massachusetts, he is the grandson of bobby kennedy, will be giving this democratic response tonight. >> cecilia vega live at the white house. cecilia, we'll see you in a few. and i'll be joining george and the entire political team cecilia, mary jon karl for the president's state of the union address. that begins at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here. >>> in the meantime one more major headline tonight. abc news has learned that the special counsel is seeking to interview the man who quit as spokesperson for the president's team? what did he see that he did not like? abc's pierre thomas. >> reporter: he was the spokesman for president trump's legal team. >> good afternoon, everyone i'mmark coren insider often called upon to give . but tonight, abc news is learning more details about what allegedly caused mark corallo to abruptly leave the trump team. something the special counsel apparently wants to talk to him about, as robert mueller aggressively pursues the possibility of obstruction of justice. corallo quit in july, sources say, in part because concerned that some in president trump's unearth negative

, he says now he was only referring to manafort, and not the president's family. >> all right, cecilia vega with more on steve bannon's testimony. cecilia, thank you. >>> next tonight, phoenix police arresting a man for a murder of his mother and step-father. their investigation uncovering a suspected serial killer. in fact, tonight police say that suspect is linked to nine murders in just three weeks. and they want to know now, were there more? abc's kayna whitworth from phoenix tonight. >> reporter: tonight, authorities say they've nabbed the man behind a spate of killings. >> nine deaths, three weeks. >> reporter: it was this phoenix crime scene that led police to cleophus cooksey. police say when they arrived at this apartment complex, they found cooksey his mother and her husband shot to death. authorities arrested cooksey, bringing him to jail, eventually police connecting him to seven more deaths in those three weeks. in the following weeks, five more people shot. one of them believed to be sexually assaulted. in the end, seven men and two women killed, all within 30 miles. some of t

>> cecilia vega from the white house again tonight. anks, cecilia. >>> next here, to the massive earthquake that woke up alaska, sparking tsunami alerts all along alaska, the pacific coast, the entire west coast of the u.s. in kodiak, alaska, people rushing to higher ground. you can see the traffic jam in the middle of the night. those tsunami fears stretched all the way to los angeles. and tonight, we show you how the earth shifted, how those plates moved that might have made all the difference. here's abc's kayna whitworth now. >> reporter: sirens waking the residents of kodiak, alaska, overnight. the entire west coast on alert. >> please evacuate immediately! >> reporter: inside homes, people recorded the shaking. >> oh, my gosh, it's an earthquake. >> reporter: and then scrambling to get to safety. >> we're leaving base now. >> reporter: with just five minutes to spare, many of kodiak's 6,000 residents rushing to a local high school. despite the quake's 7.9 magnitude, the seventh largest ever recorded near alaska, scientists say it

unite congress, but those reviews from the democrats are in -- they are not onboard. >> all right, cecilia vega with us tonight. thank you, cecilia. >>> one more headline from d.c. tonight. the justice department today filing to drop corruption charges against new jersey senator bob menendez. his trial ended in a hung jury in november. >>> there's still much more ahead on "world news tonight" this wednesday. the deadly crash. the former nba player and a former "american idol" contestant who did not survive. >>> the drowning danger. and tonight, americans on vacation. nine drownings in less than two weeks, all in the same area. >>> and that moment, the preside president-elect and the new first lady at the white house, and for the first time tonight, former first lady michelle obama on the moment and the gift and the first lady wondering what to do with the gift. we'll be right back. when you have a cold, stuff happens. [ dog groans ] [ coughs and sneezes ] nothing relieves more symptoms than alka seltzer plus maximum strength liquid gels. vojimmy (shouting): james!as been jimmy's longest. he's s

some people have great genes. >> cecilia vega with us tonight from the white house. and cecilia, extraordinary moments. the doctor taking questions himself and bringing up that cognitive test that the president asked for himself? >> reporter: yeah, david. the president very much wants to put an end to this narrative that he is unfit to serve. the doctor took questions for just under an hour. it was really extraordinary. and before this briefing started, the president called press secretary sara sanders and asked her not to put an end to it until every last question was answered, david. >> all right, cecilia vega, our thanks to you. >>> meantime, across town, the fireworks on capitol hill, heated words over immigration, the dreamers and the president's profane comments. in fact, the head of homeland security testifying under oath, grilled about why she could not specifically remember the president's words from the oval office. and how she answered when asked, norway is a predominantly white country, isn't it? abc's mary bruce on the hill tonight. >> reporter: in the ov

