abc's chief global correspondent martha raddatz on the banner headline and the argument erupting tonight. >> reporter: it would be a big change -- rethinking america's military, our enemies, our wars. and how much we spend. on the chopping block? the number of america's soldiers. from a proposed 490,000 down to as low 440,000. watch america's forces spike during world war ii, during korea, vietnam. these new cuts would see america with the fewest soldiers since before all of these wars. and in the skies? a 40-year-old aircraft, the a-10 warthog to be retired, to be replaced by newer aircraft, including the fearsome f-35 fighter jet. and the famed spy plane -- the u-2, would be replaced by an unmanned drone. while at the same time, america will continue to invest in its special operations forces and cyberwarfare. >> we chose further reductions in troop strength in order sustain or redness and technological superiority. >> reporter: critics say the cut signals a weakness. and an opportunity to future enemies. all of this has to be approved by congress, which will be a very tough sale, but

thank you so much, martha r radda raddatz. >>> we head over to ukraine, tonight the former president tonight still on the run. a warrant accusing him of mass killing of civilians. the big question remains, will russia try to block what has happened and hold on to its influence in ukraine, even as ukraine seems to be turning towards the west. >>> tonight a call for help from the african country of uganda, a new law signed today that gay citizens can be given jail terms, even life in prison, people protecting gays could be imprisoned, too. abc's dan harris, now w the new developments today. >> reporter: to be gay tonight in the african nation of uganda is to be a criminal facing the severe punishment. the new law signed by the president today, calls for 14 years in prison for a first-time offenders. life in prison for what it describes as repeat offenders. the official charge, aggravated homosexuality. and if you don't report a loved one or a friend who is gay, you're now breaking the law too. today, the white house which sends uganda more than $400 million in aid each year had sharp w

. >> and we're we have martha raddatz. in for george stephanopoulos this week. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> things are going smoothly, from a security aspect thus far. what does that tell us? >> it tells us absolutely nothing. i think probably the most frightening thing is to let down your guard. we're so excited about the olympics and the wonderful opening ceremonies, but you have to remember the security. and that's what u.s. officials are keeping their eye on. they want to keep up to date on intelligence. they want to know the latest they can hear and there are still those threats out there. >> if god forbid something happens, is the u.s. prepared to respond. we have two navy warships in the black sea, which is unprecedented to occur in olympic games. but are they ready to do something? >> i look at the ships, each has one helicopter aboard. i don't think those ships can do very much about evacuating americans. there might be other kind of planning but the ships really are for show. >> a deterrent if anything. >> which means we need to hope that v

for "this week," martha raddatz, abc news, washington. >> so we must.ome welcome news from afghanistan. the pentagon did not announce any deaths of any service members overseas this week. that's all for us today. thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. check out world news with david muir tonight. and i'll see you tomorrow on "gma." muir tomorrow. i'll see you tomorrow on "gma." >> in the news, a four-year-old girl is found dead in her bed. why authorities are searching for gleans. more winter oar an early spring? punxsutawney phil emerges for his groundhog day appearance. >> it's more winter. here the view from mt. tam where this picture does not tell the whole story. we have rain, thunderstorms, snow, all in your sunday forecast. ♪ [ female announcer ] wherever morning brings you, bring the energy you need. nature valley sofed oatmeal squares. softly baked, made with hearty oatmeal and a drizzle of cinnamon. they're nature valley's take on a morning classic. because when you keep going, the morning can bring you to brand-new places. ♪ nature v

abc's martha raddatz. a lot of people are wondering what's going on with the war ships. >>> what's incredible is this is the first time this has ever happened. the iranians say it is in direct response to our naval forces being off of their coast. i have been on u.s. war ships when we are off the coast of iran, the iranians followed us all the way. what i think is going on is they're trying to get a better negotiating position and it's about domestic politics for them. they want to show their citizens they are still a world power. >>> signaling to their own people they'll stand up to america. >> exactly >> when you hear moving into u.s. waters, how close are we talking? >> they could actually be about 12 miles off of our coast if they wanted to do that, but you can expect u.s. ships will follow them all the way. >> great to have you with us on a saturday night. we'll be watching martha as she fills in on abc tomorrow morning. >>> we continue with director woody allen fighting back against claims from his a

