jon karl leading us off. jon, thank you. >>> tonight, u.s. intelligence continues to pour through those communications. who are they looking at? and even if members of the trump team didn't know they were talking to russian intelligence, why were they talking to russia at all? abc's senior justice correspondent, pierre thomas. in washington. >> reporter: tonight that intensive investigation under way. authorities scouring communications and meetings between trump associates and people suspected of being russian intelligence. >> it is highly disturbing and it raises more and more questions that congress has a sworn obligation to get to the bottom of. >> reporter: among those drawing scrutiny beyond general flynn, trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort who spent time consulting for russian interest in the ukraine. manafort when asked about communications with russians before the election, told abc news today, he vigorously denies any wrongdoing, saying he had no known contact with russian government officials. critics want to know if an

questions, and i'm told by his senior staff he was energized and she say he will do more of these. >> jon karl leading us off. jon, thank you. >>> you heard the president defend the national security adviser he just fired, general michael flynn, and said today, flynn was not forthcoming with the president, about a converad with the russians, and more on what he told the fbi and what he didn't. abc's senior justice correspondent, pierre thomas with what he has just learned. >> reporter: tonight, justice de are intensely reviewing why former national security advisor michael flynn made misleading statements to the white house about his conversation with russia's ambassador to the u.s.e tell abc news flynn was le than entirely forthcoming in an interview with the fbi in the days just after the inauguration, but apparently did not cross the threshold of intentional lying. today, president trump continued to praise the man he fired. >> mike flynn is a fine person, and i asked for his resignation. he respectfully gave it. >> reporter: flynn came under scrutiny in the intelligence community after whi

that legal battle could go on for weeks. >> jon karl leading us off. jon, thank you. >>> and as the future of this immigration ban is debated in the court system, another showdown tonight this one unfolding on capitol hill today. the senate locked at a tie over the confirmation over betsy devos as secretary of education. two republicans joining democrats in saying no. then the historic move. it's never been done before for a cabinet nominee. the vice president jumping in as the tie-breaker. abc's mary bruce on capitol hill again tonight. >> reporter: vice president pence climbing the capitol steps to make history. >> you're breaking a tie on a cabinet nominee? >> reporter: with the senate split, pence using his tie-breaking vote to confirm billionaire betsy devos for education secretary. >> the vice president votes in the affirmative and the nomination is confirmed. >> reporter: democrats used every tool they have to try and derail her. speaking out over a marathon 24 hours. >> betsy devos has not done her homework. >> this is not a job for amateurs. >>

jon karl, leading us off. thank you. >>> as jon reported here, it was the u.s. justice department that alerted the white house about their concern involving flynn. intelligence authorities going back and listening to those phone calls after something suspicious prompted them to do so. president obama's sanctions kicking russian diplomats out of the u.s., and russia, mysteriously, no retaliation. abc's justice correspondent, pierre thomas on the trail tonight. >> reporter: flynn's spectacular fall started with a hunch by the intelligence community. it began when president obama issued those tough december sanctions, kicking russian officials out of the u.s. for hacking the democrats. >> our goal continues to be to send a clear message to russia. >> reporter: but stunningly, putin didn't retaliate, even inviting american children to a kremlin party. donald trump tweeting at the time, "i always new he was very smart." but suspicious of putin's failure to counterpunch, the fbi and intelligence community started digging, uncovering the bombshell conversations between

let's get to jon karl at the white house tonight. you pressed sean spicer about reports he called the head of the cia, and asked him to publicly refute a new story that some of the president's campaign aides were in contact with the russians. how did he respond? >> reporter: he did not directly deny or confirm he made the call to reporters on that question. but he said there is nothing wrong, when i asked him directly about this. there is nothing wrong with connecting what he called subject matter experts with reporters to correct an inaccurate story. >> jon karl at the white house again tonight. thank you. as you know, tomorrow night, abc news will carry the president's address to congress. i'll be joining gorge and the powerhouse political team tomorrow night. >>> in the meantime tonight, sean spicer also defending the secret military raid in yemen, saying the white house is, quote, very comfortable with what it achieved. a navy s.e.a.l., william "ryan" owens died in that raid. over the weekend, ryan's father, bill, telling "the "m

