jonathan karl, the white house. >>> congressional negotiators say they're getting closer to a deal to present the so-called d.r.e.a.m.ers. the 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the united states as children. president trump says he has one firm condition before he signs any deal. >> got to include the wall. we need the wall for security. we need the wall for safety. we need the wall for stopping the drugs from pouring in. so the answer is, have to have the wall. >> congressional republicans wall, but it's unclear exactly what form it's going to tachblgt lawmakers are busy also seek agn a new spending bill. >>> there were raids in 17 states and the district of columbia, some of the store owners may face fines. one of the most powerful members of congress has decided not to seek reelection in november. republican daryl aissa of southern -- darrell issa will not be seeking reelection. his district supported hillary clinton a year ago. so democrats are hopeful of flipping issa's seat. yaenld residents may soon be able to or a six pack of beer on a sunday. >> on a sunday! >> the l

i will work with him and i will stand up to him. >> jonathan karl with us live at the white house tonight. jon, the president has made it very clear that a deal to protect dreamers is now indoubt. he says because of this controversy over his words. today actually tweeting that deals can't get made when there is no trust. so, where does this all stand tonight, what are your sources now telling you? >> reporter: well, david, with all the name-calling, it does look grim, but i have talked to both democrats and republicans involved in these negotiations today who have told me that they still believe a deal can be worked out. those talks resume tomorrow. >> another week begins at the white house. jon karl, thank you. >>> next tonight here, new reporting. how did it happen, that false alarm in hawaii that led to 38 minutes of terror? more than a million people warned of an imminent missile attack, told "this is not a drill." familying huddling many closets, parents hiding children in manholes. abc's jim avila from honolulu. >> reporter: the worker blamed for causing 38 minutes of fear and panic

robert mueller himself. >> jonathan karl, abc news be the white house. >>> back in august the launches introduced legislation to rimt limit the president's power to remove a special counsel. >>> a group of cannabis growers is suing the state over large scale pot farms. they filed the lawsuit this week claiming state officials are in violation of proposition 64 which calls for growth sites no big are than one acre. but new rules adopted by the department of food and agricultural let grower apply for multiple licenses. the group says the limits are necessary for small scale farmers to compete in the rapidly growing industry. >> if the marketplace is saturated and the mechanicplace is bill it's harder to break into the market after the fact. >>> california's new legalized cannabis market opened january 1st as you know legislative analysts say the industry will add nearly $1.0 billion to the state's tax revenue. >>> after more than a decade the president of planned parent hood is stepping down. cease i will richards saying she will leave by the ended of the year. she calls her time leading

i will be signing it. >> reporter: jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >> two republican senatorsrging from that meeting today quoted the president as saying the border wall would end up being more like a fence. senator john koren said the president made it clear that border patrol agents need to be able too see through it. >>> now to the russia investigation and that controversial dossier on then candidate donald trump. republicans wanted a transcript of a closed congressional interview kept under wraps. >> but in a rare move, senator feinstein released it on her own. pierre thomas has more. >> reporter: tonight, democratic senator diane feinstein releasing the testimony of the man whose firm commissioned the infamous trump/russia dossier. the firm, fusion gps, was hired by republicans and later by democrats to look into candidate trump's possible ties to russia. republicans including president trump have dismissed the largely uncorroborated dossier. >> it's very sad what they've done with this fake dossier. it was made-up. >> reporter: but fusion gps co-founder glen simpson foug

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl leading us off tonight. >> reporter: on a day when he is under fire for racially explosive comments, the president signed a proclamation honoring martin luther king, jr., even joined by a member of the king family, but he couldn't avoid the blunt question, are you a racist? >> mr. president did you refer to african nations, did you use [ bleep ] to refer to african nations? >> mr. president are you racist? >> mr. president are you racist? >> reporter: early this morning, the president attempted damage control over the vulgar insult he used in his meeting with members of congress, tweeting -- "the language used by me at the daca meeting was tough, but this was not the language used." adding -- "never said anything derogatory about haitians other than haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. >> reporter: but nowhere did the president deny directing that profane insult at african countries. >> he said these hateful things and he said them repeatedly. >> reporter: democratic senator dick durbin was in that oval office meetin

