we begin, though, with emily rau. >> reporter: an explosive statement from president trump. >> northreats 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, kim jong un launched an icbm into space. analysts concluding the missileo f thece tr 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 ne

some say abc's emily rau is live in washington with the details. good morning, emily. >> reporter: good morning, kendis and diane. president trump initially appeared before the press to talk about infrastructure but the topic quickly turned to charlottesville and the president was combative and defiant. >> that was a horrible, horrible day -- wait a >> reporter: president trump defending his decision to wait two days to condemn the white supremacists in charlottesville by name. >> i didn't wait -- i wanted to make sure unlike most politicians that what i said was correct. not make a quick statement. >> reporter: the president not addressing the fact the first lady, his daughter ivanka trump and the vice president all condemned the racism before he did. but instead seeming to once again spread the blame. >> what about the alt left that came charging at the -- as you say the alt-right. do they have any semblance of guilt? >> reporter: president trump also defending some of the initial protesters who took to the streets in the unite the right rally. >>

that's abc's emily rau in washington for us. thanks, emily. >>> there were so many headlines from that press conference, but one of particular note, the president making no promises about the future of his embattled adviser steve bannon. several prominent republicans have urged the president to fire bannon, and while the president defended and praised bannon saying that he was not a racist, he simply said that we'll see what happens with mr. bannon. >>> breaking right now confederate statues are coming down in baltimore. >> crews responded taking down at least two statues in the early morning hours. this comes days after the city council approved a move to remove the city's four confederate era monments. >>> and the president's comments have raised fears about the rise of the far right groups. >> the concerns increased as former klan leader david duke tweeted his approval of the 20-minute news conference. here's abc's eva pilgrim. >> reporter: the former head of the kkk, david duke, over the weekend tweeting a warning to the pres

we have team coverage starting with abc news reporter emily rau in washington. >> north korea best not make anymore threats to the united states. they will be met with fire and fury. >> reporter: an overt military threat from president trump turning up the dial on nuclear tensions with north korea and their leader, kim jong-un, not backing down. overnight, pyongyang responding, saying, it's seriously considering a plan to target guam, a small pacific island home to crucial american militaryore than 7,000 u.s. forces. >> an attack or threat on guam is a threat or attack on the united states. >> reporter: the heightened tensions coming after the latest assessment from u.s. intelligence analysts who now believe north korea can make miniature nuclear warheads, small enough to fit inside n a intercontinental ballistic missile. >> they will be met with fire, fury, and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. >> reporter: president trump's heated rhetoric met with criticism and concern by some -- >> the question now is does this ramp up? does the rhetoric continue t

abc's emily rau has more. >> that was a horrible, horrible day -- wait a minute. i'm not finished. not finished fake news. >> reporter: president trump defending his decision to wait two days to condemn the white supremacists in charlottesville by the name. >> i wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what i said was correct, not make a quick statement. >> reporter: the president not addressing the fact the first lady, his daughter ivanka trump and the vice president all condemned the racism before he did but instead, seeming to once again spread the blame. >> what about the all the-left that came charging at the as you say the alt right? do they have any semblance of guilt. >> reporter: president trump defending some of the initial protesters who took to the streets in the unite the right rally. >> i've condemned neo nazis, i've condemned many different groups but not all of those people were neo nazis, believe me. >> reporter: reaction to the president's latest comments swift. republican speaker of the house paul ryan saying we must be clear. white supremacy is repulsi

here's abc's emily rau. >> i think something serious has to happen. >> reporter: u.n. ambassador nikki haley saying enough is enough after the united nations security council called an emergency meeting on north korea, unanimously condemning kim jong-un's latest missile launch. >> i think it sends a very good message to north korea. >> reporter: the intermediate range missile launched near pyongyang soaring 1600 miles crossing over a japanese island before crashing into the sea. sirens blaring in japan with warnings to take cover. the government sending text messages to its people about the possibility of an imminent attack. >> we were trying to get neighbors out and we just knocked on people's doors. i was quite shaken by it. >> reporter: south korea responding with a live bombing drill and in a statement president trump saying only all options are on the table. >> no country should have those 130 million people in japan and so i think something serious has to happen. >> reporter: north korea's state run news agency is reporting kim jong-un has said this latest missil