abc's senior white house correspondent cecilia vega on that tonight. >> reporter: a morning of confusion began with this comment on one of president trump's favorite morning shows. a direct message to the president about that controversial surveillance program congress was set to reauthorize today. >> i don't understand why donald trump is in favor of this. his woes began with unlawful foreign surveillance and unconstitutional domestic surveillance of him. mr. president, this is not the way to go. >> reporter: minutes litter, the president took to twitter using the exact language that appeared on "fox and friends." house votes on controversial fisa act today. he said, "this is the act that may have been used to so badly surveil and abuse the trump campaign by the previous administration and others?" the president's tweets seemed to contradict his own policy. the white house supporting reauthorizing fisa, the program that allows the government to conduct warrantless surveillance on suspected terrorists oversapps and on u.s. soil. cue the chaos on capitol hill. a flurry of calls between th

i'm cecilia vega in for tom llamas. we begin tonight with complete panic and chaos in hawaii after that emergency alert sounded across the islands just after 8:00 a.m. local time. residents seen running for cover. families hiding in bomb shelters. take a listen. >> this is not a drill. take immediate action measure. >> reporter: the dire warning of a ballistic missile threat buzzing on cell phones stripped across television screens. residents told to seek immediate shelter, quote, this is not a drill. it took 38 minutes for some people to get the all clear. the message, a human error false alarm, and it comes weeks after hawaii reinstated a cold war era missile alert system in the event of an attack by north korea following kim jong-un's repeated tests. in hawaii tonight the governor saying an employee at shift change is to blame, but there are so many questions still, and abc's stephanie ramos starts us off from the pentagon. >> reporter: hawaiians fleeing and waking up this morning to a nightmare scenario. >> shelter

cecilia vega at the white house again for us tonight. thank you, cecilia. >>> the president had also been watching what would happen with senator orrin hatch of utah, the longest serving republican senator in history, revealing today he will not run again. hatch announcing he will retire. he is the chairman of the powerful senate finance committee and had worked closely with the president on the new tax bill. speculation now focusing on whether mitt romney will run for the seat. romney was once considered as a possible secretary of state but since has become a frequent critic of the president. late today, president trump tweeting congratulations to senator hatch, saying, quote, "i will never forget the beyond kind statements he has made about me as president." >>> we turn overseas tonight, and to iran, protesters taking to the streets again tonight, nearly a week now. clashes with authorities turning deadly. and president trump tweeting in support of those protesters, even as iran's supreme leader is now blaming enemies for provoking the

>> cecilia vega with us at the white house tonight. ecilia, thank you. >>> and as you know, cecilia and the whole team will be here because president trump will deliver his first state of the union address. and abc news and our entire powerhouse political team will cover it live. 9:00 p.m. eastern, right here tomorrow night. >>> in the meantime, we continue with the news this monday night, and the deadly flu epidemic. the cdc reporting it is the worst in nearly a decade. 39 states reporting high flu activity. 37 children dying from the flu. that's nearly double the number from this time last year. but baby boomers are being hit especiallyhard, as well. and tonight, the new cases here. one pregnant woman losing her baby. and a motared for her husband and her children who had the flu, dying of the flu herself. she did not have the flu shot, the rest of her family did. here's abc's eva pilgrim. >> reporter: tonight, the flu epidemic pushing hospitals to their limit. at grady hospital in atlanta, a team is setting up the country's first mob

publisher late today revealing they'll put it out early, tomorrow, and the president answering our cecilia vega when she asked, was he betrayed? >>> the earthquake rattling the west. the concern over that fault line tonight. >>> 25 years after waco. and tonight, the rare interview right here. one of the children who got out alive and you'll hear the audio, the negotiator trying to get them out. >>> and the stunning new images in tonight. the child sharks circling, the family had no idea. s >>> good evening. it's great to have you with us here on a thursday night. we hope you're indoors. we begin with that massive and deadly winter storm, what's called a bomb cyclone and it's living up to its name tonight. slamming into the east. and just look at the scope of this storm. along the east coast, several state of emergencies as we come on the air. coastal flooding along the shore, damaging waves in scituate, massachusetts, tonight. blizzard conditions and blinding snow. whiteout conditions on the roads right there in exeter, new hampshire. and in downtown boston, firefighters making a rescue on the

and david, he says he believes mueller will treat him fairly. >> cecilia vega, our thanks to both you and jon tonight. >>> in the meantime, some republicans on the attack against the fbi and the special counsel investigation, now demanding answers about missing text messages between two fbi staffers. one of whom worked on the special counsel's team. he was then asked to leave after some of those texts revealed personal opinions about then-candidate donald trump and hillary clinton. here's abc's senior justice correspondent pierre thomas tonight. >> reporter: on capitol hill today, republicans escalating their attacks on special counsel robert mueller's investigation. >> american public should have some very serious concerns. >> reporter: republican senator ron johnson pointing to personal text messages exchanged between peter strzok, a former member of mueller's team, and lisa page, an fbi lawyer seen in this alumni picture. in texts sent during the campaign, the couple exchanged their private thoughts, including critical comments about a number of political figures, including candida

