president trump ready to fight after an appeals court ruled his travel ban must remain on hold. what's the next move for the white house? and big questions for a top trump advisor after she promoted ivanka trump's clothing line on television. could kellyanne conway face legal trouble? welcome to "early start." i'm miguel marquez. >> so much news. i'm christine romans.

let's begin with this. president trump vowing to fight on in the battle over the travel ban. unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel means citizens of the muslim majority countries can travel freely to the united states. the judges determining the government relied too heavily on executive power for the ban. the president saying see you in court. security of our nation is at stake. moments later, he spoke to reporters at the white house. >> it is a political decision. we will see them in court. >> you believe the -- >> we have a situation where the security of our country is at stake. it is a serious situation. we look forward as i said to seeing them in court. >> does this under cut the early days of your presidency? >> this is a decision that came

down. >> democrats and refugee groups applauding the court ruling. next, seek reexamination of the case by the larger panel of the judges or appeal directly to the supreme court. >> the travel ban triggered outrage. in iran today, one of the seven nations targeted by the ban, a large anti-american protest planned. for more on that and other reaction to the court ruling, we bring in cnn's frederik pleitgen in tehran. fred, what are people saying? >> reporter: there's a lot more people at the revolution day, christine, than you see. it is a big day. because of the anger at the trump administration, there is more people here than in other years. ayatollah khomeini has called on people to come out and said this would be iran's answer to the united states. folks we have been speaking to

talking about the sanctions levied against iran and, of course, the travel ban as well. the travel ban is something that hurts iranians more than any other nation. a lot of back and forth travel with iran and the u.s. a lot of iranians living in california. one division is we are angry at donald trump, but not angry at the american people. one sign was thanks for supporting muslims. speak benging about the verdict took place. certainly a very strong message that people are sending here. today, they are out in force. hundreds if not thousands of people came out specifically because of ayatollah khomeini came out and said show your anger and resilience against the united states. a very big event that took

place. >> frederik pleitgen, thank you. we will check in with you again. let's go live to atlanta and bring in michael moore. a former u.s. attorney for georgia's middle district. thank you for being up early for us. >> good morning. >> i appreciate it. this ruling that i finally read through this morning. i read bits of it. seen it reported. it can only be described as complete refute of everything the government was putting forward. >> 29 points of the government's argument. rebuked. >> right. i think that is true. i don't think you can overstate exactly how strong a rebuke it was. i think you also saw -- let me point out things interesting. decision was unanimous. decision written for the full court. not written by one or two judges. one political persuasion or the other. all three judges, including a bush appointee which sends a message. they did it as a pre-cureiurm

decision. they did it with great exception those executive actions would not be reviewed. the court will not check the constituti constitutionality of the executive action. >> let's listen to kellyanne conway after the decision. >> the statute provides a president in this case, president trump with great latitude and authority to protect the nation's national security. this was not argued on the merits. now we have the opportunity to argue on the merits. we look forward to doing that. >> she says great latitude. they struck down that overreaching executive authority. what about the merits of the travel ban? it looks to me these judges said this is a solution to something that is not a problem. >> i think that is right.

i agree with kellyanne. the president has great authority when it comes to matters of national security. that just cannot be the ultimate reason the constitution gets tramped on. we have seen that with the patriot act. citizens still have constitutional rights. interested in keeping the country safe, you still have to follow the constitution. that is not what happened here. you heard some of trump's words come back to haunt him. the intent of the order. they talked about things he said during the campaign and statements said. i behind that. this was a decision about whether or not a stay would remain. so now it goes back to the district court. there are options they will consider. whether they ask for a rehearing or move forward with the supreme court. >> where do they go next? it seems going to the full

circuit court is not an option. probably get the same result. do they wait and argue it in washington? that will take time. a 90 day or a 120-day ban. do they appeal to the supreme court? the supreme court is the direct appe appeal. if you break that down, it is 4-4. given the ruling, it seems the supreme court may tend to agree with the lower court. >> that's right. i don't think anybody should be under the misconception that the supreme court would divide along ideological lines or political lines in this case. one decision that the state of washington was the decision written by one of the conservative justices by the supreme court. i don't think that is a given of 4-4. an interesting part of the order. the court seemed to say we're not in the position to write your order. they look to rewrite if the