and for more, let's bring in from washington, abc chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz. artha is filling in for george on abc's "this week." good morning to you. as americans sit at home on this sunday morning and drink their coffee, the question is, as we watch these events unfold, what does it mean for us and our security? >> it really does mean a lot, dan. you look at that country and where it's located, and as him aish said, the divide between that country. come going towards the west, some towards russia. and that creates enormous tension between the u.s. and russia. things were getting a little better between the u.s. and russia, but i think you'll take a big step back despite the words you're hearing from the white house and secretary kerry. >> and martha, the russian president putin had a lot riding on these olympics. but this could be his biggest challenge as president. >> this will be his biggest challenge going forward. and he will focus on this like a laser. of course, he wanted the olympics to take the spotlight. but in ukraine, he talked to president obama d

public on its treatment in respect of veterans and yesterday he even get teary eyed interview to martha raddatz of a.b.c. news about the soldiers suffering from his imperial experiments. i think all of us and i'll include myself in that feel deeply about trends but for you mr president it has to help you cope with what happened in those wars no question yeah i am but i have a duty here i'm obviously get slightly emotional talking about her vest because i have an emotional i'm in there with him. wow let the delusional self righteous wallowing began i forgot bush and his conscience are the real victims here the fact that raddatz and ask one question about why so many returning soldiers find themselves in such deplorable conditions or why they went to iraq and afghanistan in the first place demonstrates the willful short term memory of the mainstream media so what corporate news was busy area war criminals pity party what major news story was being missed or earlier this month there was another radioactive leak and i'm not even talking about fukushima last week officials confirm that the waste iso

let's bring in chief global affairs correspondent, martha raddatz. >> martha is filling in for georgeabc's "this week" this morning. martha, good morning to you. as americans sit at home on this sunday morning and drink their coffee, the question is, as we watch these events unfold in ukraine, what does it mean for us and our security? >> it really does mean a lot, dan. you look at that country and where it's located, and as hamish said, the divide. between that country. some going towards the west, some going towards russia. and that creates enormous tension between the u.s. and russia. things were getting a little better between the u.s. and russia, but i think you'll take a big step back despite the words you're hearing from the white house and secretary kerry. >> and martha, the russian president putin had a lot riding on these olympics but it's pretty fair to say this could be his biggest challenge as president. >> i think this will be his biggest challenge going forward. and he will focus on this like a laser. of course, he wanted the olympics to take the spotlight. but in ukrai

. >>> hello, again, i'm martha raddatz. great to have you with us. we're tracking breaking news this morning. the capture of the man some call mexico's osama bin laden. one of the most wanted criminals in the world, and the top illegal drug dealer in the u.s. drug lord joaquin guzman, known as el chapo, or shorty, notorious for his global empire, his ruthless reputation and his legendary ability to elude police. that is until this weekend. abc's senior justice correspondent, pierre thomas, is here with us with the latest. pierre. >> good morning. you can't overstate what a huge figure he is, so vicious, innovative and crafty. there are even suspicious today he may have changes his appearance through plastic surgery. it was a stunning sight, the most powerful drug lord in the world in handcuffs after more than a decade as a wanted man. law enforcement's long quest to catch joaquin guzman ended at this hotel at 6:40 yesterday morning. mexican authorities acting on intelligence from american drug enforcement and immigration agents arrested him on the fo

and martha raddatz will be here. anything else to say?ter strudel! best morning ever! [ hans ] warm, flaky, gooey. toaster strudel! [ female announcer ] try new pillsbury heat-n-go mini pancakes. ♪ [ male announcer ] don't wait for awesome... totino's pizza rolls gets you there in just 60 seconds. ♪ totino's pizza rolls gets you there in just 60 seconds. (tiffany) ask yourself what your children or cigarettes. for as long as i can remember, my mother smoked. she died from lung cancer when i was 16. i could not take the chance of continuing smoking and not being here for my daughter. i know how much i needed my mom still, and i didn't realize it until i had lost her. you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit-now. so we made our own commercial to tell you why. first, chex makes lots of gluten free flavors. which is a huge thing for us. and there's seven to choose from. like cinnamon, honey nut, and chocolate. i tell them "you guys are gonna turn into chocolate chex!" i like cinnamon, greg is a honey nut nut. when you find something this

