The Note: The warnings from Yates

— -- NOTABLES

--ANALYSIS - ABC’s RICK KLEIN: “Old news” from the “fake media,” President Trump declared. Which means there’s almost certainly something troubling for the Trump White House in the latest Michael Flynn revelations, courtesy of Sally Yates. Any time the Flynn scandal broadens beyond Flynn, with additional names, makes it harder for the White House to heap all the blame on Flynn, or on President Obama, for that matter. In this case, the facts as laid out by Yates are stark: The acting attorney general told the White House counsel, in three separate conversations, that the Russians could prove that the then-national security adviser was lying, to the vice president and to the public. “To state the obvious, you don’t want your national security adviser compromised by the Russians,” Yates said. To further state the obvious, Flynn was allowed to keep his job for more than two additional weeks, taking part in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a meeting with the prime minister of Japan and, famously, “officially putting Iran on notice.” Yates, meanwhile, was fired. Trump is looking for distractions that make this story Trump vs. Democrats, Trump vs. the media, or Trump vs. Obama. What the president can’t afford is this to become Trump vs. Trump, putting questions squarely on his own rationale, and own transition and administration decision-making. Yet for all the surprises still emerging, there was something politically predictable about Monday’s Russia hearing, with senators’ questioning veering toward talking points more often than not.

--YATES SAYS SHE WARNED WH THAT FLYNN COULD BE 'BLACKMAILED' BY RUSSIANS: Sally Yates, the former acting United States attorney general who drew the ire of President Donald Trump for issuing instructions to the Department of Justice not to defend his first "travel ban" executive order, testified that she informed the White House Counsel that the Department of Justice believed that then-national security adviser Michael Flynn could be subject to blackmail by the Russian government, report ABC's ADAM KELSEY, MIKE LEVINE and GENEVA SANDS. Yates said that she had two in-person meetings the White House Counsel to discuss concerns about Flynn. http://abcn.ws/2qh6EHS

--COURT HEARING ON TRAVEL BAN FOCUSES ON TRUMP'S WORDS AND THE CONSTITUTION: President Trump's order limiting travel from some Middle Eastern and African countries is intended to protect the U.S. against terrorists -- not ban Muslims, the Trump administration argued in a federal appeals court hearing Monday. The two-hour hearing before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia focused primarily on two questions: should the words of Trump, both as candidate and president, be considered in determining if the travel ban is intended to discriminate against Muslims? And, if Trump’s words are disregarded, is the travel ban on its face constitutional? ABC's LAUREN PEARLE and MARIAM KHAN have more: http://abcn.ws/2ppx1Xd

--TRUMP CONSIDERS ADDING MORE TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN: ABC’s MARTHA RADDATZ reports that there are currently 8,400 troops currently deployed to Afghanistan, but now a new plan is reportedly under consideration by the White House, which could add 1,000 to 3,000 new U.S. and NATO troops to Afghanistan. WATCH: http://abcn.ws/2pZnlqa

--ON GMA: CHRIS CHRISTIE SPEAKS OUT ON MICHAEL FLYNN, OPIOID CRISIS: The N.J. governor reacts to Sally Yates' testimony that she warned the White House about Flynn and discusses the impact of the GOP's health care bill on addiction treatments. WATCH: http://abcn.ws/2pv0Ru8

--JIMMY KIMMEL RETURNS, GIVES EMOTIONAL UPDATE ON SON'S HEALTH, TACKLES HEALTH CARE: One week after Jimmy Kimmel revealed that his son, Billy, had been born with a heart defect, the comedian returned to host his late night show with an emotional update on his son's health and a defense of his foray into the country's heated debate on health care. "I'd like to apologize for saying that children in America should have health care," he joked. "It was insensitive – it was offensive – and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me." To further the conversation, he interviewed Bill Cassidy, a Republican senator from Louisiana who last week tweeted that there should be a "Kimmel Test" for any healthcare bill passed. WATCH: http://abcn.ws/2pXn4ni

