Tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. The fallout after the controversial classified memo is released to the public. President trump allowing for its release. Going against his own fbi and against his handpicked fbi directo after the agency expressed, quote, grave concerns. Tonight, whats in the memo. Also tonight, a fathers rage. The dramatic moment in the courtroom. Lunging toward the former olympics gymnastics doctor, larry nassar. The deadly flu epidemic and late today, the alarming new headline from the cdc. And a warning from parents tonight who have been through it. The dow plummeting more than 600 points today, whats behind it. Breaking at this hour, the murder suspect in the death of that College Student in a park in court just moments ago. That suspect and what we have learned about his past. And the alarming apparent close call tonight. The drone and the passenger plane. This evening, the faa confirms it is investigating. Good evening, and its great to have you with us here on a very busy friday night, and we begin with the firestorm over that classified memo written by congressional republicans. President trump declassifying it, describing, quote, grave concerns from the fbi, and from christopher wray. The president tonight calling the alleged aver described in the memo, quote, a disgrace. Democrats say it is misleading and an attempt to undermine Robert Mueller who wants to interview the president. What is in the memo . Heres abcs chief white house correspondent, jonathan karl, tonight. Reporter before the public even saw the newly declassified republican memo, President Trump was portraying it as a
bombshell. I think its terrible, if you want to know the truth. I think its a disgrace, whats going on in this country i think its a disgrace. A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that. Reporter the controversial memo is written by the republican staff of the House Intelligence Committee, chaired by devin nunes, a close trump ally. It focuses entirely on one narrow aspect of the russia investigation, a warrant to monitor the communications of carter page, a former Trump CampaignForeign Policy advisor and the Obama Justice department went to a secret intelligence court to apply for the warrant in october, 2016. According to the republican memo, an essential part of the application was the now infamous dossier on Russian Election meddling and team trump written by former british spy christopher steele. The memo claims the judge who approved the warrant was never told the dossier was paid for by the Democratic National committee and the clinton campaign, and that the judge never knew that steele allegedly told a senior justice official
that he was desperate that donald trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president. The memo says that former deputy fbi director Andrew Mccabe told the House Intelligence Committee that, no surveillance warrant would have been sought without the steele dossier information. But democrats on the Committee Say thats misleading. As they have cherry picked information from the fisa application theyve also cherry picked information from mr. Mccabe. Reporter democrat adam schiff says mccabe portrayed the dossier as one of many key pieces of information used in getting the warrant to monitor carter page. As abc news has previously reported, page was on the fbis radar since 2013 because of his suspicious contacts with russian operatives. In 2016, when the Trump Campaign was pressed to list their Foreign Policy advisers, pages name was on their short list. But last year pages russia ties came under growing scrutiny
including questions about whether he ever met with the Russian Ambassador at the republican convention. Did you meet Sergey Kislyak in cleveland . Did you talk to him . Im not going to deny i talked to him. Reporter page has denied any wrongdoing, but the president has distanced himself. I dont think ive ever spoken to him or met him. And he said he was a very low level member of, i think, a committee for a short period of time. I dont think i ever met him. Its possible i walked into a room and he was sitting there, but i dont think i ever met him. Reporter the republican memo released today lists several current and former Law Enforcement officials involved in applying for the surveillance warrant including former fbi director james comey and Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein, the official overseeing Robert Muellers special counsel investigation into russian meddling. Several people close to the president tell abc news, trump has been deeply frustrated
with rosenstein. Does it make you more likely to fire rosenstein . You figure that one out. Lets go live to jon karl at the white house tonight. We just heard President Trump, but tonight the white house insists there are no discussions of firing Rod Rosenstein . Reporter that is the official word here at the white house tonight, but the tension is real. Rosenstein joined with christopher wray, the fbi director, in pleading that the white house not release this republican memo, and the president lashed out at the leadership of the Justice Department and the fbi, tweeting that, quote, they have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of democrats. Keep in find those are people who are lifelong republicans appointed by President Trump. Jon karl leading us off tonight. In the meantime, jon, this move by the president is not sitting well inside the fbi. Now ignoring concern from his new fbi director, and tonight,
