Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Shepard Smith Reporting 20170808

Regime have successfully developed a miniaturized Nuclear War Head that can fit inside its missiles. The post citing a confidential assessment from u. S. Intelligence officials. They say it shows north korea has crossed, quote a key threshold on the path to becoming a fullfledged nuclear power. Its not just u. S. Officials saying. This Japans Defense Ministry also reports its possible north korea has made mini Nuclear Weapons. Japanese Officials Say it would mean north Koreas Nuclear program has entered, quote, a new stage. Lets bring in peter finn, National Security editor for the Washington Post. Peter, a lot of observers say that kim jong un has been acting more belligerent of late. Maybe the fact that he has apparently succeeded in mating nuclear miniaturized Nuclear Weapons to a missile is part of the reason why . Yeah. I think he is becoming more confident about his capabilities both his ability to launch an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and now as we are reporting that they have miniaturized missile that they can mount on a missile. Those are two very significant developments. They have come at a faster pace than i think most people anticipated. So that may account for some of his confidence. Jon you had three reporters on this story. I know you were the editor. When you read what they came up with from the Defense Intelligence agency, i mean, was it one of those smack your head kind of moments and say holy cow, this is a game changer . Yeah. I mean, its a startling ominous development. And i think it reduces the time frame for the leadership of the United States, japan, south korea, russia, and china to deal with this. They may have thought they had more time to move towards some multilateral talks, other things. But it seems like we are working at a much faster pace here than perhaps we had thought. Jon well, the u. N. Just passed a billiondollar Sanction Program against the north. Is anyone thinking that thats going to be enough to prevent them from, you know, mating these missiles to the miniaturized weapons . You know, north korea has survived sanctions time and again. These sanctions are significant diplomatic achievement. Whether they will bring them to the table is debatable. I think the role of China Remains crucial. And you know, there are many more things that could be done. Some of them crippling. But then that escalates the danger of north korea taking steps that might lead to conflict. Jon what about iran. We know that iran and north korea are very tightly measured. Measured. Is it possible that iranians have been involved with helping them with this program or at least in their icbm program. Im unaware of that i mean, they have clearly developed some indigenous ability to build missiles and to mount weapons on them now. And they have been recruiting expertise for quite a long time, including from the former soviet union. And but i think a lot of people now believe that they have their own capability, that they are much less dependent on the outsiders than they were in the past. Jon so that makes them, i mean, a legitimate threat. They have already proven that they have an icbm with range with the capability of hitting, what, the west coast of the United States . All of the sudden you put a miniaturized nuke on top of that, have you a significant threat. Yes, they are on the threshold of becoming a fullfledged nuclear power. Thats where we are at. Jon the president has said that would be unacceptable to him. So how does the United States deal with this new reality . That is one of the conundrums here. This is, as many people have pointed out before, this is a situation with only lousy options for the president and for the leaders of other countries. And any kind of military escalation is going to quickly lead to the death of tens of thousands of civilians, south korea, japan, and obviously now there is an increasing threat to the United States. Jon there are disagreements, as your the Washington Post article points out, as to exactly how many weapons or warheads the north possesses. I suppose at this point, if they have managed to shrink them down, the number is almost a critical component of this. I mean, if the United States does have a credible Missile Shield you can shoot down a few of them but it only takes one getting through. Right. I mean i think the bottom line here is most people would argue that one is too many. Jon yeah, i think we all would. Peter finn, the editor at the Washington Post who handled this Ground Breaking story. Peter, thanks for being with us today. My pleasure. Jon our own greg palkot has made several trips to north korea. He was there earlier this year. He witness admiralty parade in the capital of pyongyang. At the time analysts thought some of the military equipment might be fake. Of course now we are seeing these reports. The North Koreans have missileready nukes. So, greg, what did you make of this report . Well, jon, it is an alarming report, from our experience on the ground it is a report that cannot, that should not be dismissed. Again what the Washington Post is saying, quoting its own intelligence sources is that north korea has, in fact, come up with a way to miniaturize their Nuclear Weapons to put them on top of those missiles. These are missiles in our last visit and in several visits we have seen rolling by us at military parades. You are right, some of them could be fakes. But, as we have seen in launch after launch, more than a dozen, in fact, this year. They are working and they are dangerous. Again, north korea had already claimed officially last year that they had miniaturized a war head that could be put on top