and we're going through that process. >> jonathan karl, abc. news the, the white house. >> a dutch lawyer is the latest person to plead guilty in the russia investigation. today he admitted to lying about interaction with former campaign aide rick gates. abc news reporter pierre thomas has more on this. >> reporter: the special counsel latest target working in the d.c. field office. and tonight london based attorney alex van der zwaan is accused of lying to vrgs. >> why did you feel the need to lie to the special counsel, sir? >> reporter: van derzwaan, a dutch national who married a daughter of a russianology arc in a lavish wedding pleaded guilty to making false statements about making contact with rick gates, former trump campaign chairman manafort deputy. manchester and gates were involved in a pr war to support ukrainian predictions backed by russia. according to prosecute prosecutors van der zwaan who worked closely with gates and manafort was communicating with a mysterious individual described at person a pmt. the latest sign of pressur

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> more than $1.6 million has been donated to the go fund me page for the victims of the shooting. we have links to abc7news.com if you want to share your support. >>> switching gears now, the cold weather is good news for ski resorts. abc 7 news anchor kristin zee shows us how conditions are surprisingly good considering how little natural snow has fallen this winter. >> it had been looking so-so for ski peek. the snowpack rivals the low of three years ago, the driest winter in recorded history. but what a difference a weekend makes. this past weekend, about a foot of snow fell on the higher elevations of many tahoe resorts. this is new video shot at kirkwood this morning. look at all that fresh powder waiting for holiday skiers to make their tracks. this latest storm was much appreciated two-thirds of the way through the season. >> the conditions are just getting better with 10 to 15 inches of new snow, with more storms in the forecast. so it's been a tough year, but the mountain operations team have been working hard. >> working hard to m

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >> president trump also targeted san francisco congresswomancy pelosi and called her the republicans' secret weapon. >> and i think this is not a good day for nancy pelosi. she's our secret weapon. no, she's our secret -- i just hope they don't change her. there are a lot of people that want to run her out. she's really out there. i'm supposed to make a deal with her? >> pelosi tweeted that every american should be alarmed by how president trump is working to make loyalty to him sin anonymous with loyalty to our country that she says is not how democracy works. >>> it has been called one of the most important trials in silicon valley's history. the showdown over self-driving cars between uber and waymo, part of google's parent company. abc 7 news reporter jonathan bloom was at the courthouse today as opening statements unfolded. >> reporter: waymo ceo the first to testify in a case that could redefine how silicon valley does business. tech companies are always trying to hire talented people. when those people have inside information, is it stea

with your gma first look, i'm jonathan karl, abc news washington. >>> following the shooting, broward county sheriff's deputies will carry rifles. they will not be fully automatic and only handled by those trained and qualified to operate them. >>> they're planning to pack a federal courtroom in san francisco as a judge decides whether to release an undocumented mother. this is video from last october when they rallied outside where a judge heard the case. she is a farm worker and single mother of three children who are u.s. citizens. she's been dee tabd by i.c.e. at a federal facility for the past year now. after this morning, they plan to rally outside the federal immigration was f offices. >>> airbnb will make an announcement. they're not saying much about what the announcement entails, just that it will pave the way for new quality standards. co-founder and ceo brian chess ki will deliver the news and we'll keep you posted. >>> a restaurant not able to find a single employee. this morning a severe worker shortage is hitting the service industry in the south bay. >> restaurant owne

reaction to this idea has been swift tonight, and we have it all covers, beginning with abc's jonathan karl. >> reporter: today, president trump declared a way to stop what he called the horrible plague of school shootings -- getting teachers who are trained to firearms to bring their weapons to school. >> insteadof advertisin adverti school has no guns, we are gun-free, you let people knoll the opposite. you come into our schools, you are going to be dead, and it's going to be fast. >> reporter: it comes less than 24 hours after he heard from families affected by some of the deadliest school shootings, including andrew pollack. his 18-year-old daughter meadow was one of the 17 killed at stoneman douglas high school last week. >> how many schools, how many children have to get shot? it stops here with this administration and me. i'm not going to sleep until it is fixed. and i'm pissed. it's my daughter i'm not going to see again. she's not here. >> reporter: and then, a plea from sam zeif, who lost his best friend. >> i turned 18 the day after, woke up to the news that my best friend was go

