and so it begins. president trump on the cusp of all-important meetings with leaders from around the globe. first on the agenda, north korea icbm and what to do with it. the rogue leader showing no sign ofeakness. saying it's meant to slap the americans in their face. congressman steve scalise who was shot and wounded on a softball field back in june s readmitted to intensive care. his condition is serious. new violence in venezuela as they battle an economic crisis. a newly discovered photo suggests amelia earhart survived a crash landing. and get ready to celebrate national fried chicken day. "early today" starts now.

good to be with you. i'm francis rivera. president trump is making waves in poland this morning, kicking off his second trip abroad with a friendly reception. he is meeting with the polish president whose right-wing party is is a fan of mr. trump. the president brought the attention back to issues here at home. refusing to say russia alone meddle in the 2016 election. just one day before he meets face to face with vladimir putin. here's what he said. >> i think it was russia but i think it was probably other people and/or countries and i see nothing wrong with that statement. nobody really knows. nobody really knows for sure. >> the president was answering a question from our own hallie jackson. watch what happens when hallie attempts to ask him further in the question. >> thank you very much.

thank you very much. you must go. thank you very much. >> can i ask the president. preside president. >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen. >> thank you, everybody, very much. >> all right, kind of jaw dropping to watch that. joining us with more is peter alexander. good morning. >> reporter: good day to you here from warsaw. the president expected to speak to a large crowd. earlier today, during a news conference the president said that he was prepared to confront very strongly north korea in the wake of that rogue regime's recent test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. the president says he's weighing several options. describing this a global threat.

the president as we noted making though remarks to a large crowd of poles. thousands of people in this crowd, read make poland great again. similar to president trump's ideology. the president calling on western civilization to rise up against the threat of terrorism across the globe. later today, he'll head to the g20 summit in germany. he'll meet with german chancellor angela merkel. and the south koreans today practicing in another military exercise after that threat from north korea. the main event of this trip, one-on-one meeting between president trump and vladimir putin. today during that news conference the president saying

he thinks russia was involved but other countries could have played a role. now back to you. >> peter alexander for us, thank you. the banking big wigs are converging in hamburg, germany, but thousands are already protesting the meeting which kicks off friday. demonstrators say they're marching against floralization and corporate greed. hamburg is boosting its police force in anticipation with the protest with clashes happening this week. some now worry they won't be allowed to march as the g20 gets underway. what will be the primary focus? keir? >> reporter: well, i think north korea will be the primary focus. enabled itself to be front and center here by firing that test missile. while it won't be represented here. crucial to the meeting between

president trump and president xi of china. i think you can expect some tough words there. the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley saying the u.s. is not looking at military action but possibly trade sanctions against china if it doesn't crack down on north korea economically. meanwhile, that meeting with president putin, what will president trump say there? will he talk about the allegations of russia meddling in the u.s. elections? and thousands of protesters expected here in hamburg, in previous summits there have been violent altercations with police. will that be the scene as president trump faces some of his most difficult diplomatic days the united states is responding to north korea's first test-launch of icbm one that could potentially reach the united states.

james mat tis talked to japan. a government width effort to identify more options. janice, what's the latest on these rising tensions? >> reporter: well, this is a new type of missile, not seen before, said to be capable of reaching the united states. so it does push tension to a new level here and the u.s. as ever trying to find ways to respond to it. president trump will be meeting on the sidelines of the g20 summit with china's president, lot of attention paid to that meeting. today, he acknowledged the threat that thorti ya poses to the entire world at his news conference from poland. >> we call on all nations to confront this global threat and publicly demonstrate to north

korea that there are consequences for their very, very bad behavior. >> and he did say that there are some very severe options being weighed. wanted to put the warning out to the regime. there's diplomatic fronts that has started particularly with the u.n. security council. nikki haley saying there could be stiff measures put in place for any countries doing business with the regime. didn't name china specifically. lot of attention paid to that meeting that president trump has with xi jinping. >> thank you. breaking overnight, house majority w.h.i.p. steve scalise is back in intensive care.

doctors are concerned about a possible infection. as of last night he was listed in serious condition. scalise one of four people shot when a gunman opened fire on republicans practicing for the annual congressional baseball game. he's undergone several surgeries. . the hospital will have an update later today. we know more about the police officer killed in the police call an unprovoked attack. the mother of three was a 12-year veteran of the force and had to work as a nurse earlier in his career. police identified the suspected gunman as 24-year-old bonds. a twice convicted felon who had been on paroled for a robbery case. today, new york, flags will be flown at half-staff in honor of

the police officer. a wildfire has exploded in size, burning over 34 acres and cou counting. the fire is just a few miles from homes in that area which is very popular with tourists. new violence in swvenezuela chaos about 100 supporters of the president burst into the assembly dominated by the opposition. with sticks and pipes, they attacked lawmakers sending several of them to the hospital. time now for a look at the weather. the heat wave returning to the west and nbc meteorologist bill karins is watching it all. >> advisories and the warnings and watches are back up. excessive heat warnings from phoenix to yuma. heat advisories through central california.

it's warm everywhere. most locations are about 5 to 10 degrees warmer than they should be. the warm ridge hasn't gone anywhere and we notice the fires have been popping up here and there. redding 105. into tomorrow, look at phoenix, back up to 116. 116. still on pace for a very warm summer. frances, the heat doesn't relaxed too much over the weekend. >> all right, bill, thank you. just ahead, spacex , the third launch in barely two weeks. and one of the greatest mysteries may have been solved? did amelia earhart survive?

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three two, one -- the third time's a charm last night. spacex launched a falcon 9 rocket carrying a communications rocket from the kennedy space center. two scrubbed launch attempts this past weekend. this is spacex's launch. louisiana congressman lee higgins is apologizing of filming a video inside a gas chamber in auschwitz. jewish groups quickly condemned higgins. >> pure and simple, a gr's the

>> higgins removed the video wednesday and issued this apology saying my intent was to offer a reverent homage to those who were murdered. my sincere apology for any unintended pain is extended. on the streets of chicago, over four days more than 100 people were shot and 15 were killed according to the chicago tribune. the violence surpassed last year when the fourth fell on a monday. just ahead, a 20th century mystery may be solved with this emerging video. plus, it's a day for comfort foods. how you can celebrate national fried chicken day today. noo introducing the easiest way to get gillette blades text "blades" to gillette on demand

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from the history channel may finally reveal what happened to the legendary amelia earhart and her navigator after their plane disappeared in 1957. here's nbc's tom costello. >> missing over the pacific. >> reporter: does this photograph found by history channel investigators in the national archives prove that amelia earhart ended up in japanese custody. >> we discovered that amelia earhart survived her final flight and landed safely in the islands. >> reporter: you're confident? >> very confident. >> reporter: in 1937 under japanese military control on the left a man standing next to a sign and there sitting on the dock what appears to be a woman with short hair wearing pants like earhart, facial recognition expert overlaid the photo of the

man with photos of the noonan. >> the most distinct characteristic. the nose is very prominent. >> reporter: gibson then compared the body measurements with previous photos of earhart, in both cases striking similarities. >> not likely to likely to very likely to extremely likely. and i said this is very likely. >> reporter: something else -- the woman on the dock is staring at the japanese ship which is towing a barge with something measure 38 feet long, the same length as earhart's plane. for decades locals have said the plane crashed in the islands and the japanese ship took it away. also in the national archives this catalog of government files on earhart, referencing 175 pages including information that earhart was a prison in the islands. but that document is missing. nbc news reached out to the japanese defense ministry and

their national archives all of which said they have no evidence of amelia earhart ever in their custody. while not everyone is convinced, history investigators say they'll reveal more in their sunday documentary. tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> just ahead, can you guess the streaming site that's dominating the competition. plus the pint-size olympic medalist shows off her basketball skills with the harlem globetrotters. in that d. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection

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>> we know how bad that feels when you're done and you go through the withdrawals of, what now am i going to watch? all right, today's all about greasy comfort food. it's national fried chicken day. the dish has become an american staple over the years. one of the most popular restaurant offerings. more than half of all chicken entrees ordered are fried. you got chick-fil-a, offering deals to celebrate. just ahead -- the dog's balancing skills are launching him into the internet spotlight. i love you, couch. you give us comfort. and we give you bare feet... ...backsweat and gordo's

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welcome back. we talked about the excessive heat. not like this weekend is going to cool off, we go from hot to very hot. redding, 105 sunday. boise, 103, 102. vegas, 112 down to 107 by sunday. that time of year you dent get a big cooldown. look at all the 100s. even salt lake city, boise. take your pick. >> i'm good over here. >> you're good? >> on the east coast. all right, bill, president trump is in poland this morning, at a joint press conference with poland president's in warsaw, he said he agrees that russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election. >> i said it very simply i think it could have been russia or

other countries and i won't be specific. but, i think a lot of people interfered. >> right now, president is addressing the polish people from the center of warsaw. he'll head to hamburg, germany and the g20 summit. the washington post reports the white house gender pay gap has more than tripled in the first year of the trump administration. an analysis done, females on average earn just 63 cents for every male staffer earns. $78,332 was given to the national parks service earlier this year. the president had pledged to forego his salary.

when emmanuel macron paid a visit to a nuclear submarine made somewhat of an entrance. once on board he took place in a simulated missile launch. how about this, for one dog's special skills, he's keeping level headed about all the attention. this is river, a retriev retriever. >> he's got skills. >> balancing a fidget spinner. he balances about any object, even beer, while you're sitting there pouring it. >> maybe they can get it to serve the beer. >> standing still or moving to help balance it. >> maybe a little bit of both. the next step is serving that beer, lot of owners happy. thank you for watching "early today." have great thursday.

see you back here tomorrow. good thursday morning..

a live look outside at san jose we are officially more than halfway through the workweek... to you. let's take a live peak this morning overlooking san jose. we're officially halfway through the workweek. things are going to start heating up this weekend put ready for it? you better be. mike in l.a. on a little have a kay. >> good morning. >> thanks for joining us. >> i'm sam brock and we're happy that you're here with us. >> it hasn't been do rough but let's hope it's good. it's still 4:30. >> you've got your keds shoes on. >> when i've got to run from the snooze room to the studio. >> and as the weather's going to heat up. >> yeah. this is what we'll all be