abc renewed the reboot for a second season after the premiere because the ratings were so massive. more than 18 million people tuned in for the revived series last week. following it, president trump made a personal phone call to roseanne barr to talk about the ratings. >> now barr's character, roseanne connor, is a trump supporter. something rare in hollywood. here's a snippet from the first episode. >> thank you for making america great again. >> how could you have voted for him, roseanne? >> he talked about jobs, jackie. he said he'd shake things up. this might come as a complete shock to you, but we almost lost our house the way things were going. >> have you looked at the news because now things are worse. >> not on the real news. >> oh, please! >> all right. so let's talk about pop culture editor for the "washington post," zachary pinkus roth with us. roseanne is a trump supporter. she talked about how much this factored into the revival. the political divide in the country is obviously working for her. >> obviously. a lot of people must have tuned in in part for the curiosit

when abc launched with two episodes tuesday night the show had an average of 17.7 million viewers in the first half hour, 18.6 million in the second. it's already been renewed for a second season. the story of a working class family of five that hasn't been on air since 1997 clearly struck a chord and the question is why? some will say that nostalgia is at play, but i discount that. the show did a strong 5.1 share among adults 18 to 49. and 20 somethings who partially compromised the audience weren't part of the viewership. roseanne barr the series star in real life voted for president trump and her character in the reboot is revealed to be a trump backer. >> thank you for making america great again. >> how could you have voted for him? >> he talked about jobs, jackie. he'd shake things up. we almost lost our house the way things are going. >> now things are worse. >> not on the real news. >> oh, please! >> the president thinks it's that simple. he called the real life roseanne to congratulate her and in thursday he told his audience this. >> even look at roseanne. i called her yeste

you decide not to go ahead with abc? >> i decide not to go with abc. i told them, you know, i got cold feet. my mother wouldn't be happy with me for sharing this story. i always put my mom in the mix. i just backed out. i just backed out. then the republican, he won the republican nomination and ami was interested in the story again. >> once donald trump won the republican nomination, you're saying ami suddenly came back to you with interest? >> to keith. to us for the story. >> why do you think it was that it was after donald trump was the republican nominee that they came back? >> they wanted to squash the story. >> you're saying they wanted to protect donald trump? >> i'm assuming so, yeah. the offer, which we didn't discuss or haven't discussed was they had offered me a big contract for work, for modelling and fitness and things like that. my life has been health and fitness. >> they said they were going to have you be a columnist? >> correct. they said i would write columns. one article per month in okay macki mack magazine and four columns on rad

you decide not to go ahead with abc. >> i decide not to go with abc i told them i got cold feet. my mother wouldn't be happy with me for sharing this story. again i always put my mom in the mix. but i just backed out. i just backed out. the republican he won the republican nomination. and ami was interested again. >> once donald trump won the nomination, you're saying ami suddenly came back to you with interest? >> to koeith, yes. for the story. >> why do you think was after he was the nominee they came back? >> they wanted to squash the story. >> you're saying they wanted to protect donald trump? >> i'm assuming so, yeah. the offer which we didn't discuss yetd or haven't discussed. they had offered me a big contract. for work. for modelling. and fitness and things like that. my life has been health and fitness. >> they said you were going to be a columnist. >> i would write columns. i would get one article per month in okay magazine. one article in star magazine for two years. and four columns per month on radar online for two years. and two magazine covers. their reasoning is y

and that fits what ben sherwood president of abc told the "new york times" that this was a heartland strategy. he says that the day after the president's election, abc executives looked at one another and to their credit said there is a lot about this country we need to learn a lot more about. he said that roseanne's revival was a direct effort to reach an audience that they were underservi underserving. i get all that. i'm sure it is accurate. but on this the day before easter and the day after many enjoyed family at seder, i thin. while roseanne supported candidate trump, her sister jackie is revealed to be a hillary supporter who nevertheless voted for jill stein. that is a real snapshot into america. a world where the all or nothing red state or blue state pore frayed by cable television news is not reality. for many of us, enjoying the company of friends and relatives this weekend our worlds will be much more like roseanne's than the narrative we see in our leaders and their media mouthpieces. this weekend many of us will be a butter knife away from a loved one who sees the worl

abc, accelerated bridge construction, can minimize disruption to the traffic underneath. that's an advance. it started out, i believe, in utah. departments of transportation used it out there. it's been advocated across the country as a better way to do construction in terms of minimizing disruption to traffic. >> andy herrman, former president of the american society of civil engineers, thank you very much for your time and expertise in helping to shed some light on what may have gone wrong here in miami, florida, where this pedestrian bridge collapsed, trapping people underneath, crushing several cars and killing multiple people, according to the florida highway patrol. we'll take a quick break. much more when we come back. we'll be talking with additional witnesses from the scene. you're here on cnn. stay with us. ♪ i thought i was managing my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. but i realized something was missing... me. the thought of my symptoms returning was keeping me from being there for the people and things i love most. so, i talked to my doctor and learne

