here's abc's cecelia vega. >> reporter: we asked president trump about his old friend steve bannon. >> did steve bannon betray you, mr. president? any words about mr. bannon? >> he called me a great man last night. he obviously changed his tune pretty quick. thank you all very much. i don't talk to him. i don't talk to him. that's just a misnomer. thank you. >> reporter: in the past 24 hours, the president's former chief strategist did indeed take to the air waves, lavishing praise on his old boss multiple times. >> the president of the united states is a great man. you know i support him day in and day out. >> reporter: but damage may already be done, "fire and fury" quoted bannon attacking the president and his children. he called donald trump jr. and jared kushner treasonous and unpatriotic. and he said of daughter ivanka trump, people finally realized she's dumb as a brick. and that she and her husband talked about her running for president one day. bannon scoffed at the prospect. from the white house, outrage. >> there are numerous mistakes, but i'm not going to waste my time or

cecelia vega has more. >> reporter: president trump kicked off 2018 with a tweet storm, attacking his own justice department as a deep state secretly working to undermine his presidency. he also lashed out at huma abedin, suggesting she should be punished for her handling of certain government e-mails. deep state justice department must finally act. also on comey and others. does this administration believe that the deep state is a real thing? that there is this shadow government out there actively plotting to sabotage him? >> look, the president finds some of those actions very disturbing, and he thinks that we need to make sure, if there is an issue that it's looked at. >> reporter: and he has been publicly encouraging the justice department to investigate the clintons and some of his other political enemies. the department's inspector general now investigating the fbi's handling of the hillary clinton e-mail probe. he says he's uninvolved with that investigation but says i have absolute right to do what i want to do with the justice department. cecelia vega, the white house. >>> th

here's cecelia vega tonight. >> reporter: president trump headed to camp david for the weekend. as for questions, he wasn't having it. >> we're making america great again. thank you very much. >> reporter: the new book taking his white house and it seems all of washington by storm. at bookstores, long lines, within hours empty shelves. the president now lashing out at author michael wolff and former chief strategist chief bannon, a key voice quoted disparaging the president and his faemg. the president tweeting the book is full of lies and sources that don't exist. look at this guy's past and watch what happens to him and sloppy steve. wolff stands by every word and tells nbc news the president's inner circle thinks he is unfit for office. >> they all say he is like a child and what they mean is that he has a need for immediate gratification. it's all about him. they say he's a moron, an idiot. let's remember this man does not read, does not listen. >> reporter: wolff paints a portrait of a mentally unstable man saying he repeats the same stories every three minutes and recently

here's cecelia vega tonight. >> reporter: president trump headed to camp david for the weekend. as for questions, he wasn't having it. >> we're again. thank you very much. >> reporter: the new book taking his white house and it seems all of washington by storm. at bookstores, long lines, within hours empty shelves. the president now lashing out at author michael wolff and former chief strategist chief bannon, a key voice quoted disparaging the president and his faemg. the president tweeting the book is full of lies and sources that don't exist. look at this guy's past and watch what happens to him and sloppy steve. wolff stands by every word and tells nbc news the president's inner circle thinks he is unfit for office. >> they all say he is like a child and what they mean is that he has a need for immediate gratification. it's all about him. they say he's a moron, an idiot. let's remember this read, does not listen. >> reporter: wolff paints a portrait of a mentally unstable man saying he repeats the same stories every three minutes and recently at mar-a-lago failed to recognize

here's cecelia vega tonight. >> reporter: president trump headed to camp david for the weekend. as for questions, he wasn't having it. >> we're making america great again. thank you very much. >> reporter: the new book taking his white house and it seems all of washington by storm. at bookstores, long lines, within hours empty shelves. the president now lashing out at author michael wolff and former chief strategist steve bannon, a key voice quoted disparaging the president and his family. the president tweeting the book is full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don't exist. look at this guy's past and watch what happens to him and sloppy steve. wolff stands by every word and tells nbc news the president's inner circle thinks he is unfit for office. >> they all say he is like a child and what they mean is that he has a need for immediate gratification. it's all about him. they say he's a moron, an idiot. let's remember this man does not read, does not listen. >> reporter: wolff paints a portrait of a mentally unstable man saying the president often repeat the same sto

