>> ♪ >> hi everybody. president trump sending shock waves through the country through capitol hill threatening a government shutdown if he doesn't get funding for the border wall. >> this is the big story tonight at 6:30 so let's get to it. >> believe me we have to close down our government we're building that wall. >> president trump openly threatened to block a spending deal unless he gets funding for his border wall. meantime some congressional republicans are concerned about this. >> we don't need a government shutdown. that never ends well. we don't save money doing it. and with regard to border security i think the president and all of us share the same goal to have a secure border. >> and if you haven't

the irony right there that's senator jeff flake of arizona who the president has been targeting. you hear him talking about the wall but the question i think a lot of people have is why would we shut down the federal government if mexico the president -- >> that's the question everybody is asking tonight. let's bring in fox5's tom fitzgerald. fitz a lot of folks are scratching their heads at this one. >> reporter: jim, you and your details. you and your details. clearly, yeah, that's the big question. the president spent over a year campaigning around the country saying that mexico was going to pay for this wall and now here we are about to have congress return from its recess and the president is talking about shutting down the federal government if congress does not authorize funds for the construction of a southern border wall. but this goes way beyond the border wall. remember, just a couple of hours ago, prior to today, the president had tweeted out that he had called on congress to add the veterans' administration bill to the

raise the debt ceiling. today, you know, we get this other tweet from the president today flat out calling out mitch mcconnell over his failure to get the healthcare reforms passed. so, this is becoming a real problem between this republican white house and this republican congress. the president cannot work effectively with the senate leader, if he cannot work with his own senate speaker of the house it boggles the imagination on how they're going to get together and start working on this and build up some accomplishments as they head into midterm elections which are coming up in only about 14 months. this situation right now, this feud many people are calling it between mitch mcconnell and the president, this is topic one right now as the republicans and the democrats prepare to return to washington to get this fall legislative session under way. sarah huckabee sanders over the white house today she was asked about this. from her viewpoint, she says they're

>> talked about the campaign over and over again he said mexico is going to pay for the wall. he asked people to -- crowds chanted back at him mexico's going to pay for it and now he's pushing threatening a shutdown of the government. >> no, once again the president's committed to making sure this happens and we're going to push forward. >> reporter: all right. push forward. but a lot of people you talk to on capitol hill and i've talked to some in republican offices today said this situation between mcconnell and trump is for real. the reporter said mcconnell is furious over these continued attacks by the president on their own side, on republicans. talking about john mccain in a back handed way, talking about jeff flake in a back handed way. mcconnell is nothing but loyal to his own republican base and for these -- this incoming fire to be coming from his own party has not been making the senate leader happy in any way, shape o

so, the question is this, jim and shawn, jim you are absolutely right. this wall was supposed to be paid for by mexico according to the president's own promises. if he is turning around now and putting this on the republican senate leadership, that is a big shift from where we were when we and talked about this several months ago and a big shift as to the president maybe trying to turn responsibility for the funding of this wall. mexico was supposed to be paying for this wall. a lot of republicans we've talked to say if mexico was supposed to pay for this wall, then mexico should pay for this wall. by the way, this wasn't their idea. this came from the president. >> hey, fitz any idea what those republicans plan to do, i mean, they're essentially at war now with the president, they're -- the president who is the head of their party. how do they plan to do this? i know they don't want to see a government shutdown. >> reporter: it's a difficult situation, 'cause you know, when you remember back to the most recent shutdowns we'v

president obama, under bill clinton, republicans have been able to look at that and frame that in terms of we have a democratic president who would not work with republican congress. how do they frame this if there was a government shutdown with a republican president, a republican senate and a republican house? the quick answer to that is they can't. this is not going to be one they're going to be easily able to turn over blame to the democrats. this is going to be a bad situation and look bad for the republicans. yes, the president is going to be able to go back out and say, i've been supporting my base, my base supports me but there are a lot more people that vote in these midterm elections than just your base. >> yup. >> and the republicans are very concerned right now and the republican congress -- in the caucus that they're going gg november 2018 election and the base ain't going to do it for him and they're going to have to go a long way towards mounting a credible argument that they are able to govern