, and i think abc can confirm this, they were having conversations with abc, word leaked out, and michael cohen approached my client with this offer of $130,000, and this nda. >> okay. so schwartz of course says michael cohen was not acting ill leely. >> there is no question about it. >> szarvas argument is that there is because this type of happens so frequently in his relationship with donald trump as his personal attorney, that trump wouldn't have expected to be briefed on the details. and here's a clip of how schwartz explained it. >> look, michael was fixer. we all know it. so it could be anything. it's not that this man -- there were a ton of matters that michael fixed. and drumtd wasn't involved in every single matter. believe me, michael cohen got calls at 3 in the morning. michael and i would be at dinner. boss could be calling him all the time. >> i'm sure. >> so there were always problems. any business always problems. >> you buy it? >> well, no, i actually believe it. i bloo eve there were a ton of porn stars and a ton of playmates. i do believe that. because that's what he's

so many interesting elements to this story, the latest there abc news where they reported a year ago this moment when his secret service detail, talking about scott pruitt, couldn't get in contact with him. they thought he was unconscious, they called 911, emergency crews were mobilized and they burst threw the door to find him awaking from a nap. just a bizarre story, amanda. >> and then because they broke the door and the glatss, they hd to reimburse like $4,000, $5,000. so more taxpayer money to fund scott pruitt. the trump administration is a mess. they have all these ethic scandals which is funny because it is not like scott pruitt is hurting for money. taxpayers are also paying for him to fly back and forth from oklahoma and he has been flying first class which is outraging a lot of people because obviously it is a lot more expensive, but he is saying needs it because of all the threats he is getting. that is a break from past practice of other epa administrators. so scott pruitt is in-krcredibl expensive and he is not the only one. you had all these other public officials who

though, daniels' current lawyer says that cohen approached her when he found out she was talking to abc news at the time about an interview, of course, days before presidential election, and, therefore, had a desire to kill that interview. you're saying that's not true? >> well, stormy daniels said it's not true. stormy daniels admitted that michael cohen never communicated with her whatsoever, never, never communicate the with her. the only communications were between cohen -- >> he arranged $130,000 payment. >> with an attorney. >> in touch in some way. >> they were not. that's the crucial point in the case. >> why did he set up an llc in delaware to get $130,000 to her pocket? >> he was speaking with the other attorney. he was not speaking with stormy daniels directly. >> for folks at home, it doesn't matter so much there was an intermediary. folks at home have a reasonable question to say, then, if there was no, you know, damaging information that she might be able to offer, why the need to pay the money? >> it matters because the accusation is michael cohen was threatening her, mea

something interesting from just this morning on abc's "this week" chris ruddy one of the president's friends and ceo of news max was on abc saying the president is perplexed by all the reports of chaos at the white house. even though we just talked about all those staff changes here's what ruddy says trump is feeling right now. >> he told me that he thinks the white house is operating like a smooth machine, in his words. >> really? i don't have anything to say. if you think this is smooth, you know, hey. all of this ties together. it's all calls for alarm for the journalists who have to deal with the denials and realities on a daily basis. when we can't take the white house spokespeople at their word and when we can't take the president at his word, what happens then? what happens then? that's ultimately one of the biggest questions of this presidency is the challenge for reporters and a challenge for all of you at home. let me snow what you think, tweet me, look me on facebook, my handle brian stelter. see you back here for "reliable sources" this time next week. (vo) dogs have evol

as abc reports this evening. i want to mention a representative for mccabe declined to comment for this story. >> thank you so much. what investigators are learning about the austin serial bomber after talking to his roommates. that story is next. ging my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are co

the lowest prices. >>> the rebooted "roseanne" sitcom just renew for a second season by abc. but roseanne herself is under fire for promoting conspiracy thoug theories. >> thank you for making america great again. >> reporter: the "roseanne" revival view more viewers in the demo than any comedy on television since 2014 which means more eyeballs on the show's lead who is no stranger to politics and controversy. >> to start curing this world, i am officially announcing that i am running for president of the united states of america. as well as prime minister of israel. this is a two-fer. >> reporter: roseanne barr is a trump supporter who seems to already be taking a panel frge the president's playbook. she faced backlash for tweeting a doctored image of activist david hogg accusing him of giving the nazi salute. it wasn't a far leap from past posts when barr was focused on spreading right wing conspiracies like this one just last november engaging a deep state conspiracy. or post-election when one of barr's tweets backed the pizza gate conspiracy theory which stated some democ