abc news senior white house reporter cecelia vega has the story. >> reporter: with questions swirling about his fitness for office, today the president septembsent the white house doctor out to answer questions, telling him to answer everything and hide nothing. >> he's good for duty for this term and another term if he's elected. >> reporter: president trump himself requested a cognitive assessment to detect neurological impairment, something not usually part of a president's annual physical. there have been reports that he's forgotten names or repeating himself. are you ruling out things like early onset alzheimer's? >> it screens for all those things. alzheimer's and all those other things. so, you know, the fact that the president got 30 out of 30 on that exam, i think there's no indication ra soefr that he has any cognitive issues. it's been my experience that the president is very sharp. >> reporter: at 71, president trump's biggest health risk, his weight. dr. jackson says he needs to lose 10-15 pounds, our jonathan carl asking -- >> can you tell me how a guy who eats mcdonald'

abc news senior white house reporter cecelia vega has the story. >> reporter: with questions swirling about his fitness for office, today the president septembsent the white house doctor out to answer questions, telling him to answer everything and hide nothing. >> he's good for duty for this term and another term if he's elected. >> reporter: president trump himself requested a cognitive assessment to detect neurological impairment, something not usually part of a president's annual physical. there have been reports that he's forgotten names or repeating himself. are you ruling out things like early onset alzheimer's? >> it screens for all those things. alzheimer's and all those other things. so, you know, the fact that the president got 30 out of 30 on that exam, i think there's no indication ra soefr that he has any cognitive issues. it's been my experience that the president is very sharp. >> reporter: at 71, president trump's biggest health risk, his weight. dr. jackson says he needs to lose 10-15 pounds, our jonathan carl asking -- >> can you tell me how a guy who eats mcdonald'

cecelia vega has the details. >> reporter: a morning of confusion began with this comment on one of president trump's favorite morning shows, a direct message to the president, about that program congress was set to reauthorize. >> i don't understand why president trump is in favor of this. his woes began with unlawful foreign surveillance and unconstitutional surveillance of him. mr. president, this is not the way to go. >> reporter: minutes later, the president took to twitter using the exact lapping wnguage used and friends." he says this is the act that could have been used to surveil the current administration and others. his own policy. the program allows government to conduct warrantless surveillance on suspected terrorists overseas. a flurry of calls between the president and law makes. paul ryan spent half an hour often the phone wi-- on the pho. he seemed to backtrack. today's vote is about foreign surveillance. we need it. get smart. ultimately, the house did vote to reauthorize the law. >> did you not understand what bill you were voting on today? >> he has concerns about other pa

cecelia vega has more. >> reporter: president trump kicked off 2018 with a tweet storm, attacking his own justice department as a deep state secretly working to undermine his presidency. he also lashed out at huma abedin, suggesting she should be punished for her handling of certain government e-mails. the president tweeting jail. deep state justice department must finally act. also on comey and others. does this administration believe that the deep state is a real thing? that there is this shadow government out there actively plotting to sabotage him? >> look, the president finds some of those actions very disturbing, and he thinks that we need to make sure, if there is an issue that it's looked at. >> reporter: and he has been publicly encouraging the justice department to investigate the clintons and some of his other political enemies. the department's inspector general now investigating the fbi's handling of the hillary clinton e-mail probe. he says he's uninvolved with that investigation but says i have absolute right to do what i want to do with the justice department. cecelia

