was to make america's nuclear arsenal, quote, the big skpgest and the finest in the world. >> cecilia vega, thank you. >>> you heard cecilia report on the specific threat north korea has now made to strike near guam in the middle of this month. the homeland security chief for guam saying they would have 14 minutes of warning before missiles would land. abc's jim avila is in seoul for us tonight. >> reporter: all eyes on guam tonight, the closest and most vulnerable to attack u.s. territory. and now after that highly specific threat, the north koreans claiming in days they'll have a plan to launch four missiles into the ocean just 20 miles from the island. a launch that would put those missiles on american soil in 14 minutes. they would fly this over guam, but over japan. over highly populated parts of japan. >> reporter: the island, home to 160,000 american civilians and 7,000 u.s. forces on two u.s. military bases, making it a key launching point for any potential military strike. b-1 bombers regularly take off on practice runs. tonight, u.s. officials say there's no visible military esca

survivors saying she sends her thoughts and her prayers, tom, and the number of evacuees will rise. >> cecilia vega for us tonight. cecilia, thank you. >>> and texas is not the only state under threat tonight. harvey is about to slam louisiana. it's already triggers heavy rain, and so much more. special fear in new orleans where hurricane katrina struck 12 years ago together, and fears over the pumps that are supposed to keep the city safe. abc's gio benitez is in gorls tonigh tonight. # >> reporter: tonight in new orleans, residents all too ain using sand bags on the once 12th anniversary of hurricane katrina. >> it brought back a lot of memoes what we all experienced. it really evoked a lot of emotions and heartbreak. >> reporter: as a flash flood watch extends from texas through orida panhandle.way to the >> we're asking everybody to stay alert and to stay vigilant tonight. >> reporter: harvey expected to make landfall near the texas/louisiana state line. evacuations there overnight. our steve osunsami with some of those families. >> reporter: we are at the lake charles convention center where t

and finally today, steve bannon. >> and cecilia vega joins us from new jersey tonight. in a sign of how quickly power shifts, the president met at camp david on the future of our troops in afghanistan. tonight, you've learned that bannon is back at his old job? >> reporter: right back there at breitbart. today, he chaired the editorial meeting there, taking the tl of executive chairman. he told bloomberg he plans to wage war on behalf of president trump. >> cecilia vega, thank you. >>> next tonight, the deadly terror attacks. after barcelona and the white van plowing through the crowd, another attack. and a hero policewoman, reportedly killing 4 out of 5 attackers on her own. tonight, we're learning about the american husband and father of three back in barcelona who was killed. james longman from spain again tonight. >> reporter: overnight, the second horrific scene of terror. another car barreling into a crowd in the seaside town of cambril, spain, killing one and injuring six. this video capturing the tense moments as officers engage one attacker armed with a knife.

david, tonight a spokesperson for donald trump says that comment did not happen. >> cecilia vega with us again tonight. cecilia, thank you. >>> we turn to a major train derailment we're following in the middle of a pennsylvania town. train cars crashing into homes, exploding into flames. tonight, evacuations under way, and abc's linzie janis on the scene for us. >> reporter: that massive freight train carrying hazardous chemicals careening off the tracks in this pennsylvania neighborhood. >> train derailment. with fire. >> reporter: tanks of propane and molten sulfur, bursting into flames. >> this is a heck of a way to be woken up at 5:00 a.m. >> reporter: the blast captured on this home security camera. kristina sutphin jolted out of bed when a train car hit her home. >> shook my whole house. it took my kitchen out and my stairwell so we had to climb out the window. i just yelled for my neighbors and they got a ladder and got me and my daughter down. >> reporter: the csx freight train traveling from chicago to selkirk, new york, crashing in the tiny town of hyndman, about 100 miles s

