here's mary bruce. >> reporter: the democratic party tonight is launching its own legal attack against the president. alleging that russia, the trump campaign, and wikileaks conspired to damage hillary clinton and tilt the presidential election to donald trump. >> wikileaks, i love wikileaks. >> reporter: calling it "an act of unprecedented treachery," the dnc lawsuit pieces together previously known reports. ranging from contacts between close associates of the trump campaign and russian officials, to wikileaks' hack of the dnc's emails and their leak of damaging information. >> it's been amazing what's coming out on wikileaks. another one came in today. this wikileaks it's like a treasure trove. >> reporter: the multi-million dollar suit does not name president trump, but it does go after his inner circle, including his son and son-in-law. if the case moves forward, the president and his top aides could be forced to answer questions under oath. >> so let's get to mary bruce live in washington tonight. mary, the trump campaign and now the president responding moments ago. >> the trump

they won't wait for nine months. >> so, let's get to mary bruce, she's live on the hill tonight. and mary, house speaker paul ryan, we've learned, is at the white house right now having dinner with the president? >> reporter: david, republican leaders have just arrived for that dinner with the president, including speaker ryan and his rumored replacements, kevin mccarthy and steve scalise. now, the president is wishing paul ryan well, but he has not yet said who he would like to see as the next speaker of the house. david? >> we'll stay tuned for that. mary bruce, as always, thank you. >>> also on capitol hill tonight, members of congress turning up the heat on facebook's mark zuckerberg in his second day of testimony, challenging him today on the company's handling of the cambridge analytica scandal. the alleged misuse of some 87 million users private information. including, as we learned today, his own. >> was your data included in the data sold to the malicious third parties? your personal data? >> yes. >> several lawmakers threatening regulation now. the federal trade commiss

>> mary bruce asking the questions, no answer there. mary bruce on the hill again for us. scott pruitt says he's the target of people trying to under mine president trump. how is the white house responding? >> the sources in the white house say this is a tough day for pruitt. but they say he was largely speaking to an audience of one, the president. and tonight it's his support that matters most. david? >> thank you, mary. >>> also from capitol hill tonight, the senate has confirmed the president's pick for secretary of state. mike pompeo. the cia chief who has had a security meeting with kim jong un. the white house just releasing this image. pompeo was sworn in today. he is already on his way to an nato meeting in brussels. by the way, it comes as a historic meeting set to take place between north and south korea in the coming hours. we're going to be tracking that as well. >>> there is still much more ahead on "world news" thursday evening. >>> a refinery explosion. schools shut down, evacuations. crews on the scene at this hour. >>> also, the major airline sued over th

>> mary bruce asking the questions, no answer there. and mary bruce, scott pruitt says he is the target of people trying to under mine president trump. how is the white house responding? >> the sources in the white house say this is a tough day for pruitt. he was speaking to an audience of one, the president. and tonight it's his spooruppor that matters most. >> the senate has confirmed the president's pick for secretary of state. mike pompeo. the white house just releasing this image. pompeo was sworn in today. by the way, it comes as a historic meeting set to take place between north and south career ya korea in the coming hours. >>> a refinery explosion. schools shut down, evacuations. >>> also, the major airline sued by the death of a passenger who became ill on flight. did the doctor on board ask the pilot to land the flight early? why didn't they? >>> a nfl prospect. and the racial tweets that just surfaced. we'll be right back. be right back. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats psoriasis differently. wi

>> mary bruce with that new reporting tonight. mary, thank you. >>> next, let's turn to weather and there is severe weather watches tonight, and we're bracing from storms from coast to coast. wintry weather in denver. ground crews using snow blowers to clear the fields there, and heavy rain expected at yosemite. campgrounds closed to visitors. the heavy rain coming up from the gulf coast as subfreezing windchills. take ahold of a wide stretch of the country. abc's senior meteorologist rob marciano is in washington, d.c. where the cherry blossoms are under threat of snow. rob, good evening. >> reporter: hey, good evening, tom. the same system that could bring a little bit of snow here in d.c. tomorrow is bringing severe weather across the south, from dallas across northern louisiana. we have a tornado and severe thunderstorm watches that are posted and they are up until midnight tonight. watch as this thing makes its way across the cold front, and it will mix for colder air. another one to three inches of spring snow across the ten