that could be used as a constitutional argument. >> terry moran, and jon karl. thanks to you both.resident trump is pushing back against claims tha supreme court gorsuch said was disheartened and by president trump's words. ow says referring president said specifically. even know though the judge and his spokesperson said he was. cecilia vega with that part of eporter: on capitol hill today, supreme court nominee judge neil gorsuch asked about those reports that he criticized president trump's attacks on judges as quote "disheartening" oralizing." >> are you concerned about the president's attacks on the judiciary? >> no comment. >> reporter: but the president is talking. >> his comments were misrepresent >> reporter: s public with gorsuch's words after thy his story to abc's mary bruce. >> judge gorsuch told me -- and there were white house staff in the room -- that he is disheartened and he finds these attacks on the judiciary demoralizing and disheartening. >> reporter: even gorsuch's ow supreme court nominee was referring specifically to the president's recent statements, like

. >>> for more, let's bring in jon karl, our chief white house correspondent, who will be hosting "this week" later this morning. jon, good morning. let's start with the president's meetings today with the potential national security advisers. why has this job been so hard for donald trump to fill? >> the biggest problem is he had a guy he wanted for the job. he mentioned it at his press conference on thursday. admiral bob harward. and he said he didn't want to take the job. he said it was personal reasons. there's also certainly concern about the chaos at the white house. another person he was looking at, david petraeus, he pulled himself out because he was concerned about whether or not he would be able to appoint his own staff at the national security council. and i gotta tell you. there's a lot of talk of basically loyalty oaths that you have to take to be in this administration. there was somebody in a senior position at the department of housing and urban development who was walked out after getting the job because it had been found out he had written things, said things critical

at least he succeeded. >> yes, i think so. >> jon karl, we love having you on. thank you very much. i want to remind everybody, jon has a big show coming up, including vice admiral robert harward, the man who turned down president trump's offer to be his new national security adviser. plus, former trump campaign manager cory lewandowski. and robby mook, former clinton campaign manager facing off about president trump's first month in office. all coming up on "this week" later this morning. >> always look forward to the show when jon hosts. >>> the other big story takes us to california. nch.m caused a devastating fter creating wide-spread flooding and property damage. the storm has been linked to the death of at least five people. now the state is bracing itself for round two. marci gonzalez joins us now from san bernardino county with the very latest. good morning, marci. >> reporter: good morning, paula. some of the damage they're already dealing with is pretty astou astoundi 15, washed away in the storm. those are chunks of the roadway down in the river bed. right now, there is a

. >> jon karl with us from the white house, and the president's chief strategist making it clear that the white house intends to make sure that president trump's impact extends well beyond his presidency. reince priebus pointed to the courts, and not just kneel gorsuch, but the fact that the president may be able to nominate more than 100 judges to lower courts. a chance to impact the law in this country, not just for four or eight years, but potentially decades to come, david. >> jon karl, thanks to you again tonight. >>> there is also reaction this evening to the administration's reversal on policy involving transgender students and the bathrooms they can use. saying public schools no longer must allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. president secretary shawn spicer saying today, it's not a matter for the federal government to decide. >> i think it's not a question of whether it's a civil right. it's where it's appropriately addressed. and as i noted, it's addressed at the state level. >> education secretary, betsy devos said schools have a responsibility t

about what happened with the launch happened in a secure location at a different time. >> all right, jon karl with us again tonight. jon, thanks as always. >>> as this all played out, so did something else today. that meeting with canadian prime minister, justin trudeau. he and president trump don't see eye to eye on the travel ban. and both stood their ground today, but carefully with the eyes of the world watching. abc's senior white house correspondent, cecilia vega was in the east room. >> reporter: their first face to face meeting, president donald trump and canada's justin trudeau shaking hands in the oval office and taking a stroll for the cameras. friends? perhaps not just yet. for months, the prime minister has been an outspoken critic of president trump's plan to crack down on immigration from certain muslim countries. >> i'm never going to shy away from standing up for what i believe in. immigration is a source of strength for us, and muslim-canadians are an essential part of the success of our country today and into the future. >> reporter: canada has opened its arms to refugees f