when she got close to actually going on with abc, all of a sudden, ami resurfaced. >> ami has put out a statement, and i want to read what they said. they said, karen has been free, has spoken freely and remains free to speak regarding her story since the amendment made to her contract in 2016. the only thing she's limited from doing under her contract with american media is selling her story rights to another publisher or media outlet. that is not silencing karen. so they're saying, yes, her contract was amended to allow her to respond to legitimate media inquiries through another attorney in 2016, and since then she's been able to speak. it's just they own the -- they still own the rights to her life story. >> and it sounds terrific. it's just not how they've behaved in private. ronan farrow did a story about ami catching and killing that prominently featured karen, and she was terrified. she didn't sit down for an interview. she just answered some questions. she verified some things. and in the wake of that, they made clear -- they said further disclosures would breach her contract

listen to chris ruddy in the interview with abc. >> the president told me he is perplex perplexed by the reports of chaos at the white house or mass staff changes. he told me he thinks the white house is operating like a smooth machine. his words. he did say that he is expecting to make one or two major changes to his government very soon. that's going to be it. >> the rift with shulkin and the white house happened in february after the inspector general report related to the trip he took to europe with his wife last summer. >>> the white house is deferring to the pentagon on banning transgender from the military. the administration now says trr transgender are disqualified. exceptions to the ban are people who have been stable for 36 consecutive months in the biological sex. this is a discriminatory attack on those who volunteered their lives for the country. it will be challenged in court. the full ban trump tweeted last summer is challenged in at least four separate legal cases. >>> president trump could decide today whether to follow the recommendation of the national security co

that came in response to an abc report saying now dismissed deputy director andrew mccabe authorized an investigation if sessions lied to coppingress. >> sessions said he did not communicate with russians during the campaign, although he met twice with the russian ambassad ambassador. sessions said he did not mislead or lie. a source close to sessions said he was unaware of the purerjury probe last week. >>> an issue in the west wing after donald trump was told not to congratulate vladimir putin on the election win, but they did anyone. john kelly launching an investigation into the leak and only a small group of staffers have access to that information. >> cnn learned the president asked white house senior staff to sign non disclosure agreements. he was advised it wasn't feasible. leaks kept coming in the administration and president trump said to be infuriated by the latest leak. he is lashing out on twitter. cnn's jeff zeleny has that for us. >> reporter: christine and dave, president trump pushing back against the criticism he was too soft against russian president vladimir putin

abc's "the middle" is a prime example. tv is aspirational. either people very rich, kardashian rich or people who are supposed to be middle class and who are either living way beyond their means or this is hollywood's idea of what a middle class house looks like. so it's fairly rare to see people who are portrayed in a very positive light who live in a modest house, who have old appliances, who are seen struggling with money and struggling with the bills and seeing that feels like validation for a lot of people. it feels like someone is understanding them. >> so, let's take it a step further. of course, i read your interview with the executive producer. what's really important for roseanne and all of us is to put the whole discourse out in the open. we're hoping we can bring dialogue back. as you point out in your piece, that is a mighty tall order. do you think they can pull it off? >> you know, the thing about fiction, the power of fix and of these relationships that we have with fictional characters is that we can put ourselves in someone

that came in response to an abc report saying now dismissed deputy director andrew mccabe authorized an investigation if sessions lied to congress. >> sessions said he did not communicate with russians during the campaign, although he met twice with the russian ambassador. sessions said he did not mislead or lie. a source close to sessions said he was unaware of the perjury probe when he fired mccabe last week. the special counsel's office declined to comment. >>> an issue in the west wing after donald trump was told not to congratulate vladimir putin on the election win, but they did anyone. cnn learned john kelly is launching an investigation into the leak. only a small group of staffers have access to that information. >> cnn learned the president is said to be infuriated about the leak. cnn's jeff zeleny has more. >> reporter: christine and dave, president trump pushing back against the criticism he was too soft against russian president vladimir putin. after his call earlier this week when he congratulated putin on the victory and criticized for not raising other issues of elect

. >> i want to move around -- >> can you confirm or comment on the abc news report that a number of staffers have had their -- >> i'm going to bounce around. i'm sure your colleagues would be happy to pick up where you left off. >> i have a question in response to that. you said there's whom and when? >> for the president's personal attorneys. for details i would have to refer you to them. >> but you shared them with us. >> i would refer you to the president's outside counsel for any details on that. >> the president will be meeting with video game executives. what does he hope to accomplish and why is he bringing them in? >> he wants to continue the conversation on every different area we can to help promote school safety. i'm not going to get ahead of the discussion they'll have tomorrow. but we think it's an important discussion to have and one that the president looks forward to. >> do you thies he think that v games are too violent? >> certainly something that should be looked at and what we want to have a conversation about. >> the president tweeted earlier, saying that the u.s. is act