>> mary bruce live on the hill. mary, thank you. >>> also from capitol hill tonight, jeff sessions questioned by a senate committee, asked about reports he indicated he would resign if president trump fired his deputy, rod rosenstein. the attorney general saying he is not able to speculate, but abc's pierre thomas catching up with the attorney general afterward, asking about any possible tension with the president. >> reporter: general sessions, how is your relationship with the president? >> getting along. >> pierre thomas with the a.g. today. >>> as this was playing out, we learned tonight that president trump's new personal attorney on the russia investigation, rudy giuliani, has met with the special counsel robert mueller. giuliani met with mueller tuesday to reopen negotiations about a possible interview with the president. giuliani reportedly telling mueller the president is resistant to the idea, but hasn't ruled it out. giuliani pushed for clarity on when the investigation will end. >>> next, to other news t

>> mary bruce with that packed room right behind her. mary, thank you. >>> next tonight, to possible u.s. military action against syria. president trump promising a decision very soon, saying nothing is off the table. overnight, the president meeting with senior military leadership at the white house. the president now canceling a trip to south america. with a u.s. destroyer now in the eastern mediterranean, what could be coming? here's abc's chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz. >> reporter: tonight, the countdown begins to possible u.s. military action. it was just a year ago, u.s. tomahawk missiles pounding a syrian airfield three days after images of a chemical attack emerged. and now, with those new images, the president making clear a u.s. military strike could happen any time. >> we're making a decision as to what we do with respect to the horrible attack that was made near damascus. and it will be met, and it will be met forcefully. >> reporter: but this time, the president may not have to go it alone. french preside

>> mary bruce following the developments on the hill. mary, thank you. >>> we turn next here to the deadly van attack in toronto. the driver appearing to intentionally strike victims on the sidewalks and the streets there. the crime scene nearly a mile and a half long. and tonight, what investigators are now learning about the driver's possible motive. abc's chief national correspondent tom llamas in toronto again tonight. >> reporter: the chilling new video, a van turned killing machine, barrelling down the toronto sidewalk, plowing into pedestrians. and tonight, as investigators scour the scene, a troubling portrait emerging of the man behind the wheel -- 25-year-old alek minassian. >> the accused is alleged to have posted a cryptic message on facebook minutes before he began driving the rented van. >> reporter: that message including these words -- "all hail supreme gentleman elliot rodger!" rodger killed six people in a 2014 rampage near santa barbara. he recorded selfie videos lashing out at women. can you at least say if the suspec

>> mary bruce on the hill for us tonight. mary, thank you. >>> next tonight, to louisville, kentucky, where authorities have just released police body cam video of a deadly police shooting. the suspect refusing to drop a screwdriver. he was shot and killed. here's abc's steve osunsami. >> he's got a knife or a screwdriver in his hands. >> reporter: louisville police are explaining tonight why the man seen in this police body camera video holding a screwdriver would end up dying. >> drop it! drop it! >> reporter: police were responding to a call about someone being drunk and out of control, and when they arrived, 45-year-old russell bowman was talking back and telling them to shoot. >> upon approaching mr. bowman, he became confrontational. he told the officers to shoot him. >> drop it! >> reporter: you see three officers fire their stun guns and he's still standing. >> just drop it. we're not trying to hurt you. >> reporter: this is where he starts charging towards one of the officers, and they start shooting. it's clear in o

>> apparently, yes. >> let's get to mary bruce. and mary, you're learning that ronny jackson met with president trump late today. what have you heard? >> reporter: he did, david. and the white house tells us today that despite what the president said today publicly, tonight, the president is planning to fight back. a senior official tells me that jackson is getting rail roaded and that his record is impeccable. david, the white house says that jackson has a clean bill of health here and that he has no plans to withdraw his nomination. david? >> mary bruce following the developments on the hill. mary, thank you. >>> we turn next here to the deadly van attack in toronto. the driver appearing to intentionally strike victims on the sidewalks and the streets there. the crime scene nearly a mile and a half long. and tonight, what investigators are now learning about the driver's possible motive. abc's chief national correspondent tom llamas in toronto again tonight. >> reporter: the chilling new video, a van turned killing machine, barre