jon karl, thank you. >>> there was a moment late today driving home. president trump's sobering role as commander in chief. taking his daughter, ivanka to pay respects for the navy s.e.a.l. killed in yemen. also coming today, saying they are putting iran on notice. does this mean military action is on the table? here's martha raddatz. >> reporter: the security adviser came to the white house podium unexpectedly, and took no questions, but his message to iran was plunt. >> as of today, we are putting iran on notice. >> reporter: general flynn's warning came after iran's test of yet another ballistic missile and another actions including high speed approaches to u.s. warships. >> reporter:. >> they continue to threaten the u.s. and allies in the region. >> reporter: he called it an adequate response to iran in the past, but the white house didn't speci specify how they would hold them responsible now, but that they would take appropriate action. mean while, the president today along with his daughter, ivanka, took that somber trip to joint pace andrews f

jon karl leading us off. jon, thank you. >>> you heard the president defend the national security adviser he just fired, general michael flynn. president trump said today, flynn was not forthcoming with the vice president about a conversation he had with the russians. tonight, new questions about what general flynn told the fbi, and what he didn't. abc's senior justice correspondent, pierre thomas with what he has just learned. >> reporter: tonight, justice department attorneys are intensely reviewing why former national security adviser michael flynn made misleading statements to the white house about his conversations with russia's ambassador to the u.s. and whether he broke any laws in the process. sources familiar with the case tell abc news flynn was less than entirely forthcoming in an interview with the fbi in the days just after the inauguration, but apparently did not cross the threshold of intentional lying. >> if the question is not clear, he could argue that he wasn't lying. he was just confused. >

jon karl, thank you. >>> there was a moment late today driving home. president trump's as commander in chief. taking his daughter, ivanka to pay respects for the navy s.e.a.l. killed in yemen. also coming today, saying they are putting iran on notice. does this mean military action is on the table? here's martha raddatz. >> reporter: the security adviser came to the white house podium unexpectedly, and took no questions, but his message to iran was plunt. >> as of today, we are putting iran on notice. >> reporter: general flynn's warning came after iran's test of yet another ballistic missile and another actions including high speed approaches to u.s. warships. >> reporter:. >> they continue to threaten the u.s. and allies in the region. >> reporter: he called it an adequate response to iran in the past, but the white house didn't spif responsible now, but that they would take appropriate action. mean while, the president today along with his daughter, ivanka, took that somber trip to joint pace andrews for the remains of william "ryan" owens killed in

. >> and jon karl with us live from the white house. those captured affidavit north korea launched that missile causing to stir because so many people witnessed the huddle there. i want to get back too general flynn because kellyanne conway said late today he has the full confidence, the general does? >> reporter: she did, but after that, the white house press secretary sean spicer told reporters that the president is still evaluating the situation, and david, back to those photographs at mar-a-lago, spicer also told us there was absolutely no classified information discussed over that dinner, that the conversations about what happened with the launch happened in a secure location at a different time. >> all right, jon karl with us again tonight. thanks as always. >>> something else played out today. that meeting with canadian prime minister, justin trudeau. he and president trump don't see eye to eye on the travel ban. they met today with the eyes of the world watching. abc's cecilia vega was in the east room. >> reporter: their first

anti-semitism since the day he was elected, and, in fact, going back to the beginning of his campaign. >> jon karl with us from the white house as well tonight. jon, thanks as always. >>> now to the emergency playing out tonight. the flash floods that took so many drivers by surprise today. look at these trucks, driving down the freeway, california's 101, and their tires underwater. all of this after the anderson reservoir near san jose spilled over for the first time in more than a decade. homes underwater, families trapped. abc's neal karlinsky on the rescues tonight. >> reporter: tonight in san jose, entire families, even baby, rescued by boat in the middle of their neighborhood. >> we've been advised that if people are trapped and uninjured to shelter in place. >> reporter: the very young and the very old. dozens of them taken to safety by emergency crews in boats, their only way out of this apartment complex. >> i have been here for six years, and i have never seen this. it happened real fast. >> reporter: at a nearby golf course, more rescues. 20 people believed to be homeless clinging to tr

