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 commando.

magazine. proving age ain't nothing but a number. what's the secret to looking so good at 45. she reveals all in "the skinny" on this thursday. it's august 3rd. tom brady's birthday! from abc news, this is "world news now." why are you so excited about tom brady's birthday? >> i don't know. somebody back here reminded me that today's tom brady's birthday, and he turns 40. >> congratulations, everybody. >> i guess. all right. >> okay. we'll move on. president trump. >> because we're big tom brady fans. >> we'll go from somebody turning 40 to 45. that's the best i have for transition there. president trump backing a republican plan that would cut legal immigration by half over the next ten years. >> the president rolled out some of the legislation's details, which included favoring highly-skilled workers over those with family ties for legal residency. >> t p

immigration reform led to a heated war of words in the briefing room over the statue of liberty's real meaning. we begin with abc's emily row. >> this competitive application process will favor applicants who can speak english, financially support themselves and their families and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy. >> reporter: president trump joining two republican senators to introduce an immigration overhaul bill, aimed at cutting the number of legal immigrants by 50% over the next ten years. >> over 50% of our households of legal immigrants today participate in our social welfare system. >> reporter: senators david perdue and tom cotton say it's time to give priority to highly-skilled immigrants who can support themselves and speak english. the pair first introduced a similar bill was presented in february. it didn't get much

and already some republicans are speaking out against it. >> this idea of skewing the entire green card pool to one area of the economy i think is very misplaced. >> reporter: lindsey graham saying he supports merit-based immigration but worries about the legislation's impact on agriculture, tourism industries. democrats calling it an affront to american values and a threat to the u.s. economy. >> this legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling american families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and that puts america first. >> reporter: supporters of the bill say this would help low-skilled american workers compete, but critics say that's not the case. the u.s. chamber of commerce and some democrats arguing that it would make things harder for businesses and hurt the u.s. economy. diane and kendis? >> our thanks, emily, there in d.c. a briefing on the immigration plan turned into a heated showdown between steven miller and cnn's jim acosta.

>> the poem at the statue of liberty that embraces immigrants was at the center ever that clash. it was cited by acosta when he asked if the proposed immigration reform was in keeping with american ideals. >> the statue of liberty says give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses. it doesn't say anything about speaking english or being able to be a computer programmer. >> i don't want to get into a whole thing about history here, but the statue of liberty is a symbol of liberty and lighting the world. a symbol of american liberty lighting the world. the poem that you're referring to was added later. it's not actually part of the original statue of liberty. >> this whole notion of they have to learn english before they get to the united states, are we just going to bring in people from great britain and australia? >> this is an amazing moment that you think only people from great britain or australia would speak english is so insulting to millions of hard-working

immigrants who do speak english. >> from all over the world. >> you're trying to engineer the racial and ethnic -- >> that is one of the most yowl outrageous, insulting and ignorant things you have ever said. the fact that you think is a racist bill is so wrong and so insulting. >> for you, that's treading down quite a path there. >> whenever i first met you and we came on set and you talk about how you're from long island. and i'm like when you say anything, it shows your cosmopolitan bias. >> it's lon-gisland. >> i don't know what

cosmopolitan bias means, but does he not like "vogue" magazine? >> there's a big concentration in the cities. so they say that people have a bias if they live there. >> steven miller being from santa monica. >> cosmopolitan. president trump has reluctantly signed a new package of sanctions against russia but he called it seriously flawed. >> the president approved the legislation behind closed doors and coupled it with a scathing statement accusing congress of encroaching on his authority. the veto-proof measure prevents the president from lifting the sanction without consent from congress. >> despite the criticism, he said he signed it for the sake of national unity. and attorney general jeff sessions is apparently out of the woods at least for now. sources say president trump's new chief of staff john kelly told sessions that his job is safe and that the white house is supportive of his work.