abc's mary bruce was right there. >> are users actually safe? is facebook being safe? >> senator, i think facebook is safe. i use it, my family use it, all the people i love and care about use it all the time. >> why should we trust facebook to make the necessary change in this. >> we have made a lot of mistakes. >> do you think the average consumer understands what they're signing up for? >> i don't think the average person likely reads that whole document. >> the facebook founder and ceo taking the hot seat for the first time, facing tough questions from over 40 u.s. senators. one of the primary concerns, facebook's growing role in our elections. >> what is facebook doing to prevent foreign actors from interfering in u.s. elections? >> one of my top priorities in 2018 is to get this right. my my greatest regrets in running the company is that we were slow in identifying the russian information operations in 2016. we expected them to do a number of more traditional signer attacks, which we did identify and notify the campaigns they were trying to hack into them, we we

>> mary bruce with that new development tonight. all right, mary, thank you. >>> no end in sight for the teacher protests in oklahoma. hundreds of teachers atcapital, there, legislators, asking for more funding for their schools. many schools across the state have canceled classes again tomorrow, the third day of the action. >>> next, the dramatic video of accidents at railway crossings. one day after we showed you a train slamming into a truck in georgia. video of another accident emerging, this one also in georgia. the driver getting away just moments before that happened. abc's steve osunsami with the question -- how safe are america's railroad crossings? >> he's so screwed. >> reporter: federal railroad officials tonight say that on average, what's about to happen in this cell phone video takes place about three times a day in america. this was in the suburbs north of atlanta on monday. the truck appears to have bottomed out, trying to cross the railroad tracks. and there's a sign here, warning trucks to keep away. a crew member

>> mary bruce with those new developments tonight. mary, thank you. >>> now, to the new headline tonight in the facebook scandal. c.o.o. sheryl sandberg telling bloomberg the social media company was slow to react, vowing facebook will do a better job handling security in the future. facebook reeling after learning the personal data of up to 87 million users may have been obtained by the political consulting firm cambridge analytica. >> there are real mistakes that we made and that i made. there's a lot of concern about what happened in this election. we are certainly concerned about the foreign interference on our platform. >> and this, ceo mark zuckerberg expected to testify before congress next week. >>> next tonight, the earthquake felt across southern california. a 5.3 magnitude quake hitting near the channel islands this afternoon. the strongest in the area in several years. the quake rattling an eagle's nest being monitored by the national park service. residents feeling the shaking more than 100 miles away. no serious damage o

>> i think they get things right. >> have you ever submitted -- that's true. >> mary bruce live from the hill tonight, and testimony still under way, mary. you reported last night that facebook had promised to send millions of users here in the u.s. alerts revealing whether they're own personal information had been obtained by cambridge analytica. is that happening? >> reporter: david, those updates have started to trickle into some people's feeds, but the full rollout still is not complete. tonight, no word on why this de delay. here in this room tonight, zuckerberg cannot regulate himself, that congress has to do more to step in. david? >> miry bruce with that packed room behind her. mary, thank you. >>> next tonight, to possible military action against syria. president trump promising a decision very soon, saying nothing is off the table overnight. the president meeting with senior military leadership at the white house. the president now canceling a trip to south america, with a u.s. destroyer now in the eastern mediterranean, what could be coming? here's abc's chief global affai

mary bruce, abc news, capitol hill. >> our thanks to mary bruce. >>> we have breaking news from dallas, a security guard who was also shot is now out of surgery. >> the officers had come to arrest the suspect for missing a robbery sentencing hearing. instead, he allegedly opened fire and then made a run for it. he was finally taken into custody after a massive search that lasted hours, and a wild chase that went through several front yards. the mayor of dallas praised the work of his police officers. >> they have taken a punch and have come out fighting, and they've brought someone into custody that we are very, very proud of them. >> the suspect was reportedly shooting at officers during that chase. he's being held on aggravated assault and other charges. >>> and a $2 million bond for the national waffle house shooting suspect has been revoked. the judge didn't provide an explanation for that decision, but officials say the suspect had more weapons back at his apartment, they believe to kill more people. erielle reshef has more. >> reporter: new details from travis reinking's apartmen