administration chose to do. >> i read that and my jaw dropped. two things that were shocking. when the white house counsel came out and said those with green cards can stay. they said we don't know he has the authority to do that. we're not in the business of rewriting your homework. it was shocking. >> i agree with you. i think the question is is president trump of the mind to go back to the drawing board and write an order that fits the constitution which has laid it out for him. they have given him a road map of what would survive constitutional scrutiny. i think his tweet of see you in court is where this thing is going. the district court will have the case. judge has set expedited briefing schedule. they will have a chance to receive information and evidence into the case. it will be interesting to see whether or not the state of

washington decides at some point if they want to take the deposition of the president. whether or not they want to look at e-mails with staff to talk about the motive behind the order. still things happen. but for today's purposes, we know the stay is in place. the case is going back to the district court. we haven't gotten all the way into the merits. >> michael moore, thank you. nice to see you this morning. >> good to see you. breaking overnight. president trump agreeing to honor the one-child policy during a phone call with chinese president xi jinping. it was made by the chinese leader and granted by mr. donald trump. president xi speaking overnight. and congress member tom price is confirmed in the middle of the night to become the next secretary of health and human services. the vote 52-47.

along party linines. democrats oppose to his desire to overhaul medicare. price overcoming the concerns over questionable stock deals. kellyanne conway facing legal trouble for promoting ivanka trump's fashion line. call it qvc meets the briefing room and now congress steps in. ! ...answer it. with zicam cold remedy. it shortens colds, so you get better, faster. colds are gonna call. answer them with zicam! zicam. get your better back. now in great tasting crystals.

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letter to the government ethics office over possible disciplines action. the comments were over the line and unacceptable. asked about the uproar. conway said this. >> we are aware of the letter. we are reviewing that internally. i'm happy that i spend a lot of time with the president of the united states this afternoon. he supports me 100%. >> well, the white house press secretary sean spicer says conway has been counselled. did not elaborate. conway acknowledged making a mistake. no comment from ivanka trump so far. all of this started after nordstrom dropped ivanka's product line. >> joining us with the latest on this message and many other messages is brian stelter. it has been a remarkable backlash to use the white house

as a back drop to sell a product. it was revealing about the lack of wall between trump inc. and the presidency. that concerned people. what does it mean to berepriman? >> i think closer to a reprimand. you could see on fox last night. she was asked about this. she had no further comment except to say the president supports her 100%. she sounded chastened. she said this 24 hours ago. saying go buy this stuff. it was inappropriate to ethical and legal experts. we see bipartisan shship on capl hill. it goes against the trump family business and white house. reminds me about a big wall and

big beautiful door. the door is open with the presidency and businesses. >> we should listen to sean spicer's sound when he tried to explain this counselling of kellyanne conway. >> kellyanne has been counselled. she has been counselled on that subject. that's it. >> sean has had a tough week. >> he has had a tough week. she had a tough week. the administration's had a tough week. it is so -- it's a young administration. it is typical to get your wheels up and running. their message and their boss and they can't seem to get out of their way. >> we are seeing what it is like for a family ceo who had one great job all his life transition too a very different stage. spicer has had the worst week a

press secretary can have. it has been three weeks in for him. see what happens in week four. hopefully melissa will not be on snl this weekend. he is trying to spin and dodge because of the president's issues. you look at the situation overnight with the travel ban ruling and gorsuch and questions about what he said and how he said it involving trump's attacks on judges. these days seem to get worse for spicer. it is not just about him, but what is happening world trade center happening with the administration. >> he had a roomful of people. listen to what sean spicer said about judge gorsuch. the fight about what gorsuch is saying behind closed doors to democratic senators and the white house is rejecting what is fact is remarkable. listen. >> the judge was very clear that

he wasn't commenting on any specific matter. he was asked about his general philosophy. you can't take that equate it back to the specific. he literally went out of his way saying i'm not commenting on a specific instance. >> this is all about whether the judge finds it disheartening and demoralizing that the president is attacking the judiciary. three on the record of senators who said he told them that. the white house doesn't believe it. >> now senator richard bloomenthal saying gorsuch should come out and explain. democrats want gorsuch to be challenged on this. they want him to be a check on the president's power. the president is putting him up for the job. we heard sipicer say that the president supports the gorsuch nomination. there is no reason to doubt that. this is one of those distractions from the continuing

efforts. >> that's why we have the best candidate because he thinks for himself. it would put it to bed. thank you, brian. nordstrom stock jumping 7%. traditional retailers are not rolling in cash. nordstrom and many others struggling with online retailers. they bring in big names like ivanka trump and higher end shoppers. if her clothing line were doing well or showing potential, nordstrom would not have dropped it. nordstrom says it was all about business. we made this decision based on performance in the past year and last half of 2016. sale have declined and it did not make good business sense to continue with the line for now.