here's abc news reporter emily rau with the details. >> reporter: already a crisis for the new white house chief of staff john kelly. abc news confirming president trump personally dictated the misleading initial statement released by done jr. to the "new york times" that the meeting he, jared kushner and former campaign chairman paul manafort had with the number of russians was about adoptions and was not a campaign issue at the time. >> the president didn't sign off on anything. he was coming back from the g-20. the president wasn't involved in that. >> reporter: trump's legal team then denying the president had any involvement, but sources for abc and "the washington post" refute that. don junior later admitting the meeting was campaign-related and he agreed to take it after being promised dirt on hillary clinton. >> it shows the president is willing to micromanage the russia investigation response and he's willing to apparently directly mislead the american people. >> reporter: today the president's lawyer telling abc news about that new report, quote, apart from being of no cons

emily rau has more from washington. >> reporter: as president trump continues his working vacation he'sowing no signs of taking a break from his controversial twitter habit. tuesday morning the president firing off five tweets, three of them fox news stories. one of those stories citing anonymous sources and revealing classified information about the u.s. tracking the movement of north korean missiles. ironically president trump's un ambassador was on fox and friends condemning the story apparently unaware it was fox news that released it. >> i can't talk about anything that's classified and if that's in the newspaper that's a shame. >> i will tell you it's incredibly dangerous when things get out into the press like that. you're not only just getting a scoop on something, you're playing with people's lives and this is got to stop. whatever the leaks -- wherever the leaks are coming from if somebody thinks they're getting power or fame from it all you're doing is putting americans in danger. >> reporter: the administration announced a crackdown on leaks but today it was the president hi

italy row has details -- emily rau has details. nce again, the european community is reeling from a terrorist attack him and this one in the heart of barcelona. isis has already claimed responsibility. you are seeing video from barcelona. in the know so far come early evening hours come around 5:30 p.m. last night, a white jumped the curb and straight into a crowd of people. this is a very popular tourist destination. ramblas is the name, the area of the city, and it is leaving behind a trail of terror. at least 13 people have died. 100 more have been injured. we know the police have arrested at least two people. also investigating something that happens to the south of barcelona, about 90 minutes away. police are saying they shot and killed five terror suspects in a seaside community they are connected to what happened in barcelona. again, a lot get the very latest. we will pass them to u.s. and as we can. in northwest, emily rau, "good morning washington." larry: thank you for that. you can sign up for text alerts at wjla.com/text

more now from abc's emily rau. in the wake of charlottesville, several states are charlottesville, several states are seeing renewed calls to remove confederate monuments. president trump blasting those critics, asking if abraham lincoln statues would be next. and as tom roussey reports-- those comments also generating a lot of reaction. in virginia-- the city of postponed thursday's meeting... to discuss new names for jefferson davis highway. the move is designed to give people more time... to take part in a survey. the questionnair september 15th -- with public hearings -- now scheduled for september 25th and october fifth. new this morning-- well he may not be president anymore but barack obama is still influential enough to break the internet. following the white nationalist rally in charlottesville on saturday-- the former president tweeted this message. it's now the most-liked tweet in the history of twitter. nearly 3 million people have liked it in the last 4 days. the picture shows him greeting children out

abc's emily rau is live with more. good morning emily. country -- several memorials have been targeted, as emotions run high following the attack in charlottesville. in boston - a memorial to holocaust victims was smashed - and a teenager charged. in baltimore - two of four confederate monuments defaced - the most recent, a 114-year-old statue -- covered in red paint. the mayor, now vowing to take down all four of those monuments. florida, a confederate statue known as "old joe" - has also been removed. it is just one of many in our country... being taken down. meanwhile, an unlikely company is coming out to publically denounce racism-- "tiki brand". the company was thrust into the headlines last weekend, as white nationalists -- carrying their torches marched through the streets. tiki brand put out a statement-- saying it's not associated with the protest - and it does not condone the violence. it added that it's torches are intended for positive events. count on abc-7 to stay on top of the situation in charlottesville, every step of the

