happening now in america thisorible boo yr nk accou the w he whi hse i considering to a cer d. the new york city cop in the eric garner chokehold case loses his job. >> today is a day of reckoning. >> new information on how the decision was made plus the controversial new law in one state that limits the use of force by police. caught on camera, a bear sneaks into this house even opening the fridge with two boys watching tv nearby. >> the door was shaking and we were shaking. >> the terrifying moments they struggled to escape and how they alerted their mom upstairs. prince harry and meghan markle under fire for traveling on private jets while fighting to protect the environment. how elton john is now coming to their defense. plus, a seventh grade

student's impressive generosity. what he did with $15,000 he took home from the county fair. and two fast food giants now waging war over who has the best chicken sandwich. good tuesday morning, everyone. thank you for joining us. i'm janai norman. >> and i'm trevor ault in for kenneth moton. we begin with your money and word that the white house is considering a possible tax cut to boost the economy. >> it comes amid growing concern, a concern the president is downplaying. serena marshall has the story from washington. serena, good morning. >> reporter: trevor, janai, good morning to both of you. remember last week there was that precipitous drop in the dow 800 points and, of course, it all happens as the trade war

with china rages on. as the old adage goes, it's the economy, stupid. with recession fears looming finger-pointing rampant and the 2020 election in the crosshairs the president remains optimistic. >> we're doing tremendously well. our consumers are rich. i gave a tremendous tax cut and they're loaded up with money. >> reporter: but behind the scenes abc news has learned the white house is in discussions to potentially push for additional tax cuts to counter any possible recession. but it's partly those first tax cuts along with the trade war with china has three economists expecting slide into a recession by 2021. >> i think the economy is slowing down. >> reporter: typically a warning sign for the markets, that inverted yield curve which historically predicts a recession. the president admitting the possibility is there, all while playing the blame game on the independent federal reserve. >> i think i could be helped out by the fed but the fed doesn't

like helping me too much. >> reporter: with the election 15 months out, the vice president predicting that recession only happens if a democrat takes over. >> taxes would skyrocket. the stock market would tank. >> reporter: democrats argue it's the president and his policies that are the problem. >> i'm very worried. we sill have time to pull back but donald trump just doesn't seem to understand how. >> reporter: when it comes to those new possible tax cuts, the white house is dismissing any reports that they're looking at pax remember, guys, the last time that was used was during during obama administration after the great recession. >> that's one we'll definitely follow closely. also in the meantime, we are following a developing story from califpolicere on the hunt for a killer after a stabbing on a college campus. they say a retired administrator was found dead inside his car at cal state fullerton. officers found an incendiary device and weapons under the car. police say this appears to be a targeted attack, not random. the suspect reportedly fled on foot. we have new information about the firing of a new york city police officer five years after he held eric garner in a chokehold.

the garner family is vowing to push for more changes while we learn how this controversial decision about the officer's future was made. this morning, the officer fired for the chokehold death of eric garner is filing an appeal to get his job back. >> i can't breathe. >> it is clear that daniel pantaleo can no longer effectively serve as a new york city police officer. >> reporter: daniel pantaleo fired five years after garner died on a new york street. abc news has learned the police commissioner's decision surprised even the top members of his staff. some of them even learned about it on tv. it comes after an administrative judge recommended pantaleo be terminated despite the officer's denial that he used a banned chokehold. the judge found pantaleo's actions were reckless during garner's arrest for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes. it triggered a fatal asthma attack. >> i can't breathe. >> today is a day of reckoning but can also be a day

of reconciliation. i have been a cop a long time and if i was still a cop, i'd probably be mad at me. i would. >> reporter: an outraged police union accuses the commissioner giving in to anti-police extremists. >> the leadership has abandoned ship and left our police offices on the street alone. >> reporter: new york mayor and presidential candidate bill de blasio denies pressuring the commissioner to act but says the right decision was made. >> today we are finally seeing justice done. >> reporter: the decision in new york comes as california's governor signs a new law in the wake of the 2018 police shooting of stephon clark in sacramento. the new law will require police use deadly force only when necessary rather than when it's reasonable. that means officers could face criminal charges if an investigation finds that other less lethal police methods could have been used. legiatn.s dchange culture.a , ps >> reporter: meanwhile back in

new york, the family of eric garner saying the firing of officer pantaleo is not enough. >> yeah, pantaleo, you may have lost your job, but i lost a son. >> that's right. >> you can get another job. >> officer pantaleo's firing means he won't get his full pension. he'll only receive the money he personally contributed to it. now to that nuclear mystery in russia deepening this morning. several nuclear monitoring stations in russia have gone silent after the explosion at a missile testing site this month. an independent organization that watches for nuclear testing violations says the station stopped transmitting data within days of the deadly blast on august 8th sparking concern that russia is trying to keep radiation levels under wraps. vladimir putin says there's no threat from the explosion. here at home the pentagon has tested a cruise missile that had been banned for more than 30 years under a treaty abandoned this month by the u.s. and russia. that test took place off the

