this wednesday on "world news now." fire and fury. the president's dramatic warning to north korea, drawing new reaction from around the world overnight, as the north considers a missile strike against guam, the u.s. territory housing thousands of american forces. the u.s. intelligence committee believes north korea's capabilities may be more advanced than thought, with guam and hawaii among possible targets. so is the u.s. ready for a possible attack? we're covering all the angles this morning. and new this half hour, a big baby causes a commotion at a beach. >> a young whale drew a crowd as it spent hours circling a harbor in los angeles. we'll show you how c

sea. and after two years of hiding. out in the wilds in montana, david letterman set to return to tv, and he's already got his first interview wish list, signed up. hear how the former king of late night wants to help prevent nuclear war. it's wednesday, august 9th. from abc news, this is "world news now." it's kind of funny to see those old images of david letterman, because i had forgotten what he looked like. lately he's looked like sasquatch. >> he's got a giant beard. so the question is, will he shave for the new show? >> that's a curious thing. the beard is probably down to about here now. we'll get to that later on. we're going to start with the breaking news, north korea threatening to take aim at the u.s. territory of guam. after the stern warning from president trump. >> the president vowed yesterday that threats from the north would be met with fire and fury. now the rhetoric between the two advear

reports that north korea can now place nuclear warheads on its missiles. >> and there's also word that kim jong un has 60 nuclear weapons in his arsenal. that's new. we begin, though, with emily row. >> reporter: an explosive statement from president trump. >> north korea best not make any more threats to the united states. they will be met with fire and fury. like the world has never seen. >> reporter: the chilling warning in response to kim jong un's threat to make the u.s. pay dearly following tough new u.n. sanctions. >> he has been very threatening, beyond a normal statement. >> reporter: abc news confirmed a "washington post" report that u.s. intelligence analysts believe north korea can now produce a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its intercontinental missiles. >> this is the most momentous day in his nuclear program. >> reporter: just ten days ago

into space. analysts concluding the missile trajectory could potentially reach the east coast of the united states, including new york and washington, d.c. what remains unknown, whether north korea has tested the smaller nuclear warhead and if it could survive re-entry. >> the worst thing we could do is panic and respond to this with a bad move, like military action. >> reporter: but late tuesday, north korea's state-run news agency announcing the regime is carefully examining plans to attack guam that contain u.s. bases there. emily row, abc news, washington. >> and americans are growing more concerned as north korea continues to defy the international community. >> a cnn poll conducted before president trump's threat found that half the country disapproved with the way he is handling the situation with north korea, while 37% approve. >> and 62% say north korea poses a threat to the u.s.

august. >> so we talked about that threat to guam, but also there are other parts of the pacific that are concerned about the latest threats from north korea. >> arlette saenz is keeping track of this. what are the experts saying about this? >> guam's located about 2300 miles. it's a u.s. territory that's also a key military outpost. but it's not the only u.s. interest within striking distance of north korea. the north korean regime says it's reviewing a plan to launch medium to long-range ballistic missiles towards guam, aiming to create an enveloping fire around the u.s. territory. despite the warning, guam's homeland security office said the threat level remains unchanged. >> i want to reassure the people of guam that currently there is no threat to our island or the marianas. an attack or threat on guam is a thre

states. >> reporter: located 2100 miles from the korean peninsula, guam is a key u.s. military outpost. home to around 160,000 people, including 7,000 u.s. military personnel. another island in potential striking distance, hawaii. north korea has made no direct threat to hawaii. but last month the state launched a public education campaign to help its 1.4 million residents and visitors plan what they would do during a nuclear missile attack. it would take 15 or 20 minutes for a north korean missile to reach the island. the state's guidance urges people to get inside, stay inside and stay tuned. last month, hawaii also announced they would start testing an attack warning system in november. that's something not heard of in hawaii since the end of the cold war. >> this is becoming really real. for them. >> we saw the governor of guam saying nothing to worry about here. other world leaders reacting overnight. >> malcolm turnbull says north korea is being provocative and

reckless and warning that a conflict with north korea would have catastrophic and consequences for the entire world. >> hopefully we don't see that come to fruition. arlette, thank you for coming on. and the president is also taking on a tough battle at home. vowing to fight the deadly opioid epidemic. >> he held a briefing at his new jersey golf club, along with help from secretary price, he promised to step up federal drug prosecutions and stopped short of announcing new policy. he did not declare a national emergency over the opioid crisis despite a recommendation to do so from a commission that he created. >> and new hampshire has joined the list of states suing oxycontin manufacturers. >> yep, at purdue pharma, they accuse them of down playing the epidemic. they have called new hampshire the ground zero of the epidemic. according to the federal government, opioid deaths jumped nearly 200% in five years in the state.