cecelia vega, abc white house. >> that's not all. let me get ready, because the tea was spilled in that book. there was a whole lot. shall we go through -- >> many details that we learned. >> so the white house insider shared many of the details about the president, saying he spends his evenings eating cheeseburgers in bed, watching tv and talking on the phone. >> they say he likes mcdonald's, because he fears being poisoned and with fast food, nobody knows you're coming and the meals are safely pre-made. one excerpt claimed that the president and first lady sleep in separate bedroom the. housekeepers are forbidden to pick up his clothes or anything he throws on the floor and no one is allowed to touch his toothbrush. >> there's more. i need more tea. the president is described as ill-informed. so much so that a top aide was summoned to teach him about the constitution, but he allegedly got bored by the fourth amendment. the book also says that t advisers, referring to him as an idiot and a dope behind his back. woo! there was a whol

cecelia vega has it all for us. >> reporter: in the white house, president trump had his prediction for a possible 2020 oprah run. >> it will be fun. i don't think she will run. >> reporter: his daughter ivanka calling her speech empowering and inspiring. >> i want all the girls watching here now to know that a new day is on the horizon! >> reporter: the megastar instantly catapulted into the political stratosphere. >> there will be no running of office of any kind for me. >> reporter: that was oprah just a few months ago. her best friend gayle king s position has changed. >> i do think she's intrigued by the idea, i do think that. i also know after watching the oprah show you always have the right to change your mind. i don't think at this point she is actually considering it. >> reporter: the oprah show, something president trump knows a lot about. oprah once asking if he would run for president. >> i just don't think i really have the inclination to do it. i like what i'm doing. >> also doesn't pay as well. >> reporter: his white house aides aren't laughing. they're already lobbing p

here's abc's cecelia vega. >> reporter: we asked president trump about his old friend steve bannon. >> did steve bannon betray you, mr. president? any words about mr. bannon? >> he called me a great man last night. he obviously changed his tune pretty quick. thank you all very much. i don't talk to him. i don't talk to him. that's just a misnomer. thank you. >> reporter: in the past 24 hours, the president's former chief strategist did indeed take to the air waves, lavishing praise on his old boss multiple times. >> the president of the united states is a great man. you know i support him day in and day out. >> reporter: but damage may already be done after that new white house book "fire and furry" quoted bannon attacking the president and his children. he called donald trump jr. and jared kushner treasonous and unpatriotic. and he said of daughter ivanka trump, people suddenly realized she's dumb as a brick. and that she and her husband talked about her running for president one day. bannon scoffed at the prospect. from the white house, outrage. >> there are numerous mistakes, but i

cecelia vega, abc news, the white house. >> our thanks to cecelia. >>> the clinton camp pointed out that the e-mail was investigated with to wrongdoing found. they say the president tweets about the clintons or associates every time he needs a distraction. >>> southwest and american airlines are sharing the tax law windfall with its employees. the airlines say they will pay employees bonuses of $1,000 apiece. american says that will cost them $130 million. the airlines are just the latest companies promising to pay bonuses or invest in training following the passage of the tax bill. >>> coming up, the new and potentially damaging admission from tonya harding. what she told our amy robach about the attack on nancy kerrigan that she's never mentioned before. >>> and justin timberlake is ditching the suit and tie with a new album. but some of his fans are worried that there may be a bit of a different sound on the horizon. we'll get a sneak peek in "the skinny". but first, here's a look at today's forecast. ♪ and you're in that dress i like ♪ ♪ let me show you a good thing >>> "world

abc's cecelia vega has it all for us. >> reporter: in the white house, president trump had his prediction for a possible 2020 oprah run. >> oprah would be a lot of fun. i like oprah. i don't think she's going to run. i don't think she's going to run. i know her very well. >> reporter: his daughter ivanka calling winfrey's golden globes speech empowering and inspiring. >> so i want all the girls watching here and now to know that a new day is on the horizon! >> reporter: the megastar instantly catapulted into the political stratosphere. >> there will be no running for office of any kind for me. >> reporter: that was oprah just a few months ago. her best friend gayle king said she doesn't think oprah's position has changed. >> i do think she's intrigued by the idea, i do think that. i also know that after years of watching the oprah show, you always have the right to change your mind. i don't think at this point she is actually considering it. >> reporter: the oprah show, something president trump knows a lot about. oprah once asking if he would run for president. >> i just don't think i re

