his brother telling the daily beast he believed he was paranoid. >> and pierre thomas, president biden briefed on the investigation today, he said, but also saying he would not speculate on a motive. and i know, pierre, you've also learned tonight that in boulder, the ban on assault weapons enacted by that city several years ago was actually overturned just weeks ago? >> reporter: david, the boulder city counsel banned assault weapons in 2018, but the ban was recently lifted after a judge ruled that state and federal law supercede the local law. the suspect bought that assault-style pistol a week ago today, but we don't yet know if it was used in the shooting. david? >> all right, pierre thomas, thank you. >>> tonight, president biden is now calling on the house and the senate to act, and here's what he said from the white house today. >> i don't need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save the lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the house and senate to act. >> the president asking for a ban on high capacity magazines, a ban on

>> all right, pierre thomas with us tonight, as well. pierre, thank you. >>> tonight, president biden is now calling on the house and the senate to act, and here's what he said from the white house today. >> i don't need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save the lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the house and senate to act. >> the president asking for a ban on high capacity magazines, a ban on all assault weapons and that he wants senators to vote for two bills that passed in the house already that would close background check loopholes. so, let's get to rachel scott at the white house tonight. rachel, what's the bottom line here? will there be votes, will there be movement on this? >> reporter: david, the reality here, this faces a massive uphill challenge in the senate. majority leader chuck schumer says he's committed to bringing both bills to the floor, but the bottom line here, democrats just don't have the votes to get it passed. they need the support of at least ten repu

>> all right, pierre thomas leading us off tonight. pierre, thank you. >>> we're going to turn now to the coronavirus here in the u.s. authorities warning everyone amid the images coming in from across the country of the crowds, the cdc director urging caution today, saying we are just starting to turn the corner, pointing to europe, where they are facing a cruel new wave and a new lockdown in parts. she said they took their eye off the ball. hundreds in this country dalla t weekend miami beach crowde st some of the pictures that have authorities nervous. more than 70,908,000 people have had at least one dose of the vaccine. more than 27% now of all adults. and tonight, what the head of pfizer is now suggesting about the future. will americans have to get yearly booster shots? abc's victor oquendo tonight. >> reporter: tonight, spring break crowds flocking to bars and beaches, fro to shoulder, most without masks. in georgia, parties in the streets of savannah ahead of st. patrick's day. >> i feel like the pandemic is over. >> reporter:

also releasing images of the suspect's nikes in hopes it will trigger a lead. >> so, let's get to pierre thomas, live with us from washington tonight. and pierre, it's now been more than two months since this surveillance was captured. and they still don't know how this person of interest actually traveled into the capitol, whether he lived there, flew in, drove in? >> reporter: david, with so little to go on, it's hard to rule anything out. the urgent concern tonight is that the suspect planted potentially lethal devices. i think it's fair to say none of the more than 285 arrests made so far as important as this illusive suspect, david. >> and clearly they need the public's help. pierre, thank you. >>> we're going to turn next to the coronavirus here in the u.s. there is news on several fronts tonight. how one of the vaccines, the pfizer vaccine, is doing against one of the worrisome variants, the brazil variant. also, with this new guidance on fully vaccinated americans, grandparents, for one, can now visit family as long as no one is high risk, but tonight, authorities do want americans to r

david, you recall the young man who turned in his dad. >> pierre thomas tonight in washington. thank you, pierre. >>> overseas tonight, vladimir putin is now responding to president biden, after the president told our george stephanopoulos that putin is a killer. abc senior white house correspondent mary bruce tonight on putin's challenge to the president and the white house response. >> reporter: tonight, russia is firing back, bringing home its ambassador to the u.s. after what president biden told george stephanopoulos about vladimir putin. >> you think he's a killer? >> i do. >> reporter: this is how former president trump answered that same question in 2017. >> putin's a killer. >> we've got a lot of killers. a lot of killers. what, you think our country's so innocent? >> reporter: today, putin making it clear biden's statement did not sit well with them. "i would say to him, be well, i wish him good health," he said. "i say that without any irony, without jokes." putin adding that when biden calls him a killer, he's really talking about himself. putin saying, "when we evac

