abc's chief dan abrams says he doesn't think it would be true. >> the notion that james comey told donaldmp you are not under investigation, and i have known him for over 20 years, and i don't believe he would do that to say you are not under investigation in connection with something that they are investigating more broadly. >> can you see the entire interview with dan abrams coming up here on abc7. >>> and then showing anger over the comey firing, a handful of people held banners denouncing president trump. they accused him of having a total disregard for the law and justice. >>> and european officials are holding talks about a possible expansion of the laptop ban on some flights. in march passengers on direct flights to the u.s. from certain airports in the middle east band from carrying on devices larger than cell phones, and there's no new information from a security standpoint that would expand the ban. >>> and then avoidin the move push back to 2021. both the raiders and the stadium authority board are confident the framework of the lease agreement will be completed. the board adde

that's all i needed. >> he stood trial for two other murde murders. >> back with dan abrams, again, sothe import of this what she is saying? could it lead to a new investigation. >> i don't think so. i think it's often hard for a family member to believe someone would take his own life and as a result looks for other explanations. i think that very few outside of a tight-knit group of people who are very close to him are seriously considering anything but this case. >> she seemed to have some hope that he might have been released from jail but he was serving under a conviction that had not been wiped away. >> let's be clear what happened. so, in massachusetts, if you die while your appeal is pending as a technical matter your conviction gets erased. if he had not died, his appeal would have been a long shot. the evidence in the first case was much stronger than the evidence in the second case. the one where he was acquitted. in fact, many of the judges' rulings would be seen as pro-defense in the first case and as a result i don't think that he would have had a very good chance at all

while you do that, i want to bring in our chief legal analyst dan abrams right here right now. what is dan mueller going to do? >> he has 60 days to put together a budget and a team. he is going to hire his own team of people. doesn't mean he is going to use the current justice department. he is going to have his own folks who are going to do this investigation. these typically can take less let's say six to even nine months to reach a resolution. but remember, once he reaches a resolution, he hands it over to the attorney general. yes, his investigation is independent. he is supposed to do everything without the input of the attorney general in this case. but once he has finished, he hands that report to the attorney general, and then the attorney general has to decide what to do. in this case, it will be rod rosenstein, the acting attorney general because there has been that recusal of jeff sessions. and if there is a decision not to act on the special counsel's recommendation, well, then there is some explaining to do to congress that has to happen. but we're a lot of steps a

abc news legal expert dan abrams weighs in on the legality of the conversation. this happened moments ago on "good morning america." >> the president has the ability as a legal matter to declassify anything at any time. the way the classification system is set up is for the president and so the president can then make that decision. >> the president's national security adviser says the president didn't disclose any military operations that weren't already publicly known. as abc 7 news reporter katie utehs reports, that's still not appeasing bay area lawmakers. >> congress cannot be powerless. >> reporter: bay area congressional leaders are fired up following reports that the president shared classified intelligence info with russian ambassadors last week. >> we cannot have the president of the united states being casually loose lipped. >> reporter: congressman jared huffman says the closed door nature of the meeting is problematic. >> the fact that he would have this meeting closed to the united states press corps, the world press corps, open apparently to state

. >>> we'll talk about it more with dan abrams and jon karl and let's begin, dan, with this firing ofames comey, the implicit threat from president trump there saying he might have tapes on comey. you've got top law professors like laurence tribe saying this is an impeachable offense. possible objection of justice. >> first for obstruction of justice you have to demonstrate the person had the intent to obstruct justice and to determine that, you need an investigation, and ultimately, people willing to prosecute. people forget impeachment is a political act. it's not a legal act. you need the political will, to even investigate this, much less prosecute it and potentially convict. we're not there. the bottom line is people will say, but, wait a second, look at what's happened. look at what's happened and the response has got to be you still need someone, even if you believe that it's improper, even if someone believes it's obstruction, you need to be able to prove it in some way, shape or form. you feed to be able to prove intent and i don't think we're there. >> piece of evidence coul

