>> cecilia vega, starting another week at the white house. thank you, cecilia. >>> the fbi responding at this hour to multiple reports of suspicious packages sent to military installations around the nation's capital. abc news confirming tonight one of those suspicious packages was sent to ft. belvoir. the fbi continuing to investigate those packages tonight, and we will stay on it. >>> in the meantime, we move this evening to new reporting about the final moments before that helicopter crashed into the east river here in new york city. five passengers lost their lives, as you'll remember. and tonight, what the pilot was trying to do as that helicopter began to sink. here's abc's senior transportation correspondent david kerley tonight. >> reporter: with no power, the pilot of this new york sightseeing helicopter tries to restart the engine, twice. >> zero-lima-hotel, mayday,

here's cecilia vega. >> reporter: from president trump's former communications director and longtime confidant, tonight, a stunning admission. a source inside the room for hope hicks' testimony last week to house intelligence committee members investigating russian election meddling tells abc news hicks said one of her e-mail accounts was hacked. the hack taking place during the 2016 campaign. it is unclear whether it was a personal or campaign e-mail account. the disclosure raising a host of questions about who was behind the hack, and what exactly they obtained. hicks resigned a day after that testimony. >> any collusion? >> reporter: a week later, another high-profile departure. the president's chief economic adviser, gary cohn, becoming the sixth top aide to leave the west wing this year alone. today, mounting questions about the turmoil. why are so many people leaving this administration? >> look, this administration has had an historic first year. we're going to continue to do great things. this is an intense place, as is every white house. and it's not abnormal that you would

and he's doing a great job with that. >> all right, cecilia vega with us live from the white house tonight. and cecilia, yet another major announcement from the trump administration. for the first time in more than 60 years, the census will now ask people whether they are american citizens. >> reporter: yeah, david. this could have major implications, as well. critics say this is about intimidating immigrants and will result in a population undercount, potentially could lead to lost congressional seats. but the white house says this protects voting rights and is necessary to measure the eligible voting population. california immediately filed suit, david, and now other blue states are promising the same. >> all right, cecilia vega with us tonight. thanks, cecilia. >>> in california tonight, the attorney general is now on the case, as tensions remain high after police shot and killed stephon clark, an unarmed black man. infrared video shot from a helicopter shows clark running from police. police firing 20 times. the a.g.'s move comes just 24 hours after a tearful plea from clark's grandmot

>> cecilia vega, starting another week at the white house. thank you, cecilia. >>> the fbi responding at this hour to multiple reports of suspicious packages sent to military installations around the nation's capital. abc news confirming tonight one of those suspicious packages was sent to ft. belvoir. the fbi continuing to investigate those packages tonight, and we will stay on it. >>> in the meantime, we move this evening to new reporting about the final moments before that helicopter crashed into the east river here in new york city. five passengers lost their lives, as you'll remember. and tonight, what the pilot was trying to do as that helicopter began to sink. here's abc's senior transportation correspondent david kerley tonight. >> reporter: with no power, the pilot of this new york sightseeing helicopter tries to restart the engine, twice. >> zero-lima-hotel, mayday, mayday, mayday. >> reporter: this was a photo flight, doors off. some passengers on tethers to allow movement. as the passenger next to the pilot leans to take a shot of

here's abc's senior white house correspondent cecilia vega. >> reporter: in his toughest action against the kremlin to date, president trump today ordered 60 russians to leave the country, giving them just a week to pack up and go. the intelligence and diplomatic officers expelled from washington and new york, a russian consulate in seattle also shuttered. a direct response to moscow's alleged nerve agent poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter on british soil. three weeks passed between the attacks and the expulsions. what took so long? >> well, i mean, actions like this take time, and we coordinated with, again, over a dozen -- >> reporter: the president has acknowledged russia's role. >> a very sad situation. it certainly looks like the russians were behind it. something that should never, ever happen. >> reporter: but just days later, he called voo eed vladim to praise him for winning re-election. >> i had a call with vladimir putin. >> reporter: "the washington post" reports the president ignored advisers during that call. the two leaders on the phone, the same day brita

>> probably so, if he did it without cause, yeah. >> cecilia vega live with us from the white house. the president not answering your question there today, cecilia, but house peopler paul ryan today saying he's been, quote, given assurances that the president will not fire robert mueller? >> reporter: yeah, david, he would not say who gave him those assurances, but you know this, the white house insists president trump has no plans to fire robert mueller, and that he has not been discussing it. david? >> cecilia vega, thank you. >>> next, to new undercover video revealed today, showing the former ceo of cambridge analytica bragging about his role in helping the trump campaign win. the company getting its hands on information from up to 50 million americans and their facebook accounts. here's abc's chief foreign correspondent terry moran. >> reporter: new undercover video from britain's channel 4 news shows this man bragging about his connections to the 2016 trump presidential campaign. >> have you met mr. trump? >> many times. we did all the research, all the data, all the analytics,