california coast with a modified version of the tomahawk cruise missile flying more than 300 miles. trump administration officials have disputed the claim that scrapping the treaty will spark an arms race. e-cigarette maker juul and philip morris are facing a major new lawsuit over vaping. the companies are accused of illegally targeting minors and deceiving the public about the dangers of vaping. the lawsuit was filed on behalf of a 19-year-old who says he got addicted to nicotine. usi juul at the age of 16. philip morris which owns a 35% stake in juul calls the lawsuit meritless. time for a look at your weather for this tuesday morning. here we go. good morning. once again we're talking about the risk for storms across the midwest and with that it's going to be severe in nature across, say, nebraska, iowa, missouri and illinois. localized flash flooding, hail and damaging winds is going to

be a concern. as we head east, not much in the since of storms but the accuweather real feel upwards of 100, 105 around d.c. and philly. so drink plenty of water and stay cool with the heat building. for accuweather i'm meteorologist chris nallan. coming up, the seventh grade boy who is impressing everyone with his generosity toward people in need. and also ahead, tourists on safari are chased down by this raging rhino. why it was so hard to escape. but first the one clue in the search overnight

so we're back with this video of dozens of air mattresses filling the air in denver. one witness described this as

the great mattress migration. it was caused by heavy winds disrupting what was supposed to be an outdoor movie night and people spent 30 minutes trying to catch all of them. >> quite a sight. after the first sign of hope the coast guard is stepping up its search for two firefighters who vanished on a fishing trip. crews are focusing on an area off the florida coast where brian mccluney's fishing bag was friday. he disappeared friday along with his fri mccluney's wife says she believes the men threw the bag overboard to say we're here, come find us. to the latest on jeffrey epstein. abc news has confirmed he signed a will less than 48 hours before he took his own life. court papers say epstein's estate is worth more than half a billion dollars, and so far there are no details on his beneficiaries. lawyers for some of his accusers are vowing to fight for the money to go to their clients. meanwhile, attorney general william barr has removed the director of the bureau of prisons amid reports that guards failed to monitor epstein as required. facebook and twitter say

china is using social media to spread disinformation about the pro-democracy protests in hong kong. twitter says it's removed more than 900 accounts linked to china's government. facebook says it's eliminated seven pages and three groups, both services are blocked in china, but they're available in hong kong and are widely used. here at home, president trump is apparently fun at his idea to buy greenland from denmark. he tweeted this image of a golden trump tower looming over a small village in greenland saying, i promise not to do this. denmark's prime minister says greenland is not for sale and calls the president's idea of buying it absurd. a seventh grader in ohio is winning big praise for donating $15,000 he earned at the county fair to children in need. diesel pippert earned the money during a livestock auction and then he gave all of it to st. jude children's research hospital. they're calling diesel a young

man who should be an example to us all. >> he certainly is. a squirrel sends some major league baseball players scattering for safety. also ahead, prince harry and meghan markle are under fire for their travel on private jets. how elton john and ellen degeneres are now defending them. but first a bear sneaks inside this home to open a refrigerator as two boys are watching tv nearby. how they reacted coming up. sun care is self care. i used to not love wearing an spf just because i felt like it was so oily and greasy and that it was going to clog my pores. but what i love about olay regenerist whip with spf 25 is that it's lightweight, it's barely there. and then i can put makeup on over it if i want or if i'm not working, you know, just roll. it's perfect for me. i'm busy philipps, and i'm fearless to face anything. with accident forgiveness they guarantee your rates won't go up

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>> yes. we did not want the bear to know that we were in that room. >> and the bear tried to get in. there are scratch marks on the door. >> could you imagine? so one of the boys used his apple watch to call his mother upstairs and tell her not to move. then they called 911. they say, as you can imagine, it was one of the scariest moments of their lives. >> unbelievable. well, from an adventurous bear to a raging rhino, we're hearing this morning from the tourists who got the scare of their lives while on safari. the rhino chased them down, and it was not an easy escape. >> abc's will reeve explains. >> reporter: it's the video you have to see to believe. a white rhino charging a group of tourists in south africa. >> i thought it was going to eat us. >> reporter: in this newly released video, watch as the animal gives chase for nearly two minutes. >> at first i sts going to be like a crge d en it to was looki to

photograph leopards last month when the rhino crossed the road in front of them. he says their vehicle slowly approached but once they passed it came after them. >> the ride had a lot of turns in it which made it difficult for us to get away. >> reporter: at one point coming within inches of the vehicle. >> the driver really did a good job to keep us safe, and he just asked us to sit still and he got us out of the situation. >> reporter: experts say rhinos can be unpredictable and potentially dangerous if startled. in february a zookeeper at the jacksonville zoo was rushed to the hospital with injuries after archie, a 50-year-old white rhino, struck her with his horn. this latest incident luckily ending without injury. will reeve, abc news, new york. a southern california school district is condemning a video of students giving a nazi salute. the eight-second video also igh school water polo team singing a nazi

