this morning on "world news now," with a new sheriff in town, jeff sessions gets to stay in the saddle. >> after weeks of getting slammed by the president, the new white house chief of staff, john kelly assures sessions that his job as attorney general is safe. this as sessions' department of justice looks to take on the issue of affirmative action. we have details ahead. >> and a new republican-led effort to reform immigration is rolled out by the trump administration aiming to cut immigration by half and move english speakers to the front of the line. this as the president mentions high-profile phone calls that actually never happened. mt and it's a video tough to watch, but everyone is surprisingly okay. an officer's dash cam

through the air after a suspected drunk driver plows right into him during a traffic stop. hear what he's saying now. and here it is. the secret to getting more dates. >> i don't think my husband's going to like this. >> no, no, no. but this is a difficuefinitive . post pictures to your profile. i'll tell you what cities do the best. and get bert houtter hours so y actually go on a date. this is thursday, august 3rd. from abc news, this is "world news now." >> you don't have a lot of 5:00 a.m. takers? >> there are a lot of 5:00 a.m. takers, not sure what they are taking. >> not for a cup of coffee. we'll get more to that later. >> secrets to dating. but we begin this half hour with attorney general jeff sessions getting a vote of confidence from the white house. >> sources say the new white house chief of staff,

safe despite a recent barrage of criticism from the president. he called him to reassure him that the white house was supportive of his work and wanted him to remain in that position. >> the president has repeatedly criticized him for recusing himself from the russia investigation. republicans came to sessions' defense and warned the president not to fire him. >> but sessions' department of justice is under fire this morning from civil rights groups. reports that the trump administration is planning to target affirmative action programs. >> the "new york times" cited a story over policies found to discriminate against white applicants. the justice department says it was a job posting. so president trump has

grudgingly signed off on new sanctions against russia while blasting the bill as seriously flawed. >> the president opted against a public signing ceremony, as he lashed out at lawmakers over the legislation which prevents him from lifting the sanctions without congressional approval. abc's cecelia vega has more on that and the president's credibility being called into question. >> reporter: president trump so often criticized for being too soft on the kremlin, reluck it tantely signed into law tough new sanctions on russia, but for someone who seems to so enjoy a signing ceremony, the white house kept this one behind closed doors, away from the cameras. the president signing it but issuing scathing words at the same time. calling the legislation seriously flawed. and when we asked him about it. >> mr. president, why are the russia sanctions seriously flawed? >> reporter: no comment. congress had boxed the president into a corner. the bill passed by an overwhelming veto-proof majority. democrats and

for the sake of national unity, but in written statements he slammed lawmakers, saying they included a number of clearly unconstitutional pr unconstitutional provisions, adding i built a truly great company worth many billions of dollars, as president i can make far better deals with foreign countries than congress. senator john mccain from arizona where he is undergoing cancer treatment saying i hope the president will be as vocal about russia's aggressive behavior as he was about his concerns with this legislation. the president also facing tough questions about his own behavior after using a boy scout's jamboree last week to vent about politics. >> we won florida. we won south carolina. we won north carolina. we won pennsylvania. >> reporter: the president told "the wall street journal" the hid of the boy scouts personally called him to say it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. but the political tone

scouts were actually forced to issue an apology. they said there was no phone call from scout leadership to the white house. the presidents also says he got a call from mexico's president praising his work on the border. >> the president of mexico called me, and he said their southern border, very few people are coming, they know they're not going to get through our border. >> reporter: but mexico says nope, that call didn't happen either. we asked the white house, did president trump lie? >> on mexico, he was referencing a conversation that thiey had hd at the g-20 summit. in terms of the boy scouts, multiple members of the leadership following the speech that day followed him, praised him. >> reporter: but the president said he specifically received a phone call. >> they were direct conversation. not phone calls. >> reporter: so he lied. >> i wouldn't say it was a lie. that's pretty bold accusation. it's a

that didn't take place over a phone call. he had them in person. >> i do not envy sarah sanders in those positions. i wouldn't call it a lie. it happened. thanks to cecelia vega. >> it happened a little differently. >> differently. the white house, president trump is backing a new republican proposal that would reduce the number of legal immigrants by half over the next ten years. >> the bill's author, senator perdue and senator cotton. it would favor those who are highly skilled workers and those who speak english ahead of those trying to enter the u.s. based on family connections. >> this will favor applicants who can speak english, financially support themselves and their families and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy. this legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling american families