the personal message from that fbi director, christopher wray, sent to his rank in file late today. Heres abcs chief justice correspondent, pierre thomas, with what we have learned tonight. Reporter tonight, abc news has learned that many in the fbi are fuming after President Trump ignored the warning from the fbi and his own handpicked fbi director after they went public with, quote, grave concerns about the memos release. And late today, fbi director chris wray taking the rare step of sending a video message to the fbi rank and file. We have learned he told them, quote, we stay laserfocused on doing great work, even when its not easy, because we believe in the fbi. Law enforcement sources tell abc news that senior fbi officials consider the intelligence memo to be deeply flawed for cherry picking information and clearly political. They say it omits multiple other pieces of intelligence not just the dossier, that led to that warrant being issued to monitor carter page. Tonight, a democrat on the House Intelligence Committee says what
this is is obvious, an attempt to undermine Robert Muellers investigation of possible collusion and obstruction of justice. I have seen the evidence. I have not seen a shred of evidence that would suggest that theres been an abuse in the russia investigation. But what i do see is attempt after attempt to go after bob mueller and his team. And tonight, the 13,000member Fbi Agents Association is also taking a stand. Quote, fbi agents have not and will not to distract us from our solemn commitment to our mission. And former fbi reporter and former fbi director james comey, fired by President Trump, tweeting of the memos contents thats it . Dishonest and misleading. Judge would a distraught pierre, the president s own attorney general, Jeff Sessions in the middle of all this showing support for his Deputy Attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, and tonight is under fire from the president. Reporter thats right, david. Sessions and rosenstein were both at a Justice Department conference today, and sessions said rosenstein symbolizes the kind of quality and leadership his department needs, david. Pierre thomas, thank you. We turn to other news this friday night. The dramatic and raw moment in court today. The father lunging towards former Gymnastics Team doctor, larry nassar. His daughters were abused by nassar, and he said he was unable to contain himself. Heres abcs Lindsey Davis with the moment. Could i have a chance to Say Something . You son of a [ bleep ]. Reporter mayhem . A michigan courtroom this morning after this plea from a father of three girls who say they were molested by larry nassar. I ask you to, as part of the sentencing, to grant me 5 minutes in a locked room with the demon. Would you do that. That is not yes or no . No, sir, i cant do that. Would you give me one minute . You know i cant do that. Thats not how our legal system well, im going to have to reporter deputies tackle Randall Margraves to the ground. Need to verbate i want that sob [ bleep ]. Reporter nassar seen ducking under a table as his attorney tries to protect him. As he is led from the courtroom margraves tries to explain. You cannot behave like this. I want to make this crystal clear. Well you havent lived through this, lady. Reporter the chaos erupted after two of his daughters gave victim impact statements in yet another sentencing hearing. One thanking her parents for standing by them. You have done everything that a parent could ever do. I love you. Reporter as for the father who lost it d i lost control, and i apologize a hundred times. Reporter no charges. Margraves apologized to the court saying he was angered seeing nassar shake his head while his daughters spoke. Im embarrassed. Im not here to upstage my daughters. Im here to help them heal. Love people can understand the anger of these parents, and lipidsy joins us tonight, and there are more questions now. In the meantime, for the u. S. Olympic committee after the wall street journal reported that they were aware of abuse, but did not alert athletes or Law Enforcement . Reporter david, the usoc tells us they have consistently said that they learned in 2015 that a doctor had potentially abused an athlete and that it was reported to the fbi. They say they are now launching an independent investigation to determine the who, what and when of it all, david. Lindsey davis on this again tonight. Next to new numbers late today from the cdc, and they are concerning, especially when it comes to children and this deadly flu. Take a look tonight. All those states in red right there, reporting high flu activity, three more added just this week. 42 states now, and 16 more children dying in the past week alone. 53 children lost this season,
nearly double this time last queer. Tonight, a warning for parents from the parents who have been through this. Heres Abcs Steve Osunsami at the cdc. Reporter just when they thought they were about to lose their son to the flu hi, jackson. Hi, honey. Reporter this 7yearold west of des moines iowa opened his eyes and tonight for the first time in a week, jakson ridout is breathing on his own. He went from being okay toen his deathbed possibly. Its a nasty, nasty virus. Reporter the numbers tonight from the cdc are alarming 16 more children have died from the flu, so far 53 children this winter. Jackson wasnt vaccinated. His mother wishes she had gtottn him a flu shot, but he was sick at the time. This is not something that anyone should ever have to go through, all because of the flu. Reporter overall, Health Officials say the flu is hospitalizing more americans than ever before. Tonight, about 1 out of every 14