cecilia vega with us live from the white house. cecilia, i want to get back to that late announcement tonight, the v.a. secretary now out. three major departures in two weeks, and the president tweeting his new choice? >> reporter: he did. and as for david shulkin, he said that he is thankful for his service. but i got to tell you, david, behind the scenes here, the president was not happy about this travel scandal, and he really let shulkin twist in the wind, and publicly, for weeks. this is part of a broader staffing shakeup, following the secretary of state, the national security adviser. president trump has said he is getting close, david, to having the cabinet that he wants. >> more than a year in. cecilia vega, thank you. >>> we're also following a tornado threat at this hour in several states. authorities in parts of louisiana warning people to seek shelter immediately, just before we came on the air. in just the past 24 hours, this land spout in brownsfield, texas. damaging winds and strong hail, that's in la mesa, texas. a

>> cecilia vega with us again tonight. thank you. >>> next, to new undercover video revealed today, showing the former ceo of cambridge analytica bragging about his role in helping the trump campaign win. the company getting its hands on information from up to 50 million americans and their facebook accounts. here's abc's chief foreign correspondent terry moran. >> reporter: new undercover video from britain's channel 4 news shows this man bragging about his connections to the 2016 trump presidential campaign. >> have you met mr. trump? >> many times. >> you have? >> we did all the research, all the data, all the analytics, all the targeting. we ran all the digital campaign, the television campaign. and our data informed all the strategy. >> reporter: he's alexander nix, until he was suspended today, the ceo of cambridge analytica, the firm now under fire for improperly gaining access to the personal data of almost 50 million facebook users. the firm is accused of using the facebook data, obtained from a third party, to ta

cecilia vega from inside the white house tonight. and cecilia, the white house is trying to contain speculation late today about yet another possible high profile departure? >> reporter: yeah, david. sources tell us that national security adviser h.r. mcmaster is expected to leave his job as soon as this spring. there have been long-running tensions between mcmaster and the president over what many here view as mcmaster's abrasive style in some oval office meetings. but just a few minutes ago, officials here at the white house tell us that there was just an oval office meeting between the two men that just wrapped up, and the president told mcmaster he is doing a great job. david, they are calling this speculation fake news. >> cecilia vega inside the briefing room, where she was asking the questions today. thanks to you. >>> the white house and the country learning of that new threat from russian president vladimir putin. his nuclear warning to the world and to the u.s. and those images he used of missiles raining down on florida. p

and he's doing a great job with that. >> all right, cecilia vega with us live from the white house tonight. and cecilia, yet another major announcement from the trump administration. for the first time in more than 60 years, the census will ask people whether they are american citizens. >> reporter: yeah, david. this could have major implications, as well. critics say this is about intimidating immigrants and will result in a population undercount, potentially could lead to lost congressional seats, but the white house says this protects voting rights and is necessary to measure the eligible voting population. california immediately filed suit, david, and now other blue states are promising the same. >> all right, cecilia vega with us tonight. thank you. >>> in california tonight, the attorney general is now on the case, as tensions remain high after police shot and kill eed stephon clark, an unarmed black man. video shows clark running from police. police firing 20 times. the a.g.'s move comes just 24 hours after a tearful plea from clark's grandmother and family. abc's kayna whitworth fr

cecilia vega from inside the white house tonight. and cecilia, the white house is trying to contain speculation late today about yet another possible high profile departure? >> reporter: yeah, david. sources tell us that national security adviser h.r. mcmaster is expected to leave his job as soon as this spring. there have been long-running tensions between mcmaster and the president over what many here view as mcmaster's abrasive style in some oval office meetings. but just a few minutes ago, officials here at the white house tell us there was just an oval office meeting between the two men that just wrapped up and the president told mcmaster he is doing a great job, david, they are calling this speculation fake news. >> cecilia vega inside the briefing room, where she was asking the questions today. thanks to you. >>> the white house and the country learning of that new threat from russian president vladimir putin. his nuclear warning to the world and to the u.s. and those images he used of missiles raining down on florida. putin d

cecilia vega live from the white house. cecilia, i want to get back to that late announcement tonight, the v.a. secretary out. three major departures in two weeks, and the president tweeting his new choice? >> reporter: he did, and as for david shulkin, he said that he is thankful for his service. i got to tell you, david, behind the scenes here, the president was not happy about this travel scandal, and he really let shulkin twist in the wind and publicly, for weeks. this is part of a broader staffing shakeup, following the secretary of state, the national security adviser. president trump has said, he is getting close, david, to having the cabinet that he wants. >> more than a year in. cecil cecilia vega, thank you. >>> we're also following a tornado threat at this hour in several states. authorities in parts of louisiana warning people to seek shelter immediately, just before we came on the air. in just the past 24 hours, this land spout in bron brownsfield texas. and just this afternoon, torrential rain in monroe, louis

