Deputy National Security Adviser Out of the White House; European Union Council President Confirms Brexit Summit.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A dark cloud surrounds the White House. The president's mood taking a turn for the worse after midterm losses and a public rebuke from his wife.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The Democrats pick up two more House seats, but Nancy Pelosi's path to reclaim the speaker's gavel faces new challenges.</s>BRIGGS: Election recount numbers due today in Florida, 3:00 Eastern Time. Which major county could miss the deadline and what it means for major races?</s>ROMANS: And get ready for an ugly day for commuters along the East Coast. A mix of floods, ice, even snow all the way down south up to New England. Not looks pretty.</s>BRIGGS: Not really.</s>ROMANS: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.</s>BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. 31 minutes past the hour. Romans, did you know on the way to work I was able to buy cereal.</s>ROMANS: Did you need an I.D.?</s>BRIGGS: Without an I.D. 24-hour markets, they did not I.D. me for any of the cereal.</s>ROMANS: Do you think he meant Sudafed? We're talking about the president who said --</s>BRIGGS: We'll describe that later in the program.</s>ROMANS: You need an I.D. to buy cereal in America which, of course, is not true as Dave just proved.</s>BRIGGS: All right. Let's turn to the president. He is reportedly pissed at damn near everyone. The words of one White House official describing President Trump after a series of setbacks and election night drubbing, infighting among aides, and the first lady's public demand to fire a National Security official. Aides tell CNN the president is isolated and getting angrier by the hour.</s>ROMANS: A week after declaring victory in the midterms, the president's friends tell CNN he is bitter about election losses, he's worried by the intensifying Mueller investigation. He is now openly musing about replacing more top aides and the first one to go is that National Security official Melania Trump wanted gone. Mira Ricardel is out of the White House but out of the administration. CNN's Jeff Zeleny explains.</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, all that talk of a White House staff shakeup is actually leading to one departure. You'll remember that story of the deputy National Security adviser just a couple of days ago in the crosshairs of First Lady Melania Trump. Well, the president finally making a decision to remove her from her position here at the White House. The president has decided to move her to another part of the administration but will indeed be leaving the National Security Council and White House. Now important to point out, she was the top ranking deputy to John Bolton, the National Security adviser, who had -- you know, had her full support and she indeed was a key part of his team here at the White House. So this is a big departure. But certainly one, even it took the White House about 24 hours or so to acknowledge she was going to leave, it was almost unthinkable that anything else would happen because that would be president essentially ignoring the wishes of the first lady. Many people are wondering why the first lady didn't tell the president privately. Well, sources here are saying that she had done that and there was no action taken. So that is why she called for the public firing of her. But in any case, there is no sense that this will be last shakeup. In fact the president saying that he will make a decision soon on the Homeland Security secretary. The key adviser we're looking for, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Will he leave as well? Those questions and anticipation is certainly swirling out there. But it is one sign the president is going to make good on his pledge to have a new team around him at least in some respects as he heads into the second two years of his first term in office -- Dave and Christine.</s>BRIGGS: Jeff Zeleny, thank you. The GOP facing a new complication, winning Senate confirmation for Trump administration judicial nominees, this morning. Retiring Republican Jeff Flake says he won't vote yes unless bipartisan legislation protecting Special Counsel Robert Mueller receives a floor vote. The threat came after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a floor vote on the special counsel bill that Flake and Democratic Senator Chris Coons are pushing.</s>ROMANS: Flake and a handful of other Republican senators say legislation is necessary after the president fired Jeff Sessions and named Matt Whitaker acting attorney general. Whitaker has been openly critical of the Mueller probe.</s>SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: With the firing of the attorney general and in my view the improper installation of an acting attorney general who has not been subject to confirmation by this body, the president now has this investigation in his sights and we all know it.</s>ROMANS: McConnell and other Senate Republicans say the measure is not needed because the president is not about to fire Mueller.