abc's martha raddatz has more. >> reporter: it would be a big change.ow much we spend. on the chopping block, the number of american soldiers from a proposed 490,000 down to as low as 440,000. watch america's forces spike during world war ii, during korea, vietnam. these new cuts would see america with the fewest soldiers since before all of these wars. and in the skies, a 40-year-old aircraft, a-10 warthog to be retired, to be replaced by newer aircraft, including the fierce f-35 fighter jet. and famed spy plane, the u-2 would be replaced by an unmanned drone. while at the same time, america will continue to invest in its special operations forces, and cyber warfare. >> we chose further reductions in troops strength in order to sustain our readiness and technological superiority. >> reporter: but predicting the future of war is never a perfect science. critics say the cuts signal a weakness and an opportunity to future enemies. there are also proposed cuts in military benefits. all of this has to be approved by congress, which will be a very tough sell

bush sat down with abc's martha raddatz to express his concern that too many u.s. vets are unimpld employed. >> reporter: for you, mr. president, it has to help you cope with what happened in those wars. >> no question it helps. i have a duty. obviously, i get slightly emotional talking about our vets because i have an emotional -- i'm in there with them. but i'm also -- my spirit is always uplifted when i visit with vets. i say, there's no self-mighty. we have a society that's too comfortable. and many say, whoa is me. not our veteran community. they don't say, woe is me. they say, what can i do to continue to serve? >> former president bush is encouraging employers to get past what he calls the civilian/military divide and start hiring veterans. he says their war experience makes them uniquely qualified for all kinds of jobs. >>> despite what they think about obamacare, american governors agree on one thing, it's here to say. governors joined the president and mrs. obama at the white house for dinner last night. when they meet with the president this morning, the

>>> hello, i'm martha raddatz. this morning, we're in new york city in the "gma" studios. you see times square behind me because this city knows better than any in the world how to protect against the kinds of threats against sochi, hosting the olympic games. it's the first olympics in history that terrorists publicly vowed to attack. former new york police commission ray kelly and our panel of experts will be along in a moment. but we begin in sochi where the first weekend of competition is underway. there you see the medal count. the u.s. just behind norway in the early going. here's abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: a second gold minted for the u.s. snowboarder jaime anderson spin, soaring in women's slopestyle final. completing a u.s. sweep of the daredevil event, with sage kotsenburg taking the game's first event saturday. and hundreds cheering them on. and finding the americans, not so easy. tourists? >> no. >> translator: no, hasn't seen them. >> reporter: swarming here, tens of thousands of security personnel. from the choppers in the sky over the opening ceremonies

lets get more now from martha raddatz. u.s. officials actively engaged on all of this right now. the main goal is to keep ukraine together and keep russia out? >> exactly right, george. the u.s. has made it clear that it would be a big mistake for russia to send in troops. if the protests start up again in a significant way, or if the country seems to be out of control or yanukovych tries to stir up trouble in supporters, it's not out of the question that russia would try to take some kind of action no matter what the u.s. says. >>> and meanwhile, a big announcement coming from the pentagon. chuck hagel about to announce his new budget. it projects the smallest united states army since world war ii. >> he will submit a recommendation as part of a budget preview today that would shrink the army to about 450,000 soldiers from a high of about 570,000. there were already scheduled cuts. this goes further than the scheduled cuts. it also is reported to stop the use of an ailing attack jet. this is the reality of the post 9/11 era. the pentagon does not see feature wars involving massi

let get more from martha raddatz. u.s. officials akively engage fpd main goal is to keep ukraine together and keep russia out. >> exactly right, george. the u.s. has made it clear that it would be a big mistake for russia to send in troops. if the protests start up again in a significant way or if the country seems to be out of control, it's not out of the question that russia would take action. >> a big announcement from the pentag pentagon. chuck hagel about to announce his budget. i projects the smallest united states army since world war ii. >> it would shrink the army down to about 450,000 soldiers. this goes further than the scheduled cuts. it also is reported to stop the use of an ailing attack jet. the focus will be on special operations and drones. you can expect a big fight on capitol hill. >> no question. thank you. let's get the other top stories from josh. >>> we begin in northern minnesota. dozens of ice fishermen have been stranded for three days on a lake, after a massive snow drift there trapped them in th