the timing just coincidence. >> so, let's get to cecilia vega, live at the white house tonight. and cecilia, hope hicks releasing a statement of her own tonight? >> reporter: david, she is. she says there are no words to adequately express her gratitude to president trump. not that long ago, right here in the west wing, she tearfully thanked west wing staffers. she is a very beloved member of this administration. her office was right outside president trump's oval office. we can't emphasize enough how much of a trusted adviser she was to him. her actual departure date could still be weeks off, david, but this has been a very key role and a tough one for this white house to fill. hope hicks is now the fourth communications director to come and go. >> cecilia vega leading us off tonight. cecilia, thank you. >>> meantime, as you know, the other firestorm tonight, republicans reacting at this hour to what they saw from the president today at the white house. he was sitting with republicans and democrats on guns and school safety, saying he supports what many of the democrats support

i'm cecilia vega. i'll see you right back here on "good morning america" tomorrow. tom llamas reports from the red carpet. from all of us, have a great night. >> the wonders of water are flowing at the philadelphia flower show and 6abc is proud to bring you a breathtaking botanical sneak peek! join the accuweather team as they guide you through a jaw dropping jungle canopy! marvel at how a rain forest feeds its own enormous thirst! and meet the superheroes of the plant world! plus the 6 things you don't wanna miss and a chance to win tickets to see them all! >> hello and welcome to the 20-18 phs philadelphia flower show preview party! >> adam is on nor'easter duty while we are here at the convention center where you are transported to a tropical rainforest. >> it is one of the most immersive flower show entrance gardens ever. >> the theme, this year, is "wonders of water" >> and there is no better example of that then in the world's rainforests. >> so before we go any further, let's explore this lush jungle paradise. >> thent

here's cecilia vega. >> reporter: from president trump's former communications director and longtime confidante, tonight, a stunning admission. a source inside the room for hope hicks' testimony last week to house intelligence committee members investigating russian election meddling tells abc news hicks said one of her e-mail accounts was hacked. the hack taking place during the 2016 campaign. it is unclear whether it was a personal or campaign e-mail account. the disclosure raising a host of questions about who was behind the hack, and what exactly they obtained. hicks resigned a day after that testimony. >> any collusion? >> reporter: a week later, another high-profile departure. the president's chief economic advisor, gary cohn, becoming the sixth top aide to leave the west wing this year alone. today, mounting questions about the turmoil. why are so many people leaving this administration? >> look, this administration has had an historic first year. we're going to continue to do great things. this is an intense place, as is every white house. and it's not abnormal that you would

i'm cecilia vega in for tom llamas. we begin with that massive cleanup from that deadly nor'easter and the millions just hit so hard now bracing for another storm just days away, that huge nor'easter leaving its mark across so much of the eerch eastern seabrded from virginia to maine. hundreds of thousands still without power. high tides and flooding in many states. this driver losing controlling and ending up in that deep body of water. in hard-hit massachusetts, a state of emergency, with more than hundred rescues alone. with death toll climbing. a 6-year-old boy among the dead. abc's gio benitez leads us off. >> reporter: tonight, the massive nor'easter leaving homes and yards flooded in its wake and more than a million without power. just hours ago, coastal communities hit by even more water. it's just about 12 noon, here in quincy, massachusetts, and that means it's high tide, and just look at the incredible force of the storm system, even at it leaves the area. widespread flooding and power outages prompting a sta

our very own cecilia vega, here at abc. my woman crush day. this is a picture she posted in the white house briefing room. look at all the shoes. you can see which is cecilia. she captioned, which one of these is not like the other? the woman of the front row with it baller shoes, that would be our cecilia vega. >> that's a sign of gender equality. that means there's all these women wearing men's shoes. >> i think she's the only one. >> need to do some work there. >> she's inspiring. >> she is. it's interesting to watch her work every day in the briefing room. >>> we begin this half hour with the powerful storm unleashing snow, wind and chilly temperatures. >> the radar shows the storm is still kind of lurking right now. it dropped more than two feet of snow in northern new jersey which has stranded commuters inside their cars overnight. >> also in new jersey, at a moment when the snow was falling hard and fast, a live wire sparked this fire. >> reporter: a relentless nor'easter hammers down in the east coast. >> coming down heavy now. i mean,

