of those countries' brightest and most skilled. take the african countries the president has singled out for attack. on average those citizens

possess more education than u.s. residents do. undocumented immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than native americans. the number of immigrants doubled during the last two decades. president trump's whole premise is wrong. compared to their u.s.-born counterparts, immigrants, even the undocumented ones, do really well and contribute to economic growth over the long term. it's true that first generation immigrants can be more costly to governments. but as adults, the children of immigrants turn into the strongest economic contributors in the u.s. population, contributing more in taxes than other native born americans. immigrants, even those from some of the poorest countries, turn into some of america's best and brightest over time. and with an increasingly aging population, we need more of them. not less. >> i'm struck by what he said at the end, it is a bit more of a burden when you have the first generation immigrants that come

to the u.s., but the second and third generation, it's not. we talk about it all the time here, getting a good education is beneficial for the economy long term, that's something well worth noting from what ali put together. >> we also need to remember remember march 5th, this daca issue, daca recipients start losing their protections march 5th, and that is around the corner. when the president puts up a $25 billion ask for the wall and other border security issues against this, that's a huge number. and for those who say, the wall, it's not really a wall, it's a metaphor, it's not a metaphor. remember, the president said a fence won't do, he wants a wall. people want border security. a wall, as one republican puts it, is a third century solution for a 21st century problem. think about that. coming up, more companies announce their plans to use windfalls from the trump tax plan. but it is not all bonuses and wage hikes. some companies are investing in their workers in different ways. and the global tourism industry is booming. so why is the u.s. seeing its

fewest tourists in years?

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from around $469 per month. visit your local cadillac dealer. the world is witnessing the resurgence of a strong and prosperous america. i'm here to deliver a simple message. there has never been a better time to hire, to build, to invest, and to grow in the united states. america is open for business. and we are competitive once again. >> welcome back. there is no doubt the president wants more international business coming to the united states. but what about everyone else? international tourism is growing at its fastest rate in seven years. so why is the u.s. seeing its sharpest drop in foreign tourists since the recession? >> it's a problem for the american economy, because foreign visitors stay longer and spend more money than domestic

travelers. ali brings us the story from davos. >> reporter: from our famous national parks to our equally famous theme parks, foreign tourists are checking out of the united states. the latest data from the national travel and tourism office shows a 4% decline in visits from foreign travelers compared to 2016. and a 3.3% drop in travel spending. over $4.6 billion in spending gone. with it, an estimated 40,000 american jobs. >> where we should have been growing, we've been moving in the wrong direction. >> reporter: marriott operates more than 5,700 hotels in 110 countries. they've seen the down trends in foreign travelers to america. we caught out with marriott ceo arnie sorenson. he says marriott operates in 110 countries and they've seen the down trends in foreign travel to

america. >> 1.3 billion trips, up 7% from 2016. u.s. arrivals were down 4 to 5%. you can see in one year we're losing share. >> reporter: it's a decline that began after trump took office, leading some to call it a trump slump. >> i think we've done a fairly poor job in communicating a welcome to the rest of the world or an invitation to the rest of the world. the president is newsworthy all around the world, people pay attention to what he says, and he has a point of view which is communicated loudly. at the same time we can be saying, we want you to come, take your vacation with us, do business in the united states. come and see us, we're great people, we're friendly, we're welcoming. because i think the world is hearing that maybe we're a little less welcoming than we were before. >> reporter: now tourism and retail leaders are reacting, launching the visit u.s. coalition and asking the trump

administration to stop the decline. >> we're going to seize the opportunities for the economy, for the industry, for our company, that are available in the years ahead. let's get smart about adopting the policies and communicating the messages that will help it. >> reporter: meantime, america has slipped in the rankings of the world's most popular tourist destinations. long the number two most popular country to visit after france, you can say goodbye to that. our spot has been taken by spain. ali velshi at the world economic forum in davos. >> as i listen to arnie sorenson speaking there, you realize the job of evangelizing for the u.s. has fallen to people like him. this sort of anti-immigrant or call it what you will, moving towards some sort of immigration reform or change, then you've got the travel ban that happened weeks after president trump took office, huge policy things that dissuaded a lot of people from

coming here. a big theme was steve mnuchin talking about the weakness of the dollar. >> unprecedented, to see a u.s. treasury secretary do that. when you think about the foreign travelers that come here and the money they spend. empty storefronts in new york without foreign travelers here buying all their wares. coming up, starbucks, disney, jp morgan chase doing more than just putting money in their workers' paychecks. >> that's next. i have type 2 diabetes. i'm trying to manage my a1c, then i learn type 2 diabetes puts me at greater risk for heart attack or stroke. can one medicine help treat both blood sugar and cardiovascular risk? i asked my doctor. she told me about non-insulin victoza®. victoza® is not only proven to lower a1c and blood sugar,

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welcome back to "velshi & ruhle." silicon valley has come under increasing fire lately for everything from its bro culture to allegations that companies prioritize profits over people. one of its own, salesforce ceo and co-founder mark benioff,

called out the industry on a tech panel. >> trust has to be your highest value in your company. if it's not, something bad is going to happen to you. what is the most important thing to you and your company? is it trust or is it growth? this idea of anything trump, we're in trouble. >> he's talking about uber and we know the year they had. a corporate leader saying trust comes first. and what do we have none of in washington now? trust. corporate america telling government leaders. jp morgan chase and starbucks joined a growing list of companies giving benefits to their employees after the tax law. disney said it will invest $50 million in employee education.

jp morgan chase plans to bring 3,000 jobs to new markets. starbucks unveiled new benefits for employees, expanded paid sick leave. you see companies doing more than just putting that thousand bucks in somebody's pocket. you look at starbucks, a company that was pioneering this, looking at education as a way forward a couple of years ago now. >> it is, bravo across the board. this is so much more significant than a little bit of a bonus here. when you are reinvesting vocational training, education, that is the kind of long term solution we need. >> and president trump in davos talking a lot about apple, it's becoming clear that's what he's proudest of, apple making a commitment to spend $300 billion. >> we need those dollars put to work. thank you so much for joining us today. catch ali velshi and me together every day at 11:00 a.m. i'm on my own at 9:00 a.m. this guy will be on all weekend. >> i'll be back at 2:00 p.m.,

2:00 p.m. tomorrow as well. should be good. have a great rest of your weekend. >> see you. there's a vacation at the end of every week with hilton.

whatever type of weekender you are, don't let another weekend pass you by. get the lowest price when you book at hilton.com good day, everyone. a i'm alex witt at msnbc headquarters. here's what's happening. a new sense of urgency. democrats on capitol hill calling for a new law to protect special counsel robert mueller from president trump. >> mueller is in jeopardy. what does trump do but fire people? also today, we know the president is willing to speak to mueller under oath. but those close to him reportedly are terrified about what he might say. the buzz of what ifs intensifies. >> trump will be wading into an morass of fac