>> my guess is that will not be the last we hear. the northeast blanketed with snow. will it freeze to ice or melt away this weekend? we will have that for you coming up.

the first big winter storm of the season blanketing the northeast. let's get the final snowfall totals from meteorologist julie martin. >> miguel and christine, the shovel did not do good. perry, maine picking up 20 inches. 1.5 feet in east hartford,

connecticut. that is for you in feura bush, new york. the quiet weather pattern for today. we are looking at a bit of lake-effect snow from lake ontario. the weathermaker here along the west coast is plume of moisture bringing more rain and snow to already very wet areas. including california up through oregon and washington. in terms of those temperatures for today, starting off very cold here in the east. we will see conditions gradually warm up through the day. still very chilly day today. we won't see real warmth or melting until we hit the weekend. we will hope for the melting. federal appeals panel rejecting the trump administration's argument that executive action is enough to impose the travel ban. more on the ruling and reaction next.

president trump gearing up for a fight after appeals court kept his travel ban on hold.

how will the white house move forward? and a top trump adviser facing congressional review after she promoted ivanka trump's clothing line from the white house briefing room. welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm miguel marquez. happy friday. 31 minutes past the hour. up first, president trump licking his wounds, but vowing to fight on in the battle over the seven nation travel ban. unanimous ruling by the three-judge panel means citizens of the muslim majority countries can travel to the united states legally. assuming they acquired the paper work. the ninth circuit judges determining government relied too heavily on executive power to implement the ban. president firing up twitter after the decision. saying all in caps. see you in court. the security of our nation is at stake. moments later, he spoke to reporters in the white house.

>> it's a political decision that we will see them in court. i look forward to it. we have a situation where the security of our country is at stake. it is a very, very serious situation. so we look forward as i said to seeing them in court. >> does this under cut the early days of your presidency? >> no. this is a decision that came down. we will win the case. >> democrats and refugee groups applauding the court ruling. the next step for the department of justice, seek reexamination of the case by the panel of judges or appeal the decision directly to the supreme court. let's go live to atlanta and bring in michael moore. when we read this ruling, you can see point by point by point a unanimous rejection of each of the points the government made to that panel. >> yes. i really don't think you can

overstate the significance of the rebuke the court gave to the trump administration. a couple of things that struck me rye oight off. this was written for the entire court. three judges signed off on the opinion. it means it is not just divided along party lines liberal or conservative gi conservative justices. take a look at tit. a george bush appointee was part of the decision. the court indicated a strong dislike for the administration's argument that the court did not have the authority to review the court's decision. i thought that was interesting. they clearly didn't like that. the order has to stand up to constitutionality. >> reading it, it does read like a complete slap-down of the government's take on this on

standing and review and discrimination. all those points. it is just not there. we will not do your homework for you. we will not rewrite the order. we will not allow you to change it mid stream. they did not get into the merits of the case. our jim sciutto had a conversation with the former head of the dni. here's what he said about the threat from the majority muslim countries. >> does the terror threat necessitate the ban? >> i don't believe we have extraordinary threats that we aren't already dealing with. >> does this damage the u.s. image and counterterror partnership? >> yes. i worry about those countries in question with whom we deal and who are reliable partners. >> he is basically saying, jim

clapper, the ex-head of dni is saying there wasn't any threat from the countries. when it goes to the next step, the district court or supreme court, will that be a consideration? >> i think it will. this is a case where trump's words have come back to haunt him. the court referenced it in the decision. some of the things said during the campaign. some things said by supporters. really looking at the intent behind the executive action had some religious issue. the constitution is not written in invisible ink. it doesn't disappear because you shine a light on it. there are protections that will apply to people. we have to look and we have the authority to look and see if the executive acted within the scope of his or her authority. i think what will likely happen is we will get other evidence.

the case is likely to go back to district court. the judge set the case up on an expedited briefing schedule. evidence will come in and the parties will decide the deposition. the state may decide we may take the deposition of the president and look at e-mails with staffers to find out were there hidden motives behind the executive action. was it political purpose or national security? those have yet to be decided. you have to remember as of today what we know is we have not reached the merits of the case. the court said look, we are going to leave the stay in place. we don't think the government met its burden. it is a complete rebuke when you look at the fact it is unanimous decision of the executive actions in the case. you will decide if they go to the supreme court and if they want a hearing before the ninth

circuit or let it work through. they had the option if they wanted to try to rewrite the order. they were offered to do that. >> michael moore. nice to see you. fascinating legal turn. congress member tom price confirmed in the middle of the night to be the next secretary of health and human services. 52-47 among party lines. democrats oppose the georgia republican for the opposition to the affordable care act. price overcoming ethical concerns over questionable stock trades. kellyanne conway managing to unite democrats and republicans. something you didn't think was possible. trouble is, they are united against her. we will tell you why. you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. keep in mind,