let's bring in dan abrams and cokie roberts as well and, dan, everybody is trying to wrap their heads around there and heard from carter page there but tim kaine saying flat out this is trying to block the investigation into russia. >> now the question is what happens now. and you hear a lot of people saying, well, it's time for a special prosecutor. the problem there is that typically a special prosecutor would be appointed by the attorney general. in this case that's not going to happen. he may say he's even recused from that decision then it goes to the deputy attorney general. it's pretty clear the deputy attorney general isn't going to order a special prosecutor so then the question becomes, can congress put enough pressure on the administration to appoint a special counsel, and that's going to be a political decision. it seems unlikely at this point that that is -- that something like that will happen but that's the way it would occur. so it's not really a purely legal question in the end it becomes a political one. >> in some ways unchartered territory and, cokie, our resident

. >>> i want to bring in dan abrams, we heard from pierre thomas off the top there. he said mr. mueller can step in here and months after this fbi investigation, even before the election and he could start over. >> that's what an independent counsel means, it means he can now decide what he wants to do with all that information. i think it's really important that he bring in some of his own people. he doesn't want to be seen as just using the fbi people who are already there. expect him to put together his own team to draw his own conclusion. >> meantime you heard from lawmakers on the some are beginning to use the term obstruction of justice. pointing to the memo that james comey reportedly wrote. many legal experts say this memo in and of itself doesn't mean obstruction of justice. >> the memo itself doesn't. you need the context. some of the other things that mueller will be looking at, are the reports, the demand of loyalty at a dinner, the fact that the president admitted that russia was on his mind when he fired comey. the fact that he was alone in the white house, asked j

and coming up at 7:00 a.m., dan abrams and dr. drew pinsky weigh in life.ur "gma" first look, i'm geo benitez abc news, jupiter, florida. >> ♪ dear s, i know you worry i can't keep up with our weekly tee times. but i've been taking osteo bi flex ease. it's 80% smaller, but just as effective at supporting range of motion and shows improved joint comfort in seven days. which means you're in big trouble, son. you will bow to my exquisite short game. cower at my majestic drives. you i will make you question everything, son.. so don't worry about dad's joints. worry about your dignity. love, dad. 80% smaller, just as effective. osteo bi-flex ease. made to move. >> the griffin quintuplets of harleysville are approaching a milestone. they graduate from souderton high school. "action news" was there back in 1998 when the infants first came home. the five do everything together. they'll even attend montgomery county community college for the next two years before applying to other full year schools. they all plan to live at home and work together at meadowbrook seni

. >> coming up, dan abrams weighing in on the motive. that's your gma first look.i>stronger is blasting without risking her bones. it's training her good cells... to fight the bad guys. stronger is less pain... new hope... more fight. it's doing everything in your power... and everything in ours. stronger, is changing even faster than they do. because we don't just want your kids to grow up. we want them to grow up stronger. >> now, "good morning washington," on your side. larry: airport anger, the airline with a big problem. what set off the passengers? mucha: it doesn't get bigger than this. cap's, penguins, game seven here at home, what you need to know about the biggest game we have seen in town in years? good morning, washington. we were talking a moment ago to kidd transplant, he knows all the , that is what is at stake tomorrow, it has been a very long time. it feels like outside but we are in a hockey rink. >> it certainly feels like that. it is a cold morn

coming up at 10 a.m., -- 7:00 a.m., dan abrams and dr. pinsky gh in, live -- waei live. for years, fios has been promising fast internet to small businesses. but for many businesses, it's out of reach. why promise something you can't deliver? comcast business is different. ♪ ♪ we deliver super-fast internet with speeds of 250 megabits per second across our entire network, to more companies, in more locations, than fios. we do business where you do business. ♪ ♪ the insurance companies and the credit card companies and the wall street banks - that's what tom perriello is about. i was proud to stand with president obama because progressive causes have been my life's work. i'm tom perriello, and i'm running for governor to reduce economic inequality, raise wages, eliminate the burden of student debt and protect our climate. together we really can build a virginia that works for everyone. >> now, "good morning washington," on your side. we begin with a breaking news alert. breaking right now at 6:30, come look at this scene playing out right now. a tough start for the mornin