the family talked about it on abc's "good morning america." >> the flight attendant said you have to put him up there because it's going to block the path. we said it's a dog. it's a dog. she said it doesn't matter. you have to put it up there. she helped her put it up and closed it like it was a bag. she took him out and opened the thing and then she got the dog and he was dead. >> i can't. i can't. sarah stuck around, sarah zari. i have a little dog. you put it in the little bag, the seat in front of you. why are they telling her to put it in the bin? >> that's a question that's not been answered yet by united. it's not just sad but infuriating for anyone who has a pet, knows a pet, cares about what happens to a small animal. this family lost their pet because of this. united said this is a tragic accident. they said we assume full responsibility for this tragedy and express our deepest condolences to the family and are committed to supporting them. we are fully investigating what occurred to prevent this from happening again. they offered to pay for the autopsy for the dog. this i

because as recently as yesterday morning, rachel, the deputy press secretary at the white house was on abc, was talking to jonathan carl. even yesterday morning only hours before the final announcement was released, he said this. >> yeah, the president has been clear that he does support raising the age to 21. >> as federal policy. >> for certain firearms. there will be recommendations to states, a task force. i'm not going to get ahead of it, but that will be a component, raising the age. >> it wasn't a component, they didn't raise the age. >> they're trying to have their cake and eat it, too. they're trying to say the president supports raising the age, he wants to be for stricter gun control measures, but he's not willing to put the political capital behind it. the nra is unwilling to raise the age for any kind of weapon. if the president wants to do that, he'll have to really stick it to his party, go out there and call people and try to whip this. you're actually hearing him sound more like a republican. before he sounded like a democrat. republicans on the hill were very concerned ab

but if you fast forward, i ended up not wanting to do that deal so we were going to go to abc and tell the story just to get the story out there and for nothing, there was no pay. i just backed out, i just brackbrack -- backed out. then he won the republican nomination, and everyone was interested in the story again. >> once donald trump won the republican nomination, you're saying ami suddenly came back to you? >> to keith, yes, to us, for the story. >> why do you think it was that it was after donald trump became the republican nominee they came back. >> they wanted to squash the story. >> you're saying they wanted to protect donald trump? >> i'm assuming so, yes. why did i file a lawsuit? i want my rights back. >> you want the life rights to your story? >> i want my life rights back. you know, it's been -- yeah, i want my life rights back, i feel like the contract is illegal, i feel like i wasn't presented correctly, i was lied to and everybody involved in this deal. i want the rights back and i want to share my truth because everyone else is talking about my truth, which i need to

which is bad news for melania, and -- >> like fallon, jimmy kimmel stuck to a more traditional show on abc. >> he's sort of like your all-american 1950s guy. he's not especially progressive in his social views. i don't think of him out there to bash conservatives. >> that persona changed last may, when kimmel, through tears, revealed a health scare involving his newborn son. >> it's a terrifying thing. i'm -- you know, my wife is back in the recovery room. she has no idea what's going on. >> kimmel's emotional story became a call to action on health care. >> if your baby is going to die and it doesn't have to, it shouldn't matter how much money you make. i think that's something that whether you're a republican or a democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right? i mean we do. [ applause ] >> he puts himself out there in the middle of the health care discussion. i think he really zeroed in on that, and it's kind of made him a heroic figure for some people. >> then kimmel was fully immersed in the political fray when he had on the louisiana senator who was making a last-ditch effor

do you think abc will have an issue on its hands with the conspiracy theories that are beginning to percolate into the mainstream? >> no. she's long had a big following on social media. this is not news she has said these things in the past. people are looking, i guess, again at things she said under the microscope more. >> what if she keeps it up? >> that would be different. my guess is that her goal will be to have crossover appeal, someone that trump smourter e s can say i like the show and nontrump supporter can still say i get it. i was a fan back in the day and this isn't going to make me not watch the show. i think we've become very forgiving about past social media comments and i also think broadcast television is different. >> i agree, given who the audience may be and who may or may not be aware of all this percolating. do you think that the president deserves credit for any of her 18 million viewers? because he's taking it. >> no. who knew what was going to be said on the show. to say you see, because they were talking about this in a positive way on the show, that's why the show p

wednesday nights, in color, on abc. it was a big marketing thing. >> color tv was a huge step forward as far as the technology went. and yet, i think of "lost in space." "lost in space" started off as a black and white show and went to color. it didn't get any better when it went to color. >> dr. smith, you're alive. >> of course, i'm alive. do i look like a corpse? >> the period has a reputation for being tv as a kind of candy. sometimes it felt like there was in really aggressive innocence to it. >> you're only to blow that in an emergency. >> this is an emergency, you're standing on my foot! >> "gilligan's island" makes no sense whatsoever logistically. how is the professor able to build all this stuff but not build a damn raft? >> this stick of true dynamite that i made. >> it makes no sense if you pull any single thread on it, but it was just like the kind of show designed to live forever in syndication. >> what are you looking for? >> the nun. who else? >> are you kidding? >> "flying nun" is the most -- it's a cra