cecilia vega, thank you. >>> facebook under growing scrutiny tonight, after up to 50 million americans had their information exploited, allegedly by cambridge analytica, hired by the trump campaign. tonight, facebook's ceo mark zuckerberg breaking his silence on this, with this message to facebook users. saying what happened was a, quote, "breach of trust between facebook and the people who share their data with us and expect us to protect it. we need to fix that." and tonight, if you are on facebook, where you should look on your page to see what they can learn about you. here's abc's chief business correspondent rebecca jarvis. >> reporter: tonight, sources tell abc news special counsel robert mueller is now zeroing in on cambridge analytica. a political consulting firm hired by the trump campaign in 2016. in undercover video obtained by britain's channel 4, the company's ceo boasting of his influence. >> have you met mr. trump? >> many times. >> you have? >> we did all the research, all the data, all the analytics, all the targeting. we ran all the digital campaign, >> reporter: mue

here's abc's cecilia vega. >> reporter: facing backlash over his phone call with vladimir putin. >> i had a call with president putin and congratulated him on the victory, his electoral victo victory. >> reporter: today, president trump launched a defensive on twitter, sake "the fake news media is crazed because they want me to excoriate him." he went on to blast his predecessor, saying "bush tried to get along, but didn't have the smarts. obama and clinton tried, but didn't have the energy or chemistry." sources tell abc news the president is livid that someone in his inner circle leaked to "the washington post" secret details about that phone call with putin. the president reportedly ignored a warning from his national security team, written on notecards in all capital letters, "do not congratulate." the leak stunning the west wing and leaving chief of staff john kelly frustrated and deeply disappointed. and on capitol hill, outrage from the president's allies. >> i really hate that there's someone in his inner circle that is willing to leak this stuff. if you don't like working for

cecilia vega, the white house. >> thanks to cecilia vega there. >>> president trump is facing another legal headache stemming from an alleged affair with adult film star stormy daniels. the attorney is asking for permission to depose the president and attorney michael cohen. he wants to question them under oath to find out if trump knew about a $130,000 payout to daniels. he notes former president, bill clinton, was forced to tape a video deposition in the paula jones civil case in office. >>> security will be tight today in sacramento, california for the funeral of 22-year-old stephon clark. protesters disrupted rush hour as they demanded charges be brought on the officers that fatally shot clark. his brother also shouted at the media outside stephon's wake. he was eventually picked up and carried away. he's apologizing to sacramento's mayor for interrupting a city counsel meeting. we have more. >> reporter: city leaders urging for calm after a week of unrest following the death of stephan clark. >> everybody take out your cell phone. take out your cell phone. does this look like a g

i'm here with cecilia vega. cecilia, this is something we haven't really seen before, the president announcing the firing of the secretary of state before telling him. >> and that was just before he traveled to california. make no bones, there is bad blood between these two men and it is longstanding. they have not been happy with each other. the president said iran had a deal with president kim jong-un. secretary tillerson used the word moron to describe president trump. this is a long time coming. the fact that it happened now is a complete surprise. let's talk about the chaos involving this white house right now. this is now the seventh senior administration official to leave this white house this year alone. and the president just said in recent days that he likes to see competing voices. we are now seeing the second very high-ranking official inside that white house to leave gary co hhen, the chief economi adviser, out just a few moments ago. >> and this comes before the meeting with kim jong-un of north ko

i'm here with my colleague cecilia vega also senior white house correspondent. this has been a difficult relationship. >> from the start, george. and i'm just speaking with white house officials who tell me this departure is not related to one issue in particular. you mentioned that moron comment. tillerson never admitted he said it directly but certainly that played a reel. this departure comes as the secretary of state is in africa. had to cut that trip short. nour i'm told by the people i'm talking to in the white house that the president had asked the secretary of state tillerson for his resignation friday and this is because the president wanted to get his team in place with cia director mike pompeo at the held many toth that the conversations with north korea about that meeting between the president and kim jong-un as well as these conversations about trade that are happening at a very international global level. so this is not one thing that i'm told by the white house this felt like the right time for president trump. >> wasn't a good fit between the two

we are very lucky, however, to have ace white house correspondent cecilia vega with us on the set. >> wow, the introduction. thank you. >> yes, and that's not even saying it as strongly as i feel it. >> or as i wrote into the prompter for you to say. >> she tells me what to say but even that. >> verging on sarcasm now. >> exactly. thank you. >> no, no, no. claiborne is a man who knows something about sarcasm. >> that's true. >>> lots of nonsense coming up. but we do want to start with some news. we have that fierce and deadly storm that's moving through the northeast. >> it is and moving fast. millions across the northeast are waking up without power this morning. take a look at this video out of massachusetts. that is a downed electrical wire likely set this gas main on fire there. some pretty big flames. >> and this is duxbury, massachusetts, where an entire neighborhood is underwater. you can see, it's almost at the top of that white picket fence at the left top of your screen there. >> with this storm has come dangerous rescues. this is a mother and child picked up by firefighters