. >> legal analyst dan abrams says talk of impeachment is premature. >> impeachment is a political act act. you need the political will to investigate this much less prosecute it and potentially convict. we're not there. >> as for the taste, the white house will not say whether they exist for if the president will respond to formal requests from legislators. >> i was very clear the president will have nothing further. >> minority leader chuck schumer said if there are tapes the president should turn them over to congress and if there are none he should apologize to comey. >> what do we know about the candidates in contention to lead the fbi? do we have any names at this point? >> we do know at least eight candidates had interviews with the department of justice officials who are going through this list. we know that that happened over the weekend. we know on that list there are a couple of sitting judges, also a couple of politics, that includes texas republican senator john cornyn, we also know south carolina representative trey gowdy was interviewed. he told the department of justice

and dan abrams spoke about what it would take for the scandals to turn into a possible impeachment hearing. >> most importantly, remember, look at the political. when we are talking about impeachment it's not about the definition of the statute, it's about the fact that fox news at 6:00 last night could not get a single republican to come on and defend donald trump and that would be the concern more than the legal statue. >> comey kept all his logs of the discussions with the president because he was suspicious of the motives. >> the question now is how will all of these questions impact the relationship between the u.s. and israel. >> israel would certainly fear that russia would share intelligence with iran and israeli intelligence officers have got to be taken back by this if one of their assets lives is at risk, i imagine they will think twice about what they share. >> more from martha and the entire team at "good morning america," coming up right after morni "abc7 mornings." >>> and candled being blamed for an overnight house fire in vallejo. >> you will see flames shooting through th

chief legal analysts dan abrams talked about when these allegations could lead to a possible impeachment hearing. >> most importantly, look, when we are talking about impeachment it's not about the definition of the statute, it's about that fox news could not get a single republican to come on to defend donald trump, and that should be a bigger concern than the legal statue. >> a course says comey said he kept his log with the conversations with the president because he found his motives suspicious. >>> powerful storms barreled across several states yesterday. two people were killed, and dozens more when tornadoes ripped through a mobile home park. it flattened a subdivision in elk city, oklahoma. strong winds uprooted trees and knocked down power poles and toppled trucks. more than 100 homes are destroyed. >>> a battle may be brewing between sonoma county supervisors and the sheriff's office over service cuts. athe county is considering reducing the number of sergeants. a community-oriented police unit may be on the chopping block. with the growing number of homeless they need more law

and dan abrams talked about the challenges ahead. >> you have to be able to show intent, corrupt intent, that the goal there was to impede the investigation, that was to attempt to influence the investigation and they are not just going to be looking at the comey notes but at the totality of the circumstances. >> mueller now has 60 days to create an independent team of investigators and budget. >> the trump team new flynns was under investigation before he was hired at the white house, and the "washington post" reports house majority leader kevin mccarthy told fellow republicans last year, quote, i think putin pays trump. the trump says there's a recording of this, and mccarthy says he was just joking. >>> wall street reacting to the uncertainty in washington. and yesterday the biggest fall since september 9th. and investors hope for tax cuts and other pro business policies faded after reports that trump tried to interfere with the federal investigation. and rebecca jarvis weighed in on the sudden drop on wall street. >> looks like the selloff will continue again this morning. here on w

. >> and so many questions and hopefully some answers here from our chief legal analyst, dan abrams, and our white house correspondent, jon karl. could this be obstruction of justice? >> sure, it could be. can the legal definition be fit here as to attempting to influence an ongoing proceeding or investigation? sure. but it's going to come down to what was the intent? meaning when he said i hope, was that just talk or was that a sort of a wink and nod with an instruction as to what to do? no question this wasn't a good idea for president trump. no matter what you think. and the fact that two of his key aides were instructed to leave the room right before he has this conversation, the vice president and the attorney general, doesn't help in trying to determine what the intent is but most importantly remember look to the political. when we're talking about impeachment it's not about the definition of the statute it's about the fact that fox news at 6:00 last night couldn't get a single republican to come on to defend donald trump. that should be a bigger concern than the legal statue.