cannot get along with a president of their own party. >> i don't think it's a stretch to say the president won a lot of these border states partially because of that promise and you can be creative on how you get money from mexico to do it, you garnish money transfers but the bottom line is fitz this is all about the game of politics and president trump is learning that the business world and politics are two different beasts no doubt about that. >> reporter: well, you know, and the last time we had had a briefing from then-secretary john kelly about the status of the border wall, he seemed to say that there were a lot of unanswered funding questions about this. now, there were studies, there were authorizations that we were told about to move this forward. in fact, next sent they were supposed to have some prototypes in place. that takes money and if mexico is being intract table about this, it doesn't sound like this is even close right now as far as mexico even open to the possibility of this happening. so, if they are

say they're going to be able to build this wall and then not have the funding to do it, to hinge this on a government shutdown would create a massive split within this republican caucus. far sooner than any of them expected and frankly with all of the other things that have been going on right now, remember, the russia investigation is still out there, there are other questions about some other differences this white house has had, they were supposed to be talking about tax cuts, tax reform. >> yeah. >> reporter: that is not even on the road map. >> yup. >> reporter: right now and the tax reform was supposed to be what they were going to bring to voters, one of the things they were going to bring to voters in the house and senate that was going to be able to make this argument keep us in power, we've been able to change the tax structure. >> yeah. >> reporter: so, these are a lot of things that are being shoved on the back burner right now because of this fight over the wall. >> and that's the one thing i think a lot of voters would like to see something in the way of taxes. tom fitzgerald thank you very much. >> we appreciate it fitz. the president caused a controversy when he tweeted calling for

transgender service members. it took a lot of people by surprise and we learned the white house is ready to send guidance to the pentagon on how to implement that ban. >> the president will tell the pentagon it has six months to implement the ban which means no new transgender admissions and the removal of any current transgender service member considered nondeployable take part in training on a serve on a ship for months. the new rules will order the pentagon to stop paying for treatment. >> good evening. >> we saw the tweets. here's what we're hearing. what's your take away from what the white house is saying on this issue. >> well, first them just be clear. this transgender ban is not needed at all. it's not something that the military asked for, the public has rejected it overwhelmingly and it only exists so donald trump can feed his ever expanding appetite for hate and divisiveness as he continue t

with our national security. >> well, just to play devil's advocate here the president said this ban was needed because of the medical expenses and costs to care for transgender service members. >> you know, can i just ask you a question real quick? can you imagine for even a fleeting moment being someone who has raised their hand and sworn to uphold and protect and defend this nation and put your life on the line, that you were to be told by somebody who used multiple deferments to dodge service in vietnam, someone who compared avoiding std's to serving in vietnam, that your service was not good enough? can one even imagine that for a moment? because that is what is happening right now to thousands of individuals who are in the military as donald trump attacks them. >> you know, one thing when this came out, when the tweets came out, we've all been online, we've all been on social media

people who support this idea and i imagine many who have never served who say the people -- the transgender americans who signed up to take part in the military was because the military would pay for their surgery. and that's -- you know, that's a very species argument. when we talk about the hurdles we've overcome in civil rights, this seems -- look i know you don't take sides here but this is unfathomable. >> we're going backwards. >> because these are americans. and like you said they put their name on the dotted line and agreed to serve their country. >> it's interesting you bring up history and civil rights because this actually occurred on the anniversary of harry s. truman when he was president integrating our armed services and then for donald trump decades later to turn around and attack people for simply being who they are, it is -- it is disgraceful. n

commander-in-chief and, you know, if he wants -- this is his wants to come out and say these are the people who i want in my military who i don't, you know, he has that -- that right. the question is there's a court challenge, right, there are five transgender service members who are suing at this point. >> yes, and i'll tell you, the organization of which i'm a part vote vets.org we will be signing i don't and to those briefs and more importantly we will be continuing to lift up the voice of -- of veterans across this country who stand in solidarity with our fellow veterans, whether they are transgender or not to lift up their story, their service, their sacrifice so we can let people know who these folks really are and let -- remind donald trump and those in power across the country that when you attack a group of veterans, you're attacking all veterans. >> will fisher from vote vets.org. we appreciate you for coming in. >> thank you for having me. >> let's tk