abc's emily rau has more from charlottesville. the violence in charlottesville reverberating across the nation. here in the district-- hundreds gathered outside the white house sunday, to take a stand against hate. cheryl conner continues our coverage. as the white house came under fire a former employee also emergenged to give his first interview since he was fired from the administration. anthony scaramucci sat down for an exclusive interview with abc news. and although he says he remains loyal to the president, scaramucci says he would have advised him not to make that statement, if he still had his old job. anthony scaramucci was scaramucci was fired from his post as white house communications director after just 11 days. federal investigators are also investigating another tragedy as the unite the right rally unfolded.. two virginia state troopers killed when their police helicopter crashed. take a look at video of the scene here. this is in albermarle county about 7-miles outside the city. lieutenant h. jay cullen and troope

abc's emily rau has more. happening now-- the violence in re-igniting a national debate over confederate memorial statues. in virginia-- governor terry mcauliffe issuing a sweeping recommendatio statue to confederate soldiers in alexandria. the monument sits on the spot where men from alexandria departed at the start of the civil war to join the confederate army. residents we spoke to say they agree that the statue should be moved, but not destroyed. the alexandria city council voted in 2016 to move the statue to a nearby museum. but that would require approval from the general assembly. in new york-- an episcopal church has removed two plaques marking a tree that was planted by robert e lee. during those years before the civil war, he was stationed at fort hamilton in brooklyn. the plaques are going to be archived at the diocese headquarters on long island. meanwhile-- new jersey senator cory booker says he will introduce a bill to remove confedera u-s capitol building. he says quote - "this is just one step.

emily rau explains. emily: president trump calling the new bill drastically cuts legal immigration part of the campaign promise to protect u.s. workers. >> 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. emily: republican senators cotton and purdue joining the president wednesday saying the u.s. brings in more than a million legal immigrants each year. a number they argue is much too high. >> over 50% of the howlsholds of the -- households of the legal immigrants participate in the social welfare system. one out of 15 immigrants come in with skills employable. emily: the bill would cut the number of legal immigrants the senators first introduced it in february. it didn't get much traction then and already fellow republicans are speaking out against it now. graham saying if it were to become law it would be devastating to the workforce. supports say it would help l

emily rau has the new threats to north korea directly from the president. emily: a defiant north korea not backing down in the face of president trump's overt military threat. and the president reinforcing his promise. president trump: frankly, the people that were questioning that statement, was maybe it wasn't tough enough. emily: the commander of the army making a threat of his own, to launch missiles near the island of guam in the near future. the u.s. territory home to key military bases and 160,000 americans. >> this missile they are talking about has been unreliable. they have never launched it in salvo, in multiple. so it could be a convenient excuse to test the missile program further. emily: north korea calling president trump's comments a lad of nonsense saying a president is a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him. the increasingly threatening rhetoric come as the analysts believe scientists in the north korea can produce miniature nuclear warheads that can fit inside the i.c.b.m. missiles that kim jong un launched twice la

emily rau has the new twists and the turns of the shakeups in the white house today. emily: new white house chief of staff john kelly's first order of business -- calling the chaos in the west wing. president trump: he w i have no doubt. emily: the military man already exercising influence on day one with the resignation of white house communications director anthony scaramucci after less than two weeks on the job. but now another crisis. abc news confirming president trump personally dictated the misleading initial statement released by don jr. to the "new york times." saying the meeting he, jared kushner, and former campaign chairman paul manafort had with several russians with alleged links to the kremlin was about adoptions and was not a campaign issue. >> the president didn't sign off on anything. he is coming gawk from the g20. the president wasn't involved in that. emily: trump's legal team then denying the president had any involvement. but sources for area and the "washington post" are refuting that. don jr. later releasing the e-mail chain which confirms the