jon karl, thank you. >>> there was a moment late today driving home. president trump's sobering role as commander in chief. president trump taking his daughter, ivanka, to pay respects to the navy s.e.a.l. from illinois killed during the al qaeda raid in yemen. warnings coming in from the white house today on iran. saying they are, quote, putting iran on notice. does this mean military action is on the table? here's abc's chief global affairs correspondent, martha raddatz. >> reporter: the security adviser came to the white house podium unexpectedly, and took no questions, but his message to iran was blunt. >> as of today, we are officially putting iran on notice. >> reporter: general flynn's warning came after iran's test of yet another ballistic missile and other provocative actions including high speed approaches to u.s. warships. >> iran continues to threaten u.s. friends and allies in the region. >> reporter: while flynn blasted the obama administration for calling it an inadequate response to iran in the past, but the white house didn't specify h

>> jon karl at the white house. and the republicans are furious with democrats for bringing the form nation of the president's cabinet to a near halt. >> reporter: they are crying foul on this. in fact, only four of the cabinet nominees have been confirmed. that's a record. you can go back to the 1800s, and not find a president that had so few nominees confirmed at this point. >> jon karl with us as well. thanks. many of those democrats holding up the cabinet selections are cheering on the former acting attorney general who was swiftly fired by president trump overnight. the acting attorney general, sally yates questioning whether the order was lawful. telling the lawyers not to defend it. the white house then calling it betrayal. promptly firing her. that drama spilling over into the confirmation hearings for the next attorney general now, and abc's senior justice correspondent, pierre thomas at the justice department tonight. >> reporter: the white house says she betrayed the department but tonight, democrats are

abc's chief white house correspondent jon karl has all the latest and, jon, this is extraordinary.he white house was warned that the president's national security adviser could be a national security threat. >> reporter: unbelievable, george. and flynn really had no choice but to resign. he had misled the white house and the president had clearly lost confidence in him. general flynn was front and center as president trump met with the canadian prime minister, but he had already fallen out of favor. the president refusing to even answer whether he had confidence in him. >> do you have confidence in michael flynn, mr. president? >> reporter: in his letter of resignation flynn made it clear he was leaving because he had misled vice president pence and other senior officials about his conversations with the russian ambassador. quote, i inadvertently briefed the vice president-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the russian ambassador. vice president pence took that inaccurate information and repeated it on national television. >> what i can confi

you heard jon karl's report. do you agree this north korean missile test did not yet cross president trump's red line? >> i did not hear jonathan karl's report. and good to be here this morning. what you saw last night from the president of the united states is an important show of solidarity a powerful symbol to the world as they stood side by side and shoulder to shoulder and expressed the strength and enduring nature of the violent alliance. that is a message that will be lost on no one. >> did that test cross president trump's red line? >> george, the president's comments on this are clear. the message we're sending to the world right now is a message of strength and solidarity. we stand with japan and our allies in the region to address the north korean menace. and the important point is that we're inheriting a situation around the world that is as challenging as any we have seen in our lives. the situation in north korea. syria. the situation in yemen. these are complex and difficult challenges. and that's

jon karl, thanks very much. >>> amy has the other top stories. >> the coast guard has found a debriss it searches for a fishing vessel from seattle missing in the bering sea off alaska. an emergency beacon and oil sheen have been spotted but so far there is no sign of the six crew members. >>> a new effort to dismiss the case against army sergeant bowe bergdahl, he is facing a potential life sentence for desertion. today his lawyers will argue he cannot get a fair trial because president trump repeatedly called him a traitor. >>> some good news from oklahoma city. dozens of people who were forced to evacuate their homes because of that grass fire have now been allowed to return. the fire burned nearly a thousand acres. >>> well, the music industry and fans worldwide are remembering jazz singer al jarreau. he died just days after being hospitalized for exhaustion. he was 76. >>> and it was a tough day for the u.s. department of education. it tweeted a tribute to civil rights activists w.e. 3w789 due boy. they said they would apologize for the misspelling and another typo, our deepest