they say they will complete this plan by mid august. >> cecilia vega who will be covering this into the night. cecilia, thank you. >>> abc's chief global affairs correspondent, martha raddatz with us on this breaking development. this new threat from north korea, and martha, you have been talking to your sources at the pentagon. a lot of americans watching this unfold want to know how unlikely is it. will we see military conflict here? >> reporter: president trump's statement was a surprise to many. it is important to say war is the last thing anyone at the pentagon wants to see happen, but pacific command has been doing updated war planning and they are certainly focusing on defensive measures as well, but if those tough sanctions imposed on north korea do not work, if kim jong-un continues to make progress on a nuclear tipped missile, a senior official told me in 6 to 12 months, the decide whether some sort of pre-emptive strike or some other measure should be undertaken to stop kim, david. >> martha raddatz following the breaking developments as well. martha, thank you. >>> the other

potentially another big blow to the president's agenda here. >> cecilia vega with us again tonight. thank you as always. >>> in the meantime, we move on here to the new pentagon report just out late today about that tragedy at sea. seven american sailors killed when the "uss fitzgerald" collided with a massive cargo ship off the coast of japan. tonight this new report revealing the heroic efforts to save the crew, including the captain they saved after knocking through the door and discovering him hanging off the side of the ship. here's abc's david kerley. >> reporter: the gash in the "uss fitzgerald" doesn't tell the whole story after horror and heroism. tonight's report showing compartments that flooded in seconds. in this birth, two sailors stayed at the bottom of the ladder helping shipmates up as the water was rising. one sailor drew this picture of the escape, water at their shoulders. finally with the water so high, the two final sailors had to climb through the hatch, but they reached down into the dark water and are credited with pulling out the last two survivors who were

he just tweeted calling this a great day at the white house, david. >> cecilia vega, great to have you. >>> we are also following the state of emergency at this hour after tropical storm emily slammed into florida. tonight a depression. thousands without power there, blinding rain for drivers. high winds coming ashore near sarasota, and carving a path across the state. the tiny island of ana maria taking a hit. abc's gio benitez is in ft. myers beach tonight. >> reporter: tonight, tropical storm emily drenching florida's gulf coast with up to 8 inches of rain. the system rapidly developing this morning. the governor now declaring a state of emergency in 31 counties, some 18,000 losing power. >> i urge you to keep alert, to look at weather and road conditions. >> reporter: a construction worker in st. petersburg shooting this video as emily moved ashore. >> emily has arrived. >> reporter: those powerful winds shutting down the sunshine skyway bridge. the coast guard rescuing two brothers clinging to a navigation light in tampa bay. their fishing boat striking the structure and sinking d

but aides have told us, right now, we hear sessions' job is safe. >> cecilia vega with us again. thank you. >>> next, the verdict is in this evening. martin shkreli, found guilty of lying to his investors. once accused of hiking the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000%. still tonight, he and his legal team are celebrating the verdict, calling it a witch hunt and his lawyer smiling, predicting one day he would develop a drug, a cure for children. here's linsey davis. >> reporter: the so-called bad boy of pharmaceuticals, martin shkreli, found guilty yet still defiant. >> this was a witch hunt of epic proportions and they found one or two broomsticks but at the end of the day we've been acquitted of the most important charges. >> reporter: after nearly a month of testimony, the jury took five days to convict him of three of the eight counts of securities and wire fraud he was facing. >> we're gratified of the jury's verdict. justice has been served. >> reporter: infamously outspoken, and notorious for raising the price of a life-saving drug 5,000%, he live streamed from his home r

and that the president and mitch mcconnell remain, quote, united on shared priorities, david. >> cecilia vega with us tonight. cecilia, thank you. >>> we turn next here to the hurricane watch at this hour. harvey gaining strength in the gulf. evacuations will begin in the morning, in parts of texas. now if the storm becomes a hurricane, it would be the first to make u.s. landfall this season. they are already filling sandbags on south padre island, and in corpus christi, this store, shelves empty. let's get to ginger zee. she is tracking it all for us. ginger, good evening. >> reporter: those shelves empty for good reason, because there is real risk of loss of life and property this weekend in texas. let me take you to the maps, david. you see the low, still the remnants of harvey. became a tropical depression, and it's slowly moving to the northwest at 2 miles per hour. the path takes us friday into saturday right there. just north of brownsville into corpus christi, right by houston. victoria, texas right in the path. the hurricane watch is in effect. 4 to 6-foot storm surge along that coas