he filed those papers overnight and cecilia vega back with the new details. good morning, cecilia. >> reporter: hey, george. good morning. this happened overnight, stormy daniels' attorney is asking a federal judge in california for permission to depose president trump and his lawyer, michael cohen. now, this is, of course, all centered around that $130,000 payment that daniels received just before the election, she says, of course, to stay silent about her alleged affair with the president. i pushed the white house on why so far president trump has remained uncharacteristically quiet. take a listen to what they had to say. >> you also called him a counterpuncher many times. why has he not punched back on this one? >> look, the president -- i didn't say he punches back on every single topic. he also has a country to run and he's doing a great job with that. >> reporter: now, daniels' lawyer tells the judge that he would like to depose president trump and his lawyer for no more than two hours each, george. there is now a court hearing set to hear this issue on

cecilia vega has more. >> reporter: with the white house in turmoil, the president's own son-in-law is facing scrutiny. according to "the new york times," two companies loaned jared kushner's family business more than half a billion dollars after executives had multiple meetings with kushner in the white house. one even discussed the possibility of a white house job. a spokesman says the president's senior advisor has had no role in the kushner company since joining the government. adding that kushner has followed the ethics advice he received for all his work, which includes the separation from his business and recusals when appropriate. kushner is often seen by his father-in-law's side but rarely speaks publicly. >> i have not sought the spotlight. first in business and now in public service. >> but in recent days he hasn't been able to avoid that spotlight. as part of a west wing shake up, kushner lost his top security clearance and according to "the washington post," officials from multiple foreign governments by taking advantage of his lack of foreign policy experience and financi

and here's abc's senior white house correspondent cecilia vega. >> reporter: in new hampshire today, president trump toeing a tough line on the nation's opioid crisis. praising other countries for executing drug dealers, and proposing the same right here at home. >> we have got to get tough. this isn't about nice anymore. >> reporter: right there in the crowd, his embattled attorney general. for today, back in the president's good graces. >> jeff sessions, who's here with us now, feels so strongly about this. >> reporter: president trump getting tough after a weekend lashing out against the special counsel and his russia probe. the escalating attacks still going this morning. the president tweeting, "a total witch hunt with massive conflicts of interest!" for the first time, he also went after robert mueller by name, saying, "the mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime." a year into the investigation, the president growing increasingly frustrated. >> i can only say this, there was absolutely no collusion. everybody knows it.

here's abc's senior white house correspondent cecilia vega tonight. >> reporter: in new hampshire today, president trump toeing a tough line on the nation's opioid crisis. praising other countries for executing drug dealers, and proposing the same right here at home. >> we have got to get tough. this isn't about nice anymore. >> reporter: right there in the crowd, his embattled attorney general. for today, back in the president's good graces. >> jeff sessions, who's here with us now, feels so strongly about this. >> reporter: president trump getting tough after a weekend lashing out against the special counsel and his russia probe. the escalating attacks still going this morning. the president tweeting, "a total witch hunt with massive conflicts of interest!" for the first time, he also went after robert mueller by name, say saying, "the mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime." a year into tin vest game, the president growing increasingly frustrated. >> i can only say this, there was absolutely no collusion. everybody knows it.

cecilia vegas, abc news. >>> stormy daniels has amended her lawsuit against donald trump after the "60 minutes" interview. it accuses michael cohen of defamation. sources tell the "washington post" the president said he did not think daniels appeared credible and even complained that she's not his type. on monday he tweeted so much fake news, never been more voluminous or more inaccurate. but through it all, our country is doing great. the president still hasn't publicly mentioned daniels by name and left it up to the white house to deny any allegations. >> the white house didn't engage in any wrongdoing. the campaign or mr. cohen can address anything with respect to their actions. with respect to that interview, i will say the president strongly clearly and has consistently denied these underlying claims and the only person who has been inconsistent is the one making the claims. >> daniels' amended lawsuit also alleges that the $130,000 payment to her was a violation of campaign finance law. >>> president trump is reportedly talking about rehiring former white house staff secretary ro

here's cecilia vega at the white house. >> reporter: less than 24 hours after hope hicks emerged from nearly nine hours of testifying on capitol hill -- >> any collusion? >> reporter: -- the president's closest aide and longtime confidante unexpectedly resigning from her role as communications director, sending shock waves through the west wing. the official line from the white house, hicks has been thinking about leaving the job for some time and wants to spend more time with her family. but the news comes with hicks under fire for that testimony, telling congressional investigators under oath that she occasionally told white lies on behalf of the president of the united states. >> thank you, donald trump! >> reporter: at 29 years old, she became one of the most powerful players in the trump white house. >> now, hope hicks is a tremendously talented person. she started off with us right from day one. >> reporter: by the president's side through the campaign. >> hope hicks. where's hope? hope. come here, hope. come here, hope. get up here, hope. hope hicks. the legendary hope hicks. >