jonathan: emily rau has the new threats from north korea. >> this is scary. something we can't take lightly. emily: residents of island of guam reacting to the north korea latest threat saying it's seriously considering a plan to target the u.s. territory home to crucial american military bases and more than 7,000 president trump: north korea best not make any more threats to the united states. emily: and president trump with an overt military threat of his own. ratcheting up tensions. this is as the latest assessment from u.s. intelligence says north korea can now produce miniature nuclear warheads small enough to fit inside an intercontinental ballistic missile. >> it's a very grave situation. not quite a crisis. the fact that real tough sanctions have been placed on north korea. they are reacting rather violently. >> the secretary of defense james mattis weighing in with a statement making clear that north korea's actions will be grossly overmatched by ours. calling on the country to cease action that would lead to the end of the regime. a subtle difference

emily rau has the latest round of threats to and from north korea now. >> there is an opportunity for dialogue. we have not seen in north korea a willingness to address the fundamental problems. emily: abc7 news learning the trump team has been engaged in back channel diplomacy with the north ko but now kim jong un showing no interest in backing down. the latest message on state-sponsored tv, "we consider the u.s. no more than a lump which we can beat to a jelly anytime." president trump: if he does anything with respect to guam guam or anyplace else that is an american territory or an american ally, he will truly regret it. he will regret it fast. emily: another dire warning from president trump. >> the american effort is diplomatically led. it has diplomatic traction. it's gaining diplomatic results. emily: defense secretary james mattis stressing diplomacy as the u.s. b1 bombers arrive in guam and japan deployed patriot missiles. in guam guam people are going about the business. the governor is encouraging everyone to enjoy the weekend but also to prepare for a possible attack. in

in washington emily rau channel6 "action news." ank you. >>> world news tonight with david muir will have much more on north korea 's latest nuclear advancement and president trump's response and the potential fallout from this escalation. you can watch that tonight at 6:30 following "action news" at 6:00. >> philadelphia fire investigators are trying to determine if a fast moving fire that destroyed a.m. two story row -- a two story row home was intentionally set. "action news" reporter katherine scott has the full story. >> reporter: in the daylight you could see the broken windows the shell of the two story end row home in kensington. debris piled on the sidewalk on the 1800 block of east clementine street. authorities initially came for a fire here. they found a body. overnight the crime scene unit searched the property with flashlights. a k-9 unit accompanied investigators from atf. l and i examined the building. last night shortly before 11:00, 24th district officers were flagged down. fire crews arrived in two minutes and wer

in washington, emily rau, channel6 "action news." >> all right, emily, thank you. >>> world news tonight with david muir will have much more on president trump's upcoming tore of southeastern texas as well also a the latest on the catastrophic flooding because of harvey. you can watch that following "action news" at 6:00ly. >> in other news tonight a 23-year-old penns grove man confessed to robbing a deli after police tracked him down. police took juan reza into custody for the friday morning robbery at rachel's dell low. the robber had a hat on and his face was covered when he demanded cash and fled the scene. an anonymous tip on social media led them to him. when police took name custody they said they found the same clothes the suspect was wearing in the surveillance photos. >>> officials now say some of the people hurt in a serious crash on the pennsylvania turnpike northeast extension suffered critical injuries. it happened yesterday afternoon in the northbound lanes just past the lansdale exit. we know that two adults and four

emily rau has the latest from the white house as president trump faces new low poll numbers. president trump: russia is a ruse. i have nothing to do with russia. emily: despite his insisting a new quinnipiac university poll show 58% of vote trump attempted to derail or obstruct the investigation into russian meddling. 33% approve of president trump's performance in office. today he promised a big announcement at the campaign style rally in west virginia. >> we have a big announcement that will be exciting for the media. >> lines are forming for the rally. the last event before the president starts his august vacation. departments for the golf club where he will stay for the next 17 days. vacation for the president despite his repeated comments and tweets denouncing the idea of taking time off and criticizing president obama for doing so. and whale he is away, renovations at the -- while he is away, renovations at the white house. the three decades old heating and cooling system will get upgrade with fresh paint, tar petting and a -- carpeting and a new stairas president trump'

abc's emily rau has more. the city of boston and a warning for a planned rally this weekend. the event which organizers say is designed to promote free speech has drawn lots of criticism because some of the orginally scheduled speakers have ties to the alt-right movemement. organizers expect about 100 people to attend - but outside groups could boost that number into the tens of thousands. the city's mayor is calling on both protesters and counter-protester s to assemble peacefully. police met with the rally's organizers and a group pla rally's organizers and a group planning a counter-protest to lay down ground rules. the event is set to take place saturday in boston common. the rally in charlottesville - centered around plans to move this statue of robert e. lee. and now, virginia governor terry mcauliffe calling for the removal of all confederate statues, in the commonwealth. in a statement the governor said in part.. "monuments should serve as unifiers. i believe the path forward is clear". meanwhile - new jersey senator cory booker announcing he will introduce a bill to

abc's emily rau joins us from washington with the details on that. good morning, emily. >> reporter: good morning, diane and kendis. president trump's first tweet about the attack on barcelona, spain, was pretty standard. it said, quote, the united states condemns the terror attack in barcelona, spain, and will do whatever is necessary to help. be tough and strong, we love you. but it's his second tweet that raised plenty of eyebrows. the president reviving a claim he often made on the pershing of the united states did to terrorists when caught. there was no more radical islamic terror for 35 years. now, that is a reference to a widely debunked story that in the early 1900s pershing had muslim rebels in the philippines killed with bullets dipped in pig's blood. it's controversial statements like that making some of his republican allies uneasy. republican senator from tennessee bob corker, for example, offering some harsh criticism yesterday. >> the president has not yet -- has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence

emily rau with the latest. a state department official insisting the u.s. is open to talks with north korea if the rogue nation ends its defiant pursuit of nuclear power. >> now is not the opportunity for dialogue because we have not seen in north korea willingness to address these fundamental problems. >> reporter: abc news learning the trump team has been quietly engaged in back channel diplomacy with the north koreans for months but now kim jong un showing no interest in backing down the latest message on state sponsored tv, we consider the u.s. no more than a lump which we can beat to a jelly any time. >> if he does anything with respect to gaum or anyplace else that's an american territory or an american ally, he will truly regret it and he will regret at this time fast. >> reporter: another dire warning from president trump. >> the american effort is diplomatically led. it has diplomatic traction. it is gaining diplomatic results. >> reporter: defense secretary james mattis stressing diplomacy at u.s. b1 bombers arrive in gaum and japan deployed patri

in washington, emily rau channel6 "action news."secret service has left its space inside trump tower amid a dispute over the terms of a lease between the general services administration responsible for securing space for the secret service and the trump organization. their command post now resides on the sidewalk in front of the building on fifth avenue. in a statement to abc news the secret service says it continues to work with gsa to obtain permanent work space in an appropriate location. and despite relocating to the sidewalk, they say there's been no impact to the security plan. >>> martin shkreli the eccentric former pharmaceutical ceo notorious for a price gouging scandal has been convicted on unrelated federal charges. a brooklyn jury deliberated five days before finding him guilty of securities fraud. shkreli was upbeat after the decision saying he was 38ed to report that he had been acquitted of what he killed a the -- had been acquitted of what he called the more important charges. >>> world news tonight will have more in

emily rau, abc news, washington >>> the nuclear threat from north korea is sparking fears up and down the west coast. >> a couple hundred people packed a meet tonight. here is "abc 7 news" reporter katie utehs. >> reporter: people packed the con kerd high school gym and congressman tried to calm constituents following nuclear threats from north korea. >> it is frightening. we are trying to get by. >> i don't think we're about to go to nuclear war. i would hope even a regime as unstable as the north koreans would realize the folly of that. >> reporter: some say president trump's fire and fury comments inflamed the situation. >> people don't necessarily believe he will do what he says, but you don't know. >> if anybody can control trump, i don't know. hopefully the generals can. >> reporter: east bay congresswoman barbara lee is working to reform presidential war powers granted post 9/11, but so far speaker paul ryan has block those efforts. >> hopefully more people will speak out and get him to act -- >> this election has been quite a civics lesson. >> reporter: he and other democrats