with sessions for recusing himself from the russia probe, he also unleashed a series of blistering tweets. calling sessions beleaguered and weak. the white house insists president trump was not lying when he claimed to have received two recent phone calls that actually never happened. he said mexico's president called him to compliment him on the border, but mexico says there was no such phone call. and he said he got a phone call from the head of the boy scouts praising him for his speech. to the troops. scout leadership, who was forced to apologize for the political tone of that speech said actually never happened either. the press secretary sarah sanders insists the conversations took place but not by phone. >> and the president's also disputing a report that he called the white house a dump. in an article posted on golf.com, sources say he made the comments to those at his golf course in new jersey explaining why he spent so much time on the weekds

properties. the president issued a denial last night tweeting i love the white house, one of the most beautiful buildings, homes i have ever seen, but fake news said i called it a dump. totally untrue. two u.s. service members have been killed after their convoy was attacked in southern afghanistan. military officials say a suicide bomber hit the convoy of international troops in kandahar. the taliban quickly claimed responsibility for that attack. the two deaths brings the total number of u.s. service members killed in afghanistan this year to nine. an investigation is under way in durham, north carolina where a chemical leak caused the evacuation of the downtown ymca and also closed surrounding streets. the leak affected 40 children, ages 6-12 and at least two adults. most were treated and released. authorities say the leak involve the chemicals

disinfecting the pool which reacted with each other, releasing new york citious -- noxious fumes. 39 of the victims were reportedly in the pool at the time of the leak. fire officials add that the leak appears to have been caused by a mechanical issue. record producer, shug night has been indicted for making criminal threats. he is accused of threatening the life of "straight out of compton" director for how he was portrayed in the movie. knight is currently in jail awaiting trial for the murder of a man in a compton parking lot two years ago. now to the cutest video you might have seen all day. a video of a man trying to make a food delivery. >> the puppies just

under his feet, so he couldn't really make the delivery. they even jumped into the grocery bins. >> all he's trying to do, the first roll the dolly, then decides i'll just carry them. >> everything turned out jut fine. he was able to make the delivery, eventually. and he made a few friends in the process. >> how cute is that? >> that's got to be the cutest video of the day. >> p >> puppies. puppies for everyone. >> maybe he was delivering puppy snacks. >> puppy chow? >> exactly. thousands show up for job fairs in cities for a chance to work for the online powerhouse. and coming up in "the skinny," how the "star wars" morey movie is going to send out princess leia. first, let's take a l

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people were rescued from a bungee jump ride. one of them stuck upside down. officials say it was caused by mechanical malfunction of the crane carrying a box of jumpers. no one was injured. >> luckily. >> no thank you, though. thousands of people have new jobs this morning after being hired by amazon on the spot at job fairs across the country. >> and many applicants were looking for jobs but also something else. here's gio benitez. >> reporter: from coast-to-coast as many as 50,000 people have new job offers, standing in line for hours to get hired by online retail giant amazon. >> i'm ready. i can do this. i'm going to get a job today. >> reporter: marty mussman works part time and came here for the benefits. almost all of the jobs here are full-time. he got offered. >> i'm 56 years old. there aren't a lot of places that want to hire someone over 50. >> reporter: this stay-at-home mom needed a job too, and got one. >> i'm going to call my husband.

he's going to say? >> he's going to be happy. the extra income's going to be beneficial. he's military, so we don't make great pay. >> reporter: amazon schooled to hire 100,000 people throughout the next year. hosting these amazon job fairs across 12 states. the company's success causing concern for some. american malls are losing ground and experts tell us that shift means 5 million traditional retail jobs could be gone in the next decade. >> i guess sort of like another prime day, except they give you jobs and give you money. when we come back, sofia vergara bearing all for "women's health" magazine. and "sharknado" five. it's happening. "the skinny" is next. shark nadeau five. it's happening.

♪ skinny

♪ so skinny it is your thursday skinny, and we are kicking things off with the sexy, sultry, sofia vergara, 45 years old, looking amazing on the cover of "women's health", baring it all for this issue. >> she says it's acceptable for a woman of her age to show off her body. >> this is the second time she's been in the buff this year, causing her husband joe manganiello to wonder if this is going to become a regular thing. >> being naked, i think is powerful, sensual, and it can be fun. i have always been very comfortable with my body. i'm latin, so we grow up going to the beach in a g-string. >> we need to go to more latin beaches, don't we, clearly? do you think like in colombia she's a 2? or is she legit a 10? >> no, i think she's a 10.