SPEED READ with ABC’s ADAM KELSEY

ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL FIRED BY TRUMP STANDS BY DECISION NOT TO DEFEND TRAVEL BAN. The former acting attorney general who was fired by President Trump for refusing to defend his travel ban told a U.S. Senate committee she has no regrets. "I did my job," Sally Yates told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing Monday. Yates authored a letter on Jan. 30 while still leading the Justice Department stating she was "not convinced" that a Trump executive order limiting travel and immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries was "lawful," writes ABC's ADAM KELSEY. http://abcn.ws/2qVlYae

A TIMELINE OF SALLY YATES' WARNINGS TO THE WHITE HOUSE ABOUT MIKE FLYNN. Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general fired by President Donald Trump in January, testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, recounting a timeline of her warnings about former national security adviser Mike Flynn to the Trump administration. Yates said she conveyed her concerns about Flynn to White House Counsel Don McGahn over the course of two in-person meetings at the White House. ABC's RILEY BEGGIN and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI have a timeline of Yates and McGahn’s meetings and what they discussed, according to Yates’ testimony Monday: http://abcn.ws/2pVV43A

OBAMA WARNED TRUMP AGAINST HIRING FLYNN IN OVAL OFFICE MEETING. President Barack Obama warned then-President-elect Donald Trump not to hire retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn as his national security adviser during their 90-minute Oval Office meeting last November, two former Obama administration officials confirmed to ABC's JUSTIN FISHEL and ARLETTE SAENZ. The warning was first reported by NBC News on Monday morning, just hours after Trump utilized Twitter to cast blame on the Obama administration for giving Flynn his security clearance. http://abcn.ws/2prHEtk

ORIGINAL MUSLIM BAN ERASED FROM TRUMP CAMPAIGN WEBSITE. A controversial statement posted on President Trump’s campaign website in 2015 calling for a “shutdown” of Muslim immigration was redirected to a blank page Monday afternoon, just minutes after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer dismissed questions on the rhetoric surrounding his now-stalled travel ban executive orders. The web page hosting the December 2015 statement, included a quote from then-candidate Trump reading, "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States," report ABC's CECILIA VEGA, BENJAMIN SIEGEL and ALEXANDER MALLIN. http://abcn.ws/2pfeAsU

HOW 'TRUMPCARE' COULD AFFECT ONGOING OPIOID EPIDEMIC. The passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) in the U.S. House of Representatives could have far-reaching consequences on the ongoing opioid epidemic if it passes the Senate in its current form and gets signed into law. Potential changes to Medicaid and to rules on insurance policies could affect millions of people's access to substance abuse treatment, according to several experts at organizations that study mental health and addiction issues. ABC's GILLIAN MOHNEY has more: http://abcn.ws/2pfgdHf

COMPARING TRUMP’S HEALTH CARE PUSH TO OBAMACARE’S TIMELINE. The latest push to overhaul the U.S. health care system cleared a significant hurdle last week when the Republican-controlled House approved the American Health Care Act, but there are many more to come. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY looks at its rollout, compared to the various steps that the Obama administration took to get the Affordable Care Act (ACA) signed into law in 2010. http://abcn.ws/2q0TY4M

ANTONIO SABATO JR. IS RUNNING FOR CONGRESS IN CALIFORNIA. Actor Antonio Sabato Jr. is running for Congress in the state of California, ABC News has confirmed. GOP strategist Charles Moran said that the former model, a Republican, will challenge Democrat Julia Brownley, who was elected in 2012 to represent the state's 26th district The Los Angeles Times also reported that Sabato filed documents with the Federal Election Commission on Monday, note ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE and LESLEY MESSER. http://abcn.ws/2pf7If2

WHO’S TWEETING?

@GStephanopoulos: Pres' budget office proposes 95% cut in office of nat'l drug control policy-@GovChristie tells me he's“confident that's not going to happen”

@MLevineReports: "He was not always my cup of tea in terms of style ... General Flynn & I didn't necessarily see eye to eye." --@ChrisChristie says on @GMA

@maryaliceparks: Rep Blum walks out of intv, stuns kids... Apparently doesn't like ?s about the ID requirement at his town hall http://bit.ly/2qjnPs3

@acaldwellap: AP Exclusive: US looks for evidence of crimes by Haitians (from @AP) http://apne.ws/2pXkBcn

@AndrewRestuccia: A Tuesday meeting at the White House to discuss the Paris climate agreement is being rescheduled, source says.