. >> that's abc's emily rau reporting from washington for us, thanks, emily. >>> sorrow and anger overharlottesville followed vice president pence to latin america. dozens of people mostly americans gathered for a vigil overnight across the street from the hotel where he was staying in chile and held up signs denouncing hate. >>> boston okayed a permit for a controversial rally on saturday, and organizers are calling it a free speech rally. but there is some concern because some of the people who appeared in charlottesville had been scheduled to speak in boston. still organizers say they do not support hate groups and are not affiliated with the organizers of the charlottesville protests. boston officials warn that the rally will be shut down if it gets out of control. >> respect this city because we respect your right to come in and speak. so if we're going to respect your right to come in, we expect you to respect our city, our people, the people that live here. don't pass hate. don't pass judgment on people. >> all marchers will have to adhere to conditions including a ban on any we

emily rau, abc news, washington. >>> happening today secretary of defense will arrive at moffat field this afternoon. he's coming to silicon valley to encourage private business participation in technology for national defense. he's scheduled to meet with defense innovation unit experimental staff and talk with leaders in the tech community. this will be his first official visit to silicon valley as defense secretary. >>> happening now. caltrain wants you to weigh in on the design for bike storage on its new electric trains of the future. the options on display right now at san francisco's fourth and sing station are getting mixed reviews. abc 1 news reporter tiffany wilson is there live to show us. tiffany? >> reporter: hi, kristen, the public's feedback on the new bike storage designs is very critical to caltrain. just like the other two public polls for the new fleets, color and layout, the most popular design will be the one that caltrain goes with. >> all aboard. >> reporter: bike capacity is at a premium on caltrain. >> get very full very quickly. >> reporter: boyakers say the c

emily rau, abc news, washington >>> the nuclear threat from north korea is sparking fears up and downescoast. >> a couple hundred people packed a meet tonight. here is "abc 7 news" reporter katie utehs. >> reporter: people packed the con kerd high school gym a trie constituents following nuclear threats from north korea. >> it is frightening. we are trying to get by. >> i don't think we're about to go to nuclear wa i would hope even a regime as unstable as the north koreans would realize the folly of that. >> reporter: some say president trump's fire and fury comments inflamed the situation. >> people don't necessarily believe he will says, but you don't know. >> if anybody can control trump, i don't know. hopefully the generals can. >> reporter: east bay congresswoman barbara lee is working to reform presidential war powers granted post 9/11, but so far speaker paul ryan has block those efforts. >> hopefully more people will speak out and get him to act -- >> this election has been quite a civics lesson. >> reporter: he and other democrats signed a resolution condemning the president's stat

abc's emily rau joins us from washington now with the details. emily, good morning. >> reporter: good morniap dg, nehas been strong and growing t last few days from politicians to big-time ceos and finally the president condemning those hate groups. morehan thound demonstrators lined the sidewalks around trump tower monday hours before president trump's expected arrival. [ chanting ] >> reporter: scores of police worked to keep the manhattan streets clear and as night fell, the protesters remained marching and chanting with a message for the president. [ chanting ] >> reporter: nearly 48 hours after that car plowed into a group of people in charlottesville, president trump finally condemning white supremacy groups by name. >> racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its nare ame criminals and thugs including the kkk, neo-nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as americans. >> reporter: but it took two days of intense pressure after his first statement seemed to spread the blame. >> viol

abc's emily rau joins us now with the latest. emily, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, diane and kendis. the city of charlottesville is still in a state of emergency. the streets though are quiet this morning after a night of vigils both here and across the country. the alleged driver behind the wheel of this car mowing down a crowd of people protesting against a white nationalist rally now charged with murder. [ chanting ] >> reporter: 20-year-old james fields drove from ohio to virginia for the rally captured on video chanting a message of white supremacy. >> i thought it had something to do with trump. trump's not -- i mean, he had an african-american friend. >> fields' mother saying she didn't know about her son's views, but a former teacher claims they date back to his days in high school. >> he was into this whole idea that whites were a dominant race. >> reporter: but sunday night, solidarity against those views from charlottesville to d.c. and cities across the country, people standing together against hate. [ chant

