scott thuman there's a secret science experiments and inventions the government warnings on that you about.othing some are objects of legend and lore like the experimental flights at area 51. some of them are the work of the ilitary defense advance research projects agency or darpa. scott thuman sat down with sharon weinberger who pulls back curtain on some of them. >> a new moon is in the sky a 23 orbit by a in russian rocket. >> darpa was created after the sput sputd the -- sputnik the satellite that stand the cans and created perception that our national security was at risk. agency that was built essentially out of panic. >> absolutely. sputnik could take us time to the 911 moment of the time. technological surprise that the russians could lawful a darpa would stay ahead of other surprises that could come from the soviet union. once it was gone it was left to reimagine its mission. > the mission is to work on breakthrough technology for national security. he agency only employs 240 people but has a budget of nearly $3 billion. you are aware the agency change warfare.e of >> you l

scott thuman takes us to a small town in france. it's a town without immigrants.ryl: immigration was a pivotal issue driving the u.s. presidential race. now it is time to go from promises to policy. do we build the wall? expel all illegal immigrants? those same issues were part of the recent french presidential election. when scott thuman was there covering the big race, he found a small town taking policy into its own hands. scott: from a hilltop just outside of town, henin-beaumont looks like your average blue-collar village. but this french faction of the country's rust belt has faced more than its fair share of struggles. people's optimism had been replaced with piles of slag from closed-up coal mines. >> people are jaded from all these promises that haven't been fulfilled. daniel vaissier: there was a catastrophic deficit here, we were paying exorbitant taxes. scott: the language is different, the scene and complaints, the same as you'd find in coal country in pennsylvania. bill allen: my father was in the coal mine and that's the way i supported my family. s

scott thuman visits one city that has seen the threat and is trying to do something about it.s is not cable. we're a 100% fiber optic network. and with the new fios gigabit connection... 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 your contract with up to a $500 credit to help cover your early termination fee. go to fiosgigabit.com sharyl: the may terrorist attack in manchester revived the ongoing concern about terrorists living and plotting in our very midst. in britain, france, belgium, and in the united states, after each attack, the question is -- when and how did the attackers become radicalized? last year, scott thuman travelled to birmingham, engl

on capitol hill, scott thuman, abc7 news. jonathan: you can see in the lower part of the screen we are putting up harvey. this has grown in the last couple of hours. category three. huge storm. alison: what are you hearing? steve: a well-defined eye with the system and it may intensify more before it makes landfall. in a few hours or so. right now, the maximum winds at 125 earn many. winds gusts at 155 miles per hour. category three storm. if it increases in speed by five miles it will become a category four storm. a strong, strong system out there. where is it going as it moves through several days? this won't move a lot. it will meander in the same place and by late sunday to monday we will start to drift on off little farther toward north and the east. so, eventually it will get better. talk about what is going on out there at home. 78 at dulles. same for manassas. upper 70's in fredericksburg. beautiful evening underway. bright night to go to ballpark. temperatures in the 70's. we move to the end of the evening and the ov

and scott thuman is reporting that a shutdown is, in fact, possible. scott: october 2013. the government some say at a low point. shutdown because congress couldn't pass a budget. now the threat of another. >> obstructionist democrats would like us not to do it. but if we have to close down the government we are building that wall. scott: president trump is adamant about a wall and aware it's partially what landed him the job. >> this is important enough to the president he would try to push the people in the party and congress as far as possible to the brink to maybe beyond it. it would only take a couple of senators to up-end the plan. >> two or three to stop anything going forward there. there is always a handful of republicans who are not going to go along with either immigration restrictions or any of a border wall or any of the other ideas. scott: especially costly ones while they are trying to find the funs to make the tax cuts possible. it could be a party nightmare for them. chuck schumer warns the president is pursuing against the wishes of members from both part