</s>BRIGGS: The Democrats gaining two more seats in the House of Representatives as races in California and New Jersey are called. And that brings Democrats total net pickups in the House to 32, with still eight races still to be called. Democrats now poised to hold at least 227 seats in the new Congress. Meantime, a new wrinkle in Nancy Pelosi's bid to regain the speaker's gavel. Seventeen House Democrats have now signed a letter saying they will not vote for Pelosi on the House floor.</s>ROMANS: Five additional Democrats are pledging not to support Pelosi, although they have not yet signed that letter. If they all stick to their word, she may not have the votes to become speaker. But Pelosi and her allies frankly are confident saying she will call the critics' bluffs. So far no House Democrat has actually stepped forward to run against Pelosi, and that's the key here. But Ohio Representatives Marcia Fudge and Tim Ryan both tell CNN they are not ruling out a bid.</s>BRIGGS: President Trump announcing his support for a bipartisan prison reform bill -- yes, bipartisan. Can you believe it? It's called the First Step Act. The legislation shortens mandatory minimums for firearm offenses, eliminates these so-called stacking provisions that result in lengthy consecutive sentences, and reduces the number of nonviolent drug offenders serving mandatory minimum sentences.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're all better off when former inmates can receive and reenter society as law-abiding productive citizens. And thanks to our booming economy, they now have a chance at more opportunities than they've ever had before.</s>ROMANS: The reform is a key focus for the president's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner. The president's support firmed up after White House officials showed there's growing support for the bill across the political spectrum and among law enforcement. Senate leaders say they will bring the measure to a floor vote if there are 60 votes in favor. The White House says it's optimistic.</s>BRIGGS: The death toll in California now stands at 58, as catastrophic wildfires ravage the state. At this hour 56 people known to have died in the Camp Fire in Northern California, making it by far the deadliest wildfire in state history. 130 people are unaccounted for, most of them senior citizens. More than 10,000 structures destroyed, most of them homes.</s>ROMANS: The Camp Fire now estimated to have burned 138,000 acres is 35 percent contained. CNN's Dan Simon traveled with the National Guard that went house-to- house looking for victims.</s>SGT. STEVE COLLINS, BUTTE COUNTY SHERIFF'S INVESTIGATIONS: Everybody that's involved here has emotional connection to this. A lot of the people that are from this community have directly been impacted by their losing their home or know somebody that lost their home. They are housing people that lost their homes. It's -- this hit hard.</s>BRIGGS: The utility company PG&E could be in deep financial trouble if it's found liable for the Camp Fire. The utility disclosed Tuesday it experienced an outage just 15 minutes before the Camp Fire started. In the face of tragedy, people are stepping up. A California couple took in a 93-year-old veteran after he fled the fire in Paradise. The volunteer organization North Valley Animal Disaster Group working to relocate and shelter animals like these horses.</s>ROMANS: Donations of things like food, clothing, blankets, piling up at this parking lot in Chico, California. Some donations even being brought by sea. One man filled his 150-foot yacht with supplies, brought to shore by volunteers on surf boards to be delivered where they're needed. Meantime firefighters in Southern California gaining the upper hand on the Woolsey Fire. That blaze is now 52 percent contained. At least two people died in that blaze. More trouble for Facebook. The "New York Times," huge expose of the "New York Times" reports that Facebook hired a political opposition research group after criticism of how it handled Russian interference in the 2016 election. "Times" reports Facebook expanded its work with a group called Definers Public Affairs in October 2017 to combat this growing criticism. Definers reportedly wrote articles attacking Google and Apple and downplaying how Facebook was affected by Russian interference. The "Times" reporting, quote, "Facebook employed a Republican opposition research firm to discredit activist protesters, in part by linking them to the liberal financier George Soros." It also tapped its business relationships, lobbying a Jewish civil rights group to cast some criticism of the company as anti-Semitic. Those articles were then published on NTK Network, an affiliate of Definers, whose content is followed by politically conservative outlets, including Breitbart. Other revelations in the report include Sheryl Sandberg's anger at Facebook's former security chief when Facebook was told about the full extent of Russian interference in 2016. It paints a picture of Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg really behind the ball in some cases.</s>BRIGGS: Not just behind it, but almost pushing back against what the public should have known.</s>ROMANS: Exactly.</s>BRIGGS: And Sheryl Sandberg really does not come out well in this reporting. All right. Get ready to get soaked. Rain, ice, snow all along the East Coast. Your full forecast, next.