abc's emily rau has more. >> reporter: a defiant north korea not backing down in the face of president>> frankly, the people that were questioning that statement that it was too tough, maybe it wasn't tough enough. >> reporter: the president tight-lipped on next steps, a sentiment echoed by james mattis. >> i don't tell the enemy in advance what i'm going to do. >> reporter: making a specific threat of his own to launch missiles near the island of guam in the near future. the territory home to key military bases and 160,000 americans. >> this missile that they're talking about has been very unreliable. and they've never launched it in multiples in salvos. it could be a convenient excuse to test the missile program further. >> reporter: north korea calling president trump's comments a load of nonsense, saying the president is a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him. the increasing threatening rhetoric coming as analysts believe scientists in north korea can produce miniature nuclear warheads that can fit inside the icbm missiles that kim jong un launched twice las

we begin with abc's emily rau. >> reporter: in an explosive statement of north korea. >> north koreaeporter: 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, kim jong un launched an icbm 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

emily rau, abc7 news, washington. alison: extra security is going into place ahead of what could be a contentious vote in college park. city leaders are considering a measure that would allow noncitizens to vote in local election. but another issue is looming. that is a possible delay. tom roussey is live in college park with more. tom? tom: hey, alison, when you think college park you think brick buildings and the university of maryland. but this is also a city of 32,000 people. the issue before the city council and the city hall is whether or not people who are not citizens of the country should still be allowed to vote in city elections. prince germ's county police tell me they will have extra security on hand in the counsel -- council chambers. they said one councilmember has been receiving threats over the measure. what the measure would do is allow noncitizens whether they are legally or illegally in country to vote in the city elections. a separate voter list would be kept for them. they would not be allowed to

. >> emily rau reporting live from washington. >>> senator john mccain says america is adrift in afghanistanproposing what he says is a new strategy for success there. mccain is calling for increasing the number of u.s. counter-terrorism forces and giving them a freer hand to target the taliban, islamic state and other terrorist groups. the republican senator has been openly critical of the trump administration which has resisted the pentagon's recommendation to boost u.s. troop levels. mccain says he will seek a vote when the senate returns in september and takes up the annual defense policy bill. >>> now to the rocky relations between the u.s. and cuba. there have been a string of bizarre incidents that left a group of american diplomats with severe hearing loss. >> it's being blamed on a covert sonic device. maggie ruly with the details. >> reporter: with the diplomatic relationship between the u.s. and cuba still fresh, today a new test. >> they're responsible for the safety and security of our diplomats while they're serving in that country. >> reporter: the state department says diplom

emily rau has the latest. >> reporter: the white house admitting president trump helped craft his son's. >> the president weighed in as any father would, based on the limited information that he had. >> reporter: don junior initially claimed he and the russian lawyer discussed adoptions and that it was not a campaign issue. then days later, e-mails revealed don junior agreed to the meeting because he was promised dirt on hillary clinton. for weeks, president trump's own attorney denied the president had any involvement with that original statement. >> the statement that was released on saturday was released by donald trump jr. and i'm sure in consultation with his lawyers. the president wasn't involved. >> reporter: but sources revealing to abc news the president dictated the statement himself, the "washington post" reporting the president ignored advice to be more transparent and truthful. >> he certainly didn't dictate, but he, like i said, he weighed in, offered suggestion like any father would do. >> reporter: the white house and the president now facing questions about his transpar

we begin with abc's emily rau. >> north korea best not make anymore threats to the united states.e world has never seen. >> reporter: a direct response now to president trump from the commander of north korea's army, a new statement calling the president's threat a load of nonsense, saying north korea will complete its plan to attack waters near guam by mid august. >> they will be met with fire, fury and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. >> reporter: hours after the president said those words tuesday, north korea responding with its own warning. citing that potential plan to target guam, the u.s. territory, home to key military bases in 160,000 americans. secretary of state rex tillerson, attempting to strike a softer tone. >> he's sending a message in language that kim jong un would understand. he doesn't seem to understand diplomatic language. >> reporter: this as abc news learns that the president's fiery threat caught some in his open inner circle by surprise. the strong language not vetted by his security team. the army commander calls pres

we begin with abc's emily rau. >> this competitive application process will favor applicants who canmilies 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. a similar bill was presented in february. it didn't get much traction then 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 de