here's abc's mary bruce. >>> reporter: minutes before nikki haley walked into the chamber at the united nations today, a reporter shouted out this question. >> ambassador haley, how's your relationship with president trump? >> perfect. >> reporter: but the president was reportedly furious when he saw haley on television sunday announcing new u.s. sanctions against russia. >> so, you will see that russian sanctions will be coming down, secretary mnuchin will be announcing those on monday, if he hasn't already. >> reporter: that may have been the plan, but the president was not on board. the white house then scrambling, saying sanctions are only being considered. trump's new economic adviser larry kudlow blamed haley for the contradiction. >> she got ahead of the curve. she's done a great job, she's a very effective ambassador. there might have been some momentary confusion about that. >> reporter: haley shot right back. confusion? no way. >> i was able to get in touch with nikki haley. >> reporter: haley telling fox news, with all due respect, i don't get confused. >> mary bruce on capit

at the same time, that the white house has him under investigation here is abc news reporter mary bruce. >> with calls growin for him to fire his embattled epa chief president trump was pressed where he stands. >> scott pruitt, do you support. >> i hope he is going to be good. >> overnight the president called pruitt, his message keep fighting we have your back. but privately the sources say the president is frustrated with the controversy. white house lawyers are now investigating pruitt's living situation after abc news reported on his alleged sweetheart real estate deal. pruitt renting a rm in this d.c. apartment last year for just $50 a night far below the cost of similar units. the owner, the whief of a lobbiest who has energy clients doing business with the epa. today it new question base that relationship. while pruitt was living in the apartment, the epa green lightlied a major pipeline project for a canadaen energy company represented by the lobbyist. in a statement to the "new york times" the epa says any attempt to draw a link between the deal and the living arrangement is pa

abc's mary bruce is back with the story. welcome back to you, marry. >> reporter: good morning, michael. the government regulates everything from the food we eat to the medicines we take. what about the products in your bathroom and our makeup bags? it's been more than 80 years since the government passed regulations on cosmetics. lawmakers say it's time for makeover. they're getting help from a kardashian. >> reporter: reality tv and politics combining to clean up cosmetics. >> it's time for congress to do its job. >> reporter: kourtney kardashian, keeping up with capitol hill. teaming up with lawmakers to keep potentially toxic chemicals out of your cosmetic. >> the fact that we have to guess so much, you shouldn't be like walking around aimlessly like is this okay? >> reporter: only 11 chemicals have ever been regulated by the fda for you use in cosmetic. no safety tests are required before beauty products hit store shelves. republicans and democrats and kardashian are hoping to change that. >> everyone should have the ri

want to bring in our senior congressional correspondent mary bruce. good morning. >> reporter: this is the blow to republican party and could have serious implications for the upcoming midterm elections. this announcement by paul ryan wasn't exactly unexpected, but the timing certainly comes as a surprise. he just told members of his republican congress he was driven in part by personal matters a desire to spend more time at home with his family and three young children. but the political implication of this cannot be ignored. the republicans are facing an uphill battle in the midterms. it could other republican candidates not to seek re-election as well. now, paul ryan since he was elected speaker in 2015 has been in charge of this fractured caucus, many times struggling to get the moderates in and ha hard-right conservatives to come together. but he achieved tax reform. there's then his relationship with the president, which has been rocky say to least. paul ryan has had to go to white house, call the president and convince him to get on board with

mary bruce, abc news, capitol hill. >>> fox news host laura ingraham has returned to her show for the first time since a boycott. >> she accused him of whining. she has apologized to him. last night she accused liberals of bullying conservatives into silence. >>> and some people spent the weekend in florida to see how they stack up in stacking. >> about 400 people from ages 3 to 67 took part in the world stacking championships in orlando. whoa. >> so they stack specially-designed cups in a predetermined sequence as fast as possible. no prize money. everyone pays their own way into the competitions. and their reward is a medal. >> no trophy? they're all stacked? stacked. >> i got them all stacked. does that count? does that not. okay, we got to get it in a pyramid, right? >> wait. >> you can't do it. >> special cups. >> oh, that's what it is? look, i kind of got it. >> there we go. >> there. ta-da! and i did it super fast. >> i did it too, really quick. >> you cheated. >> get it down fast. >> coming up, we have several of these stories that we're following in the next block. we're goin