focus to the weather and a powerful line of storms raking across the nation's south. take a look at the radar, and it shows those storms stretching from texas into virginia. they're now moving to the east in wilmington, north carolina roads were completely under water but it seemed to have little impact on local traffic as you can see. and in texas, houston bracing for even more rainfall after getting up to eight inches of rain. that triggered flash flooding and water rescues. well u.s. airlines are bumping passengers at the lowest rate in two decades. a new report finds that just one in every 19,000 passengers was kicked off an overbooked flight in the first six months of this year, that's the lowest rate since the government started tracking such incidents in 1995. it follows a massive backlash after a passenger was dragged off a united airlines flight in april. the biggest decline took place between april and june. and a baby gray whale made a big splash.

in the waters off southern california. >> the whale found its way into dana point harbor 50 miles off the coast of los angeles. it had close encounters with people on paddle boards and kayaks. >> the harbor patrol used boats and hoses to steer the whale back out to sea. the whole thing made for a cool day. >> i've lived here my whole life and never seen anything like it. i hope it doesn't happen again, because it's not safe for the whale, but it was pretty cool. >> experts say the whale appeared lost but seemed to be healthy. >> eventually went back out to sea after about seven hours of taking laps around the harbor. >> a cool day by the way, but there is a kids swim area, and the whale was swimming in there, they decided, okay, let's not get too close, so they eventually got those hoses to spray the whale and got it to swim out to sea. >> absolutely. >> these kind of whales aren't generally seen in southern california, so the whole story is a little bit of a rit

out. well, coming up, the echo, how our sister network, espn transformed itself for one day to bring us the world of unconventional sports. >> oh, boy. >> and how it all started as a joke from the movie "dodge ball." >> if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. but first, with female staffers, what they are alleging about the rape culture inside a hotel. that's coming up in a new lawsuit. first here's a look at today's forecast. "world news now" weather, brought to you by united health care. i'm only in my 60's. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan.

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♪ like a rhinestone cowboy ♪ riding out on a horse ♪ in a star-spangled rodeo >> we're listening to a little glen campbell, a pioneer in bridging pop and country music. that's one of his biggest hits, but sad news this morning that after a long and courageous battle with alzheimer's disease, glen has died.

>> he had so many hits, we do know that one "rhine stone cowboy", which was a crossover hit. he had "wichita lineman." campbell's songs bridged country and pop, making him one of the biggest names in the '60s and '70s, a movie actor, 60 decades or six decades rather, in the public spotlight. he got an emmy nomination just a couple years ago based on a documentary about his life and his struggle with alzheimer's, he was 81 years old. turning now to the courtroom drama unfolding in denver between taylor swift and a former radio deejay. muller testified that he may have touched her ribs with a closed hand. muller is counter suing swift

her false accusations, he was fired from his job and black balled from the industry. the trial resumes later this morning. women working at one of new york's most iconic hotels say they faced a rape culture on the job. six current and former female employees at the plaza hotel say they've endured constant sexual harassment from bosses and co-workers. the women are suing for unspecified damages. >> this will create a platform for the other women that i know there, still there, that are not standing up. they're not speaking right now. they'll come out. and they'll have a voice. that's what i really want. >> so here's the reaction. a spokes person for the plaza's parent company says it takes all claims of harassment or discrimination seriously and will take appropriate action when necessary. when we come back, what

david hasselhoff is saying about a "knight rider" reboot. >> and david letterman makes his come back. a battle of the davids. >> hello, michael. >> "the skinny's" next. michael. >> "the skinny's" next. rethink the experience. rethink your allergy pills. flonase sensimist allergy relief uses unique mistpro technology and helps block 6 key inflammatory substances with a gentle mist. most allergy pills only block one. and 6 is greater than one. rethink your allergy relief. flonase sensimist. ♪

♪ >> bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. we love the song, and we are night riding in the skinny, because we're getting some word from the hoff himself that a reboot is in the works. >> this is huge. it's been a mere 35 years since the tv series premiered with david hasselhoff along his talking car named kit.

>> hello michael. yesterday hasselhoff told tmz he's been in talks with some hollywood power players to bring the series back. even though others have tried to in the past. >> all the people that's seen the other reboots of "knight rider" didn't like it. and i'm saying it has to be true to what it was. let me be the old guy, let me be devin. i can't run, i can't fight, but i can still drive. >> the hoff lays down the gauntlet. he went on to explain that the project is in the works because the director of guardians of the galaxy two was a big fan of "knight rider" growing up. >> so hasselhoff -- ♪ getting down and dirty yet. >> the music video for the dvd. soak that in for a second. it's simply intoxicating. wheel he credits the role

the relationship for the reason that michael knight and kit may reunite. >> we're happy for this. it's the video that keeps on giving. >> we've shown it two days in a row. >> you got to get that outfit. >> that outfit is awesome. next up, a familiar come back for a familiar face. he's now bearded. sasquatch, david letterman is coming back, the giant of late night tv making his broadcasting return with a new talk show. >> netflix has reportedly ordered six episodes with long-form interviews. mixed with reports from the field. in an interview with the hollywood reporter, letterman gave a wish list of guests, including president trump and kim jong un. of kim, letterman says, okay, the haircut, we get all that. if dennis rodman goes over there, i ought to be over there. >> there you go. >> mm-hm. >> and speaking of netflix, abc's parent company, disney has decided to break up with the streaming service.