of a missile. We even saw a picture of kim jong un posing with one but couldnt be sure of that what we can be sure, from my conversations with north korean officials on the ground, that h they are determined to have or say at least that they have a nuclear arsenal. That they see this as their key to survival against the larger powers, including especially the United States. A couple of notes here very quickly, jon, about the particulars of this report. I spoke with one of my key sources, Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute of strategic studies. He basically says flatly it is correct that he and other analysts have been saying that north korea can miniaturize these nose cones. That, in fact, the governments have been a little more circumspect about saying Going Forward and saying that they have the technological ability but the north korea has been working on this for about 30 years. That they are technically competent. And, perhaps, report today that i know you have been reporting about and mentioning, the japanese government saying that, in fact, they have the capability of miniaturizing nose cones might have nudged u. S. Officials in this direction as well, jon. Jon north korea is a backward and impoverished country in many respects but their Nuclear Program a huge source of pride. Excuse me, jon . Jon are you able to hear me, greg . We were talking about the Nuclear Program that they have in north korea is a big source. Jon, if you can hear me i believe i have lost the connection here. Jon okay. It sounds like we do not have that connection to greg palkot. He, as i mentioned, has visited north korea a number of times, including just a couple of months ago. A very strange place, an ominous word out of that country today, our Defense Intelligence agency concluding that the North Koreans have managed to miniaturize Nuclear Weapons that makes them capable of mating them to an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and that is a game change. Ahead, a close look at the man running north korea. The dictator kim jong un. A despot who oppresses his people, pours money into his military and controls Nuclear Weapons. More on him next. This is joanne. Her long day as a hair stylist starts with shoulder pain when. Hey joanne, want to trade the all day relief of 2 aleve with 6 tylenol . Give up my 2 aleve for 6 tylenol . No thanks. For me. Its aleve. [upbeat music] announcer no one loves a road trip like your furry sidekick so when your side glass gets damaged. [dog barks] trust Safelite Autoglass to fix it fast, and well get you back on the road [dog barks] safelite repair, safelite replace. Jon now more on north korea. The Washington Post reporting the regime there has successfully built a Nuclear War Head that can fit inside it missiles. The dictator behind the trigger, kim jong un. Here are some of the ways u. S. Lawmakers have described him, crazy, a nut job. A murderer. Well, now, whatever he is, he apparently has missileready nukes in his arsenal. Trace gallagher is live with a closer look at north koreas dictator. Trace, how did he get to the penick kel in that country. Kim jong uns childhood has been a secret. We still do not know his exact age. We do know he attended an english Language School in switzerland under a fake name and he was a fan of american athletes like Michael Jordan and action stars like jackie chan and john clawed vandamme. His mother was believed to be kim jong uns favorite wife. She called kim jong un the morning star king. Back in 2009, rumors began circulating that he would succeed his father and those rumors gained credibility when kim, the younger, was given a post on the National Defense commission. Thats a powerful branch of the korean military. He was later named the head of the state security department, which is in charge of north koreas counter intelligence. In 2010, he was promoted to four star general and vice chairman of the Central Military commission. His father, kim jong il died in 2011. He broke protocol by walking alongside his fathers hears during a funeral profession. Shortly afterwards he assumed control of the north korean army. It was april of 2012 that he made his first public speech as leader and he quickly showed how ruthless he would be ordering the execution of his own uncle. Jon . Jon and what about Nuclear Weapons . When did he Start Testing those . Really, less than a year after he became north koreas leader he conducted his First Nuclear test. That was in february of 2013. And then experts say the weapon was twice as big as the ones the country had previously tested. That nuclear test also coincided with elections in south korea and then president obama state of the union address. It also led to new sanctions from the u. N. Security council. In december 2015, he claimed the country was ready to detonate a Hydrogen Bomb more powerful than an atomic bomb. A month later kim jong un would go on state television calling the underground detonation a quote, spectacular success. Although many remain skeptical about the claims to this day. But, in january of this year, kim jong un, during a televised address said his country was ready to begin testing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and now we know, jon, one of those missiles has the capability to reach the shores of alaska. Jon you are on the west coast where they are taking this threat seriously, huh, trace . All right. For some reason we are having audio issues today. We will try to get those corrected. Trace gallagher is joining us from our west coast newsroom with an update on the north korea situation and kim jong un. Okay, trace, again, very serious situation, especially, for those on the west coast. Yeah. We just talked about how the