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl on that tonight. >> reporter: answering questions for the first time since robert mueller's sweeping indictment of 13 russians for meddling in the election, the white house press secretary was pressed today on why the president hasn't forcefully condemned russia's actions. >> the president hasn't said that russia didn't meddle. what he's saying is, it didn't have an impact and it certainly wasn't with help from the trump campaign. it's very clear that russia meddled in the election. >> reporter: but the president himself has never been so definitive on the question of russian meddling, raising doubts after the story first broke during the campaign. >> but i notice any time anything wrong happens, they like to say the russians, she doesn't know if it's the russians doing the hacking. maybe there is no hacking. >> reporter: after the election, he acknowledged the meddling, but with a caveat. >> as far as hacking, i think it was russia, but i think we get hacked by other countries and other people. >> reporter: and the president has nev

here's abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. >> reporter: president trump today ignored questions about that controversial republican memo the fbi does not want released. mr. president, what about the fbi director's grave concerns? don't you trust him? >> reporter: white house officials tell abc news that tomorrow the president will likely authorize the release of the memo, which sources say suggests the fbi showed political bias against him. even before reading it, he made it clear, he wants it made public. >> let's release the memo. >> oh yeah, don't worry. 100%. >> reporter: that puts the president squarely at odds with fbi director christopher wray, the man he hand-picked to lead the bureau after he fired james comey. yesterday, the fbi took the extraordinary step of issuing a statement opposing the memo's release, citing, quote, "grave concerns" about its accuracy. tonight, the fbi agents association thanked wray for his support. today, one top republican said the bureau's warning should be heeded. republican senator john thune told reporters, "we need to pay carefu

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl leading us off. >> reporter: president trump said today he likely would have showed courage under fire and run in to stoneman douglas high school himself to confront the killer. >> you know, i really believe, you don't know until you test it, but i think i would have run in there without a weapon. i think you in this room would have done that, too. >> reporter: speaking to a large bipartisan group of governors, the president revealed he had lunch sunday with wayne lapierre, leader of the nra, which is now under intense pressure. at least 16 corporations, including delta airlines, metlife, and several major rental car companies have severed their ties with the nra since the parkland shooting. the president called nra leaders patriots, but he insisted he is not afraid to oppose them. >> and i want to tell you, they want to do something. i said, fellas, we have to do something. it's too long now. we have to do something. don't worry about the nra, they're on our side. half of you are so afraid of the nra. there's nothing to be afraid of

here's abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. >> reporter: less than a week after calling for national unity in his state of the union, the president today attacked the democrats who did not applaud, branding their behavior un-american, and maybe even worse. >> they were like death. and un-american. un-american. somebody said treasonous. i mean, yeah, i guess, why not? can we call that treason? why not? >> reporter: in ohio today, and in classic trump form, the president bragged about the economy, he bragged about the tax cut, he even bragged about his big win in ohio. and then, he said he's not one to brag. >> i am non-braggadocios. >> reporter: in a cryptic aside, the president seemed to allude to the republican intelligence committee memo, which claimed to show anti-trump bias in the justice department. >> oh, but did we catch them in the act or what? you know what i'm talking about. oh, did we catch them in the act? they are very embarrassed. they never thought they were going to get caught. we caught them. we're like the great sleuth. >> reporter: over the weekend, he

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl tonight. >> reporter: defying president trump's threat of a government shutdown, democrats and republicans today achieved something washington hasn't seen in ages, a bipartisan agreement to fund the government for two years. >> this budget deal is the first real sprout of bipartisanship. >> i hope we can build on this bipartisan momentum. >> reporter: the deal includes billions for opioid treatment, disaster relief and infrastructure. and a big boost to defense spending. what it doesn't include, funding for the president's border wall. just yesterday, the president emphatically called for a government shutdown if he didn't get that money. >> let's have a shutdown. we'll do a shutdown. i'd love to see a shutdown. without borders, we don't have a country. so would i shut it down over this issue? yes. >> reporter: but from the white house today, an apparent about-face. the president now endorsing the senate deal that makes no promise whatsoever about the wall. can you clarify the president yesterday said that he would like to shut the govern