ceo bob iger made the announcement yesterday. it will pull its content from netflix by the end of the year, including "the bachelorette" and other shows that are part of the disney family and that it plans to create a new streaming platform of its own for disney content. >> speaking of "the bachelorette," there's a lot of conversation this morning about the finale, because -- >> there was a lot of explainin'. >> we know rachel picked brian. >> picked the wrong guy. chose a guarantee over love. >> and apparently some people thought that she should have picked peter. >> and by some people you think 90% of america. before the big finale, fans are all about peter. with online polls favoring the one that got away. let's take a look at some of the reactions now. one of the reactions that i thought pretty funny. >> basically, rachel wants peter but settled for brian because she wants a proposal. i lite

used wendy williams to emphasize the cannot point. >> so peter won the popular vote. brian won the electoral college. >> ooh. another says the list of people who told rachel not to pick brian. all the guys, her family, america, the wind. >> yes. absolutely. one of my favorite ones. >> okay. just caught up. so brian wins by default. peter proves to america he's the most normal person ever on this show. i guess people like the whole not getting engaged after a few weeks angle of the situation. >> he was a normal guy. one person said, dude, she just passed up a five-star meal for a bag of airline peanuts. true. >> that is not fair, though. >> these guys were on gma yesterday, now, the big, big thing, peter will be on gma this morning to talk about what happened. >> and rachel did say that while it appea

only differences on the show appeared to be engagement there were other issues. >> yeah, like many diamonds in a ring. many. >> i'm trying. iamonds in a ring. many.

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clearasil rapid action begins working fast for clearly visible rom being embarassed by her parents? nope. so let's be clear: clearasil works fast on teen acne, not so much on other teen ings. do you ever have deja vu, mrs. lancaster? >> i don't think so, but i could check with the kitchen. >> no, that's okay. thank you. >> will you be checking out today, mr. connors? >> i'd say the chance of departure is 80%. >> phil connors with a confused forecast from the comedy cult classic, the best comedy of all time, "ground hog day." the 1993 movie has been made into a broadway musical. >> yes! >> and last night, murray was in the house to watch it for the first time. >> he went with his brother brian who was also in "groundhog

day", and bill apparently liked it so much he cried. times" asked him what made him so emotional? and he said the idea that we have to try again is such a beautiful and powerful idea. phil connors wasn't so positive in the movie. the rock staying on top of his game, i guess. >> of course. >> dwayne johnson sporting a lettermanesque beard took time to thank his fans, the show ballers picked up for a fourth season. >> he had the guns out. he is getting some work done on his bull tattoo. it's an image that has become his trademark over the years. he said he got the ink as a kid, and he now needs it to reflect him as a man. no word on how he's dressing it up, but we will keep our eyes peeled. i am very curious. >> maybe it's similar to that

image that was here. >> maybe the bull has the >> could be some bull. next, espn has revamped its programming for one day by resurrecting a joke from a 13 year old movie, check it out. >> live from las vegas, it's the las vegas international dodge ball open here on espn 8, the ocho. bringing you the fight of seldom-soon sports from around world since 1999. if it's almost -- >> that's right. espnu into ocho, for august 8. >> it featured more obscure sports like darts and bass masters classics. >> ah, the bass master classics, of course. >> appreciate dodge ball. >> i forgot to dvr it. they also got, yeah, like you mentioned, the wild world of slow-pitch softball. >> yes. it's actually a lot harder to hit the ball than you might think. >> is it really?

>> but not evident by that one. >> home run. >> and some hot dogs in the meantime?

>> oh, yes, please. >> nathan's contest. z2gv6z zi0z

y2gv6y yi0y making news in america this morning, tensions between the u.s. and north korea hit a new level. hear president trump's stern warning to the north and the country's response threatening a missile strike on a u.s. territory. we have at reaction from around the world coming in throughout the night. the threat of north korean missiles puts american missile defense systems to the test. some high-tech weaponry on alert right now. we have team coverage of this new crisis including a look at what the pentagon has at the ready. breaking overnight a technology issue is being blamed for significant delays at one of the country's busiest airports. southwest airlines is working through the night on that problem.