fact that icbm was able to reach the shores of alaska or at least the capability of reaching the shores of alaska. Thats about 3,000 miles away from north korea, jon. The west coast, california, san francisco, los angeles up to portland, more like 6,000 miles away. So still well out of reach. But cities on the west coast are not taking any chances. In fact, los angeles right now, they say is better prepared for a limited Nuclear Strike today because of our processes for post 9 11 terrorist attack. Better prepared today than it was during the runup and the midst of the cold war because they have vehicles, boats, and trucks that are actually able to scan radioactive levels, which is a big plus when you are talking about trying to guide people in where to go if there in fact was a limited Nuclear Strike. Portland, oregon, san francisco, City Councils there are also bringing up the fact that they should try to get some civil preparedness like we had during the old days. Remember the duck and cover videos back in the runup to the cold war . They stopped that because the thinking was if the soviets were to attack the United States, there would be kind of a futile effort, if you are just trying to duck and cover because it would be an all out war. Now they are trying to bring that back in places like hawaii and los angeles. Maybe bringing it back to schools to teach kids and people to get inside and stay inside in the case of a limited Nuclear Strike. Jon we are living in dangerous times. Trace gallagher, thank you. So, what are the options here . Taking military action against north korea could lead to a catastrophic war. Thats how defense secretary james mattis recently put it. Well talk about President Trumps options with political strategists from both sides of the aisle next. Four weeks without the car. Okay, yup. Good night. With accident forgiveness your rates wont go up just because of an accident. Switching to allstate is worth it. At the lexus golden opportunity sales event before it ends. Choose from the is turbo, es 350 or nx turbo for 299 a month for 36 months if you lease now. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Bburning of diabetic nerve pain these feet. Jumped into city life as a kid. Raised two rough and tumble boys. And kept my town moving. But i couldnt bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. So i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. Nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica is fda approved to treat this pain. Lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or blurry vision. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. Now i have less diabetic nerve pain. And i love keeping their little feet safe and sound. Ask your doctor about lyrica. If you are eligible, you could pay as little as 25 dollars a month. Jon as north korea races ahead with its Nuclear Program, President Trumps options for dealing with the regime are becoming more limited. Lets talk about that with our political panel. Brad blakeman, a republican strategist and former advisor to president george w. Bush. Christie setzer is a democratic strategist and former Iowa Press Secretary for al gores campaign. She also runs new heights publications thats Public Affairs and Public Relations firm in d. C. This leader and regime have bedeviled the republican and democratic administrations, christie. What does President Trump do and what does he say now that north korea seems to capability of putting a nuclear missile, Nuclear War Head on top of one of its missiles . There are two things that i think President Trump needs to consider. Americans. What sort of message did he calibrate. To be heard by kim jong un. And for americans, i think, look, especially people who didnt support President Trump, this is the nightmare scenario that we have who people like me consider to be a thinskinned reactive leader in President Trump going head to head against a thinskinned reactive leader in kim jong un. I think, you know, he just has to do his best to keep all options on the table to say that diplomacy will be a tool that is in his arsenal. Its not just going to be about bullying and empty threats. Jon diplomacy, obviously. But there is a military possibility as well, brad you served in the george w. Bush, bush 43 administration. Thats when north korea first tested its Nuclear Weapon back in 1996. Was there any thought given then to some kind of preemptive strike . Well, im sure our military kept all options on the table. But we have to look forward now. And i think President Trump is doing exactly the right thing. He is galvanizing the International Community. When is the last time we had a Unanimous Security Council resolution on anything . And especially china and russia joining the United States and other nations in condemning and sanctioning north korea is a great move. But i think more pressure has to bear on china. Eventually i think we have to make a statement. That statement is any aggression by north korea beyond its borders should be seen as an act of war by china. North korea is the bastard stepchild of china. They couldnt exist a week without chinese support. They couldnt have built their weapons of mass destruction without china. China should be held as account countable as north korea for any acts of aggression. Jon breaking news from the president s visit to his golf club in bedminster, new jersey. During his opioid event, President Trump just said this, quote north korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. They will be met with fire, fury, and, frankly power, the likes of which the world has never seen. Christie, that is what the president just said. Right. Jon from his working vacation in bedminster, new jersey. Tough talk. But these are tough times. Yeah. Tough talk the danger for him is that President Trump is full of a lot of tough talk. He is someone who, as some have joked about as somebody who likes to talk loudly and carry a small stick. Thats not the approach that we should be going after here. I just dont think that as i said sort of verbal bullying and potential empty threats are the way to go. You want to deescalate. He doesnt seem to have a lot of ability to know how to do that exactly. Im sure there are cooler heads that can prevail in his administration. I hope that they will do so. Jon brad, have you been a president ial advisor. How would you advise the president to handle this one . I think you have to go toe to toe with china and north korea. You have to galvanize our allies and say we have probably reached a point of no return in the threats made by north korea, now matched by their actions, their ability to do that which they say they want to do. That is to destroy america and south korea. We cannot let that stand. The last eight years under obama of apology and appeasement brought us to this point. Its now time for action to be taken. No more sixparty talks. I think the president is right to use every tool in the toolbox, including and not excluding a military option because right now we are at the point where its now verifiable that they have the weapons to match their threat. We cannot let that stand. Jon on that score, the president got out of the u. N. This weekend a condemnation of north korea and sanctions that frankly russia and china signed on to. Thats astounding progress, isnt it . It is. We have got to make sure that those sanctions take some time in order to take the desired and intended affect. But that requires north korea to stand down. And they seem to be stepping it up rather than standing down, which they should be doing because what theyre threatening, the world with, not just the United States, is something that the world should not tolerate. Jon well, christie, kim jong un undoubtedly feels emboldened by his progress here. He has tested multiple icbms, two of them in july alone. Now apparently if the national Defense Intelligence agency is correct, its assessment is that now he has the Nuclear War Head that will fit on top of one of those icbms and is launchable. If you are kim jong un, what reason do you have to back down . Youve got the world paying attention to you. Youve got the world essentially by the tail. Yeah. No. I agree. Thats exactly the danger here. But, listen, i agree with what brad is saying about that we have made, you know, pretty significant progress in terms of, you know, Global Economic sanctions. You know, and i do believe that thats what you want to do is sort of lean on the power of our allies as well. To say that no country is going to sort of take this lying down, but its a really precarious. Jon hold on for just a second while we play the president s remarks from new jersey. North korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening beyond a normal statement. And as i said, they will be met with fire, fury and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. Thank you. Thank you. Jon so a tough statement from President Trump there regarding the threats from kim jong un, the leader of north korea. Brad, just talk about, i dont know if you were able to see it, the body language there, the president with his arms crossed and obviously very stern language. Is that an effective way to get the message across to kim jong un . It is. But i think the president is also speaking directly to china as well. And the burden is on them. They are the enabler. North korea couldnt exist a week. Lets put it in perspective, jon, north korea is the size of pennsylvania with the population of 25 million. They are holding the entire world hostage . Thats completely unacceptable. By the way, they are going to lose in the ends. If they were stupid enough to attack the United States or south korea or any of our allies, japan, they would lose. There is no doubt about it. But the problem is the world would lose, too. Because of the millions of people who would be affected by this kind of destruction. But, we have seen it before. Hitler got so powerful, europe could have stopped hitler. But they chose a policy of appeasement. And at the end of the day, 60 Million People were killed when he could have been neutralized a lot sooner with less destruction to europe and the rest of the world. You cannot let a dictator run roughshod over us or any of our allies greater population of the world. Jon obviously we will be watching very closely at the response coming out of the white house and President Trump as he is in new jersey. Christie setzer, brad blakeman, thank you both. Thank you. Jon coming up, more on these threats from north korea, u. N. Ambassador to the United Nations nikki haley warning dictator kim jong un the u. S. Could retaliate if he decides to make any moves. Alzheimers disease the fi is out there. Survive and the Alzheimers Association is going to make it happen by funding scientific breakthroughs, advancing public policy, and providing local support to those living with the disease and their caregivers. But we wont get there without you. Visit alz. Org to join the fight. Atmore than one flavor, oruch texture, or color. Ing. A good clean salad is so much more than green. And with panera catering, more for your event. Panera. Food as it should be. 