we will bring in dan abrams, our chief legal analyst. from a case you would see in the united states and in some ways, much more serious. >> right. because you're talking about a criminal case. you wouldn't have criminal charges brought here for that but the two questions here are going to be, number one and i think this is the most interesting one is the paparazzi is denying taking pictures. part of the defense is you can't prove that we took this picture. and -- >> i think they could. >> they're bringing in evidence about how their bank accounts suddenly inflated and made a lot of money immediately after the pictures were taken. their cell phone records, et cetera. but that's one of the defenses is that you can't prove we took those pictures. number two, is the invasion of privacy. right? invasion of privacy is the crime here and so the question is how private should they have expected it was where they were. the paparazzi say or the magazine says they were on a public road. one of the defenses and, yes, they used a telephoto lens, but

. >> yesterday he appointed former fbi on "gma" this morning, chief legal analysts, dan abrams showed what was ahead for mueller. >> you have to show intent. the goal was to impede the investigation, and attempt to influence the investigation, and they are not just looking at the com comey memos. >> mueller has to come up with a team and budget. trump gave this statement. >> not one person we spoke with on or off camera could say anything negative about him. lillian kim has a closer look. >> i think it's great. by temperament and integrity and background and experience, and by commitment, nobody better than bob mueller. >> he was his boss when he was head of the u.s. attorney's office in san francisco. mueller himself eventually came the top lawyer in the city before moving on to the highest ranks in the department of justice where he was director of the fbi. >> i have total confidence in his integrity and his ability to get to the bottom of this. >> and he was the assistant independent counsel in charge of the oliver north trial and says mueller's job will not be easy. >> getting doc

and dan abrams and dr. drew pen 63 weigh in live. >>> happening today, we will learn more about nasa's unprecedented mission to touch the sun. it's called solar probe plus and the probe is supposed to orbit the sun within its atmosphere. a goal for the mission is to collect data to improve forecasting of space weather events that impact life for us on earth. we will know more about this around 8:00 this morning. >>> lyft says its bookings are on the rise in the wake of uber scandals. it's up 137% compared to a year ago, and documents obtained by bloomberg, lyft has narrowed its losses. >>> and amazon is offering refunds to parents whose kids racked up charges on gaming apps. the purchases occur when kids download free game and buy virtual items like gold coins or stars, and parents can claim a refund through their amazon account or through >>> and next you need to know before you start your day. >>> why there was paper rain at one school. >> okay. >>> the movement started, first davis and now a bay area cit

we'll talk more about that now with our chief white house correspondent jonathan karl and dan abrams.let's begin with jared kushner. you reported on sunday that he was under some pressure to take a leave of absence but he and the president pushing back pretty hard now. >> reporter: well, the president pushed back with a statement over the weekend saying he has complete confidence in jared kushner. but we are hearing his people in the west wing concerned that this will be such a big distraction for him, the fact that he is really now at the center of the russia investigation, not a target, george, no indication he will become a target, but clearly in the middle of the investigation a person of interest and you do have people very close to the president saying can he really do all of that and keep the massive portfolio that he has at the white house. very little indication that kushner himself wants to turn it down or the president wants him to. >> and you also have "the washington post" reporting this morning that jared kushner gets his own security clearances and some democrats say he

he has to testify. >> privacy issues there, as well, dan abrams, thanks very much.hael. >> thank you. >>> now to that fearless and brave 10-year-old who managed to free herself from the jaws of an alligator. this morning, she's speaking out about the terrifying incident and the quick thinking that saved her life. abc's linzie janis has the story. >> female conscious and breathing attacked by an alligator. >> reporter: this morning 10-year-old juliana ossa is talking about how she fought off this alligator. >> i looked in the water. there was a mean, nine-foot gator in the water biting my leg. >> reporter: she's calm and collected as she tells "inside edition" how she furiously tried to free herself from its powerful jaws. >> the i tried hitting it to let it release me but it didn't work. >> reporter: incredibly in those terrifying moments she says she remembered exactly what she learned at a florida adventure park. >> i thought of what they taught me. i put my two ibegins up its nostrils. it opened its mouth and it let my leg out. >> appears to be a couple of punctu