>>> we do have one more question on this, so, let's get to our chief white house correspondent jonathan karl tonight. jon, so much attention was paid to that meeting between president trump and democrat chuck schumer. schumer emerged, saying if they had made some problem, but then, a shutdown, and no deal on the dreamers. and saeld, sarah sanders reading that statement from the president, saying, quote, once the government is funded, we will work to resolve unfair illegal immigration. we will make a long-term deal on immigrants if and only if it's good for our country. and jon, many took note there was no specific note of the dreamers in that statement. >> reporter: no mention of the dreamers, david, but very shortly after the impasse over the shutdown ended, the president met here at the white house with moderate democratic senators joe manchin and doug jones, where i am told that he said that he is committed to getting a deal to protect the dreamers. of course, he wants money for his border wall as part of that agreement, but make no mistake, there is no deal on the dreamers without the ac

here's abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl tonight. >> reporter: as the president traveled to nashville today to talk up his tax cut, a potentially major development in the russia investigation. abc news has confirmed that special counsel robert mueller met with the president's lawyers and told them he is likely to request an interview with the president himself. news of that december feefting was first reported by "the washington post." in the past, the president sounded almost eager to tell mueller his side of the story. would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version of the events? >> 100%. >> reporter: so if robert mueller wanted to speak with you about that -- >> i'd be glad to tell you exactly what i just told you, jon. >> reporter: he was asked about it again just this weekend. >> if robert mueller asks you to come and speak with his committee personally, are you committed still to doing that? do you believe that's appropriate? >> yeah. just so you understand -- just so you understand, there's been no collusion. >> reporter: but sources familiar with th

abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl was in the room. >> reporter: today, the president still dealing with fallout over a book portraying him as dim witted and unstable made a dramatic effort to show the opposite. leading a free-wheeling negotiation between democrats and republicans on immigration. and, in a white house first, letting it all play out before the television cameras. >> this should be a bill of love, truly, should be a bill of love. >> reporter: at issue, the looming march 5th deadline for the so-called dreamers. undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children and now could soon face deportati deportation. >> it's daca. we've been talking about daca for a long time. room seemed to agree on providing legal status to the dreamers, but republicans insisted that more border security had to be part of the deal. democrats tried to convince the president to deal with the dreamers first, and at times, he seemed to agree. >> what about a clean daca bill now, with a commitment that we go into a comprehensive immigration reform procedure like we

i want to bring in our chief white house correspondent jonathan karl for one more question on this tonight because listen to what donald trump said in 2013 about a president's role in avoiding a government shutdown. >> you have to get everybody in a room, you have to be a leader. the president has to lead. you have to be nice and be angry and be wild and cajole and do all sorts of things, but you have to get a deal. >> jon, now it's on this president and this congress and president trump and chuck schumer, both new yorkers, they've known each other a long time and as mary bruce just reported, some republicans were worried about the two of them sitting down today. >> reporter: they sure do have a long history. in fact, schumer even made a guest appearance on "the apprentice" more than a decade ago where he said he always knew that donald trump was going to go places. my sense is that the president really does want to strike a deal here. white house officials have even suggested to me it could be something as simple as protecting the d.r.e.a.m.ers in exchange for getting funding for his bord

abc's jonathan karl leading us off. >> reporter: appearing before a gathering in davos, switzerland and most powerful, the president took credit for an american comeback. >> america is open for business, and we are competitive once again. >> reporter: but his message was overshadowed by news back home. a report, first in "the new york times," that last summer he had sought to fire special counsel robert mueller. >> mr. president, did you seek to fire robert mueller? >> fake news, folks. fake news. typical "new york times" fake stories. >> reporter: a presidential denial, but a story confirmed by abc news that the president sought to have mueller dismissed in june, just one month after he was appointed to the job. so why didn't it happen? according to the "times," white house counsel, don mcgann refused to ask the justice department to carry out the president's wishes, even threatening to quit himself. the president's desire to push mueller aside wasn't exactly a secret. at the time, chris ruddy, a long-time friend of the president's, went public warning him not to do it. >> i think he's