and here's our chief justice correspondent pierre thomas tonight. >> reporter: tonight, for the first time we see on video the moment capitol police officer brian sicknick responds to being hit with a toxic chemical on the day of the insurrection. these images obtained exclusively by "the new york times" showing the moment officer sicknick was saulght.or this comes as a faler ordered o suspects held pending trial. julian khernd george tanios have been charged in the the governmentult. referencing s video shot by an online media company allegedly shows the critical moment just before the chemical was sprayed. >> give me the bear [ bleep ]. hold on, not yet, not yet. too early. >> reporter: the fbi and d.c. police are trying to determine if sicknick was to mde rereleas autopsy laying out the specific cause of death. david, prosecutors also said today that the proud boys, oath keepers and three percenters were xhooun kating in the days before the insurrection, but they have yet to taes coll ectiveheetly before the insurrection, david. >> all right, pierre thomas from washington tonight.

pierre thomas, thank you. >>> overseas now and the traffic jam in the suez canal. the u.s. offering to help. a cargo ship the size of the empire state building blown sideways during a storm, wedge across the canal. ships piling up in both directions. billions worth of goods as a standstill. here's james longman. >> reporter: tonight, an urgent operation unfolding as engineers and crews work day and night to dislodge that massive tanker blocking the suez canal. now the u.s. vowing to help as the cost of this huge maritime traffic jam rockets by the hour. >> we have equipment and capacity that most countries don't have, and we're seeing what help we can be. >> reporter: the "evergiven" is one of the world's largest ships, the size of the empire state billing weighing in at 200,000 pounds. take a look, the ship is not budging. it can be seen from space. billions of dollars worth of goods sitting idle in the water since tuesday. oil, grain, cars, clothing and manufacturing components -- shipments keeping a global economy moving, and they need suez. the canal is the shortcut bet

>> pierre thomas, thank you. >>> when we come back, we're tracking that major storm moving across the country. significant snow and possible tornadoes. >>> and, of course, new reporting on that unfolding scene, the horrific shootings in k colorado tonight. we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. after about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didn't notice before. - it's still helping me. i still notice a difference. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. not everybody wants the same thing. that's why i go with liberty mutual — they customize my car insurance so i only pay for what i need. 'cause i do things a bit differently. wet teddy bears! wet teddy bears here! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ facing leaks takes strength, so here's to the strong, who trust in our performance and comfortable, long-lasting protection. because your strength is sup

pierre thomas standing by. >>> the investigation involving new york's governor andrew cuomo. tonight, a third accuser now coming forward with allegations. tonight, during a wedding reception, what she claims happened. and independent investigation already under way after two other accusers came forward with their own allegations of misconduct. >>> newly released video tonight. the frightening close call for a heneaed on on six dr. seuss books and why they will no longer be published. >>> the new video message just coming in tonight from dolly parton, getting a dose of her own medicine. news on her vaccination tonight. >>> good evening and it's great to have you with us here on this tuesday night. and we begin tonight with the very encouraging words from president biden late today. the president revealing a new timeline for vaccinations in this country, after first saying there would be enough vaccine for every adult in the u.s. by the end of july. the president is now saying there will be enough by the end of may, two months earlier. and tonight, part of what's speeding up th

pierre thomas standing by with late reporting. >>> with vaccinations on the rise in this country and that promising new guidance from the cdc that grandparents who are fully

pierre thomas standing by with late reporting. >>> with vaccinations on the rise in this country and from the cdc that grandparents who are fully vaccinat c

pierre thomas standing by with late reporting. >>> the coronavirus here in the u.s. authorities now pointing to what they believe are worrisome crowds, from texas to e cdc director today urging caution, saying, quote, we're just starting to turn the corner. and pointing to the covid resurgence and new

pierre thomas standing by with late reporting. >>> the coronavirus here in the authorities now poo whathey believe are worrisome crowds, from texas to florida to georgia. the cdc director today urging caution, saying, quote, we're just starting to turn the corner. and pointing to the co