abc's senior white house correspondent cecilia vega leading us off. >> reporter: former white house chief strategist steve bannon tonight out with bombshell accusations about that now infamous trump tower meeting. donald trump jr., jared kushner, campaign chairman paul manafort and a russian lawyer whom they were told had dirt on hillary clinton. in an explosive new book, bannon calls the sitdown treasonous, unpatriotic and he says team trump, quote, should have called the fbi immediately. don jr. has downplayed the meeting. >> in retrospect, i probably would have done things a little differently. for me, this was opposition research. >> reporter: his father has defended him. >> i think from a practical standpoint, most people would have taken that meeting. it's called opposition research or even research into your opponent. >> reporter: the president insists he was not aware of the meeting during the campaign. but bannon says there's no way that's true. saying the chance that donald trump jr. didn't walk the attendees right up to his father's office after the meeting ended was, quote, ze

abc's senior white house correspondent cecilia vega, leading us off. >> reporter: tonight, the white house handing those dreamers whose fate langs in the balance a possible lifetime. president trump's new immigration plan unveiled to reporters late today offers a path to citizenship to 1.8 million young people brought to this country illegally as children. that's more than double the number of people currently protected by daca. it was exactly one year ago tonight, david asked the president if he would protect the dreamers. >> is there anything that you can say to assure them right now that they'll be allowed to stay? >> they shouldn't be very worried. they are here illegally. they shouldn't be very worried. i do have a big heart. >> reporter: since then, he has hedged on their fate. just yesterday, he said this. >> if there's not agreement by march 5th, are you going to protect them? >> yeah, i might do that. i might do that. i'm not garp teeing it. >> reporter: offering citizenship to nearly 2 million undocumented dreamers is a major concession for an administration towing such a h

i'm cecilia vega in new york.t on abc 7 news, breaking news, a chp chopper lands on highway 101 in a freeway standoff. >>> the serenity of lake tahoe when police shoot a man with an unusual are weapon. >> details of the forecast where you live. abc 7 news where you live starts now. >>> from abc 7, live breaking news. >> one person was detained after a standoff with police on highway 101 in san francisco. >> the a one point, chp landed its chopper on the freeway near the caesar chavez exit. >> he jumped off the freeway. an officer and good samaritan pulled him back up and detained him. >> before the cop grab him, he go to leap over the rail. like on the movies, the one maniarm on to keep him from killing himself. i helped bring him back over. and he came back over, and he detained him. once that happened, so it's like, you know, this is crazy, man, crazy. >> ah, talk about dramatic. police have not yet said what led to the incident. with that, good >> get ready for another wet week ahead. >> two storms heading for

i have absolute right to do what i want to do with the justice department. >> so, let's get to cecilia vega, live at the white house tonight. and cecilia, another presidential tweet getting a lot of attention today, the president tweets, quote, since taking office, i have been very strict on commercial aviation. good news, it was just reported that there were zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record. and cecilia, a lot of folks today seeming like the president was taking credit for the lack of plane crashes. >> reporter: yeah, david, and we did the fact check. an american carrier hasn't had a fatal plane crash in nearly nine years. this zero deaths figure isn't related to his own policies. as for that claim of being strict on commercial aviation, he did endorse privatizing air traffic control, but david, that idea fell flat. david? >> cecilia, thank you. >>> the president had also been watching what would happen with senator orrin hatch of utah, the longest serving republican senator in history, revealing today he will not run again. hatch announcing he will retire. he is the

abc's senior white house correspondent cecilia vega beginning another year at the white house. >> reporter: president trump kicked off 2018 with a tweet storm today, attacking his own justice department as a deep state secretly working to undermine his presidency. he also lashed out at hillary clinton's abedin, suggesting she should be punished for her handling of certain government elaines. the president betweening, jail. deep state justice department must final ly act. also on comey and others. what did the president mean when he said the deep state justice department? and does this administration believe that the deep state is a real thing, that there is this shadow government out there actively plotting to sabotage him? >> ah, look. the president finds some of those actions very disturbing and he thinks that we need to make sure if there is an issue, that it's looked at. >> reporter: does he believe the entire justice department and its more than 100,000 employees are part of this deep state? >> obviously, he doesn't believe the entire justice department is part of that. >> reporter: t

publisher late today revealing they'll put it out early, tomorrow and the president answering our cecilia vegaasked was he

cecilia vega, abc news, washington. >>> "fire and fury" is one of the hottest books in the bay area.bc 7 news was at the book passage where the book is literally flying off the shelves. the store owner tells us she wants to read it but can't get her hands on it just yet. 40 copies arrived yesterday and each one is already reserved. >> it's a phenomenon. because it has such a political momentum behind it, everybody has poured out wanting to get a piece of this book. >> if you're thinking of going to the library for the book, there are 900 people on the waiting list at the san francisco public library, a record for hold requests. >>> san francisco bay's twitter says blocking a world leader from twitter would block information that people should see. twitter is addressing why it hasn't banned president trump's tweets. twitter states the platform helps advance the global public conversation. blocking a world leader from twitter or removing their controversial tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate. twitter has faced regular calls to ban mr. trump