>> she talks about her diet. thursdays are her cheat day in which she enjoys a very large pancake powdered sugar, strawberries and side of eggs. >> oh, yeah, that counts. >> and her every day, she works out three to four times a week with a trainer, and she's had her gigantic, her words, not mine, assets since she was 13. >> something in the water? >> in colombia? been to colombia. >> we've got to start eating some pancakes and strawberries. >> got to go to bogota. i think there's a straight flight from new york to bogota. and the actor who plays the storm trooper finn in the new "star wars" movies is giving us a little glimpse of how they're dealing with the passing of carrie fisher this past december. >> he's opened up to peter traverse about what it was like working with her and how princess leia will appear for

last jedi." >> this movie does her love. it sends her off in a very amazing, amazing way. she's still kept alive in this franchise. that's beauty of it. >> he also says in that interview that the two have many scenes together in the upcoming movie. that's a little nugget of info we didn't have before. and he talked about the moment the cast found out about her death, saying that everyone just went silent. >> understandably there. now, a case of life imitating art. back in 2015, sci-fi was casting for its movie "sharknado" 3. and they were looking for a president. well, they wanted to cast, you guessed it, donald trump. >> apparently, they got pretty far along in the negotiations when trump went silent. then after that he announced he was going to make a real run for president. things worked out pretty well. >> i'd say so. but trump wasn't too happy with

who producers cast in his place, business rival, mark cuban. >> ah-oh. >> yeah. >> you might remember those two have a real-life rivalry. >> mm-hm. so in case you're wondering, "sharknado 5", the global swarming airs this sunday. have you seen a single one of these movies? >> i have not, actually, but i kind of want to. maybe we should bing watch all five. wall to wall "sharknado". >> they're based on fact. >> are you a fan? >> yes. michael phelps was going to appear in the movies, but he doesn't want it appear on camera with a real shark. >> a real shark? and finally, our own michael strahan is on the mend following an accident that we don't think involved a shark but it did leave him sidelined. >> he was back to work on "good morning, america" yesterday where he shared the news with viewers, showing off his bandage there, he said he lost part of his finger. and although we don't know the

details of the injury we do wish him a speedy recovery. >> maybe it was a shark. >> it could have been. >> "sharknado". coming up, breaking the mold and turning clay into clicks. stay with us. mold and turning clay into clicks.

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♪ ♪ >> your duck face is on point. >> there are so many different faces. at least you're consistent with beautiful smile. i'm just like -- >> i just tasted food for the first time. >> all right. speaking of doing it for the gram, let's get do an artist heating up the gram by spinning his potter's wheel. >> he's getting reactions he never expected. here's abc's rebecca jarvis. >> reporter: prepare to be mesmerized.

these hypnotizing videos. taking the internet by storm, reminiscent of that pottery scene in "ghost." with just a lump of clay and handiwork, eric is wracking up thousands of views on instagram. >> this is the kind of thing that keeps me coming back. i imagine it's like surfing, you hit a good wave and it feels so good. >> reporter: but he wasn't always keen on sharing his artistic process. >> my brother came up with the idea that i should maybe open an instagram account. i was a little reluctant. i'm not so fond of new technologies, but i thought why not give it a go. >> reporter: since then, the videos he films here in his copenhagen studio have taken on a life of their own. >> there's no fancy setup. just an iphone and the pieces i maid. when i first started the videos my focus was to put a light on this work i've been doing for years and years and years.

>> reporter: while eric's focus may be on his work that can sell for over $1,000. >> each piece i make is unique. >> reporter: some of his followers are more focussed on the potter himself. the huffington post writing, we could watch this sexy ceramicist play with clay all day every day. >> taking on this role as a little bit of a sex symbol is a little, it's kind of new for me. it's not something they train you for at the design school. >> reporter: but he says in the end it all adds to the artistry. >> i think today people don't just fall in love with art or with ceramics. they fall in love with the people who create these things and instagram is a good way to show the things that inspire us and make our work a lot more personal. >> reporter: rebecca jarvis, abc news. >> eric now has 699,000 followers on instagram. >> doesn't hurt that he's attractive as well. >> he's easy on the eyes. >> it's very easy to just get

♪ oh, my love

making news in america this morning, new reaction overnight to the trump administration's controversial immigration plan. it's a proposal that's already sparking some heated conversation. >> no, this is an amazing -- this is an amazing moment. this is an amazing moment. >> plus, overnight the president reacts to report that's called the white house a dump. we're live in washington. and point of clarification, those phone calls from the boy scouts and the president of mexico. president trump spoke about them in detail but both organizations and the country say they never made those calls. so did the president lie? we have new details this morning in a deadly school explosion. what investigators are saying as