. >>> let's bring in cecilia vega for more on this and, cecilia, the president had been signaling this for an awful long time. the question now is, is the white house shake-up done? >> reporter: well, george, you know in this administration you sort of seem to be safe one day and you're out the next, and the president really seems to enjoy seeing some in his cabinet twist in the wind as that's exactly what happened with shulkin as he took days to make up his mind. and very publicly. shulkin's firing comes after the ouster of the secretary of state, the national security adviser. we have heard the chief of staff john kelly had potentially been on this list of possible departures. he seems safe for now, same for hud secretary ben carson, but we're more than a year this and the president says he's close to having the cabinet he wants. >> the top lawyer in the mueller investigation for president trump, john dowd is also out. he resigned last week but he's at the center of the new report discussing the idea of pardons for michael flynn and paul manafort as the special counsel was closing in

ace white house correspondent cecilia vega here with us on set this morning. >> good morning. >> she's here in large measure because paula faris is in hollywood on the red carpet at the dolby theater looking beautiful as always. >> we were debating your dress choice. you won. excellent choice. >> did you like this one? are you guys already bickering? that's not a good sign. all in good fun. i didn't get the memo. it's still cold in l.a. it's only 10 degrees above freezing. i'm glad you like the dress, cecelia. there's this really consequential award show. some are calling this the oscars of our generation which adds to the level of pressure on jimmy kimmel who is hosting for the second straight year. i sat down with kimmel to see how he's going to strike the right tone and if he's going to get political. the stars were out at the independent spirit awards. cecelia, dan, ron and adrienne why are we interested? they're almost always a solid predictor. of what's going to happen oscar sunday. i'll see you guys in a little bit. >> we'll be talking to you a lot this morning. you look gorgeou

let's get to cecilia vega in washington this morning. hey, e sill cecilia. >> reporter: the president spent the weekend behind closes doors, escalating attacks on the key players. many in washington, as you said, that the president might be close to firing special counsel robert mueller. fueling that, the president's personal attorney called on the justice department over the weekend to end mueller's investigation. and those rapid-fire presidential tweets, seven in less than two days. among them, the president firing off at robert mueller. naming him by name for the very first time. take a look. the mueller probe should have never been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime. all of this comes after the late friday night firing of fbi deputy director andrew mccabe. that happened just days before mccabe was set to retire. we now know mccabe has been interviewed my mueller's team. but, david, a white house lawyer is now trying to ease these concerns here in washington saying the president is not considering or even di

vega. let's start off where we left right there. how vulnerable is stormy daniels to the charges of damages? >> somewhat vulnerable. i think that for him to just dismiss them as if it's just never going to happen is a reach. the bottom line is, the agreement is likely enforceable. they have an argument about why it's not enforceable. but it's likely enforceable. >> because she took the money? >> because she took the money. this claim that trump didn't sign it, when you're talking about contracts, actions often speaking louder than what is in writing. if she took the money, and there was in effect an agreement in place, the contract is likely valid. they have some other arguments about why it should be held invalid. if that's the case, the agreement specifically says you're not allowed to talk about this and if you do you have to pay damages. >> meantime, michael cohen facing a different problem right there. if he, indeed, gave the money, two weeks before the campaign, very vulnerable to the

. >> cecilia vega, abc news the white house. >>> president trump is set to announce stiff tariffs tomorrow to penalize china for stealing american technology secrets. the president is expected to announce $50 billion in tariffs annually. the measures will target imported chinese goods hitting everything from shoes and clothing to consumer electronics opinion the president may also impose restrictions on chinese investment in the united states. china has has threatened to retaliate by hitting agricultural exports, the u.s. has a trade deficit of 375 billion with china. >>> he admits he did it. that's what the austin police save chase about a series of series by a man who is dead. the chief says mark can't dit left a 25-minute individual on his phone kefdsing to the crime. sthe say terrorism wasn't a motive. he blue himself up as police closed in oi on him. the neighbors say they are stunned. >> i'm not sure i still believe it. you know, it doesn't -- it makes no sense to me whatsoever. he and his family are as normal as i've seen anybody. >> evidently not five bombing since marni 2nd left t

our senior white house correspondent cecilia vega has the latest. this announcement is already rattling financial markets. >> reporter: it certainly is. as you say, more turnover in this white house than any other administration in recent history. president trump says he likes the conflict. he likes to watch two sides fight it out. that's how he makes his decisions. in this case, gary cohn fought it out, he lost and now he's out. this morning, another top aide in the trump administration out, chief economic adviser gary cohn resigning. the circle of west wing loyalists shrinking by the day. the news came just hours after president trump declared his white house chaos-free. >> i read, oh, gee, maybe people don't want to work for trump. believe me, everybody wants to work in the white house. they all want a piece of that oval office. they all want a piece of that west wing. >> reporter: the president insists there is no turmoil. >> i like conflict. i like having two people with two different point of views. i certainly have that. then i make a decisio