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

so, let's get right to our chief white house correspondent jonathan karl, who is here in new york withs tonight. what are you learning? >> reporter: we know that two of the issues that mueller wants to focus on are the firing of james comey and the firing of michael flynn. but i got to tell you, david, there is no guarantee this interview will happen, in fact, i think this could become a big fight. i have spoken to people very close to the president who say that he should do everything he should -- everything possible to stop this interview from happening, that it could be a disaster, even though he told me back in june he would be 100% willing to do it. >> yes, we remember that. and in the meantime, you heard the president today saying about recei jeff sessions being interviewed, that he's not concerned. what are you learning from your sources inside the white house? >> reporter: well, the president's legal team feel like this is another sign that mueller is wrapping up his investigation, he's getting to the final phases, but this is also an indication that mueller is getting very clo

and the president telling abc's jonathan karl he is willing to do it under oath. >> i would do it under oath. listen, but i would do it. >> reporter: abc news has learned the president's lawyers are now gearing up for a possible presidential interview with the special counsel, hoping mueller will agree to a combination of written and in-person answers. sources tell abc, mueller's team has already interviewed the top intelligence officials in the trump administration. cia director mike pompeo, director of national intelligence dan coats and nsa director mike rogers. and just last week, attorney general jeff sessions. that lineup, raising questions about whether mueller's inquiry may now be zeroing in on whethe states obstructed justice. sources say the special counsel wants to ask president trump himself about the firings of former national security adviser michael flynn and former fbi director james comey. comey has pointed to the russia probe for the reason he was fired, testifying the president once told him, "i need loyalty. i expect loyalty." >> it got very awkward. and i then said,

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> congressional negotiators say they're getting closer to d.r.e.a.m.ers. the 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the u.s. as children. democrats are calling for urge action to stop possible deportation before congress moves on to other immigration issues. president trump says he has one firm condition before he signs any deal. >> it's got to include the wall. we need the wall for security. we need the wall for safety. we need the wall for stopping the drugs from pouring in. so the answer is, have to have the wall. >> congressional republicans say they will deliver some sort of wall, but it's unclear exactly what form it's going to take. lawmakers are busy also seeking a new spending deal which must be reached by next week to avoid a possible shutdown. >>> dozens of 7-eleven stores were raided as part of a major crackdown on undocumented immigrant workers. there were raids in 17 states and the district of columbia. yesterday alone, 21 people were arrested on suspicion of being in the u.s. illegally. some of the store owners ma

jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >>> senators from both parties are calling for a select committee to investigate the u.s. olympic committee and usa gymnastics following the larry nassar case. yesterday nassar kwas sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing more than 150 girls and young women. lawmakers say the senate should review how he was given unsupervised access to all of the athletes. many victims said they reported the abused but nothing was done. the house is preparing to take up legislation requiring amateur sports groups to promptly report claims of sexual abuse to the police. >>> california's department of fish and wildlife is investigating the shooting of a river otter in walnut creek. the animal was so badly wounded that as we reported to you it had to bed euthanized. reporters tell abc 7 news report eric thoms that they hope someone will provide a tip leading to the shooter. >> these two say it's not surprising to see a river otter or two when they walk near the park. what is surprising is that anyone would want to hurt one. >> it broke my heart to t