visits to doctors and clinics are for fever, cough and other symptoms of the flu. Doctors warn parents of Sick Children that if your child gets better and then gets worse, run back to the emergency room. Warning signs of things taking a turn for the worse would be difficulty breathing, a persistent or spike in the fever or being lethargic or difficult to wake up. Those are scary signs for a parent and a reason to call for for the doctor. So lets get to steve. He is live at the cdc in atlanta again tonight for us, and the cdc is saying those early results from canada suggesting that the flu shot is not terribly effective against the most common strain. Might be on the right track, steve . Reporter thats right, david, and the australians are saying the same thing, but the cdc is still saying that the flu shot still helps. That if you get the flu shot and you get sick, your illness will be less severe, david. Steve osunsami, our thanks to you again. To the weather, and there is a Storm Brewing as we begin the weekend in the plains and the midwest. It will then move east. This morning, take a look. Heavy lakeeffect snow, triggering a massive pileup in michigan. That storm on the move tomorrow. The northeast bracing for it by the end of the weekend. Rob marciano with us again tonight, tracking it all for us. Heys, rob. Reporter hey, david. The cold has settled in. The windchill is five degrees and look at the number in the morning. Thats the story. 7 below in boston, and not a whole lot happening with the system tomorrow. Maybe the northern part and the great lakes, and the snow starts to fly. The southern part and the southeast, and through atlanta. North and west, a good swath of one to three inches of snow. Back through chicago, a half foot around the lakes and super bowl in minneapolis. Minus 17 for a windchill. That is cold stuff. David . Thats for sure. Rob marciano, good to see you again tonight. Next to your money. The 401k. Most analysts turning to Something Else. An improving economy, and a
likeliness that Interest Rates could go up soon. For the week, its down 1,095 points and thats the worst week in two years. Lets get to Rebecca Jarvis live from the New York Stock Exchange tonight. What are you hearing . Reporter we learned today that the economy added 200,000 jobs in january, and wages are growing at their fastest pace in eight years. Thats positive news for workers, but ultimately, its also a sign that the fed can start hiking Interest Rates even more. We have been in a period over the last decade of rock bottom Interest Rates and as though begin to rise, the cost of boar reing gets more expensive. People and businesses spend less, but even after the selloff today, the stock market over the last year, still up 28 over the last five years of 82 , david. Putting it in perspective. Thank you. There is much more had on world news tonight this friday. The alarming close call. A drone appearing to fly directly above the flight path of a passenger plane. Look at that right there. The faa says it is investigating tonight. Also breaking at this hour,
the suspect in the murder of this College Student, braise bernstein. The suspect in Court Moments ago. Troubling details about his past. And a passing to report tonight in the world of music. The soulful singer who moved so many. Replace the full value yoof your totaled new car. t the guy says, you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong insurance company. With new car replacement™, well replace the full value of your car plus depreciation. Liberty mutual insurance. When heartburn hits fight back fast with tums chewy bites. Fast relief in every bite. Crunchy outside. Chewy inside. Tum tum tum tum tums chewy bites. Next tonight here, the 20yearold accused of killing former classmate, blaze bernstein in a park. He was in court just a short time ago. What we learned from abcs clayton sandell. Reporter the 20year old Samuel Woodward appeared in court this afternoon. Charged with stabbing to death 19yearold blaze bernstein. More than 20 times. Leaving his former High School Classmate in a shallow grave. Bernsteins parents say their son was gay and may have been the victim of a hate crime. He was a gentle soul. He would never hurt anyone. Reporter today the prosecutor was avoiding questions about motive, but saying they are out for justice. Were not failing to pursue any charges. Were going to pursue every charge thats open. Reporter but calling for new laws calling for punishments for the Death Penalty for murdering a victim because of their sexual identity. Look at the law, and looking at the law tells is its not a special circumstance. We think it should be fixed. Reporter prosecutors also not commenting on a republican report that woodward joined a neonazi group in 2016, traveling to texas for three days of militarystyle combat training. Today, prosecutors said that before wood ward was arrested, he changed his hair color and even used countersurveillance driving techniques to avoid being followed. The judge set his bail at 5 million, david . Clayton, thank you. When we come back, remembering the famous voice from the temptations. And the alarming close call. The drone appearing to fly directly above the flight path of a passage jet. The faa now investigating. Well be right back. Before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. Xeljanz xr is a oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. It can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate.