making news in america this morning, breaking news, north korea claims its first successful launch of int intercontinental ballistic missile and the trump administration is reacting overnight as the president peeps for a major international meeting. we're live in washington. a budget stalemate is broken allowing everyone to go back to new jersey's beaches. governor chris christie making no apologies for his controversial time on the sand. go et ready for extreme conditions for your independence day. heavy storms expected across the southern plains while some are still hitting the slopes. we have your forecast ahead. and from coast to coast, the fireworks are ready for launch.

we'll look ahead to the big displays honoring the nation's 241st birthday. a good tuesday morning and a happy fourth of july to you all. i'm diane macedo. >> and i'm nick watt. we begin with another provocative act by north korea days before a major meeting of world leaders. >> hours ago they launched its tenth missile this year. but this one is a bit different. it could be capable of reaching alaska. abc's emily rau joins us now from washington with the latest. emily, good morning. what do we know so far. >> reporter: this missile did not pose a threat to north america at any time but this is a big step. north korea claiming this as its first intercontinental ballistic missile potentially pushing closer to the goal of reaching american soil. the latest missile launch from north korea, an act o

from dictator kim jong-un. president trump tweeting deposit this guy have anything better to do with his life and going on to suggest china could take action and end this nonsense once and for all. speaking to reporters in tokyo, japanese prime minister shinzo abe says he hopes to work with president trump and south korean president moon to increase pressure on north korea. and a former pentagon official weighing in on the timing of the launch with abc news radio. >> one of the reasons they're probably doing it now is that the south korean leader met with president trump last week and former president obama is in south korea. so they're trying to send a message. >> reporter: at the u.n. on monday a representative of china said his country wants to de-escalate the situation. >> currently tension is high. sooner or later it will get out of control and consequences would be disastrous.

will be meeting with the leaders later this week at the g20 summit. now keep in mind this coming weeks after an american college student died after sustaining unknown injuries while in north korean custody. diane and nick. >> all sure to be topic as the president meets with those leaders. thank. president trump is making phone call as he's of his trip. he returned from his golf club to celebrate the fourth of july at the white house. he has no specific agenda for his meeting with vladimir putin at the g20 summit in germany, but the kremlin said putin will return the return of two diplomatic compounds in the u.s. seized before president obama left office. and overseas, u.s. backed iraqi forces appear to be on the brink of a major victory over isis. just days away from taking back the city of mosul but some militants are digging in fighting to the death. female suicide bombers are now being

fleeing civilians. many fleeing are so malnourished and wounded they need to be carried to safety. and french authorities say they stopped a potential assassination plot against president emmanuel macron. a 23-year-old man said to be a far right nationalist was arrested last week. investigators say the attack was set to take place on bastille day when macron was scheduled to be with president trump. a fiery bus crash in southern germany left 18 people dead. the driver as well as 17 passengers between the ages of 66 and 81 were killed. dozens of other passengers on the bus were also injured. investigators say the bus crashed into the back of a truck that slowed down due to a traffic jam. and new jersey governor chris christie has signed a new bud budget that ignited a firestorm.

of christie and his family relaxing on a beach that he closed to the public during the budget standoff. christie brushed aside criticism as he announced the beaches are re-opening today saying he doesn't care about political optics and will not apologize for spending time with his wife and kids. a chicago family is trying to recover from a holiday weekend boating tragedy. police say james hammond drowned while trying to save his 11-year-old nephew. the child fell out of a motorboat and into lake michigan yesterday afternoon. hammond jumped in but wasn't wearing a life vest. the child was saved but his uncle was recovered unresponsive. >> you could see the little boy bobbing in the water with his life jacket on just barely. they got out there so fast and swooped him out. >> one man fell out the boat and they turned back around and got the other person. >> the 11-year-old and two other children in the at

and boston police are so fa taxicab that plowed into a group of other taxi drivers waiting outside logan airport. ten of those drivers were injured. they had been taking a break in a special area set aside for them. officials believe the 56-year-old driver hit the gas instead of the brake. other cabbies say the man is quiet and friendly, doesn't have a record of other violation. terrorism is not suspected. now for a look at your independence day weather. good morning. for the forecast, scattered showers and thunderstorms rumbling throughout the tennessee valley region and into the southeast down towards florida. also heavy downpours likely throughout oklahoma as well as arkansas reaching into missouri all the way up towards minneapolis and the dangerous heat persists throughout the desert southwest and throughout the west as a whole. we'll have temperatures in trip

as idaho and fire concerns still a big concern throughout the day. i'm meteorologist paul williams with your forecast. >> and spacex is surely hoping for good weather to launch a communications satellite tonight. >> last night the countdown for launching the falcon 9 rocket was again aborted just ten seconds before liftoff. the same thing happened the night before. it may be a computer glitch rather than an actual mechanical problem. >> i wonder if they tried restarting the computer. works every time. fireworks producers are getting ready to launch smaller rockets tonight. the biggest show in new york where macy's will launch 40,000 fireworks lasting 25 minutes. big celebrations are also planned in washington, atlanta, san francisco and several other major cities. still ahead, an emotional outpouring for a missing grad student as her accused kidnapper appears in court. also, a wet

balloon. their dip into a pond was concerns. and venus williams breaks down at wimbledon speaking for the first time about the deadly traffic dent she is accused of causing.