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go buy ivanka's stuff. i hate shopping. i'll get some myself. i own some of it.

i will give a free commercial here. go buy it here. you can find it online. >> that endorsement by kellyanne conway during an interview from the white house briefing room triggering ethical and legal concerns about using her position to promote a trump business. there is a call for an investigation from democrats and republicans. sending a letter to the government ethics office about possible disciplinary action. chaffetz calling conway's comments wrong. asked about the uproar. conway said this. >> we are aware of the letter. we are reviewing that internally. i'm happy i spend a lot of time with the president of the united states this afternoon. he supports me 100%. >> white house press secretary sean spicer said conway was counselled.

she did acknowledged making a mistake. no comment from ivanka trump. that is fascinating she is silent on this. >> she has nothing to gain. >> this is after the president said nordstrom treated his daughter unfairly about dropping her product line. >> and joining us to talk about this miss sttep and dust up is brian stelter. this has been a bit of a train wreck, i think. you have a president who is not your normal president saying things his staff is trying to clean up. i want to play the spicer sound for you talking about the kellyanne conway stuff first. >> kellyanne has been counselled. that's all we're going to go on. she has been counselled on that subject. that's it. >> that's the spokesperson for the president of the united

states of america. we don't know what counselled means. his lack of really a response. >> was she counselled before she said this on fox? counselled after? i'm guessing she was counselled after. the office of ethics was overwhelmed. the web site crashed. so many people, anti-trump liberals trying to log on and expressing concerns about what she said on fox. you saw by the evening, she was chasten about this. makes you wonder if everybody is on the same page when it comes to the bright lines that are drawn with the presidency and trump's personal businesses. >> it shows no line. it shows a trump white house. that episode shows a trump white house which is same as brand trump. same identity. can that be allowed? could there be legal ramifications?

>> it shows our culture wars for lack of a better phrase. with them or against them. i don't know about you. i wish i could go to a store and not think about politics associated with that brand. >> to go a step further. look at other countries. do other leaders behave dech differently in the approach to the united states? do they start to invest in trump properties or do things to curry favor with donald trump? it is all so tightly combined. you wonder. let's ask about sean spicer. a tough week for spicer. he was impersonated on "saturday night live." there is a reason they pass a flack jacket to every press secretary. he needs full body armor. >> he is up dismissing questions from journalists. saying they are silly.

the correspondents i talked to say we have a chance to ask questions. we are not getting answers from the white house. spicer is in an impossible position because of his boss. president trump most mornings is setting the tone and agenda via twitter and facebook. setting the tone for the day. creating comments. the press secretary has to be asked. trump made a comment on twitter on how we are bogged down around the world in conflicts. spicer was asked where are we bogged down? what places is the united states losing. he would not answer the question. one example of trump on twitter starting the day off and creating problems for aides. >> it raises the point of kellyanne conway and alternative facts and bowling green and sean spicer in recent days. the white house has to get its message out. this is not going well if this continues. >> message i hear is we're in danger. there are threats to the white

house which is trying to keep people safe. that all caps tweet from donald trump sums it up. the security of our nation is at stake. experts say otherwise. not a threat. sometimes spicer sounds like he is on the show "24." that is the overarching message. however, there is so much noise and clutter. i feel bad for the viewers. it is a lot to come through every day. it is a new administration. it is a brand new government. people taking over. you have to give him time to get into the jobs. >> the third official week of the trump presidency. nordstrom showing a tweet doesn't also sink a stock. 7% over the past two days. record highs yesterday. that helps. nordstrom said it was a business decision to drop the ivanka trump brand.

traditional retailers were struggling. that rise coming as the market hit the records. the stock got a jump start. the president met with airline executives and he said this. >> we want to help you realize goals by rolling back burdensome regulations. you are overregulated. lowering the overall tax burden on american businesses. that's coming along well. we're way ahead of schedule. we're going to be announcing something, i would say, over the next two or three weeks that will be phenomenal in terms of tax. >> what really sparked stocks? two to three weeks. timeline for a plan to lower taxes. wall street has been waiting for those words. now it seems like a plan is coming.

investors pushed stocks to highs. comprehensive plan in two to three weeks. >> and you have to get that plan passed. welcome to friday. you are right. >> president trump with a big diplomatic move in a phone call with the chinese president. live in beijing coming up.

breaking overnight. donald trump agreeing to honor the one china policy with the phone call with chinese president xi jinping. the president angered the president in december speaking directly to the president of taiwan. let's get the latest from david mackenzie. give us the back story now. why is the president doing this now? >> reporter: well, christine, really it had to happen at some point from the chinese perspective. without president trump recognizing the one china

policy, the relationship between the u.s. and china would be a non starter. i have been talking to several experts who said this had to happen at some point. it is a turn around from president trump who previously said maybe the issue of taiwan which china sees as a renegade province would be on the table for negotiation. coming around with the u.s. thinking since 1979, recognizing china as the only china a and taiwan as not a separate country is the basis for all relationships with china. now they can get down to the tough decisions and talk about trade and foreign policy and climate change. this shift in tone and substance from president trump would be welcome here in china. the relationship between the two countries, perhaps the most important bilateral relationship for the u.s., could continue to be tricky. this is a way to get that

relationship going. christine. >> he said repeatedly that china is killing the u.s. on trade. he used more crass and vulgar terms. he has been very sharp critic of chinese trade policy. thank you, david mckenzie. david blumenthal is calling on neil gorsuch to go public with the criticism of donald trump. blumenthal is one of two senators who said gorsuch finds the attacks disheartening. mr. trump claims blumenthal is misinterpreting the remarks and sean spicer is backing up the president. >> the judge was clear he wasn't commenting on any specific matter. he was asked about general philosophy. you can't take that back to the specific. he literally went out of his way

saying i'm not commenting on a specific instance. >> gorsuch's spokesman confirms that the judge made the comments to senator blumenthal. he also said he should feel free to mention his thoughts publicly. let's get a check on cnn money stream. all three averages at record highs. it looks like more gains at the open. dow futures up. s&p futures higher. stocks in europe and asia higher. a big game in tokyo. mr. trump says tax reform will be ready in a few weeks. his love of twitter had analysts thinking most users would flock to the struggling social platform. shares of twitter tanked. sales increased 1% last quarter. wall street was sfektiexpecting bigger rise.

a problem for twitter, it can't seem to grow user base. >> 319 million active users month monthly. they nabbed 2 million more customers. snapchat has less, but growing quickly. instagram nearly double twitter total. facebook is king with 1.8 billion. trump meeting with the executives at the white house. talking about the out dated air traffic control system. the plan to modernize it is not good enough. >> i hear we're spending billions of dollars. it's a system that is totally out of whack. it is way overbudget. behind schedule. when it is complete, it will not be a good system. other than that, it's fantastic. >> some of the ceos urged the president to privatize the air traffic control system. take it out of faa control.

no comment on that from the white house with. executives leaving the meeting saying that plan is on track. he said that a pilot -- he gets advice from pilot from the air traffic control. >> that would be an interesting move. given that security at the airport went to the government after 9/11. >> private security for financial gain. a very new model. "early start" continues right now. president trump ready to fight after an appeals court ruled his travel ban must remain on hold. what is the next move for the white house? we are live in washington, d.c. and big questions for a top trump advisor after pedalled ivanka trump's clothing line on television. could kellyanne conway face legal trouble? welcome to "early start."

i'm christine romans. >> aim marqui'm miguel marquez. the president is down, but not out in the seven nation travel ban. unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel means sit ecis of seven muslim in thmajority countries can travel to the united states. >> the president fired up twitter moments after the decision saying see you in court. he spoke to reporters in the white house. >> it is a political decision. we will see them in court. we have a situation where the security of our country is at stake. it is a very, very serious situation. so we look forward as i just said to seeing them in court. >> do you think this under cuts the views of your presidency? >> no. this is a decision that came down. we will win the case.

>> you hear an adviser trying to move the conversation along. for the latest on the ruling and next step, i want to bring in our cnn justice correspondent laura jarrett. has been working around the clock and waiting for the decision. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, christine. in a 29-page opinion yesterday, those three appeals court judges rejected each and every one of the arguments the justice department used to try to justify a reinstatement of the travel ban. the judges rejected the idea that a court should get to review the legality of the president's executive order. saying that is just not the law. the judges fundamentally disagreed with the argument that the travel ban was necessary for national security because the government failed to offer any real evidence that