dan abrams broke the issue down on gma. >> let's remember, the key here we're talking about is what did jared kushner do before donald trump became president. people are saying oh, you know, back channels are normal. back channels are normal. the question is, is it normal to have a back channel before he becomes president? the answer to that is no. >>> the administration insists kushner did nothing wrong saying any back channel with russia would have been used to discuss syria and other policy matters. >>> the former dictator of panama, manuel noriega, has died. he was the head of the military from 1983 until 1989 when the u.s. invaded panama and ousted him. u.s. agents later arrested him on drug and money laundering charges. he's been in intensive care since march after complications from brain surgery. noriega was 83. >>> happening today, the pentagon will test its ability to shoot down an intercontinental ballistic missile. it's widely seen as a test of the u.s. ability to counter a north korean missile launch. the test, which will take place in the skies over the pacific, comes just

ally with the russian minister and ambassador last week, abc news legal expert dan abrams weighs in on the legality of the issue. >> the president has the ability as a legal matter to declassify anything at any time the way the classification system is set up is for the president so the president can make that decision. >> the president's national security adviser said the president didn't disclose operations that aren't already publicly known. bay area lawmakers are reacting to the reports. >> some say the closed-door nature of the meeting itself is problem matic. >> the fact that this meeting would be closed to the united states press corps, open to state press for russia and that he would divulge sensitive classified information is yet another brick in the wall. >> congressman eric swalwell introduced legislation calling for an independent commission to investigate russia's involvement in the 2016 election. he wants a special prosecutor and to freeze any change of policy towards the russians while the investigation is open. he needs the support of 21 of his republican colleagues for

let's talk more about this now with our chief legal analyst dan abrams.big lawsuit here. but it's not easy for a public figure like simmons to win a case like this. >> it never is. and the first question is going to be, is it false? it's hard to believe that richard simmons would be suing if he'd actually had the surgery so let's assume for a minute for argument sake that at least that part of the story may end up not being accurate. what ami will say is even if that's the case we had every reason to believe it was true and that's the legal standard. >> they weren't being reckless. >> exactly. when it comes to libel, you have to demonstrate a media entity knew or should have known it was false. but the really interesting legal question here is, is it defamatory to say that someone is getting this kind of surgery, that someone is changing their gender? is it a negative thing? is it worthy of damages? and that's a novel legal question that could be resolved in this case. >> and finally if it goes to a jury he'd have to testify? >> absolutely. it's a civil c

. >> reporter: at 7:00, dan abrams weighing in on the motive.ux new york. >>> coming up next, the seven things you need to know as you start your day. >> jimmy kimmel rushes to late night after spending time with his newborn son. he wasted no time snapping back at critics. >>> landlords are being accused >>> landlords are being accused of trying to evict you'll be amazed what happens when you pu♪ your red nose on. you help ensure that children in the u.s. and around the world are safe, healthy and educated. this red nose day, swing by walgreens and get your noses on to help end child poverty. walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy. doctors recommend taking claritin every day distracting you? of your allergy season for continuous relief. claritin provides powerful, non-drowsy, 24-hour relief. for fewer interruptions from the amazing things you do every day. live claritin clear. every day. bmilk and fresh cream,a. and only sustainably farmed vanilla. what is this? a vanilla bean? mmm! breyers the good vanilla. we use non-gmo sourced ingredi

. >> joining us is dan abrams.ard in rebecca's piece, do these cases have to be settled. >> they don't have to be. they might but they don't have to be. an argument who it could help. you could argue it helps the plaintiffs because roger ailes isn't there to respond so you'll only hear one side of the story, oce his estate could say you shouldn't be allowed to private conversations if he's not alive anymore. there is an arcane state law that typically doesn't apply in cases like in that they my trite to get to about testifying about private conversations. a bunch of legal rulings. >> pending cases where he's not listed as a defendant. >> there is a huge difference between the cases where they're suing roger ailes versus investigating or suing fox news. any case that involves just suing fox or investigating fox is going to continue as is. he would have just been a witness. and those cases are going to continue. the tougher question is the ones where he was the defendant. >> he is the defendant -- he should lose thos