here's abc's senior white house corresponde correspondent, cecelia vega. >> worry questions about his fitness for office, president trump sent the white house physician out to face reporters, telling him to answer everything and hide nothing. >> he is fit for duty and will remain fit for duty for the remainder of this term and another term if he is elected. >> dr. ronnie jackson said he requested a cognitive test something not usually part of the physical. he has forgotten names and repeating himself. are you ruling out early on set alzheimer's and dementia. >> it screams for any cognitive issues like alz himer and other things. the fact that the president got 30 out of 30 on that exam, there is no indication he has cognitive issues and on a day to day basis, it has been my experience that the president is very sharp. >> at 71, president trump's biggest health risk is his weight. dr. jackson said he needs to lose 10 to 15 pounds. our john carl asking. >> how is a guy who eats mcdonald's and all those diet cokes and never exercises is in good of shape as you say he's in? >> genetics. s

abc senior white house correspondent cecelia vega with the story. >> reporter: steve bannon tonight out with bombshell accusations about that now infamous trump tower meeting. donald trump jr., jared curb her, paul manafort and a russian lawyer whom they were told had dirt on hillary clinton. in an explosive new book, ban knoll calls the sit down treasonous, unpatriotic and he says team trump should have, quote, called the fbi immediately. down junior has downplayed the meeting. >> in retrospect i probably would have done things differently. for me this was opposition rezblerth his father has defended him. >> i think from a practical standpoint most people would have take than meeting. it's called opposition research or even research into your opponent. >> reporter: the president insists he was not aware of the meeting during the campaign. but bannon says there's no way that's true. saying the chance that donald trump jr. didn't walk the attendees right up to his father's after the meeting ended was, quote, zero. and he warns, they're going to crack don junior like an egg on national tv

cecelia vega, abc news, the white house. >> and the former press ary called stupid in the book is casting the book as sean spicer will have much more to say this morning when he makes an appearance on good morning america. >>> north and south korea will meet next tuesday for their first formal talks in more than two years. representatives will get together at the border that divides them. items already on the agenda are how to improve strained g on next month's winter olympics. announcement of the talks came after the u.s. says it's delaying annual military exercises forces until>>e bide agrees with a former head of the and north korea have never been the trump administration o making fundament miscalculations in foreign policy. >> three lawsuits filed in southern california are placing blame. the tom440 square miles so far and destroyed more than of them the majority homes. lawsuits claim southson started the blaze.eies o faulty equipm and that lack of watl e re flames. ano in california. >>> from fire to ice.an boitano, you had gershwin played. something classic. exactly. just n you h s

cecelia vega, abc news, the white house. >> that's not all. let me get ready, because the tea was spilled in that book. there was a whole lot. shall we go through -- >> many details that we learned. >> so the white house insider shared many of the details about the president, saying he spends his evenings eating cheeseburgers in bed, watching tv and talking on the phone. >> they say he likes mcdonald's, because he fears being poisoned and with fast food, nobody knows you're coming and the meals are safely pre-made. one excerpt claimed that the president and first lady sleep in separate bedroom the. housekeepers are forbidden to pick up his clothes or anything he throws on the floor and no one is allowed to touch his toothbrush. >> there's more. i need more tea. the president is described as ill-informed. so much so that a top aide was summoned to teach him about the constitution, but he allegedly got bored by the fourth amendment. the book also says that the president is mocked by his own advisers, referring to him as an idiot and a dope behin