. >> so abc is reporting tonight that a year ago fired fbi director andrew mccabe had overseen an investigation into whether attorney general jeff sessions had lacked candor when testifying to congress about his contact that he had with the russians. sessions of course fired mccabe this past friday, blocking him from searching his full pension for a similar investigation. what's your reaction to that, michael? >> well, it's not clear to me that jeff sessions did lack candor in his interviews. his attorney, chuck cooper, a good lawyer has said that mueller told him that sessions is not a target or a subject or a person of interest to the mueller investigation. so it may not be a factually correct statement to say that sections lacked candor. if, however, we find out that sessions knew that mccabe was investigating him, then -- and investigating him with respect to something touching on russia, then the attorney general should not have involved himself in the determination whether to fire mccabe. he should have left that to rosenstein and recused himself from this aspect of the inquiry. >> quick,

>> abc's roseanne reboot, a huge ratings winner this week. so big that roseanne actually got a congratulatory call from, guess who, the president himself. "60 minutes" by the way did not get a congratulatory call after the stormy daniels interview. joining me now, brian stelter. the number is huge. 18 million viewers. >> it really is remarkable both as a business story and also as a cultural story. a new sitcom in a world where there are thousands of options and you are lucky to get 5 million, 10 billion viewers. roseanne bringing in 18 million viewers is a testament both to the idea of reboots, everything old is new again, people loved it before, they love it again, and also a testament to where the country is. here is a screen that shows both the ratings for roseanne which drew a higher audience than the season finale almost 20 years ago. that never happens. we put the "60 minutes" ratings on here as well to put it in perspective. all things trump seem to be ratings gold right now. especially that stormy daniels interview which set a record

so we were going to go to abc and tell the story, just to he get the story out there. for nothing. there was no pay. >> that's been the central question too. why do you want to tell the story? what's the point here? she said i want to control the narrative. now that i am being told i can't control it, that's why i want to talk. to jeffrey's point, areva, we have now heard the story. >> yeah, erica. it is a little convoluted. there was a lot of money. she was told she could make a lot of money telling the story. but as she is negotiating with ami she said she was glad they decided to bury the story because she didn't want to hurt him and she didn't want the story out there. she liked the idea that she would get to be promoted as a health and wellness or fitness model in their various media platforms in exchange for them not to tell the story. although it was awe very compelling narrative with lots of specifics, so no doubt in my mind that the affair occurred. still not really clear on what the legal issue here is. we should note ami says said you have been free to tell your story si

he went to abc and he got her nothing. then he got her $150,000, and that makes him a bad guy? >> i don't know if you're playing devil's advocate or not but that's definitely not fair. this is the same lawyer who told her ami had put money in an escrow account. >> she's telling her story and that's what you supposedly want out of this lawsuit. >> look, i'm going to agree with you to one extent, which is that we are very pleased as a result of this lawsuit she say able to do that interview and do it free of consequences. so to that extent i guess we'll agree, but to that point we're going to part company and i'll tell you why. if you accept our underlying view of what happened, which is just really shameful treatment of karen on the part of ami's executives and basically everyone on that side of the table, then i think any reasonable person in her position would not want to be tied to that company and would believe that the deal should be unwound. you say oh, well she got $150,000. well, that presumes that you accept that the deal was fair in the first place. she's a very succes

. >>> abc news is he reporting that andrew mccabe authorized a criminal probe of attorney general jeff sessions. what are you hearing? >> this entire situation stems from the situation in january 2017 in which he said, i did not have communications with the russians. that testimony got him in a bit of hot water after reports later revealed that he did in fact have two encounters with sergei kislyak. some democratic members of congress, he is not under investigation. i want to read to you a statement from chuck cooper. he says the special counsel's office has informed me that after interviewing the attorney general and conducting additional investigation, the attorney general is not under investigation for false statements or perjury in his confirmation hearing testimony and related written submissions to congress. the interesting part is the situation with mccabe. jeff sessions cited it as a reason yes needed to be dismissed. a close source to sessions tells me that he was not aware that he was under investigation for perjury when he fired mccabe. a representative tells me he is not re

then telling abc news night line, yes, it happened. >> i made a very, serious mistake. >> his political career never recovered. barack obama became the party's nominee and president. >> what does all of this mean to donald trump? so far nothing. he has successfully batted down, denied or ignored all of the swirling claims of sexual improprietior misconduct and his base of voters has stood by him so far. >> tom foreman, thank you. >>> cnn senior political analyst and former adviser david gergen is back with me. that quite the trip down memory lane. good or bad, is there anything president trump can learn from those stories? >> well i think it's heapful to be more transparent. helpful to have a less active life. i way that donald trump has far got through this without a battering from his own base, you know, keeping his own base even evangelicals stood by him, i think because what they were get wleg they elected him, we add tape out there, people add chance to judge. their grievances were so powerful about the way they were living and people were willing to accept trump for who he is. i d