that he would resign if he was ever asked by president trump to do any unethical or illegal. >> cecilia vega, leading us off tonight. cecilia, thank you. >>> we're following breaking developments on another front. a manhunt under way at this hour after two sheriff's deputies were shot. responding to a call, they were air lifted from the scene. they are in surgery right now. now authorities are searching for the gunman outside sacramento. here's abc's kenneth moton. >> reporter: tonight, the urgent manhunt for the suspect who shot two sheriff's deputies. >> shots fired. shots fired. >> copy. shots fired. >> officer down. officer down. >> reporter: the gun battle breaking out in the california hills just north of sacramento. deputies from yuba county responding to reports of an armed and agitated man pulling up plants in the garden of what investigators are calling a rastafarian church. >> two officers shot. >> reporter: the deputies hit one taking multiple bullets. >> what's your condition? >> shot in the leg. shot in the shoulder. >> copy. shot in the leg. shot in the shoulder. medical is en

here's abc's senior white house correspondent, cecilia vega. >> reporter: tonight, classified documents reveal the true nature of president trump's phone calls with world leaders in the days after his swearing in. "the washington post" published leaked transcripts of two contentious conversations. the first with mexican president enrique pena nieto, all about that wall. >> and who's going to pay for the wall? >> mexico! >> that wall will go up so fast your head will spin. don't worry. we are building the wall. don't worry. >> reporter: but on the phone, the mexican president is firm, calling the idea that mexico will pay for the wall completely unacceptable. president trump responds, "the fact is we are both in a little bit of a political bind, because i have to have mexico pay for the wall. i have to. i have been talking about it for a two-year period." he tells pena-nieto the funding will "work out in the formula somehow," adding, "it will come out in the wash, and that is okay." in fact, the president was already publically laying the groundwork for the u.s. to pick up the initial ta

they have been condemned. >> and cecilia vega with us live from the white house. early in the day, when the president still had not called out these groups by name, a member resigned, there was >> reporter: the president responded to the resignation, took to twitter to say, he will have more time to lower ripoff drug prices. and he's tweeted right now, blasting merck for high drug prices. >> thank you. >>> we're also learning more about the alleged driver, making his first court appearance today. we'll hear from those who know him, including his own mother. here's pierre thomas tonight. >> you will not replace us! >> reporter: the chilling images. >> blood and soil! >> reporter: the next morning, they gather former kkk leader david duke among them. >> we're determined to take our country back, fulfill the promises of donald trump. >> reporter: james field jr., seen among the white supremacists, chanting for white power. shortly before authorities believe he drove into this crowd, killing one. back home, his mother saying she didn't know who would be at the rally.

this is ridiculous." >> cecilia vega with us. congress making sure the president can't make any appointments during the recess? >> reporter: yes, after the president lashed out at jeff sessions, thinking they will be able to block him from firing him douring the break. but right now, we hear sessions' job is safe. >>> and martin shkreli, found guilty. still tonight, he and his legal team are celebrating the verdict, calling it a witch hunt and his lawyer smiling, predicting one day he would develop a cure for children. here's linsey davis. >> reporter: the so-called bad boy of pharmaceuticals, martin shkreli found guilty of securities fraud today and still defiant. >> this was a witch hunt of epic proportions and they found one or two broomsticks but at the end of the day we've been acquitted of the most important charges. >> we're gratified of the jury's verdict. justice has been served. >> reporter: infamously outspoken, he live streamed after the verdict. he has always been quick to write off his critics. one of the headlines,