immigration system that puts their needs first. >> the legislation will replace the current process for obtaining legal permanent residency or green cards with a skill-based point system for employment visas. >> so the president says the measure will raise wages and create jobs, but critics are blasting the plan saying it would hurt industries like agriculture and the economy as a whole. the bill lacks needed support from republicans in congress, though, and a nearly identical bill failed to gain traction in congress in february of this year. and wall street kicks off trading today in record territory again after hitting a new milestone. >> the dow climbed above the 22,000 mark for the first time yesterday propelled by apple's healthy quarterly iphone sales. >> but many caution this is not the sign of a healthy economy. these gains have been built on a very narrow sector and unusual market conditions. weakness

has been holding back the nasdaq and s&p 500. two people are dead from a natural gas explosion at a private school in minneapolis. construction crews may have ruptured a gas line causing a blast and a portion of the school came crashing down. just moments ago the only person not accounted for was removed from the rubble of that academy. the man still missing was john carlson, a part-time janitor who also attended the school as a child and ruth berg, a receptionist at the school for 17 years also killed. >> this is a day of extraordinary heartbreak in minneapolis. the school is at the heart of a neighborhood and the heart of a community. this school is beloved. the people there are beloved. and this is a big loss for the city today. >> and overnight, neighbors and friends gathered at a church to honor the victims. several others were also injured, and four remain in the

in critical condition. residents of a small town were forced to leave their homes after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in western pennsylvania. tankers with propane and molten sulphur caught fire. it was heading from chicago to new york when it crashed in the tiny town of hyndman. no word yet on what might have caused that incident. former fbi director james comey has signed a book deal estimated to be worth over2 million. the publisher says comey will write about leadership and decision making and share previously unheard anecdotes from his long career in government. it's expected to include the investigation into hillary clinton's private e-mail server and the accusations of ties between russia and donald trump's presidential campaign. the still-untitled book is due out next spring. so mad props to this couple here. you have to give

those who know how to get down. >> like us. >> yeah, except they're better than us, nick ahols. >> even those on stage start chanting for the couple. >> look at nick's moves. it's almost like, are they coordinated? >> oh, yeah, they know exactly what they're doing, these two. and then for this move. >> yeah, get it, get it, get it. so they've actually been spotted before. >> i love how they encouraged everyone around them who's seated to get up and start dancing themselves, but look at them go. >> this is at the mall around the holidays, apparently, they are local celebrities. >> nick and emma, come hang out with us. we love you. >> that is the epitome of relationship goals right there. i have to give them props for liking j. quad. >> they got

at some point, some guys come over and try to dance with emma, she's like, mm. i got this. coming up, the new trend for brides and grooms. many turning to elopement planners to help them plan their dream wedding. and the invisible danger in the latest incident of a police officer passing out while driving a ford suv. that vehicle testing positive for carbon monoxide exposure . e you're watching "world news now." clearasil rapid action begins working fast for clearly visible

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this was the scene in central washington town where a fire that destroyed vehicles and outbuildings is being blamed on a cat. a cat apparently climbed up a power pole. and this is the second fire in the area started bay cat >> what? >> in less than a month. believe it or not. and this comes as firefighters across the west are battling at least 48 fires fueled by a heat wave. in

firefighter has died after being hit by a tree. that one's grown to more than 6300 acres. these fires are being fueled in part by scorching temperatures across the northwest that could set all-time highs. >> who knew there were arsonist cats out there. >> many. new video of a driver slamming his car into a police officer. the officer is okay. matt lessle was on a traffic stop when the car crashed into him, tossing him into the air. he said it felt like he was in a washing machine. he landed in the road and was able to move out of the way as other cars zoomed past. he fractured a vertebrae and will be off the job understandably for at least a month. the driver of the car has been charged with intoxicated assault. he is urging drivers to slow down and move away when driving past traffic stops. >> it's amazing to see him get up in the video. and we turn now to what appears to be a

cruiser. >> this time a massachusetts officer passing out behind the che wheel, crashing into another driver. >> reporter: another case of an officer passing out behind the wheel and having an accident, allegedly after unsafe exposure to carbon monoxide. this crash happened in newport beach, california, the new case in massachusetts. >> he'd just been involved in an accident and had passed out and hit another vehicle. >> reporter: the auburn officer lost control, struck a car at a stop sign and wound up in a church parking lot across the street. he's been hospital identified. so has a second officer who also tested positive for carbon monoxide exposure. it's the latest in a series of troubling incidents involving late-model ford police suvs. the austin, texas police department took nearly 400 vehicles offer the streets after

sick from the fumes. ford says it is sending engineers to auburn to inspect their vehicles and modifications made to them. ford says that it's the modifications that police departments make to those vehicles that may be the cause of the problem because they have drill holes in order to install equipment that officers need. in any case, ford says it will fix all of the vehicles that are experiencing problems. meanwhile, federal highway safety officials are also sending investigators. david wright, abc news, new york. coming up in our next half hour. thousands of americans turning up at job fairs across the country vying for 50,000 amazon jobs. but first, ditch the big wedding without ditching the big moments. we'll tell you about the latest trend in weddings. that's coming up on "world news now."