abc's mary bruce is on the hill. >> reporter: embattled facebook ceo mark zuckerberg entered a packed hearing room, stepping on to the hot seat for the first time. he began with an apology. >> we didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake, and it was my mistake, and i'm sorry. >> reporter: but senators weren't satisfied. >> after more than a decade of promises to do better, how is today's apology different? >> so we have made a lot of mistakes in running the company. >> reporter: zuckerberg was grilled about why cambridge analytica, the consulting firm hired by the trump campaign was able to improperly harvest the personal information of 87 million facebook users. >> were these people, the 87 million people, users, concentrated in certain states? are you able to figure out where they're from? >> i do not have that information with me. but we can follow up with your office. >> okay. because, as we know, the election was close, and it was only thousands of votes in certain states. >> reporter: again and again, he was pressed over whether facebook p

mary bruce, abc news, capitol hill. >> our thanks to mary on the hill. and scott pruitt is expected to face a barrage of tough questions from both parties when he appears before congress today. pruitt is under fire for a series of ethics allegations, including excessive spending and renting a $50 a night condo from the wife of an energy lobbyist. republicans have praised pruitt for cutting regulations, but a growing number criticizing him for allegedly abusing taxpayer money. pruitt is expected to answer for himself. >>> and two of president trump's most enthusiastic supporters are also heading to capitol hill today. the youtube stars known as diamond and silk are expected to appear before the house judiciary committee. and they plan to discuss allegations of censoring conservative voices on social media such as facebook which have labeled their content as unsafe. it is entertaining. >>> a nationwide manhunt is under way for a man who shot and killed an officer. he stole a cruiser and robbed a convenience store, according to investigators. the cruiser wa

mary bruce, capitol hill. >>> also on capitol hill, the house chaplain is speaking out for the first time about his forced resignation by speaker paul ryan. father patrick conroy says he was never given an explanation. an aide to ryan also refused to offer a reason, but democrats contend it stems from a prayer last year about economic disparities among social classes. >>> overnight, history, a historic summit between north and south korea. kim jong un crossing the border for the very time to meet with moon jae-in. officials from seoul are describing the meetings as sincere and candid. and the talks were candid on denuclearization. they discussed healing scars and kim jokingly promised that he will no longer wake up moon with as many missile tests. >>> angela merkel arrives in washington today with the same message delivered by french president macron. that the u.s. and europe must be united on issues like the iran nuclear deal, but this visit will be very different than macron's. jordan phelps has the details. >> reporter: it was just a few days ago that the president pulled out all

mary bruce, abc news, capitol hill. >>> the white house has confirmed president trump will visit london may 13th. but several conservative groups are urging him to stay away from london because of the risk of major protests, crime and disorder. the mayor tweeted if he comes to london the president will experience an open and diverse city. he will also no doubt see that londoners hold their freedom of values and free speech very dear. >>> dr. ronny jackson is accused of giving out drugs without a prescription and wrecking a government car while intoxicated. president trump blasted the process this morning on fox news. >> he would have done a great job. these are all false accusation. they are trying to destroy a man. >> in a statement jackson called the allegations false and fabricated. >>> today's daily white house briefing looked a little different, doesn't it? those are kids raising their hands wanting some tough questions answered. they took part in take your child to workday. white house press secretary's sarah sander's two sons took the podium today. she fielded most of the questio

here's abc news reporter mary bruce. >> reporter: the democratic party tonight is launching its own legal attack against the president, alleging that russia, the trump campaign and wikileaks conspired to damage hillary clinton and tilt the pridential election to donald trump. >> wikileaks, i love wikileaks. >> reporter: calling it an act of unprecedented trechary the dnc lawsuit pieces together previously known reports alleging contacts between associates to wikileaks hack of the dnc e-mails and their leak of damaging infers. >> it's been amazing what's coming outlets on wikileaks. and another one came in today. wikileaks is like a treasure-trove. >> reporter: the multi-million dollar suit does not name president trump but does go after his inner circle including his son and son-in-law. if the case moves forward the president and his top aides could be forced to answer questions under oath. >>> on the anniversary of the columbine high school massacre thousands of students walked out of their schools today. once again their message was clear. lawmakers need to take action to prevent future

