good morning, maryalice. >> reporter: good morning, eva.he white house wants to make clear that they are engaged at all levels across the administration. yesterday president biden spoke with both the israeli prime minister as well as for the first time since taking office, with the palestinian authority president. on those calls, president biden reaffirmed his strong support for israel's right to defend itself against rocket attacks from hamas, expressed concern over the loss of life, and talked about how the u.s. is once again giving humanitarian aid to the palestinian people. now secretary of state blinken also called the president of the associated press offering support for the journalists, and we know that senior u.s. officials are on the ground right now holding meetings, urging calm. the u.n. security council will also meet today. president biden has been careful not to publicly criticize israel, but the white house is facing growing pressure to push for more solutions to be even more involved, and there's a political divide. some de

maryalice, i do want to turn to president biden and his massive $6 trillion budget proposal.he plaj you're the plan calls for the expansion of universal pre-k, paid family leave and other programs. but a lot of questions and criticism about how he plans to pay for it. >> reporter: the president says these are needed investments that are long overdue, but they would increase government spending in a way we haven't seen in a generation. this budget is a statement of the president's values and goals. he's arguing that it is worth taking on more debt right now to pay for it all. but he's also advocating for raising taxes on corporations and the nation's highest income earners to offset the cost. and remember, congress holds the pursestrings and gets the final say in government spending. whit? >> that debate just getting started. maryalice, thank you. >>> also tonight, the white house is announcing action against belarus. reimposing economic sanctions and working with european allies to punish the regime. opposition journalist roman protosevich and his girlfriend remain in custody

>> maryalice parks for us in d.c. thanks, maryalice. >>> now to the mystery over that tiger seen roaming in a houston neighborhood. a man linked to the animal appeared in court friday as police hunt for the animal. abc's zohreen shah joins us with more. good morning, zohreen. >> reporter: good morning, eva. cuevas is accused of shooting and killing a man four years ago outside of a restaurant. according to court documents, he violated his bond four times, and that is before he was caught allegedly running from police with a tiger. this morning, a man linked to a missing houston tiger is waking up in jail after a judge revoked his bond friday raising it to 300 grand on a separate 2017 murder charge. new video showing the man, bengal tiger whose big escape - sunday night was repeatedly brought up during the hearing. >> once we were across the street in the yard, mr. cuevas came out, stated, don't kill it. don't kill it. don't kill it. >> reporter: a deputy recounting seeing cuevas and the 9-month-old cub outside of a ho

here's abc's white house correspondent maryalice parks. >> reporter: tonight, those disappointing job numbers for april putting the white house on the defensive. >> the recovery will remain on track, and it may be bumpy from month to month. >> reporter: after the economy hemorrhaged 22 million jobs last year, recovery has been slow and uneven. only 266,000 new jobs created last month, less than half the number from march. far fewer than the 1 million predicted. republicans and some small business leaders blaming the expanded unemployment benefits put in place through september, saying it's too hard to hire for some jobs. >> i think we've gone too far. we need to get people back to work. >> reporter: but democrats argue there's no evidence of a worker shortage. millions are looking for work. karen smith, a single mom from jupiter, florida, says she's only seeing job openings in the service industry, and some of that work still makes her nervous. >> nobody wants to be confronted with, you're lazy, you don't want to work, you're living off the government. there aren't jobs out there for

let's go ahead right away and bring in abc's white house correspondent maryalice parks. president biden speaking to leaders on both sides today as the white house is facing growing pressure here at home and from the international community to intervene. >> reporter: whit, the white house says the president is closely monitoring the growing violence in the region. today was the first time as president that biden spoke directly with the palestinian authority president, mahmoud abbas. and in those calls with the two leaders, the white house says president biden expressed his concern over the loss of life, including children and affirmed his hope for a two-state solution. so far president biden has been careful not to publicly criticize israel, but some human rights organizations and some lawmakers on capitol hill today expressing concern about those air strikes on the media building. we know that on the ground, u.s. senior officials are planning to meet in israel and the west bank and urging calm. whit? >> the white house watching this very closely. maryalice, thank you. >>

here's abc's white house correspondent maryalice parks with what it all means for the congressman. >> reporter: tonight, defiant congressman matt gaetz potentially facing new legal challenges. joel greenberg, a former florida tax collector and close associate of gaetz, is set to plead guilty to six federal crimes, including stalking, conspiracy to bribe a public official and sex trafficking of a minor. in new court filings, greenberg admits he paid a 17-year-old girl for sex and introduced her to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts. as a part of his deal, greenberg must fully cooperate with federal investigators. and greenberg's lawyer last month suggesting his client had a story to tell. >> i'm sure matt gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today. >> reporter: gaetz is not specifically named in the latest court filings and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, even joking about the allegations at a recent rally. >> i'm a canceled man in some corners of the internet. i might be a wanted man by the deep state. >> reporter: linsey, the justice department is already investig