abc renewed the show for a second season. but after episode one, some are wondering if this reboot is trump propaganda. 2018's "roseanne" is a trump support eastern the real life roseanne has a history of promoting right-wing conspiracy theories on her twitter feed. she says she wants the show to be a realistic image of family and america's current political climate. cnn's senior media reporter oliver darcy joins me now. oliver, back in the day "roseanne," i remember the show in the first run, very funny. but it was also considered to be a progressive show. how has she become a trump supporter and how does that mirror real life demo graphics? >> that's a great demographics? >> it probably would have supported someone like bill clinton back years ago when it was first produced. but now go forward to 2016, a lot of those voters, those blue collar voters, ended up going for trump. you see that in the show where roseanne is playing the trump supporter and the family portrayed is really -- resembles what we saw in 2016. >> i thoug

commentator ken cuccinelli, and with abc radio, ann compton. i saw a sign earlier that said this is not a moment. this is a movement. what makes this a movement? what could make this become the next civil rights movement or the anti-vietnam war movement? >> what makes it so different from the others is in the old days, civil rights, when i was the same age looking at those kids out there today, when i was their age, the civil rights act was signed. 100 years after the civil war. when you look at issues, public polling on same-sex marriage or the me too movement, things now happen much, much faster. and i think what the young people today are finding is that in the digital world of communication today, their message, they have a message. they can speak out, and it has much quicker resonance. >> it's impressive how articulate they are at that young age. i think, gosh, i wish i were that articulate then. a lot of these students we have been hearing from, the signs we have been reading, can have called for taking it to the polls. making this -- mak

jonathan karl, terrific reporter at abc has sources telling him that the way they look at this is not that the president has lost control, it's that he's taking controlled and running things the way he wants now, mary katherine. i wonder what the implications of that may be? >> i think some of that may be true. i think some of the first picks, the reen priebus as chief of staff were off-brand for him and trying to make this fit with his new look and sort of marry himself with the gop. some of that didn't work out. i think actually pompeo will likely be more compatible with him. he may hear things about russia better from someone he likes personally than he did from rex tillerson. i think that matters. this part where you can't even call somebody, i just have a personal issue with that. i think it's very classless. this is like the online dating app of white houses. there's a lot of fire, meeting a lot of people. there's not a lot of vetting at the beginning. no thought to compatibility and in the end you get a text or get ghosted. that's not a great way of doing business. in running t

journal" first reported that stephanie clifford known as porn star stormy daniels was in discussion was abc "good morning america" to disclose a possible relationship with donald trump. trump spokes woman, hope hicks released a statement in response saying, that it was absolutely unequivocally untrue. not exactly what most people would call extensive, right there. and things were quiet for a while. and on january 12th of this year the "wall street journal" first reported on a possible hush money payoff over an alleged affair between donald trump and stormy daniels. the white house responded with, these are old recycled reports which were published and strongly denied prior to the election. except, we didn't know about a payoff before the election. just that stormy daniels was in talks to disclose a relationship. we never learned about the alleged relationship between daniels and donald trump because she entered an agreement for her silence at a cost of $130,000. on january 18th the next time the white house was pressed about stormy daniels, deputy press secretary raj shah to the state your

. >> i landed my dream job at "world news" at abc. because of the culture in television of sexual harassment, i left. there were many reasons that made me pivot my career and i still believe in the news. >> i was the most vulnerable and i believe i was violated by the most powerful and put in a situation where i didn't have the agency to make a good decision. and when you're a young woman and you know you were an active participant in something that wasn't right, you carry that shame with you forever. >> reporter: press forward assembled a distinguished board of advisers with journalists like cnn's jake tapper and the long-time host of "night line" ted koppel, who made the provocative suggestion that perhaps should dress differently. >> that i'm sure is an unpopular notion today. the fact of the matter is, i would feel just as upset by a guy coming in wearing a t-shirt and torn jeans to come to work at the office as i am by a woman who comes in wearing a skirt that is so short that it is provocative. >> reporter: that's listed groans

sam nunberg, the former aide to the campaign, told abc news that russia is not a witch hunt. this was after fix housix hours front of the grand jury. >> right. i don't think there's any indication and i think the president's tweets today probably reveal this, that he's changed his view or at least what he purports publicly. sort of the messaging that he does publicly, which is that he tells the public that he thinks it's a witch hunt. that there's no collusion. i think today he was tweeting, there's no collusion. >> that his lawyers have conclusively showed that, which is not true. >> and part of his -- i think he was reacting today in parking lot -- part to a "new york times" article that perhaps he's shaking up his legal team in the white house to deal with potential long-term consequences of the mueller special counsel's investigation. this investigation is not going away. i think at this point, the president knows that. he's tried to do many things over the course of the last year to derail the investigation, to slow it down, to shut it down, at this point, he has to know