mary bruce, abc news, capitol hill. >> in a statement nancy pelosi said despite our differences i kmepd his steadfast commitment to our country. during the final months democrats are hopeful he joins us to work constructively to advance better futures for all americans. >>> we'll move on now to the investigation of president trump's personal lawyer, michael cohen. there is new information that the fbi who raided his home and office were looking for information about that notorious "access hollywood" vio. here's abc news reporter kiera philips. >> reporter: the tape many believed could destroy donald trump presidential hopes. today they're looking into it. >> and when you're a star they let you do it. you can do anything. >> whatever you want. >> grab them by the [ bleep ]. you can do anything. >> reporter: the "access hollywood" video first surfaced just a month before the election. tonight sources tell abc news the fbi agents who raided the president's personal attorney's home, hotel violatio michael cohen's personal finances. was? were there secret deals being made outside the campaig

here is mary bruce with the details. >> reporter: the democratic party launching its own attack against the president alleging russia and the trump campaign and wikileaks to damage hillary clinton and gave the election to donald trump. >> the dnc lawsuit pieces together previous known reports ranging contracts of trump's close associates and their leak of damaging information. >> it is amazing of what came out of wikileaks. this wikileaks is like a treasure troll. >> the multi million dollars suit did not name president trump but it does go after his inner circle including his son and son-in-law. the president and his top aids could be forced to answer questions under oath. abc news, washington. >>> a source confirmed that jeff sessions said he would consider resigning if president trump were to fire deputy attorney general rosenstein. the general made the statement to white house council don mcgahn. sessions and rosenstein have been under fire for months and often the target of the president's angry tweets. president trump is dismissing the release of 15 pages of declassified notes of

. >> here's abc reporter mary bruce. >> reporter: dogged by allegations of professional misconduct tonight the president's pick to lead the va is under intense scrutiny. admiral ronnie jackson's confirmation hearing now on hold as the senate reviews allegations he created a hostile work environment and as white house physician improperly dispensed medication, specifically the sleep aid amben. the top democrat on the committee says jackson is also accused of repeatedly being drunk while on duty while traveling with the president. jackson on capitol hill said he's eager to answer the questions. just moments later the president asked what he knows. >> i haven't heard of the particular allegations, but i will tell you he's one of the finest people that i have met. i would definitely say he's a fine man. >> reporter: the president blamed partisan politics, but then added this nudge suggesting >> i wouldn't do it.rward. what does he need it for? to be abused by a bunch of politician. i really don't think personally he should do it, but it's totally his decision. >> reporter: even before the alle

let's go back to mary bruce who will be in the room when zuckerberg is in that hot seat. mary, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, amy. well, in just a few hours the tech giant will be sitting right here facing off with lawmakers for the very first time. he's likely to be grilled on everything from user privacy to russian meddling in the election to how to prevent your data from being misused in the future. in his prepared testimony, zuckerberg admits facebook has been used to spread fake news, hate speech and allow foreign interference in elections. and he will apologize saying i started facebook. i run it and i'm responsible for what happens here. now, it comes as 87 million facebook users are being informed this morning that their information was shared with cambridge analytica, that political consulting group that worked with donald trump's campaign in 2016 and there could be really serious far-reaching consequences to this. if your information was shared, experts tell us it's possible that advertisers could use it to specifically profile and target you in the fu

abc's senior congressional correspondent, mary bruce, is on capitol hill with all the latest. good morning, mary. >> reporter: good morning, george. well, this was a real surprise. mike pompeo here was headed for an historic rebuke but then at the very last second republican senator rand paul flipped his vote after being given assurances directly from president trump. that gave pompeo enough support to clear the key senate foreign relations committee along a strict party line vote. pompeo now heads for a full vote before the senate and he is expected to be confirmed later this week. >> he's going to be confirmed now but there's new trouble for the president's veterans affairs secretary pick. >> reporter: and ronny jackson could be in real trouble, george. his confirmation hearing is set right now for tomorrow, but this morning, there are new concerns about his professional conduct that are threatening to delay and possibly even derail his confirmation. dr. ronny jackson, of course, is the president's personal physician. the two we know are very close but there have already bee

welcome to all of you and, mary, i got to start with you. let's start where we ended with lindsey graham and that is scott pruitt. there's been a lot of abc reporting on this and that house for $50 as well as other things which we all know is pretty hard to find. how is he still hanging on to his job? >> that's the big question. look, i mean publicly the president says he still has his back. privately we know the president is growing frustrated by all of this seemingly never ending controversy. this constant drip, drip, drip and there is this rift within the white house. we know his chief of staff john kelly wants him gone. so do a growing number of lawmakers including republicans. i mean we just have never seen a cabinet secretary in recent memory face so many ethical questions on so many different fronts from that sweetheart real estate deal to an inflated security detail. his seemingly penchant for luxury travel. all these questions, but the bottom line, the president likes him. he's long been one of the president's favorites because he's