good morning to you, maryalice. >> reporter: good morning, dan. these disappointing job numbers really a sign of just how far the economy has to go to recover from the losses from this pandemic. only about 266,000 jobs added in april. that is far less than half of the jobs added in march. the forecast like you said, just way off. unemployment actually seems to have ticked up. there were jobs added in leisure and hospitality industries hit so hard this last year, but there were losses in temporary help services like careers and messengers, but the news definitely put the white house onthe defensive yesterday. president biden and treasury secretary janet yellen both expected the road to recovery to be bumpy, but republicans blasting the president. some republican governors and the chamber of commerce arguing specifically that the additional $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits, those benefits put in place by democrats through september, they're arguing that those benefits are maybe keeping people from seeking work. so far democrats are reall

maryalice, thank you. >>> tonight continued unrest in colombia. the u.n. is voicing deep concern and calling for an end to the violence. in recent days anti-government protests reportedly left at least 14 people dead, nearly 100 injured. the u.n. says it's received reports of shots being fired at demonstrators as well as journalists. >>> in israel benjamin netanyahu's time as prime minister could soon be ending after 12 years. opposition party leaders say that they're joining forces working toward forming a coalition government and netanyahu vows to fight on calling the newly allied factions trying to replace him leftist and a danger to the security and peace of the country. >>> meanwhile, in this country a solemn memorial to mark 100 years since one of the worst acts of racial violence in american history. a handful of survivors remember what happened in tulsa back in 1921 when a white mob destroyed a black neighborhood killing as many as 300 people. abc's marcus moore is in tulsa tore us. >> reporter: in tulsa hundreds gathering in the streets to honor t

maryalice, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, dan.m day one we've seen president biden break away from president trump's border policies, and now this latest move, the administration saying that they are formally returning billions of dollars back to the department of defense that had been diverted for border wall construction, and, like you said, they're planning to cancel all existing construction contracts there on the border wall. the trump administration only built about 80 miles of new wall where wall hadn't existed before. some republicans, as you can imagine, are blasting the biden administration saying that this will exacerbate the migrant crisis, but the white house wrote in a statement that they inherited a broken immigration system that wasted billions of taxpayer dollars and neither kept the american people safe nor adhered to our values. now, they say the money will instead go to day cares and schools on military bases. the big question now, what will happen to the wall overall? the administration says they're still revi

maryalice, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, dan.ou said, these disappointing job numbers clearly frustrating the white house. they say it's a sign of just how far the country has to go to recover from the losses, from the pandemic. only about 266,000 jobs created in april. that is less than half of the numbers created in march. unemployment actually seems to have edged up, but there were jobs added in leisure and hospitality. we have been talking so much about those industries that were hit so hard this last year, but there were losses in temporary help services, things like careers and messengers, but this news like you said just putting the white house on the defensive. republicans blasting the president. republican governors saying that the additional $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits have been keeping people from seeking work. now, president biden and treasury secretary janet yellen are really balking at that idea. they say that they always expected that the road to recovery would be long, would be bumpy. they are arg

maryalice, good morning. so why did republicans oppose this bill investigating the attack on january 6th, and what happens now? >> reporter: dan, republicans said that a commission was redundant, that the department of justice and congressional committees were already investigating what happened that day, but it's possible that republican leaders could have been called to testify. the white house deputy press secretary just blasted republicans over this decision, said that members of congress swear an oath to protect and defend the constitution and here failed to do so. she did not dismiss the idea, speaker pelosi pursuing an alternative like a possible select committee on capitol hill to keep digging into the attack. >> let me ask you about another story this morning. the white house has been speaking out against what appears to be another russian cyberattack. is this possibly going to jeopardize the president's upcoming planned meeting with the russian president vladimir putin? >> reporter: yeah, this is pa

let's get more from white house correspondent maryalice parks. >> reporter: president biden holding firm friday downplaying public disagreements with progressives in his party over the united states' support of the israeli government. >> do you recognize that there's been a shift, an evolution in your party, mr. president, in the last 20 years on this issue? >> there is no shift in my commitment to the security of israel. but i tell you what there is a shift in, we still need a two-state solution. >> reporter: this week, the president facing pressure from members of his own party to do more to help palestinians. senator bernie sanders introducing a resolution to block the sale of arms and defense equipment to israel. the white house said it had no plans to change security assistance to israel. the president sidestepping saying he was committed to working with other nations to bring aid to civilians in gaza. >> they need the help, and i'm committed to get that done. my party still supports israel until the region says unequivocally they acknowledge the right of israel to exist as an indep