cecilia vega, abc news, washington. >>> speaking of australia two men there have been charged with an isis directed terror plot to bring down an airliner. they tried to smuggle a device into a flight july 15th on. tihad. they were unable to get it through on check-in because it was too heavy. the men were arrested along with two others in raids across sydney. >>> back in the u.s. severe storms northeast right now dumped heavy rain and hail across chicago and forced the early closure and evacuation of the first night of the lollapalooza music performance. the rain, you saw there, had people leaving grant park and leaving a sea of people on the city's michigan avenue. now for a closer look at your weather. >>> severe storms also slammed phoenix, arizona, with monsoon rain, strong winds and triggering flash floods across the city. the storms knocked out power to at least 23,000 customers and delayed flights into and out of phoenix's sky harbor airport. and as the pacific northwest sweats through for day of historic heat wave, a bit of relief on the way but still temperatures over the nex

tells me it's the president's decision whether or not steve bannon stays or goes at this point. >> cecilia vega with us live tonight as well. thank you, cecilia. >>> the president offering a defense for some of the people who descended on charlottesville, adding they did have a permit. and the former leader of the kkk, david duke, liking what he heard. abc's eva pilgrim in charlottesville. president offering at least some support to the protesters who >> you have a lot of people who were there to innocently protest, and i don't know if you know, but they had a permit. the other group didn't have a permit. so i only tell you this. there are two sides to a story. i thought what took place was a horrible moment for our country. a horrible moment. >> reporter: the former head of the kkk, david duke, over the weekend, tweeting a warning to the president. i would recommend you take a good look in the mirror and who put you in the presidency, not radical leftists. t,ghniew n a grateful to the president for his words today. thank you president trump for your honesty and courage to tell the truth about

abc's senior white house correspondent, cecilia vega, leading us off. >> reporter: tonight, a new threat from north korea coming o attack the u.s. territory of guam by mid august. this comes as president trump's shots fired at pyongyang sent shock waves around wld. but abc news has learned that threat caught some in the president's own inner circle by surprise. the president, in that statement, using language not r oedape-pr national security team. >> north korea best not make any more teats to the united states. they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. >> reporter: sources close to the president say behind closed doors with top aides -- including new chief of staff general john kelly -- he had discussed taking a tougher tone on pyongyang. but even members of his own national security team had no idea the president would go this far. >> he has been very threatening be normal statement and as ayo i said, they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before. thank you. >> reporter: within a few hours, north korea r

abc's senior white house correspondent, cecilia vega, leading us off. >> reporter: at the american legion today, president trump calling on the nation to come together. >> it is time to heal the wounds that divide us and to seek a new unity based on the common values that unite us. >> reporter: it came just hours after his own divisive rhetoric in phoenix. for 75 fiery minutes, he unloaded. defending his response to charlottesville, pulling from his pocket the statements he made in the wake of the violence. >> i hit them with neo-nazi. i hit them with everything. i got the white supremacists, the neo-nazi. i got them all in there. let's see. kkk, we have kkk. i got them all. so they're having a hard time. so what did they say, right? it should have been sooner. he's a racist. >> reporter: but the president never mentioned his most controversial line of all. the moment he blamed both sides and praised some of the people who marched with torches. >> you had some very bad people in that group. but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. >> reporter: but in phoenix, he u

they have been condemned. >> and cecilia vega with us live from the white house. early in the day, when the president still had not called out these groups by name, a member of the white house manufacturing counsel resigned, the only african-american member. saying america's leaders must clearly reject bigotry and group supremacy. there was reaction at the white house. >> reporter: the president responded to the resignation, hours before he called out the racists by names. he took to twitter to say, he will have more time to lower ripoff drug prices. and he's tweeted right now, blasting merck for high drug prices. >> cecilia, thank you. >>> we're also learning more about the alleged driver behind the deadly car attack. 20-year-old james fields, seen chanting during the rally. making his first court appearance today. we'll hear from those who know him, including his own mother. who said she thought he was going to a trump rally. here's pierre thomas tonight. >> you will not replace us! >> reporter: those chilling images. white supremacist marchers, bearing torches