it's been an absolutely gorgeous forecast today. >> sue standing by with a look at that. hi sue. >> we may see clouds later tonight and a spotty shower or two from a disturbance that's going to be swinging through overnight and basically all that's going to do is keep the cool temperatures coming so don't let that surprise you if you see that a little bit later tonight. i don't think everybody will see rain but you'll probably see the clouds. so, for friday, it's looking good again. it's a mix of clouds and sun, clouds in the morning, some sunny breaks in the afternoon. we'll still be tracking that disturbance moving through the area but it's a september-like weekend ahead. today we were 84 degrees. tomorrow we'll be about 81 or 82. the weekend may only top out in the upper 70's as we'll get a bit of an east wind going. so, it really feels more like mid september and probably the most important weather story of the day is hurricane harvey. it is a category one hurricane. it is headed for the texas coast. probably going downhill in the next 24 hours there and we're very worried about this one because it may strike them as

a category three. that would be the strongest hurricane to hit the united states since 2005. it could bring 20 to 30-inches of rain to that area. all eyes on harvey while our weather remains settled. that's a look at your weather headlines. i'll send it back to shawn and jim. >> thank you sue. >> the state department on alert after a bizarre high tech super weapon may have injured americans in cuba. we'll explain how when the 5 at 6:30 comes right back. >> ♪

>> little havana as we return, cubans maybe using a high tech super weapon against diplomats. >> 16 americans working at the embassy in havana complaining of all sorts of health problems. some say they've lost their hearing. fox5's ronica cleary is here with this bizarre story. ronica. >> reporter: it really is jim and shawn. sounds like it's out of a science fiction movie when you read the headline. the state department has confirmed there were 16

individuals but one news outlet they are confirming they believe it is up individuals, so who knows if this is just the beginning of more individuals being identified. now, as you said, these are people at the state at the u.s. embassy in havana. the state department isn't saying if they were all necessarily, you know, the employees, it could be spouses, it could be children, it could be other people connected in the area. now, interestingly enough, they haven't necessarily identified a device that did this but they believe after an investigation was launched when these state department officials complained of symptoms, they believe that it came from a covert sonic device planted at their residences. now, today in the press briefing, press secretary sara sanders she was asked if the president has anything to say in response to these reports. take a listen. >> i know that they have been going through the process of bringing the majority of tse

testing and see what actions need to be taken and how best to move forward. at this point i refer you to the statement department on anything further. >> does the president believe that cuba is involved. >> we're under a thorough review. as soon as we know something we'll let you know. >> reporter: the state department confirming that hearing loss but another outlet is reporting that some of these individuals may have actually experienced mild traumatic brain injury and possible damage to the central nervous system. obviously something to continue to watch and when i heard this story, i certainly think of it in light of the fact that we have these renewed relations with cuba which are considered controversial and then you have a story like this coming out of havana which is really alarming and concerning for those americans who have, you know, agreed to live there and serve the country abroad. so, a lot to follow and certainly as i said really kind of out of a science fiction movie.

back to you. >> and especially considering how the president has hinted we may be reversing some of those and not going forward to some of the changes president obama moved forward with. it's a very strange situation. we'll see what president trump plans to do. >> all right, here's a question tonight. is the joke on him? president trump's latest retweet about the eclipse has some people scratching their heads. no it has nothing to do with the glasses he's wearing. we'll explain when we come back. >> ♪

>> ♪ >> president trump took a little jab at former president obama by retweeting something someone else put on twitter. it was an eclipse picture take a look the meme shows president trump moving into inn to block out president obama. thousands of people liked this retweet but others pointed out the obvious. not so sure the president realized that he's the moon, president obama is there sun so he totally eclipsed the president for two minutes and then the sun will come out again andot

there's more controversy because as folks were talking about this the person who put that meme out there, they started looking into that person's profile and they had tweeted some nasty racial things and so they were saying why is the president just retweeting anybody whoever is giving him his information needs to look a little more clearly besides just -- >> very easy to hit that retweet button or like as many people have heard before. >> yes. >> have you heard this? >> he was literally breathing down my neck. my skin crawled. it was one of those moments werewhere you wish you could hit pause and ask everyone watching, well, what would you do? do you stay calm, keep smiling and carry on as if he weren't repeatedly invading your space? or do you turn, look him in the eye and loudly and clearly, back up, you creep. get away from me