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl leading us off. >> reporter: for nearly an hour, the president sat, mostly silent, listening to the horrific first-hand accounts of senseless violence. justin gruber was hiding in a closet and texting his father as his classmates were gunned down in parkland, florida. >> i was born into a world where i never got to experience safety and peace. there needs to be significant change in this country, because this has to never happen again and people should be able to feel that when they go to school, they can be safe. >> reporter: his father begging the president to do something. >> it is not political. it is a human issue. people are dying. and we have to stop this. we have stop it. if he is not old enough to buy a drink, to go and buy a beer, he should not be able to buy a gun at 18 years old. i mean, that's just common sense. we have to do common sense. please, mr. trump, these are things we have to do. we got to do something about this. we cannot have our children die. >> reporter: andrew pollack's 18-year-old daughter meadow was on

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. >> reporter: before the television cameras at the white house, the most pro-nra president in history gathered together a group including some of congress's most forceful advocates of gun control. >> i see some folks that don't say nice things about me, that's okay. because if you turn that into this energy, i'll love you. i don't care. >> reporter: and sitting in that room, the president repeatedly took positions that put himself at olds with the nra and republican leaders in congress. he embraced connecticut democrat chris murphy's call for background checks on all gun purr chases. and idea republicans have voted down again and again. >> we can't get it done. there's nothing else like that, where it works, people want it and we can't do it. >> but you have a different president now. >> well, listen, i mean -- >> you went through a lot of presidents and you didn't get it done. you have a different president. and i think maybe you have a different attitude, too. i think people want to get it done. >> mr. president, it's going to have

here's abc's chief white house correspondent, jonathan karl, tonight. >> reporter: before the public even saw the newly declassified republican memo, president trump was portraying it as a bombshell. >> i think it's terrible, if you want to know the truth. i think it's a disgrace, what's going on in this country i think it's a disgrace. a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that. >> reporter: the controversial memo is written by the republican staff of the house intelligence committee, chaired by devin nunes, a close trump ally. the memo focuses entirely on one narrow aspect of the russia investigation, a warrant to monitor the communications of carter page, a former trump campaign foreign policy adviser and the obama justice department went to a secret intelligence court to apply for the warrant in october, 2016. according to the republican memo, an essential part of the application was the now-infamous dossier on russian election meddling and team trump written by former british spy, christopher steele. the memo claims the judge who approved the warran

grave concerns about the accuracy of the memo, and here's abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. >> reporter: it's a showdown between the president and the man he chose to lead the fbi. at issue? the controversial classified memo accusing the justice department of political bias. as he left the state of the union address last night, the president was caught on camera telling a republican congressman that he'd allow the memo to be made public. >> let's release the memo. >> oh yeah, don't worry, 100%. >> reporter: this morning, chief of staff john kelly told fox news it will happen soon. >> did you see it? >> i did. >> what do you think? >> it will be released here pretty quick, i think and the whole world can see it. >> reporter: hours later, the fbi issued an extraordinary statement directly challenging the president and his chief of staff, saying the fbi had been given only a limited chance to review the memo, and, quote, "we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy." the memo was written by republicans on the house inte

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl asking why hasn't admiral mike rogers been told to do more? >>> reporter: on capitol hill today, a senator confronted one of america's top intelligence officials with a question she recently received from a woman in a grocery store. can russia be stopped from meddling in our elections? >> are we strong enough and smart enough that we can keep them from doing this again? >> yes. >> the next question she asked me, "are we doing that right now?" >> we're taking steps, but we're probably not doing enough. >> okay, so, she wants to know, and i want to know, why the hell not? >> reporter: admiral mike rogers, who runs both the national security agency and the military's cyber command, says part of the answer is that russia simply hasn't been punished enough for interfering with the last election. >> they haven't paid a price, at least that is sufficient to get them to change their behavior. >> reporter: and rogers offered another reason. he said the trump administration has not given him increased authority to take on the russians in cybers