mary bruce on the left spoke to coons on the hill. >> the chairman became a little emotional, praising your statesmanship. >> we should see this more often. i will tell you that when my father died. a republican senator who i did not know well came up to me on the floor and says if you need to miss the next vote i'll pair with you. i'll either leave or vote the way would you have voted so it doesn't change the outcome. and that meant a great deal to me. every now and then we should find our way toward each other in ways like this. >> well, the full senate is expected to vote on the nomination later this week. >>> and a race is looking closer than republicans would like. >> early voting results look favorable for a republican debbie lessco who hopes to keep the republican district under control. but the democratic newcomer trails closely behind, looking to become the latest in a series of unlikely victories. >> brad mielke explains what it could mean. >> this is a trump district, dead red. in recent years, democrats have not even bothered to put anybody on the ballot. this time you have

mary bruce has more. >> reporter: a standing ovation for the speaker of the house. paul ryan breaking the news to his staff. >> why are you resigning? >> i'm not resigning. >> reporter: the decision, he says, is personal. >> some of you know my story. my dad died when i was 16, the age my daughter is. and i just don't want to be one of those people looking back at my life thinking i should spend more time with my kids, they will only know me as a weekend father. >> reporter: he insists it has nothing to do with his rocky relationship with the president or the prospect republicans could take a beating in the midterms. >> the chance that you might not be speaker if the democrats retake the house, did that factor in? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: on the hill, house republicans are looking for a new leader. all eyes are on ryan's number two, kevin mccarthy and the majority whip steve scalise. now last night, republican leaders had dinner with the president at the white house, including speaker ryan and his rumored replacements, kevin mccarthy and steve scalise. the pr

mary bruce, abc news, charleston, west virginia. >>> and one of the biggest rain storms is slamming the west coast with what could be a record amount of rainfall. >> construction crews working to rebuild the fire ravaged city of sant rosa. scrambled the finish up projects before the downpours hit. the entire fire zone is at risk for flash flooding and landslides. melissa joins us now with the forecast. good morning. >> i hope you're in the mood for some snow because we are going to see it through parts of northern new england. we are looking at 2-4 inches of the white stuff. it could build up on roads, maybe even interstate 90 as you travel through new york state. that's just today with the snowfall and there's more to come. it's still moving through the central plains. kansas city could get 1-3 inches through the day and the night. keep in mind, it could be more in parts of kentucky. on the southern side of the system, the threat turns to severe weather. we'll be talking about damaging winds. isolated tornados is also a possibility in the south. diane? kendis? >> our thanks to melissa.

so let's bring in our senior congressional correspondent mary bruce. good morning, mary. >> reporter: good morning, george. well, the blows to scott pruitt keep coming. epa officials now tell abc news pruitt knew about and supported a plan to give two of his most loyal aides big salary hikes, even after the white house refused to sign off. earlier this week pruitt claimed he knew nothing about this at the time but sources tell us that simply is not true. and now "the new york times" also reports that several epa officials who raised red flags about pruitt's management and spending were either demoted or reassigned. now we've reached out to the agency for comment. so far no response. publicly as we heard there, the president says he has pruitt's back but privately white house officials tell us he is frustrated by all of this controversy and there are now growing calls for him to resign. the looming question this morning, george, can pruitt save his job? >> it is a big one. okay, mary, thanks very much. paula. >> certainly under fire. thanks, george. >>>

abc's senior congressional correspondent mary bruce is on capitol hill. good morning, mary. >> reporter: good morning, michael. well, the jockeying here is already under way for who will be the next speaker of the house. this morning all eyes are on ryan's number two, kevin mccarthy, and the majority whip steve scalise. both of them were at the dinner at the white house with the president last night. while the president has said he wishes ryan well he has not said who he would like to see as next speak ever of the house. ryan has some ideas on who he would like to be his replacement but he's also staying mum for now and, remember, he is still speaker. ryan says he plans to stay in the position through the end of this term, but he may possibly have to leave even sooner if members decide they want to speed this process along. or, michael, this entire debate could be for nothing. if republicans lose the house in november, democrats will then be the ones filling the speaker's seat, and as for what comes next for paul ryan, right now he says he has no plan to