our chief justice correspondent pierre thomas has the very latest. morning, pierre. >> reporter: michael, good morning. the hunt intensifying for the elusive suspect who planted those bombs at the rnc and dnc headquarters. the fbi making it official the bombs were potentially lethal. the new video gives a detailed time line for the suspect's movements. here you see the suspect in a residential neighborhood only blocks from the capitol where the riot would take place the next day. notice how in the video the suspect is walking with a somewhat odd gait. 12 minutes later here's the suspect sitting on a bench at dnc headquarters where he apparently plants a bomb in one of those bushes. a few minutes later you see him walking down an alley adjacent to the rnc headquarters where the second bomb is placed. michael? >> and pierre, the fbi gave tips on how to look for the suspect even if it's a family member or friend. >> well, the fbi says the suspect could be someone bragging about their time on capitol hill. their behavior may have changed dramatically sin

our chief justice correspondent pierre thomas is tracking the case from washington. good morning, pierre. >> reporter: george, good morning. today the fbi finally is able to provide some answers as to what they believe happened to officer brian sicknick the day of the insurrection. this morning, two people charged with assaulting capitol police officer brian sicknick who tragically died the next day after the mob's vicious attack. federal prosecutors say that julian khater of pennsylvania and george tanios of west virginia assaulted sicknick and other officers with an unknown chemical, possibly bear spray. the government referencing this video shot by an online media company which allegedly shows the critical moment before sicknick was attacked. khater allegedly making reference to that spray and tanios allegedly responding. >> hold on. >> reporter: these images from officer-worn body cameras that day allegedly show khater in the mob aiming a spray can at officers. in this image, sources say, you can see officer sicknick in his blue polic jacket bent over allegedly re

chief justice correspondent pierre thomas live in washington with that. morning to you, pierre. >> reporter: t.j., good morning. given the scale of the carnage president biden and the attorney general were briefed last night and the fbi's assisting local police to help investigate the suspect's background to establish motive. they'll need to quickly determine exactly what this is but i can tell you concern among law enforcement about mass shooting is mounting. according to the gun violence archive in the last three years the number of mass shootings defined as an incident where four or more victims were wounded or killed has nearly doubled, surging from 337 in 2018 to 611 last year. and we've already seen 103 mass shootings so far this year. the trend of gunmen typically alone showing up at places we all know and love is worsening. seemingly nowhere safe from elementary schools to high schools, to movie theaters, to walmart and now grocery stores. and, of course, this on the heels of that mass shooting in atlanta just last week. the biden administration w

let's go to our chief justice correspondent pierre thomas in washington.s we mentioned, authorities say the suspect purchased a gun just one week or so before the massacre. >> reporter: amy, good morning. the more we learn about that suspect it's raising questions about whether this young man should have had access to any gun. a week ago tuesday, investigators say ahmad alissa legally purchased a ruger ar-556, a pistol that looks like a small assault style rifle that can accommodate a 30-round magazine and came despite the fact that some family members were concerned about his mental health. his brother telling "the daily beast" that alissa was paranoid and a family member allegedly told police that within days of that purchase, alissa was found playing with a machine gun in his home. abc news has learned law enforcement officials are investigating whether alissa suffered from mental health issues. but this morning, the exact motive for the murder spree he's suspected of committing that left ten people dead remains unclear. >> it would be premature for us

eastern, one of the finest law enforcement reporters in the land, pierre thomas, brings us his interviewt was their goal. and you know what, y'all failed. >> reporter: the program is unafraid to talk about issues many americans would like to ignore, for americans are making for reparations. >> the only answer? >> the only answer. >> the only answer. >> that's a big word. >> the only answer legislative response for us is reparations. >> reporter: it was a question that came up when we traveled to tulsa, oklahoma, to tell the story about a racist massacre that happened here in 1921, hard to believe but people are only now beginning to know what really happened. hollywood is now helping where the history books have failed in this scene from "watchmen" they tell the story of the black americans killed. they have just now finding the remains of some of these victims and the families here want reparations too. >> do you support direct payments to these families. >> i do personally, yes, for the reparations simply is repairing past damages and making amends. a segment of that can be cash paymen