here's abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl tonight. >> reporter: outside the white houseoday, a group of students calling themselves teens for gun reform, staged a protest. one teen holding a sign, "am i next?" it follows the raw outrage from students at the parkland, florida, high school who witnessed the carnage first-hand. >> they say that tougher gun laws do not decrease gun violence. we saw bs. >> enough is enough! >> reporter: the students offering a blunt message to those in power. >> this isn't about the gop, this isn't about the democrats, this is about the adults. we feel neglected and at this point, you're either with us or against us. >> reporter: the president has promised to take action, but has said nothing specific about what he would do. his press secretary today saying only the president supports efforts to improve the federal background check system. over the weekend, the president met with survivors of the attack and also first responders and medical staff, giving a big thumbs up to their efforts. but not long after that, he went after the fbi, tweetin

. >> jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> former fbi director james comey sent out this tweet today "all should appreciate the fbi speaking up, he says," i wish more leaders would. but take heart american history shows in the long run weasels and liars never hold the feel so long as good people stand up." >>> moving on on both sides of the bay today law enforcement officers were injured on the job. on the left side of juror screen video from san francisco where an officer reportedly was run over by a car break-in suspect. on the right side video from hayward where an alameda county sheriff's deputy on a motorcycle was rammed by a suspect in stolen suv. that officer fired shots in return, something the officer in san francisco could not do. abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez has the full story. >> reporter: the officer is with the remained county sheriff's office and was on his motorcycle. he was doing some radar enforcement and when he tried to pull over the driver of an suv, the suspect refused to stop. the sheriff's office said he then rammed the officer. >> and the suspect

here's jonathan karl. >> reporter: president trump said today he likely would have showed courage under fire and run into stoneman douglas high school himself to confront the killer. >> you don't know until you're tested, but i really believe i'd run in there, even if i didn't have a weapon. and i think most of the people in this room would have done that too. >> reporter: speaking to a large bipartisan group of governors, the president revealed he had lunch sunday with wayne lapierre, leader of the nra, which is now under intense pressure. at least 16 corporations, including delta airlines, metlife, and several major rental car companies, have severed their ties with the nra since the parkland shooting. the president called the nra leaders patriots. but he insists he's not afraid to oppose them. >> and i want to tell you, they want to do something. and i said, fellows, we got to do something. it's too long now. we've got to do something. >> don't worry about the nra, they're on our side. half of you are so afraid of the nra, there's nothing to be afraid of. if they're not with you, we

. >> reporter: jonathan karl. >> very powerful as you can tell. as president trump listened to the emotional stories he was hold ago piece of white house stationary with five discussion points, including what would you most want me to know about your experience? what can we do to help you feel safe? and i hear you. the president did not a appear to use any prompts. but this and other images of the card went viral after the event. >>> across the country students walked out of class demanding tougher gun laws one week after the shooting in parkland. in coral springs, five miles from the shooting, students formed a heart on the football field. some marched to stoneman douglas high school channing never again. high school students around chicago walked out of schools carrying signs and chanting. some felt they need to take over and demand change since adults aren't taking action. and the bay area schools joined the wuk out. our reporter was there. and has more on the impact that they hope to make. >> we are a community that can change the world. >> ye

here is jonathan karl. >> reporter: president trump said he likely would have showed curage under fireas high school himself to confront the killer. >> you don't know until you test it but i really believe i would have run in even if i hadn't had a weapon. >> reporter: the president revealed he had lunch sunday with wayne lapierre, leader of the nra, which is now under intense pressure. at least 16 corporations including delta airlines, and several major rental car companies have severed ties with the nra. but the president called the nra leaders patriots. >> and i want to tell you they want to do something. and i said it's too long, got to do something. half of you are afraid of the nra, there's nothing to be afraid of. >> reporter: and one idea would require a fight, a plan to raise the minimum age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21. the nra opposes the idea and since his lunch with the nra, he hasn't mentioned it. >> in concept the president still supports it, but in terms of legislation, we'd need to see what that looks like. >> reporter: the idea he is most enthusiastic about is allowin