. >>> we bring in dan abrams and sara fagen. let me start with you first. we heard in jon karl's report, and david alluded to this, too. trump saying comey told me three times he was not under investigation. >> look, federal prosecutors will tell people, you're not the target of the investigation. that happens all the time. the issue is that can change in the context of the investigation. and so, the notion that we now know that the fbi is russian interference in the election and the possible role of the trump campaign, the notion that -- that -- that james comey would have told donald trump, you're not under investigation is not just implausible. i have known comey in over two decades in a professional context. i don't believe it. i just don't believe it happened. he wouldn't do it. he's too care to feel say you're not under investigation. >> with all that you're saying, if it's all true, could this hurt the president or his associates in the investigation? >> it's never held offul to have fbi agents angry with you. you heard from the testimony of mccabe a

let's talk to dan abrams and rebecca jarvis and, dan, let me begin with you. say six lawsuits are still out there. pretty clear the murdoch family is cleaning house. will it help them defend against these lawsuits? >> not a lot. i think that the lawsuits will still maintain that anyone who wants to sort of point the finger at bill shine will say he was still promoted after roger ailes left the network. can it help them from a sort of bigger picture? yeah, it can help them say we've taken real action here but i think when it comes to the courtroom it's not going to make that much of a difference. >> you've seen all of these big changes on air and now behind the scenes as well. the question is what is it going to mean for the fox brand and business. >> the question is, what do these people who have recently left, roger ailes, bill o'reilly and bill shine, what do they do next? do they go off and create something else. fox news has a virtual monopoly on that conservative cable space and as these individuals leave, the question becomes do they create a competitive

. >>> we bring in dan abrams and sara fagen. let me start with you first.e heard in jon karl's report, and david alluded to this, too. donald trump saying that comey told him three times that he was not under investigation, is is that plausible? >> look, federal prosecutors do tell people oh -- their lawyers as well -- you're not the target of the investigation. that happens all the time. the issue is that can change in the context of the investigation. and so, the notion that we now know that the fbi is investigating russia -- possible russian interference in the election and the possible role of the trump campaign, the notion that james comey would have told donald trump you're not under investigation is not just implausible. i have known comey in over two decades in a professional context. i don't believe it. i just don't believe it happened. he wouldn't do it. he's too careful to say you're not under investigation in connection with something that they are investigating more broadly. >> with all that you're saying, if all that you're saying is true, cou

. >> let's talk about it with dan abrams.ot a pattern here and if you put all the stories the last couple of series of calls ending in james comey's firing talking about the investigation. now these calls after the comey testimony to intelligence officials, it seems like the president is stepping over a line. >> well, look, that's a political question, right, the question of stepping over the line. the legal question is going to be when you look at these events assuming that they're true, assuming this pressure how does that fit into the picture with regard to james comey and the fbi investigation. and i think that anyone looking at this and looking at influence, looking at what the president did, what -- did the president obstruct justice will have to look at how did he deal with other officials as it relates to this investigation? but, again, when you're looking at this legally you have to come back to how did it impact the decision to fire james comey? and that decision's impact on the investigation. >> and one of the tell

. >>> our chief legal analyst now dan abrams. tell us more about the power he has in that role. >> he has basically 60 days now to create a team and a budget. he's going to have his own investigators, his own lawyers, his own independent crew to look into this and then the question is does he believe there's enough evidence to bring -- to try to seek indictments in front of a grand jury. if he does he would then go to the grand jury, try to get those indictments and people could get indicted. the issue that people need to remember, though, is in the end, he still reports to the attorney general. now, when i say reports to means not in the day to day context of his investigation but in the end the attorney general can fire him. and in the end the attorney general could decide they don't want to accept his recommendations and effectively overrule him. that doesn't mean that he reports to the attorney general. it's going to be independent. but unlike previous independent counsel laws, this special counsel in the end has to do whatev