because he came out and did this interview with abc and he seemed to take very seriously what mueller, the road mueller is going down, right? and it's one of the clearest takes we have on the kinds of questions that are being asked behind closed doors. the special counsel apparently asking things about policy decisions that the white house made and how they relate -- policy decisions about russia, and obviously, the line of questioning suggesting, is there any quid pro quo? is the president of the united states making policy with regards to russia because of something, some relationship? and that is kind of shocking, that that's the kind of questions that are being asked about the president -- >> it's not just about the campaign, it's about what is happening in the white house? >> absolutely. >> in terms of russia. and again, we don't know. this could mean nothing. they're just asking questions. we don't know what this all means, so we should always caveat with that. go ahead. >> yes. >> and sometimes lost in the discussion around who was having contacts with whom and what role did th

abc news reported last night, although it's been out there for some time, that they're asking questions about cambridge analytica and what they did during the campaign. it's interesting. >> yes. i think what we need to recognize is that facebook has long presented itself as a neutral platform. this idea -- this platform where people can bring their ideas and it's democratizing. unfortunately that doesn't work when a hostile foreign power can exploit it so they have a million times the voice or amplification that any one person here, and they're fake. they need to let go of this idea that they're a neutral platform e specially if certain ideas can be circulated in very targeted groups, which is what you're referring to, john, using data that facebook gathers. that was supposed to be a platform to bring people together. it's now being used to fragment our society. and one other thing is that because of our first amendment freedoms, the fbi is very limited in what it can do to investigate that. so we are left to the good will of these companies unless congress takes some action to impose l

as we know, he said to abc said when he stuck his head in the briefing room, i hope you'll give me credit. we know that is what the president really wants here. if this is a substantive meeting, if it leads to serious change, if it leads to, as he claimed, denuclearization, he should get credit. but there are a ton of questions about what comes next, what he is even negotiating for. the diplomatic community is not just surprised but alarmed and suggests he might get played. >> i think we are seeing an example of what has become a culture. this could well be a positive thing. there is obviously a need for diplomatic channels. what we are hearing about preemptive strike. it would be zero sum at best. however, how he does it gets in the way of his own success. we see that every day. the economy does have good metrics. but the way he doesn't tell the truth about what's going on or attributes to it, he causes his own problems. it is something that maybe someone should take note of inside that white house. >> i think they do take note of it. they are not able to sell that cycle. to your point,

. >>> tonight, the rebooted roseanne sitcom renewed for a second season by abc. roseanne is under fire for promoting right wing conspiracy theories. >> thank you for making america great again. >> reporter: the roseanne revival drew more viewers in the demo than any comedy on television since 2014, which means more eyeballs on the lead, who is no stranger to politics and controversy. >> i am officially announcing that i am running for president of the united states of america. as well as prime minister of israel, this is a twofer. >> reporter: a trump supporter who seems to be taking a page from the president's playbook and causing controversy on twitter. barr faced backlash for tweeting a doctored image of parkland activist, david, accusing him or giving the nazi salute. it wasn't far from when barr spread right wing conspiracies like this one, engaging in deep stage con sespiracy. some democrats, including hillary clinton were part of a sex trafficking ring in the basement of a washington pizza restaurant. barr spread the conspiracy there was a cover up surroun

>> and when reporter from abc news finally got mcmaster to respond, here's what happened. >> i just wanted to ask you about the reports that you might be leaving the white house. >> sarah sanders set it straight yesterday. everybody has to leave the white house sometime. >> hey, that's true. we have term limits. right. perhaps most graceful way for mcmaster to deal with the fact that his boss is talking to a whole lot of people in negative ways about firing him. it isn't as if the president hasn't cut down mcmaster too. via public forum for shaming here's the tweet when he slammed mcmaster for slamming russia for meddling in the u.s. election. quote, general mcmaster forgot to say the results of the election were not changed by russians. and only collusion was by crooked h. remember the dirty dossier and podesta company. that tweet slamming mcmaster was one month ago. so the president has been fuming and complaining for at least that long. rendering his national security adviser increasingly toothless. but has not formally fired him. why? maybe because of headlines like this one from the w

they don't want to hear about politics when they turn on abc at night or cbs. they just want to be entertained. i think it's pretty smart, though, these producers are going toward politics rather than running away from it. i don't know about you, brianna, it seems all roads lead back to trump, all conversations lead back to trump. it's so much a part of american life when so many people are interested in politics and the president. either they love him or don't love him, and roseanne is reflecting that debate. there is also argument that so many late night shows find a way to make fun of the president. here is a show going the other direction. hollywood likes diversity and here is an example of diversity. calling roseanne barr and congratulating her, it speaks to his obsession with ratings. it shows his desire to be validated by hollywood, even as he attacks and criticizes hollywood, and it shows that much of life, much of american life, for better or worse, is split up as pro-trump or anti-trump. when the president sees something viewed as pro-trump that's suc