chief white house correspondent jon karl has the very latest. morning, amy. the white house says that flynn resigned because he misled the vice president, he misled the white house and by extension he misled the public. but as you point out, the justice department informed the white house counsel's office flynn had not been telling the truth and, in fact, during those conversations with the russian ambassador, he did talk about the sanctions that had just been imposed on russia. we have been trying to get an answer about whether or not the president himself knew about this. here's george trying to get an answer to that question. >> so, the white house was told by the justice department last month that flynn is vulnerable, was vulnerable to russian blackmail yet he stayed in the job for, what, 17 days after the warning from the justice department. why? >> we are aware of the justice department opinion but the fact is that not until yesterday general flynn continued in his job and it became increasingly unsustainable for him. >> reporter: now the

let's go to jon karl.no word yet from the white house, and we heard his statements taking on the seattle judge. >> so-called judge as he said. they will appeal. whether or not they appeal the decision to stop this halt or whether or not they go through with the appeal on the underlying case will be seen, but george, remember, this executive order was signed on january 27th. it's a temporary executive of , order, and ban. the refugee ban is 120 days. the syria refugee ban is permanent b you the rest of this, the clock is ticking. if this stay remains in place, this restraining order remains in place through the course of this legal challenge, there is not that much time. >> it will go through the courts and there is some word that the administration might take another look at this and make changes. >> exactly. remember how quickly this was put together from the secretary of homeland security, john kelly, saying he should have taken more time and slowed this down. the president knew this was coming. he calle

our chief white house correspondent jon karl is going to start us off this morning. morning, jon. >> reporter: good morning, robin. the president is lashing out at news media and his own agents but the white house is facing louder and louder calls from republicans as well as democrats for answers about contacts between president trump's team and russia. president trump seemed to relish the visit of his closest friend on the world stage setting a big goal for middle east peace with israeli prime minister bibi netanyahu. >> good negotiator. >> the art of the deal. >> reporter: overhanging it turmoil in the west wing. the president's first public reaction after the firing of national security adviser michael flynn, attacks on the media and the intelligence community. >> general flynn is a wonderful man. i think he's been treated very, very unfairly by the media as i call it the fake media in many cases. i think in addition to that, from intelligence papers are being leaked, things are being leaked. it's criminal action. criminal act. >> reporter: that's a major turnabou

let's talk more with martha raddatz and jon karl, down in washington. martha, let me begin with you, general h.r. mcmaster. you know him well, well respected inside the military and opposite of a yes man. >> he is the opposite of a yes man. he wrote the book "dereliction of duty" saying the joint chiefs of staffs should have spoken up during the vietnam war and the one thing, the big difference between michael flynn and h.r. mcmaster, h.r. mcmaster is nonpartisan, apolitical. i ka not imagine him ever getting up in front of a political convention and saying anything. he will speak back to president trump in any way he can, but the downside here is he has no experience in washington, d.c., really at all. >> he's an active duty three-star general and from what we know, has views at odds with president trump on issues like russia. >> serge russia wants to be tough on russia and iraq was very much, i remember many times being with h.r. mcmaster very welcoming to the iraqi people, he'll have some things to say about that ban if it doesn't go well, i'm sure.

. >> mary bruce on capitol hill, jon karl at the white house.et me begin with you talking about mitch mcconnell, the senate republican leader. this nuclear option would basically change the senate rules so he could get confirmed with just republican votes, 51 votes. >> reporter: george, the pressure this morning on mitch mcconnell is huge. the president with those two words, go nuclear, telling him to do whatever he has to do, even change those rules if necessary to prevent democrats from blocking his nominee. now, mcconnell has not revealed his next move but he's known as a stickler for those rules, not inclined to change them but democrats may leave him little option here, chuck schumer is saying he has serious concerns about gorsuch and many democrats >> and, jon, on that the democrats are caught in a little bit of a box right there as well. do they really want to go through and push this to the wall and get that change in the rules? >> reporter: well, i'll tell you, the president laying it on the line there yesterday saying that mitch mcconn