♪ we dwrgot to get out when we' young ♪ ♪ because baby, we were born to run ♪ ♪ >> that's an unusual way to use "born to run." so it used to be all you needed to do to elope was you had a bride. you had a guy. you had a groom. and you had a

suit. but for some modern couples, that just won't do. >> they want to skip the big wedding but not the big memories or maybe more honestly, the big instagram posts. so they're turning to elopement planners for help. >> reporter: he is getting ready for her wedding day. like many brides, she has her glam squad, her dressmaker and of course there's her groom. at a glance, it looks like a typical wedding, except for one thing. lori and john are eloping. >> it gives me great pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife and you may kiss your bride. >> i was looking at weddings, have a wedding for $10,000, and at that was a small wedding. we just decided, let's just elope. >> reporter: but lori and john wanted something more than getting married at a courthouse. lori came across a local company that specialized in, you guessed it, elopements. >> i bring the cupcakes. i

i work with amazing people to get dresses and locations. >> reporter: they are similar to wedding planners, except. >> it's on a much, much smaller scale, so i don't have to think of things like caterers and a band and a dance floor and linens on a table. >> we didn't have to do anything. the company did everything for us. it was great. >> reporter: and in an era dominated by social media, more couples are choosing to spend money eloping in style, often in scenic destinations that look great oon instagram. >> i think a lot of couples these days are trying to be really smart about their decisions and instead of spending $20,000, $30,000 toward a wedding they're putting that toward a house, a car, having a child, going on a great vacation. >> reporter: so while running away to vegas may never be out of style, more and more couples decide to elope like this. >> it was fun, eloping was really fun. we got to run off and get

married. >> just rerks amember all those people you left behind at work, they may not be so happy that you were eloping and leaving them behind. >> wedding gifting is very expensive. >> wedding planning, it's more

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i would switch to crest [hd] over what i was using before. . ♪ okay, time now for "the mix." and we have finally got the answer if you are a single person, if you're out there on one of these dating apps. >> like those are two separate categories. if you're single or -- >> you know, trying to run game. here is how to get more traction out of your app. >> oh. >> the popular dating app hinge has found that certain photos you post gets you the most likes. >> are they random ones where you're standing outside and running?

>> i might have had four of those in the no, travel photos, especially a certain location. women, if you post a photo of you in maui or hawaii. >> ooh, hey now. what's up people. >> it gets 60% more likes on this dating app. >> how ya doin'? maui? i got to tell my husband about this one. >> it works. for men, if you take photos of you in munich, germany. perhaps with a bunch of other fellow germans while you're watching world cup action. >> how about that guy. you want to date that guy? >> the guy with the flag. >> the guy with the flag. that photo is more popular than any other photo, staggeri staggering 210%. >> maui and munich. h huh.

>> keep us pte works out for you. everyone, parents will now this one very well, when the kid gets ahold of the sharpy marker and goes a little nutso on the wall. one mother decided to make the best of that. check it out. she's an artist. and this reddit user posted a photo of it. instead of cleaning up the mess, the mom decided to turn it into a piece of art. she says this is when a creative kid has a creative mom. impressive, isn't it? >> that's great. another before and after in novemb nova scotia. she got her wheelbarrow stolen and she politely posted please bring back my wheelbarrow. and then the wheelbarrow was brought back, which proceeded, thank you for bringing back my wheelbarrow. on to the latest workout

craze, and by latest, i mean we do it first. arizona. it's a 75-minute class with

bungee cords att this morning on "world news now." down one for immigration. the plan to cut legal immigration by half and how it sparked a bizarre exchange in the white house briefing room. but does the congress have enough support to consider it. pool chemicals sickened dozens of children, sending many to the hospital. we'll talk about the wrong mixture of chemicals that caused toxic fumes. and new this half hour, tens of thousands of people descend on amazon locations across the country. >> we find out what everyone's looking for beyond just the job. and sofia vergara going