>> we weren't there. literally breathing down her neck, what do i know? we weren't there. that was hillary clinton describing the debate with now president trump. he was following her quite closely on stage when she spoke. msnbc what happened is the title of her new book. it will be released next month. >> a lot of folks are talking about that. interesting to see what else is in that book. the president on that vacation for what was it 17 days that's because he said the white house was getting a face-lift. the oval office has a fresh new look including new wallpaper and a rug used by ronald reagan. there was an overhaul of the 27-year-old hvac system. new carpeting was installed throughout the west wing along with a whole host of new furnishings. a white house spokesperson pointed out all of the new furniture and other decorative items were all made in america. >> every president gets to do it you put your own stamp on it. you can drink to this. we love happy hour. however there's a catch.

>> there is. >> ♪ >> 5:00 at 6:30 is back after this. >> do we have a party? >> ♪ >> all right.

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>> ♪ >> wow little hakuna maata. >> i'm going to guess they weren't expecting that you guys would be handing out this many discounts six months into the administration. christian johnson bar manager for the bird is here with some of their cocktails. thanks for joining us. >> absolutely. >> first of all i got to ask you where are you guys located. >> we're locate 1337 11th street. >> how did you come up with this idea offering discount drinks every time the president fires someone. >> we offer four-dollar beers six-dollar wines and eight-dollar cocktails and we were just playing around with the idea, how funny would it be if someone actually did a discount for this thing and we played around and it played out and

humongous thing. it's pretty fantastic. >> cocktails go down to four bucks. >> for cocktails beer and wine he everything is four bucks. >> ever worry about mixing politics with drinks. >> i think people kind of enjoy it. funny. >> any excuse for it. >> yeah, pretty much. >> tell us what you guys are mixing up. you have some pretty creative names and drinks as well. >> yes. so one cocktail we're working on is the dead for dawn. it's a play on a hemmingway cocktail and book which features grapefruit juice lime juice and spar sparkling water. >> let's see if we can go down all the senior officials that left. >> mike flynn. >> anthony scaramucci. did he really -- does he officially count. >> he counts. >> steve bannon. >> stev bannon. >> reince preibus. >> okay. >> how many do you know how many you guys have been through? >> we've only -- >> hhow many discounts you've ha

we do the end by date for each person that's done. >> so this is the dead before dawn. you gave us the ingredients you mixed up. what does it go well with. you have a menu as well. >> our menu is fairly seasonal. each season we do something different especially with food and cocktails. >> cool. >> serve it up. we got to keep it rolling. serve it up for us. >> so, right now we have fantastic chicken that this will go with fried chicken sparkling wine go fantastic together. >> all right. [laughter] >> i like the way you think though. perfect. >> absolutely. >> all right. >> all right, so right now for happy hour cocktail you're mixing up is only four bucks which is great. we got about 20 seconds here. got to hurry up because i got to taste it here. >> give it to shawn. >> there it goes. >> you hoe. >> there it goes. oh, yeah. >> and this is called a dead before dawn, right. >> awesome. >> let me give it a try. >> again the bird is on 11th street. >> uh-huh. >> check it out. >> yummy. >> is it refreshing? it looks

i think the straw says refreshing. >> refreshing indeed. >> christian johnson thanks for coming in. tune in at 8 o'clock to see how shawn really enjoyed that. >> good night. you get our fastest internet ever. with download speeds up to 940 megs - 20 times faster than most people have. switch to fios gigabit connection with tv and phone for $79.99 a month online for the first year. plus hbo for one year and multi-room dvr service for two years, all with a two-year agreement. and switching has never been easier. get out of you contract with up to a $500 credit to help cover your early termination fee. go to fiosgigabit.com

harvey: the person who won the powerball is now worth more than some of the biggest celebrities in the world. i mean, celebrities who have like done movies for decades, toured for years. have slaved to make that money! not slaved, but -- [laughter] >> katy perry has now released her music video for "swish swish," which is a dig at taylor swift. it seems like she's releasing it after everyone's been talking about taylor swift's new song. >> isn't the beef so lame though? harvey: certain people should not be beefing. >> what are those people? harvey: the kind of beef that works for me, i'm going to get people for this, i would say nicki minaj and remy ma. >> only black people can belief? [laughter]