ace white house correspondent cecilia vega here with us on set this morning. >> good morning. >> she's here in large measure because paula faris is in hollywood on the red carpet at the dolby theater looking beautiful as always. >> we were debating your dress choice. you won. excellent choice. >> did you like this one? are you guys already bickering? that's not a good sign. all in good fun. i didn't get the memo. it's still cold in l.a. it's only 10 degrees above freezing. i'm glad you like the dress, cecelia. there's this really consequential award show. some are calling this the oscars of our generation which adds to the level of pressure on jimmy kimmel who is hosting for the second straight year. i sat down with kimmel to see how he's going to strike the right tone and if he's going to get political. the stars were out at the independent spirit awards. cecelia, dan, ron and adrienne why are we interested? they're almost always a solid predictor. of what's going to happen oscar sunday. i'll see you guys in a little bit. can't wait to talk to you a little bit more. >> we'll be talkin

our senior white house correspondent cecilia vega is there. >> reporter: hey, george good morning on hope hicks we are were talking about one of the president's closest aides and longtime comfortable dapts and her resignation comes 24 hours after she admitted to congress that she told white lies on behalf of the president. but the white house says this has nothing to do with her departure. they say the timing is just coincidence, of course hope has also been in the spotlight recently over that controversy with former white house staff secretary rob porter ousted over domestic violence allegations. hicks and porter were dating. she did help craft that botched white house response to his departure defending him. she joins a long list of high-profile inner circle aides who have left the west wing and in this still young administration. the last man standing if you will outside the president's own family from the original campaign team is dan scavino, the president's former golf caddie and now this morning there are also new questions about whether there is another potential departure ov

she joins a long list of trump loyalists who have come and gone since last year and cecilia vega has all the latest. good morning. >> reporter: some stunning developments here. good morning to you. right after this news broke, hicks gave a tearful thank you to her communications team. this comes just 24 hours after that bombshell admission to congress that she told white lies on behalf of the president of the united states, but the white house says that has nothing to do with the timing of her departure. they say it's just coincidence. few in the white house inner circle have been closer or more loyal to president trump. >> now, hope hicks is a tremendously talented person. she started off with us right from day one. >> reporter: but this morning, the 29-year-old communications director is out. the fourth communications director to resign in the trump administration. in a statement hope hicks saying, there are no words to adequately express my gratitude to president trump. the official line from the white house, hicks has been planning her departure for months and she's leaving to sp

matthew dowd, cecilia vega, megan murphy, van jones and meghan mccain. matt, where to begin? you saw reince priebus, yeah, a lot of chaos. let's focus on results. hard to do that this week. >> i thought march madness was a basketball tournament. it describes what's been going on for the last week and a half one of the things i didn't understand from reince's comments he said judge by everything that's been done and everything is great. that's what he said. everything is going great. i don't know what metric reince is using for that. one, almost every single country has less confidence in our leadership. two, the president's job approval ratings are at all time lows. three, most of the country thinks we're off track. four, most of the economic gains have gone to the top 5% in the country. i don't know what metric he wants to apply here. this president of all of the time we've talked about this is in incredible turmoil at the white house. i don't see a path out of it. in order for it to change -- it's not changing general kelly and hope hicks leaving and jared and ivanka leavin

we are very lucky, however, to have ace white house correspondent cecilia vega with us on the set. >> wow, the introduction. thank you. >> that's not even saying it as strongly as i feel it. >> or as i wrote in the prompter for you to say. >> she tells me what to say but even that. >> verging on sarcasm now. >> exactly. thank you. >> no, no, no. claiborne is a man who knows something about sarcasm. that's true. >>> lots of nonsense coming up. but we do want to start with that news. we have that fierce and deadly storm moving through the northeast. >> it is moving fast. millions across the northeast are waking up without power this morning. take a look at this video out of massachusetts. that is a downed electrical wire likely set this gas main on fire there. pretty big flames. >> this is duxbury, massachusetts, where an entire neighborhood is underwater. as you can see, it's almost at the top of that white picket fence. >> with this storm has come dangerous rescues. this is a mother and child picked up by firefighters after their house was flooded. >> the nor'easter also creating mass

thomas, cecilia vega, dennis , on the bureau management team for 20 some years with me, audrey, john and barbara corcoran, so many of our valued colleagues, meredith and all of you from the bureau, thank you so much for coming here tonight. as always, i thank my wonderful and very supportive husband , david sproul and my two daughters, catherine and hannah, who are here tonight. [applause] and finally, it is tough to be a journalist in washington right now as you have already heard. i am not talking about the shrinking budget. the public doesn't much like us. the president has called us the opposition party. there is conceit -- confusion caused by fake news, reporting mistakes, social media busts vitriol, we don't really , understand the psychology of communicating in a digital world, but we have left behind many of the old ways of communicating. we are a little bit stuck. the country is broken into tribes. we don't have a clear path forward to a united front. the country is in need of journalism more than ever. today i am a consumer more than a journalist, but i have come to appreci