bruce, is on capitol hill with details. good morning, mary. >> reporter: good morning, george. well, the man allegedly behind millions of these frustrating and annoying calls says they can easily be pulled off with just the click of a button. adrian abramovich insists he did nothing wrong, but he is accused of making nearly hundred million fake calls in just three months. that's roughly 12 calls a second. now, he says this practice known as spoofing can be done by virtually anyone. well, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle here are now fed up. many are now pushing legislation that would require phone companies to offer new tools to help you block these pesky calls and as for abramovich, he now faces a proposed $120 million fine from the fcc. >> boy, that is steep. okay, mary, thanks very much. michael. >> thank you, george. >>> now grandma to the rescue. a california grandmother was watching her 1-year-old granddaughter on the porch when she noticed something. take a look. >> oh, my god. the bear. oh. >> it is a bear. gran

our senior congressional correspondent mary bruce has the latest there on capitol hill for us. good morning, mary sxwlr robin, good morning. jackson said he's withdrawing his nomination with regret and maintains these allegations against him are false. in statement just now, he expected to face tough questions during this process but not to deal with what he's describing as baseless and anonymous attacks on his character and integrity. facing an avalanche of allegations of professional misconduct, this morning, dr. ronny jackson is withdrawing his nomination to lead the v.a. saying in statement, these false allegations have become a distraction for this president and the important issue we must addressing -- how we give the best care to our nation's heroes. moments later, the president defending dr. jackson on fox news. >> i want somebody who's going to be great. tremendous heart. these are all false accusations. these are false. they're trying to destroy a man. >> reporter: the announcement comes less than 24 hours after new explosive allegations emerged. more than 20 current

abc's mary bruce is on the story for us this morning. good morning, mary. >> reporter: paula, good morning. ethical questions about pruitt's behavior have been growing for weeks, from concerns about his relationship with a d.c. lobbyist to questions about whether he's wasting taxpayer money. now this morning pruitt is punching back, arguing he's the victim of forces in washington that want to destroy him and the trump agenda. as calls for his resignation grow, the embattled epa head, scott pruitt, is playing defense. >> any time that you do transformational things there are critics. >> reporter: speaking out in a contentious interview with fox news. >> do you take responsibility? >> i'm fixing it. >> do you take responsibility? >> i'm fixing the problem. >> reporter: but will it be enough to save his job? the white house won't say if the president still has confidence in pruitt. >> the president thinks that he's done a good job particularly on the deregulation front but, again, we take this seriously and we're looking into it. >> reporte

behave bruce fine and house minority republican counsel in the iran-contra investigation. we have my colleague prefessor david vladic who is director of georgetown center on privacy and technology and expert on litigation involving minority party rights in congress. and finally, we have josh campbell who is now working for cnn as their law enforcement analyst but he was a especially assistant to the fbi director james comey and former supervisory special agent. ic that very much for all coming today. let's lead off with mr. nadler. we're going to sit at the table and at the end i'm going to let it out for anybody would wants to ask questions. thank you. >> thank you very much. i'd like to make a few points at the outset. first, oversight of the department of justice and the fbi is incredibly important. especially arguably under preez trump. there are few tassks more important. we flif a time where the doj, department of justice and the fbi are under attack by the president and the congressional majority. it is impossible to recount all of mr. trump's assaults on the depart

mary beth: it's been very good. the superintendent helped me plan a big anniversary a few years ago for the 50th anniversary of being suspended. my brother john, unfortunately chris died, but bruce clark came, and my brother and sister came, and we went to the elementary school, five high schools. we went back to my middle school with a dedicated a locker to me. superintendent were planning a celebration for the 50th anniversary of the ruling as well. he has a great admiration for the ruling. and for student voices in general. he's a fan of the case. susan: we have some video of a mary beth tinker mural. mary beth: that is at my old junior high school. they have an arts scene there. it's been great to be involved with them. susan: did you ever expect an apology from the school board? mary beth: no. but the roosevelt students all voted to have our lawyer in the graduation speaker, and he was. susan: how does this all feel to you, seeing your picture on a wall at the school you attended? mary beth: the whole story has