jonathan karl has more. >> reporter: less than a week after calling for national unity in his state ofnot applaud. branding their behavior unamerican and maybe even worse. >> they were like death. and unamerican. unamerican. somebody said treasonous. i mean, i guess why not. can we call that treason? why not. >> reporter: in ohio in classic trump form the president bragged about the economy, he bragged about the tax cut, even bragged about his big win in ohio and then said he's not one to brag. >> i'm nonbragdocious. >> reporter: and he seemed to claim bias in the justice department. >> oh, but did we catch them in the act or what? oh, did we catch them in the act. they are very embarrassed. they never thought they were going to get caught. we caught them. like the great sleuth. >> reporter: over the weekend he tweeted this memo totally vindicates trump in the russian probe. but a top republican disagrees. >> i don't think it has any impact on the russia probe. >> reporter: the fbi has challenged the memo's accuracy and the top democrat calls it pure politics. >> it was a hit job in th

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >> okay, also from the white house, the president does seemven as soon as today. >>> but democratic congressman adam schiff was given a different version of the document, which means members didn't approve that, making it invalid. >>> federal investigators will be working at a deadly train site for several days. the amtrak train was carrying dozens of republican members of congress to their annual retreat when it slammed into a garbage truck. many lawmakers got to work assisting at the scene. one of the men in truck was killed. two others suffered serious injuries. four people on the train suffered mostly minor injuries. one member of congress had a concussion. >> suddenly there's a loud bang, things stopped, lights went out. there was an acrid smell of electrical smoke. >> no question we hit something. we just didn't know what at that point. >> investigators will be looking at the safety equipment at where the crossing took place. the crossing arms were known to malfunction. at the republican retreat last night, house speaker paul ryan said i

gop strategists karl rove, reporter jonathan swan, former democratic congressman dona edwards and kimerlysel of the wall street journal. kim, you didn't go nearly as far as nra folks but you wrote a pretty tough column. i want to put some of it up. age limits and gun restrictions aren't an answer, they are a side show, do you agree with what we just heard from andrew pollack, that that's not the focus and it has to be on keeping schools safe, hardening them like airports? >> i think we are having problem after this because we are finally talking about the things that actually really matter and they are one protecting vulnerable communities. it is no accident that these shooters go to places that are gun-free zones because they know they'll be the only bad person with a weapon and no one there to stop them and, two, mental health, particularly those with severe mental illness and how we both have to get treatment for these people, help them overall but make sure that they do not have easy access to guns and these have been the failings that have been consistent in nearly every one of these

gop strategists karl rove, reporter jonathan swan, former democratic congressman dona edwards and kimerlysel of the wall street journal. kim, you didn't go nearly as far as nra folks but you wrote a pretty tough column. i want to put some of it up. age limits and gun restrictions aren't an answer, they are a side show, do you agree with what we just heard from andrew pollack, that that's not the focus and it has to be on keeping schools safe, hardening them like airports? >> i think we are having problem after this because we are finally talking about the things that actually really matter and they are one protecting vulnerable communities. it is no accident that these shooters go to places that are gun-free zones because they know they'll be the only bad person with a weapon and no one there to stop them and, two, mental health, particularly those with severe mental illness and how we both have to get treatment for these people, help them overall but make sure that they do not have easy access to guns and these have been the failings that have been consistent in nearly every one of these

karl rove. it reported for ask eos, jonathan swan. former democratic congresswoman donna edwards.imberley strassel of "the wall street journal." you didn't go nearly as far as the nra folks did what you wrote a pretty tough column in "the wall street journal" on friday. i want to put some of it up. if you write and gun restrictions aren't an answer, they are a sideshow. do you agree with what we just heard from andrew pollack with that is not the focus and it has to be on keeping school safe, hardening them like airports? >> i think that we are having progress this time after this because we are finally talking about the things that actually really matter. and they are one, protecting vulnerable communities. it is no accident that the shooters go to places that are gun free zones because they know they will be the only bad person with a weapon and no one there to stop them. and two, mental health. those with severe mental illness and how we have to get treatment for these people overall and make sure they do not have easy access to guns. these are the failings that have been consi