let's bring in cecilia vega. he was set to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum as early as today. >> the signing that was supposed to be happen is very much up in the air. george, allies around the world are outraged by this prospect. the president saying a trade war could be a good thing. the white house is willing to make some concessions for allies like canada and the mexico. but our allies in eur livid. here's products that americans could end up pay more for bourbon, peanut butter. part of the reason why gary cohn quit last week and republicans are outraged by this. >> unclear when the formal announcement will be. >>> george, now to those new concerns about the amazon echo. a new report out says more than 47 million use devices in their homes. some now are complaining their alexa is randomly erupting into laughter. amazon is revealing what may be behind it. who better to tell this story is t.j. holmes. >> you're home alone and it's pitch black and then you hear this. [ laughter ] >> it's creepy. if you home

let's get to our senior white house correspondent cecilia vega with much more on it. good morning, cecilia. >> reporter: good morning. it's not just what president trump said during that phone call with vladimir putin, it is also what he did not say that has some in his own party angry this morning. the oval office announcement that sparked backlash in washington. >> i had a call with president putin and congratulated him on the victory, his electoral victory. we had a very good call. >> reporter: this morning raising even more questions. "the washington post" reporting that president trump's national security team warned him not to congratulate vladimir putin for his election win during that phone call, explicitly writing in capital letters on his briefing papers, do not congratulate, but that is exactly what he did. the president also announcing he will soon sit down for a face-to-face with the russian leader and that did not go over well with senator john mccain. he said, quote, an american president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winni

. >>> let's bring in cecilia vega for more on all this. cecilia, the white house answering questions right now, white house staff, we now know the president watched but he's not saying a word about this. >> reporter: yeah, you know, and this is a president that the white house always says he likes to counterpunch. no counterpunches in this one. a lot of reports about whether he did watch, didn't watch. you said it, the white house is not saying officially but it very much seems like he watched it, given that the white house's line is that the president doesn't believe any of stormy daniels' claims that she made in that interview. he's also reportedly seeking out advice from those close to him about whether he should respond, and how this is affecting his poll numbers. the advice so far, don't respond. he seems to be following it. the first lady's office is responding to questions about whether she watched, george. their statement, she is focused on being a mom while enjoying that spring break down in mar-a-lago. >> yeah, the president does

our senior white house correspondent cecilia vega has the latest. this announcement is already rattling financial markets. >> reporter: it certainly is. as you say, more turnover in this white house than any other administration in recent year. president trump says he likes the conflict. he likes to watch two sides fight it out. in this case, gary cohn fought it out, lost and now he's out. this morning, another top aide in the trump administration out, chief economic adviser gary cohn resigning, the circle of west wing loyalists shrinking by the day. the news came just hours after president trump declared his white house chaos-free. >> i read, oh, gee, maybe people don't want to work for trump. believe me, everybody wants to work in the white house. they want a piece of that oval office the west wing. >> reporter: the president insists there is no turmoil. >> i like conflict. i like having two people with two different point of views. then i make a decision. >> reporter: in a statement, president trump called cohn a rare talent. cohn returning the n

let's bring in cecilia vega. the president was set to impose tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum maybe as early as today but now a lot of uncertainty. >> reporter: white house sources are telling me that the signing that was supposed to happen today is now very much up in the air as the debate wages on. george, allies around the world are outraged by this prospect. the president saying a trade war could be a good thing. the white house in some concessions is now willing to make some carveouts for allies, like mexico and canada. but the eu is livid about this. allies are promising swift retaliation. here's products that americans could end up paying more for bourbon, peanut butter, orange juice, harley davidson motorcycles and levis jeans. this is a complicated one. this is part of the reason why gary cohn quit last week and republicans are outraged by this. >> it's unclear now when the formal announcement will be. cecilia, thanks very much. >>> george, now to those new concerns about the amazon echo. a new repo

cecilia vega will appreciate this. >> the child bride. this is the app, and i have it open, and you will place the photo within the frame like this. >> don't laugh. >> and it will ask you to take four different photos of the main photo. and the reason that it's doing this is it's trying to capture a very high-resolution image. and it is reducing the glare. it's straightening the edges and so you can see now i have it in your photo library. it looks great. look at that. now it's uploaded into your google drive. >> all of those photos that you have are now up in one place. and i want to show you too, lara. this is what's really great about google photos, too. it's very intuitive. i'm going to search "good morning america," and it will bring up pretty much every picture. there we go right there. you can search up wedding, you can search birthday. it brings up any picture that i have taken in the studio. >> it's using visual search to detect what looks like "good morning america," see the blues and the yellows. and it stores everything, too.