all right, folks, we're going to get a little wet. sorry about that. >> getting a little wet was the least of the worries for the people on board that sightseeing balloon because it went down in central florida in a pond that was filled with alligators. all 17 passengers including three 8-year-old children did make it to shore safely. the sightseeing company released a statement saying in part we know this has not been the

looking for. will be back in court tomorrow for a bond hearing. yingying zhang has been missing for almost a month, officials don't believe she is still alive. the alleged kidnapper brendt christensen was in federal court yesterday watched by dozens of members of the university of illinois community. >> everybody is stunned. i've gotten many, many e-mails from graduate students and faculty expressing disbelief. >> he's been charged with kidnapping and if convicted, the penalty is up to life in prison. >> christensen was seen at a vigil last week for zhang. he reportedly was already under surveillance at that point. his attorney says the public has not heard the whole story and people should keep an open mind. a gunman is dead after trying to hijack a helicopter. police say he arrived at a small airport in portland and ordered a flight instructor and

could take off. he then tried to run away after a confrontation with police, was shot by an officer. he later died of his wounds. it's not known why he wanted to steal that helicopter. and houston police were forced to confront a naked man armed with a pesticide sprayer. the officers then tased the man and arrested him and those officers are now being praised for their restraint. that man's appointed attorney says his client was obviously not rationale. a north charleston, south carolina, mall emptied out after gunfire erupted. two men got into an argument inside a store. there was damage but no injuries. the two men have not been found. when we come back, tiger woods issues a new statement about receiving some help dealing with pain medications. we have his progress report straight ahead. and some fun facts about the fourth of july. it's not all about fireworks.

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a wildfire in western nevada has closed a section of interstate 80 overnight. officials say there's heavy smoke and poor visibility which you can see there in the video. the fire was currently at 3,000 acres. earlier evacuation order, however, have been canceled. and that should be the only problem for drivers in the west this morning. but in the midwest watch out for flooding, roads will also be wet in the tennessee valley, the carolinas, florida and the appalachians. >> flying, delays are likely in charlotte. venus williams has reached the second round at wimbledon for the fourth straight year but winning her sixth all england singles crown may be the furthest thing from her mind. >> an off-court tragedy left her in tears yesterday. james longman has more. >> reporter: venus williams overcome. after leaving the wimbledon tour in victory on monday, breaking down at a post-match press

she's coping in the aftermath of that getly car accident last ba >> i have no idea what tomorrow will bring. really no words to describe like how devastating and -- yeah, i am completely speechless and it's just -- yeah, i mean, i'm just -- >> reporter: this marks the first time williams has spoken publicly about the crash. the police report stating williams was at fault for violating the right of way of the barsons' vehicle. james longman, london. tiger woods now says he has completed a program. >> woods announced on twitter he recently completed a private intensive program. he admitted to problems managing medications for back pain and insomnia. the issue came to a head in may when he was arrested for driving under the

nba finals mvp kevin durant is taking a pay cut espn is reporting that durant will agree to a two-year, $53 million deal with the golden state warriors. he could have earned nearly $32 million next season alone but taking the discounted rate allows the warriors to keep other members of their championship team. >> how generous of him. >> what a guy. there's major league baseball games all day long on this fourth of july. >> and we get some highlights from some of last night's action now from the guys over at espn. good morning, america. good morning, utica. another beautiful day this utica. >> perfect. >> we begin with baseball highlights. you were probably in bed had this ended. >> you missed maybe the most dustin pedroia play of his career. this is what necessitated it. mike napoli off craig kimbrel, tying home run. next pitch. carlos

is pedroia backing up thela and they get gomez at first. look at him falling down. just the presentation of mind to even be there backing up the play and then the incredible athleticism to get him at first. fast forward to the 11th. andrew got all of that or enough of it anyway. red sox in dramatic fashion win it in 11, 7-5. >> 76ers are playing in utah. foltz, 17 points in 22 minutes. 11 in the fourth and the celtics win. >> happy fourth of july, everybody. enjoy the day, for john buccigross, i'm kevin connors, good morning america. >> thanks, boys. now a bit of christmas in july. some people in california are ditching the beaches and barbecues to hit the slopes this independence day. >> ye

are out in droves at a resort in squaw valley. it's hotnoh there to wear t-shirts, shorts, even bikinis but heavy snow from the winter still hasn't completely melted. it's not a scene you see very often. tank tops and skis at the same time. >> i like it, though. i like it. up next in "the pulse," our love affair with eating contests. a celebration of america. hot dogs and hamburgers coming up. the big anniversary for a major achievement by nasa 20 years to the day since landing on mars. on our facebook page, the extraordinary lengths one hospital went to so its youngest patients could celebrate the holiday. that's on atmfans.com. he spent decades fighting to give families a second chance. but to help others, they first had to protect themselves. i have afib. even for a nurse, it's complicated... and it puts me at higher risk of stroke. that would be devastating. i had to learn all i could