>> abc and the academy have both made pretty clear statements that they hope they can find a way to appropriately address it, possibly within the program, but that it won't dominate the conversation. >> reporter: while the oscars are meant to be a celebration of film's biggest achievements, backlash is expected at the industry's largest hurdles are not addressed during the broadcast. >> as much as hollywood wants to celebrate the films and support the notion that the oscars should never be completely politicized, i think there would be a backlash if they don't find one official moment within the show to acknowledge this movement. >> reporter: the effects of a major shake-up in the industry rippling into hollywood's biggest night. stephanie elam, cnn, hollywood. >> and we've got so much more straight ahead in the "newsroom" and it all starts right now. >>> all right, hello again, and thank you for joining me. i'm fredricka whitfield. the white house in the midst of relentless chaos. trump is spending the day away from washington at his florida golf course today. a close friend describes him overal

journal" first reported that stephanie clifford known as porn star stormy daniels was in discussion was abc good morning america to disclose a possible relationship with donald trump. trump spokes woman, hope hicks released a statement in response saying, that it was absolutely unequivocally untrue. not exactly what most people would call extensive, right there. and things were quiet for a while. and on january 12th of this year the "wall street journal" first reported on a possible hush money payoff over an alleged affair between donald trump and stormy daniels. the white house responded with, these are old recycled reports which were published and strongly denied prior to the election. except, we didn't know about a payoff before the election. just that stormy daniels was in talks to disclose a relationship. we never learned about the alleged relationship between daniels and donald trump because she entered an agreement for her silence at a cost of $130,000. on january 18th the next time the white house was pressed about stormy daniels, deputy press secretary raj shah to the state your na

we were going to go to abc and tell the story just to get the story out there and for nothing, there was no pay. >> did keith have a meeting with ami? >> we did. we had a meeting with ami. >> you told them your story. >> they actually didn't think it was very credible, even though off the record they said dylan believes your story, but clearly when they came back they said it wasn't believable. >> dylan? >> dylan howard. he's with ami. so they had like a 12-hour window to -- i'm probably skipping around, i'm sorry, 12-hour window to accept whether they wanted the story or not. >> once donald trump won the republican nomination, you're saying ami suddenly came back to you with interest in the story? >> to keith, yes, for the story, yeah. >> why do you think it was that it was after donald trump was the republican nominee that they came back? >> they wanted to squash the story. >> you're saying they wanted to protect donald trump? >> i'm assuming so, yeah. but the offer, which we didn't discuss or haven't discussed, was they offered me a big, you know, contract for work, for modeling,

. >> abc and the academy have both been made pretty clear statements they hope that they can find a way to appropriately address it, possibly within the program, but that it won't dominate the conversation. >> reporter: while the oscars are meant to be a celebration of film's biggest achievements, backlash is expected at the industry's largest hurdles are not addressed during the broadcast. >> as much as hollywood wants to celebrate the films and support the notion that the oscars should never be completely politicized, i think there would be a backlash if they don't find one official moment within the show to acknowledge this movement. >> reporter: the effects of a major shake-up in the industry rippling into hollywood's biggest night. stephanie elam, cnn, hollywood. >> that is sunday night. and this year unlike the past few i actually saw a few of the movies. i'm hoping wonder woman wins out. thank you for joining me node. i'm john berman. "at this hour" starts now. >>> good morning. i'm erica hill in for kate bolduan. washington whiplash. that's about the only thing that is predictab

here's what he told abc's tara palmieri. >> i melted tv down that day. i wanted to show what this independent council, this independent investigation does to people like me. >> do you think it's a witch hunt? >> no, i don't think. there's a lot there there and that's the sad truth. i don't believe it leads to the president. >> let's bring back david zurowik of "the baltimore sun." there was a lot of criticism of television networks putting nunberg on the air especially with the suggestion he might have been drunk or drugged. how did you view this? >> brian, there's no reason not to put him on tv. i thought tv -- >> if he's drunk? >> look, you know what he said ta erin burnett which was an incredible moment in television and i thought she handled it really, really well and looked like he may have lied to her. i don't know, i wasn't there. here's why it belonged on tv, brian, because ultimately this is about the rule of law and the contempt many members of the trump administration, the people he surrounds himself seem to have for this. look, this guy is su

. >> i want to get your reaction to this abc news report that the fbi deputy director, andrew mccabe, who was just fired by the attorney general, jeff sessions, actually oversaw an investigation into whether sessions had lied during his congressional testimony. a source close to sessions, by the way, said that the attorney general wasn't aware of any perjury investigation when he fired mccabe. does that concern you? >> i'm very concerned about this report that the attorney general knew about the fbi investigation of his potential perjury before our committee. our committee, the judiciary committee, i think, was misled by him. and plainly, an fbi investigation was appropriate. and i am very eager to learn what more jeff sessions knew when he fired mccabe. i think that is all the more reason for the attorney general to come back to the judiciary committee and tech undstify undh about why he misled and apparently even lied to our committee and what he knew when he fired andrew mccabe, as fbi director. >> senator blumenthal, thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >>> there's more news we're