cecelia vega has the details. >> reporter: a morning of confusion began with this comment on one of president trump's favorite morning shows, a direct message to the president, about that program congress was set to reauthorize. >> i don't understand why president trump is in favor of this. his woes began with unlawful foreign surveillance and unconstitutional surveillance of him. mr. president, this is not the way to go. >> reporter: minutes later, the president took to twitter using the exact lapping wnguage used and friends." he says this is the act that could have been used to surveil the current administration and others. the tweet seemed to contradict his own policy. the program allows government to conduct warrantless surveillance on suspected terrorists overseas. a flurry of calls between the president and law makes. paul ryan spent half an hour often the phone wi-- on the pho. he seemed to backtrack. today's vote is about foreign surveillance. we need it. get smart. ultimately, the house did vote to reauthorize the law. >> did you not understand what bill you were voting on today? >>

cecelia vega has it all for us. >> reporter: in the white house, president trump had his prediction for a possible 2020 oprah run. >> it will be fun. i don't think she will run. >> reporter: his daughter ivanka calling her speech empowering and inspiring. >> i want all the girls watching here now to know that a new day is on the horizon! >> reporter: the megastar instantly catapulted into the political stratosphere. >> there will be no running of office of any kind for me. >> reporter: that was oprah just a few months ago. her best friend gayle king says she doesn't think oprah's position has changed. >> i do think she's intrigued by the idea, i do think that. i also know after watching the oprah show you always have the right to change your mind. i don't think at this point she is actually considering it. >> reporter: the oprah show, something president trump knows a lot about. oprah once asking if he would run for president. >> i just don't think i really have the inclination to do it. i like what i'm doing. >> also doesn't pay as well. >> reporter: his white house aides aren't laughi

abc's cecelia vega has the details. >> reporter: a morning of confusion began with this comment on one of president trump's favorite morning shows, a direct message to the president about that controversial surveillance program congress was set to reauthorize. >> i don't understand why donald trump is in favor of this. his woes began with unlawful foreign surveillance and unconstitutional domestic surveillance of him. mr. president, this is not the way to go. >> reporter: minutes later, the president took to twitter using the exact language that appeared on "fox and friends." house votes on controversial fisa act today. he said, this is the act that may have been used to so badly survey and abuse the trump campaign by the previous administration and others. the president's tweets seemed to contradict hisses policy. the white house supports reauthorizing fisa the program that allows the government to conduct warrantless surveillance on suspected terrorists overseas and u.s. soil. cue the chaos on capitol hill. a flurry of calls between the president and confused lawmakers. speaker paul

cecelia vega, abc news, the white house. >> that's not all. let me get ready, because the tea was spilled in that book. there was a whole lot. should we go through what else? >> many details that we learned. >> so the white house insider shared many of the details about the president, saying he spends his evenings eating cheeseburgers in bed, watching tv and talking on the phone. >> they say he likes mcdonald's, because he fears being poisoned and with fast food, nobody knows you're coming and the meals are safely pre-made. one excerpt claimed that the president and first lady sleep in separate bedrooms. aides say housekeepers in the white house are forbidden to pick up his clothes or anything he throws on the floor and no one is allowed to touch his toothbrush. >> there's more. i'm gonna need some more tea. the president is described as ill-informed. so much so that a top aide was summoned to teach him about the constitution, but he allegedly got bored by the fourth amendment. the book also says that the president is mocked by his own adviser

senior white house correspondent cecelia vega back with the story. good morning again. >> reporter: good morning, guys. after the oval office meeting, the president cannot escape one question -- are you a racist? strong pushback from him overnight at his golf club there in mar-a-lago. take a listen. >> no, no, i'm not a racist. i'm the least racist person you have ever interviewed. did you see what various senators in the room said about my comments? they weren't made. >> reporter: the president denies that slur about african nations and haiti and some of his allies in the room deny he used the vulgar phrase at the center of this controversy. but multiple sources say the president very much said it and also said he would rather see more immigrants from norway than from africa. civil rights icon congressman john lewis outright called president trump a racist. all of this happening as the fate of the d.r.e.a.m.ers is in the balance. democrats are demanding a deal to save them be tied to the deadline to keep the government open. you guys know that clock