more now from abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. >> reporter: consumed for days by controversy over racially charged remarks said behind cosed doors, the president is now pushing back hard. >> no, no. i'm not a racist. i am the least racist person you have ever interviewed, that i can tell you. >> reporter: and he's now explicitly denying what several sources say he said in that meeting with members of congress on thursday. a vulgar slur aimed at african countries and that he said prefer immigrants from norway. >> did you see what the various senators in the room said about my comments? they weren't made. >> reporter: one of those senators is dick durbin, who today still insisted the president made the vulgar, racially charged insult. >> i know what happened. i stand behind every word that i said in terms of that meeting. >> reporter: that has earned the senator a new presidential nickname. senator dickey durbin totally dismight have represented what was said at the daca meeting," the senator tweeted. two republican senators at the meeting who three days ago said "w

to the president clarified near the end of the meeting when he was asked by abc correspondent jonathan karlhether there could be a daca agreement without a agreement to build a border wall. listen to his response. >> is there any agreement without the wall? >> no. >> the wall has to be there? >> you need it. john, you need the wall. i would love not to build the wall, but you need the wall. and i will tell you this, the i.c.e. officers and the border patrol agents, i talked to them recently. they said if you do not have the wall, and certain areas that are not protected by nature, if you do not have the wall, you cannot have security. it cannot happen. >> that's for the discussion ended azeem up is that the president is on board for doing a daca fix with some border security arrangements and then start to the process of comprehensive immigration reform after that. some lawmakers who came out were asked with the television cameras rolling, how was the meeting? they thought it was one of the most productive meetings that they have ever had. martha mcsally told me once the cameras left that th

let's start with jonathan karl. jon, you're at the white house this morning. not a lot of activity there yesterday. no meetings between the president and congressional leaders what's the latest? >> reporter: george, right now it's a stand off that does not lend itself to a break through. the democrats saying they will not vote to reopen the government until they have an agreement on immigration. republicans are saying they won't even negotiate on immigration until the government is reopen. amidst all the finger pointing and rekrim nations senator schumer the democrat leader and the president are close to a deal on the underlying issue on immigration. i'm told the president has expressed a willingness to have a deal that would be legal status for the d.r.e.a.m.ers in exchange for full funding of his border wall. that's $20 billion over seven years. he would do that even if he had no change to the visa lottery, no change on chained migration. i'll told the president would be willing to do that without that. further, george, i'm told from democrat sources that se

chief white house correspondent jonathan karl. our senior congressional correspondent mary bruce.r of "the national review" rich lowry. patrick gaspard. president of the open society foundations. a former u.s. ambassador to south africa. political director for president obama. and senior white house correspondent cecilia vega. the president, former president there warning about a common baseline of facts. proven again this morning. senator david perdue said the president did not use those comments. despite all the reporting to the contrary. >> and that's the first point blank denial. it comes so long after. >> he said he didn't remember. >> as soon as the story broke, we were speaking to people at the white house, there was no denial whatsoever. the white house put out a public statement making absolutely no denial. we spoke to the members of congress that were in the room. no denial. perdue put out something saying he didn't recall it. now suddenly -- the bottom line is, the fundamental thing he was saying is that we want to have more immigrants from countries like norway. fewer

jonathan karl asking does he eat mcdonald's. ainsley: can't this help him?r the democrats or anyone that would run against your father? >> hasn't it already? how trivial is this nonsense? people are smart. people look through this, right? people see one thing. they see green in their wallets. that is what people care about. they care about the 401(k)s. they care about their kids, their education, how they're living. vacations they get to go on. the businesses is doing. if they're employed? overall quality of life. they don't care if somebody has a scoop of ice cream. it is insane. steve doctor says he is in good health and good cognitive function that flies in the face of narrative they are trying to establish he is crazy. >> anybody who knows my father, tell you has more energy than any human being. the guy has more energy than anybody i ever met at my age at 35. he is unbelievable. he doesn't stop. he is absolute machine. i was saying this last night. i have never seen my father with a cold. the man is really, really incredible a. anybody that knows him, s