tonight, abc news reporter cecilia vega on what president trump said when asked if he could beat oprah in the white house today, president trump had this prediction for a possible 2020 oprah run. >> yeah, i'll beat oprah. oprah would be a lot of fun. i like oprah. i don't think she's gonna run. i don't think she's gonna run. i know her very well. >> reporter: his daughter ivanka calling winfrey's golden globes speech empowering and inspiring. >> so i want all the girls watching here and now that a new day is on the horizon! >> reporter: the mega star, instantly catapulted into the political stratosphere. >> there will be no running for office of any kind for me. >> reporter: that was oprah just a few months ago. today her best friend, gayle king, said she doesn't think oprah's position has changed, but -- >> i do think she's intrigued by the idea. i do think that. i also know that after years of watching the oprah show, you always have the right to change your mind. i don't think at this point she's actually considering it. >> the oprah show, something president trump knows a lot about

abc's senior white house correspondent cecilia vega has more. >> reporter: president trump kicked off 2018 with a tweet storm today, attacking his own justice department as a deep state secretly working to undermine his presidency. he also lashed out at hillary clinton's long-time aide huma abedin, suggesting they should be punished for her handling of certain government e-mails. the president tweeting, jail, deep state justice department must finally act, also on comey and others." >> what did the president mean when he said the deep state justice department? and does this administration believe that the deep state is a real thing, that there is this shadow government out there actively plotting to sabotage him? >> the president finds some of those actions very disturbing and he thinks that we need to make sure that if there is an issue that it's looked at. >> does he believe the entire justice department and its more than 100,000 employees are part of this deep state? >> obviously he doesn't believe the entire justice department is part of that. >> reporter: the president stoking th

cecilia vega, abc news, washington. >>> "fire and fury" is one of the hottest books in the bay area. at the book passage where the book is flying off the shelves. the store owner tells us she wants to read it ut can't get her hands on it just yet. 40 copies arrived yesterday and each one is already reserved. >> it's a phenomenon. i've never heard about this in the publishing world before. because it has such a political momentum behind it, everybody has poured out wanting to get a piece of this book. >> if you're thinking of going to the library for the book, it could be a while. "the chronicle" reports there are 900 people on the waiting list at the san francisco public library, a record for hold requests. >>> he's scared but hopeful. >> a uc berkeley student, luis mora, is now detained for being in the country illegally. he was arrested last week for overstaying his visa. abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley has the story. >> reporter: luis mora's attorney shared this facebook video of the uc berkeley transfer student, part of a campaign now to get him released from custody. he and

publisher late today revealing they'll put it out early, tomorrow, and the president answering our cecilia vegaasked, was he betrayed? >>> the earthquake rattling the west. the concern over that fault line toni

publisher late today revealing they'll put it out early, tomorrow, and the president answering our cecilia vegae asked was he

publisher late today revealing they'll put it out early, tomorrow and the president answering our cecilia vega when she asked was he betrayed? >>> the earthquake rattling the west. the concern over that fault line tonight. 25 years after tonight the rare interview rig one of the c got out alive and you'll hear the audio, the negotiator trying to get them out. >>> and the stunning images in tonight. the child shark circling the family had no idea. >>> good evening. great to have you with us on a thursday night. we begin with that massive and deadly winter storm, what's called a bomb cyclone and it's living up to its name tonight. slam spoog too east. look at the scope of this storm. along the east coast, several state of emergencies as we come on the air. coastal flooding along the shore, damaging waves in scituate, massachusetts, tonight. whiteout conditions on the roads in exeter new hampshire. in downtown bo rescuers making a rescue. real concern of what's coming next after thisstorm. schools already closed in s places and eva pilgrim leads us off from boston tonight. >> reporter: tonight, t

here's cecilia vega. >> reporter: behind closed doors, sources tell abc news president trump came close to striking a deal that would protect daca and fulfill that campaign promise. >> i will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and i will have mexico pay for that wall. mark my words. >> reporter: the president telling senate minority leader chuck schumer in exchange for $20 billion to pay for his border wall, he'd be willing to offer legal status for those d.r.e.a.m.ers. but today the new york democrat said that deal fell apart. >> i believed we might have a deal twice, only for the president to change his mind and walk away. >> reporter: republicans venting their frustration too. senator lindsey graham slammed the white house. >> somebody's got to lead. the white house staff has been pretty unreliable. >> reporter: not to mention the mitch mcconnell smackdown after the president tweeted, "if stalemate continues, republicans should go to 51% (nuclear option) and vote on real, long term budget, no c.r.'s!" the majority leader made it clear. bypassing democrats and going wit