and finally today, steve bannon. >> and cecilia vega joins us from new jersey tonight. in a sign of how quickly power shifts, the president met at camp david with top advisers on the future of our troops in afghanistan. vice president pence flew back early to attend, but no steve bannon. tonight, you've learned that bannon is back at his old job? >> reporter: yeah, david, breitbart said steve bannon is back. he shared the editorial board, he's taking the same title, executive chairman. today, he gave an interview saying the trump presidency we fought for and won is over. he said we still have a huge movement, but that presidency is over and it will be a different trump now have. >> thank you. >>> next tonight, the deadly terror attacks. after barcelona and the white van plowing through the crowd, another attack. another car through a crowd. and a hero policewoman, reportedly killing 4 out of 5 attackers on her own. tonight, we're learning about the american husband and father of three back in barcelona who was killed. separated from his wife in the chaos. james longman

abc's senior white house correspondent, cecilia vega, is in ft. myer in virginia tonight. >> reporter: tonight, president trump hoping to turn the page after one of the worst weeks of his presidency. in a primetime address to the nation, the president is expected to announce his decision to send more troops to afghanistan, following the advice of his generals who argue, the only way to ultimately beat back the taliban and isis, is with more american boots on the ground. >> it's a very big decision for me. i took over a mess, and we're going to make it a lot less messy. >> reporter: the move would mark a major reversal for mr. trump. here he was in 2012 -- >> afghanistan is a total and complete disaster. what are we doing? let's get with it. get out of afghanistan. >> reporter: the following year tweeting -- "we have wasted an enormous amount of blood and treasure in afghanistan. their government has zero appreciation. let's get out! and as a candidate, he kept it up. >> the people opposing us are the same people who we've -- and think of this, who

i'm cecilia vega. in for tom llamas. >>> we begin tonight with that breaking news, a horrific scene in charlottesville, virginia. a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence and chaos. the images are just coming in. a car plowing into a crowd of demonstrators, protesting against those white nationalists. at least one person killed, 19 hurt. a drive has been taken into custody. on the streets of charlottesville today, the hate boiling over. white supremacists and the counterprotesters fighting. con fed rate flags on full display. the governor there declaring a state of emergency. president trump weighing in. >> the hate and the division must stop and must stop right now. >> police in riot gear struggled all day to prevent a full blown of explosion. a warning, the images are very graphic. eva pilgrim starts us off. >> reporter: tonight, panic and chaos in charlottesville. a car plowing through counterprotesters down this crowded street, killing one person, sending 19 people to the hospi

i'm cecilia vega in new york. have a great evening. good night. ing.hat breaking news. >>> that breaking news is in the south bay. where passengers are delayed at least two hours because of a security incident. checked baggage was ined a vartantly brought in without security screening. they evacuated the terminal and made passengers go through screening again. these are picture cans of the long lines passengers are facing at terminal a. they're asking to check with your carriers for potential delays. >>> now toour her top story. a driver is in custody tonight after plowing through a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally. the president has responded and people are not happy with what he did and did not do. he denounced the violence but did not denounce the white nationalist. here with details. >> reporter: violence and death in charlottesville, virginia. a state of emergency declared after counterprotesters clashed. starting on friday white nationalists assembled, some swinging torches. they dispersed the crowds, calling it an unlawful as

abc's chief white house correspondent, cecilia vega, leading us off. >> reporter: tonight, an admission from the white house -- president trump himself helped craft his son's first statement about that infamous trump tower meeting with the russians, a statement that ultimately proved to be misleading. don junior initially claimed he and the russian lawyer "primarily discussed a program about the adoption of russian children" and that "it was not a campaign issue." but the story did not hold up. days later, e-mails revealed don junior agreed to meet the russians because he had been promised dirt on hillary clinton by the russian government. the president's legal team went on the offensive, saying he had nothing to do with don junior's original statement. >> the president was not -- did not draft the response. i do want to be clear that the president was not involved in the drafting of the statement and did not issue the statement. it came from donald trump jr. the statement that was released on saturday was released by donald trump jr., and i'm sure in consultation with his lawyers. the