marching song and was shared on social media before it was taken down. >> it's kind of scary because my stepson, he's hispanic, mexican him out of the school or do we keep him here and hope for the best? >> so the school became aware of the video in march. the students were reportedly disciplined but the school district didn't provide details citing privacy laws. and also look at this close call at a demolition derby in indiana. watch for this school bus slamming into the fence separating the crowd from the ago. yikes. this bus came just inches from that toddler. the child suffered minor injuries. the driver is said to be okay. elton john is coming to the defense of prince harry and meghan markle after the royal couple came under fire for taking a private jet to the singer's home in france. sir media accounts accusing the duke and duchess of sussex of being hypocrites for accepting the flight despite their commitment

to the environment. elton said, quote, prince harry's mother, diana, princess of wales, one of my deepest friends, i feel a profound sense song of the summer, "old town of obligation to protect harry and his family from the unnecessary press intrusion that contributed to diana's untimely road," finally gets dethroned. death. elton says he paid for the jet flight. ellen degeneres also defended >> a long road, indeed. also ahead, the government harry and meghan. reveals the best temperature to set your thermostat while you sleep and it's sparking a she tweeted, imagine being backlash. plus, the chicken sandwich war being waged between popeyes attacked for everything you do and chick-fil-a. when all you're trying to do is make the world better. st a fever. in some sports news, a furry visitor turning some heads in minneapolis. this is not just the flu. a squirrel raced onto the field it's meningitis b... st a fever. and then into the minnesota twins dugout. and you're not there to help. some players jumped on top of while meningitis b is uncommon... the railing to flee in panic. i believe this is just a good once symptoms appear, old-fashioned pickle in they can progress quickly and can be fatal... baseball. there's no word on what happened sometimes within 24 hours. before you send your teen to college... to the s make sure you help protect them. talk to your teen's doctor... about meningitis b vaccination. they're breathable underwear from fruit of the loom. wait, fruit of the loom makes breathable underwear?

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been with i think a million one and billy ray cyrus have been dethroned after their unprecedented 19-week run. we want you to take a listen to the song that knocked them off their high horse. ♪ i'm that bad type, make your momma sad type, make your girlfriend mad tight might seduce your dad type i'm the bad guy, duh ♪ >> all right. that's billie eilish singing "bad guy." it's her first number one song. the 17-year-old is the first artist born in the 2000s to top the hot 100 list. the end of the road for "old town road." it's here. >> and that's what dancing is like these days. >> i guess so. trevor, we're way too old. >> we've aged out, we ho get to how low you should

set your thermostat during these dog days of summer. >> according to the federal government, the best temperature for cooling efficiency is 78 degrees when you're home and awake, but when you're sleeping, they say you should set the temperature -- you guys, get ready for this -- to 82 degrees. >> no, that's not okay. >> unbelievable. so this has naturally ignited a firestorm on social media. one person tweeting, i keep it cold enough to grow new icebergs for iceland. another critic saying, they'll have to take my ac from my cold, dead hand. >> 82 degrees. who is sleeping in that? >> no, i don't -- i feel if i'm at 70 i'm melting. >> right, yeah, nuts. so a twitter beef is brewing over chicken sandwiches and the internet is crying fowl. did you catch all those? so last week popeyes announced the launch of their first nationwide chicken situation and expectations were high. >> chick-fil-a has responded calling out the louisiana legend

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making news right now at 4:27, a bombshell in the ghost ship trial. busted. chp using technology and good old-fashioned police work to make arrests. behind the scenes, the white house is sending a bit of a different signal. good morning on this august 20th. >> we have a lot to get to this morning and first we start with

meteorologist, mike nicco. >> good morning, guys. good morning drizzle and cloud cover. temperatures running in the upper 50s to mid-60s. we have a few mid-50s. oakland at 64, one of the warm spots. hayward, concord, 63. 62 -- just changed in palo alto. mid to upper 60s at the coast and in san francisco, and still monitoring the heat wave. here's francis. we are looking forward to the heat wave, maybe, maybe not. here's a live shot from the san mateo bridge. traffic is on the westbound side now. there's a crash where a car avoid add deer and then crashed into the center in the east b eastbound direction.

bay bridge toll plaza right now, nice and light. there's a crash in the eastbound direction at the carquinez bridge. >> thank you. big developments in the ghost ship trial. the jury had been deliberating for ten days and now they beginning. >> three of the jurors were replaced with jobina fortson joins us. >> reporter: keep in mind there were originally six alternate jurors and now they are down to one. the ghost ship trial has been going on for four months now and the jury was ten days into the deliberations before the judge decided to make the switch, and there was a switch made due to

some sort of misconduct. they are responsible for the face of two defendants for the 36 lives lost in the aisaday e . >> we dthetion w restarutst m going to get resolved. >> according to the "san francisco this long trial may come to the release of a fourth juror who has a strict schedule change. >> it has been such a long process. a civil lawsuit is still pending, and the landlord was not charged in the criminal

trial. they claim the original lease was for commercial use. stick with abc7 news for continuing coverage of the jury deliberations. yo