chief political correspondent scott thuman examines the mobility of isis as the war on terror continuesictories against isis in territory for the terror group. something president trump would like to replicate in afghanistan. >> the vacuum we created leaving too soon gave safe haven for isis to spread. >> then the target moved, too. explain the former f.b.i. director james comey. >> when isil is reduced to insurgency and the killers flow out they will try to come to western europe. >> home grown jihadists, shut in spain, eng lands and france. a concern we documented in the "full measure" assignment last year in birmingham speaking with a once radicalized young man. >> who did you want to fight with? >> it was obviously against the west. you know, because we fought like they were destroying people's lives. >> do you hear a lot of the anti-american sentiment? >> i have to be honest with you. i hear a lot of it, absolutely. >> evidence that the west is increasingly a prime target. >> with each loss of that compensate with a high profile execution or an attack in europe. isis needs a win an

the dollar re -- scott thuman is at the "live desk." dollar amount could be staggering. scott: the fema police says they are confident they have resources and the money. but admits admits this is nothig they have ever faced. the pictures tell the stories and the numbers are concern concerning. monday morning there were 70,000 calls to emergency alone. >> i don't think we are leaving anything in the kitchen cabinet. >> with good cause. there are 11 trillion of rainfall. 30 in houston. 15 to 20 expected. >> you are the is going to get worse. >> every number we put out will change in 30 minutes. >> requiring more manpower. 2005 to 2014 congress set aside $277 billion for disaster assistant agencies. but sometimes it's not enough. after katrina president bush gave more for relief. and they hope the money will suffice. >> this is a huge recovery. >> we will be in houston for years to come. >> another telling figure 28. that is the number of the urban search and rescue teams across the country. this is the first time fema put out the call to all of them. >> that puts perspectiv

as chief political correspondent scott thuman reports the aftermath of harvey declared a public health emergency. scott: high priority arrivals in texas. blood and vaccine. medical professionals pouring in. among the concerns protecting the storm victims from floodwaters that are more than just rain. but also a dangerous mixture of sewage and chemicals. >> i have done two tours in iraq and afghanistan. this ranks up there. not as bad as combat but not far off. >> infectious diseases like cholera and tie food are unlikely -- typhoid are unlikely, rashes are. walking in the water increases risk of e. coli and diarrhea and open and unnoticeable cuts could mean infections. the department of health after hurricane harvey could repeat itself with hurricane harvey. west nile virus. health investigators saw a sharp increase of doubling of the mosquito-borne disease due in part to the standing water left around. there are spontaneous worries that emerge. today confusion over what may be emitting from a crippled chemical plant now on fire. peroxide in the air and in the water forcing more evacua

abc7 chief political correspondent scott thuman following this breaking news for us. is was a side of the president we haven't seen often since the inauguration. doubling down on what was his initial statemen scott: he was firm and attempted to explain the viewpoint. he was heavily criticized for the first comments saying many sides were to blame. then yesterday he gave a much more careful, scripted response. that was better received. today a much more free wheeling president trump who lashed out at those who criticized him. here is a snippet from his back-and-forth. president trump: what about the alt-left that came charging at the as you said alt-right? do they have any semblance of guilt? let me ask you this. what about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? do they have any

scott thuman talked today with the man is live from the capitol hill bureau. can't imagine how big of a job this is. scott: talk actioman's effort. it takes a -- oweman's effort. it takes a lot of people. you have literally dozens of agencies and the departments in the agencies in washington, d.c. that are steering a lot of the aid south. right into the middle of the storm. we took time to talk to the secretary of h.u.d. as well as those trying to solve a lot of big problems now. here is what he had to say. where cars once drove, now white caps. rescues far from done. thousands of homes under water. we spoke to secretary of housing and you are ban development ben carson who yesterday saw the damage with president trump. this is the first test for president trump and a first test for you as well. it as a test but i look at it as an opportunity. >> is there something that h.u.d. is able to do now perhaps it couldn't do after the super storm sandy or hurricane katrina? >> recognizing some of the difficulties that people had after those. one of the first thing we h