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of july "pulse" starting with nathan's famous hot dog eating contest. the contestants weighed in yesterday ahead of today's big showdown. >> the favorite, joey "jaws" chestnut tipped the scales at 221 pounds. chestnut says most people think of competitive eating as just sitting down for a big meal but that's not how he goes about it. >> i kind of model my training similar to a marathon runner and slowly build up to eating more and more hot dogs, train my body to tolerate it and push it to an extreme limit so i attack the contest with -- like it's a sport. like i'm really making my body work for me. >> too bad he is an athlete. >> joey, you're not an athlete. you're not a marathon runnerment i'm not buying it. i love what you do. come on, mate, enough. >> i think i know a few other people who would disagree with you also. yesterday's z burger annual independence burger eating championship in washington, d.c.

>> marley skylar took the top spot, the mother of four won it for the third time eating 21 burgers in 10 minutes. >> athlete. >> athlete, marathon runner. >> trained hard for that one. >> all right. a more sophisticated story now. today is actually a very special fourth of july because it's also the 20th anniversary of the arrival of pathfinder on mars. >> pretty cool stuff. there were some big cheers at nasa's jet propulsion laboratory when they learned that that lander had successfully made it and it made quite an entrance, i might add. >> pathfinder bounced onto the martian surface and opened to release its sojourner rover which conducted experiments before it went silent. they sent back more than 17,000 pictures from the surface of mars. >> still sounds like an amazing accomplishment today. i wonder how they felt about it 20 years ago. >> yeah, unreal. >> big deal. finally, some funou

did you know only john hancock signed the declaration of independence on july 4th of 1776? all the others signed later. >> okay. >> thanks, procrastinators. >> plenty of stars and stripes today. >> really? >> right will. i think this is fitting you and the stars and stripes and me looking old and british in a gray suit. i think it works. anyway, there were 13 stars on the original flag in a circle so that the colonies would all appear equal. >> we'll consumehappy fourth of july. many people probably have the day off.. but good morning washington is still here with what you need to know before you head out to enjoy all those barbecues and fireworks. first-- we are following some breaking news from overnight. north korea launching a test of a ballistic missile early this morning. the mi

more than 500 miles away in the sea of japan. south korean gency meeting of south korea's national security council in the wake of the launch. we will have much more on this story, including reaction from the white house.. a little later on. good morning washington. i'm adrianna hopkins.. larry is off today. toss to eileen - hot & humid 4th - storms later today; will they affect the fireworks? - unsettled the next few days; daily storm chances - next big change comes this weekend; lower humidity today: partly sunny. hot and humid. pm thunderstorms possible 2-8pm. highs: 88-92 winds: se 5 mph tonight: mostly cloudy. warm and muggy. patchy fog. lows: 68-74

wednesday: mostly storms. highs: 81-85 winds: ese 5 mph coverin

if you're using mass transit to get around this fourth of july-- then listen up becuase you will need to plan ahead. the good news is that off-peak fares will be in effect all day, and there is also no track work scheduled. metro officials say trains will run every 12 minutes on each line until about 6 p.m. gradually ramping up to near rush-hour service levels thereafter. the yellow line will operate between huntington and mt. vernon square only. due to large crowds, bicycles and large coolers are not permitted

huntington and mt. vernon square only. due to large crowds lecoolers are not permitted parking is free at all metro-operated facilities and metrobus is operating on a saturday schedule. service closes at midnight. also -- in observance of independence day, vre will not operate today. service will resume tomorrow. this next story is somewhat fitting for the holiday. d-c wildlife officials are caring for a special guest this independence day. take a look-- it's a sick bald eagle. "city wildlife" has been caring for the bird since it was found lethargic and unable to fly in southeast d-c on saturday. it says the bird is now eating and is acting more normally. more tests are planned before he can be released back into the wild. a new push - to find an age-old symbol of freedom on this independence day. a 2-thousand pound replica of the liberty bell - missing! in 1950 - the bell was given to d-c by the federal government. it used to be housed on the steps of the wilson building. then it was moved to a park

was moved for a beautification project -- and never made its way back. it's believed the bell disappeared between 1970 and 1981. there's no evidence it's been stolen or scrapped- but it would be very hard to hide - so investigators are asking the public for tips. some supermarkets in georgia had a little less chicken to sell this week. thats becuase the poultry ended up all over the interstate. take a look at this. that is thousand pounds of raw chicken all over the road on interstate 75. it took crews hours to clean it all up after a semi spilled its load. there was no crash -- and authorities aren't sure why the truck dumped all that chicken.

it's xx and we're just getting started. good morning washington. - hot & humid 4th - storms later today; will they affect the fireworks? - unsettled the next few days; daily storm chances - next big change comes this weekend; lower humidity today: partly sunny. hot and humid. pm thunderstorms possible 2-8pm. highs: 88-92 winds: se 5 mph tonight: mostly cloudy. warm and muggy. patchy fog. lows: 68-74 winds: ne 5 mph wednesday: mostly cloudy. warm and muggy. chance of showers and storms. highs: 81-85 winds: ese 5 mph