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Ambassador t to the nikki haley telling fox news a vote basically puts the ball in kim jong uns court. Kim now has to decide is he going to turn around and say okay, the International Community is telling me to stop or is he going to have a temper tantrum. He is going to now have to think whats the end game . Is he really going to come after the United States knowing what the United States can do back . Jon in response to the new penalties, north korea has threatened to take physical action. Lucas tomlinson live at the pentagon for us now. Lucas . Well, jon, pentagon officials are refusing to comment on this dia report. But officials have long been concerned about north koreas ability to miniaturize a war head. In fact, in october 2015, a top u. S. Military general said that north korea does possess this capability. But its noteworthy, jon, including with last months Intercontinental Ballistic Missile test north korea has never demonstrated this ability. It also has not fully tested the ability to hit a target. It has also not demonstrated the ability for a war head to reenter the earths atmosphere. Last month north korea conducted two Intercontinental Ballistic Missile tests for the first time. Its note worthy if you remember on japanese state television the war head that came down into space was on fire. North korea still has to demonstrate a number of things. Of course, officials here say north korea is rapidly approaching that. Just to recap those two missile launches last month on july 4th, north korea launched Intercontinental Ballistic Missile 1700 miles into space. The missile was in the air for 3 seconds. The second test on july 28th flew even higher it went 2300 miles into space and flew for 45 minutes. It was the longest and farthest test in the history of north koreas regime. Whats note worthy, jon, nsas International Space space station orbits the earth 2250 miles above the earth. These are going 1,000 miles higher than that orbit, jon . Jon u. S. Has antimissile systems. Can the u. S. Knock those north korean missiles out of the sky . Well, jon, the results have been mixed. But in late may the u. S. Launched a kill vehicle which knocked out Intercontinental Ballistic Missile in space. The interceptor was launched at air force base in california. Noteworthy just a month later in june a Ballistic Missile intercept at launched from the uss paul john jones failed, jon. Now critics on capitol hill said President Trumps Defense Budget actually cuts Missile Defense but the House Armed Services Committee Chairman matt thorn berry says he wants to put language and get more money for Missile Defense. Jon . Jon so what are they doing there at the pentagon . What options does the u. S. Military have . Well, jon, the military also has offensive options, including having over 400 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles at three air force bases in the United States and montana, in wyoming, and north dakota. These missiles are staffed and manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to any kind of provocation, any kind of missile launch. Whats noteworthy is a lot of critics have said there are no military options. Just last month in aspen the head of the u. S. Special Operations Command general tony thomas says there is a military option. There is always a military option. Thats why you pay 600 billion a year. [laughter] to have a military option. It is an ugly, ugly option. But you cannot play elements of power and then discount that there is no military option. The air force also has a fleet of Nuclear Capable bombers and, of course, the navy has Ballistic Missile submarines that can also fire Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Jon . Jon Lucas Tomlinson at the pentagon for us. Thanks, lucas. Up next we will talk with a former diplomat who worked on previous talks with north korea. Plus, an iranian drone also collided with a u. S. Jet today even after multiple radio calls warning the drone to back off. Details on that ahead from the fox news deck. For your heart. Your joints. Or your digestion. So why wouldnt you take something for the most important part of you. Your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain Health Supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. As chief everything officer, lynne smith, gets ready to launch the school year. Binders, done. Supercool notebooks, done. Laptop setup, done. Thats mom taking care of business. But who takes care of mom . Office depot office max. During our taking care of back to school sale, order online and pick up instore in just one hour. And shes off. To another important business meeting. Office depot office max. Taking care of business jon fox news has learned u. S. Officials say china may be changing its position on north korea and starting to view the country as a liability. Anthony is a senior fellow at the foundation for defense of democracies. He spent more than 13 years at the u. S. State department. He also advised the Six Party Talks in 2005, which brought the u. S. And other age in nations together to try to tackle north Koreas Nuclear program. Once again the news of the day, anthony, for those who are just tuning in is that north korea apparently, according to a report in the the Washington Post, quoting the Defense Intelligence agency, north korea has developed a Nuclear Weapon small enough to fit on top of an icbm, that really puts all of the world in danger. What is your view of the u. S. Response . Well, it certainly concerning report. I think north korea has had a Nuclear Weapons program for over 20 years. I think assuming that this or assessing at least that this is the possibility is a prudent way to go about it for our intelligence agencies. We have the new u. N. Resolution which was an an achievement. Right now if china was really changed its way and believes north korea is a liability. The Treasury Department and the state department could go to china with a specific list of what they need to do and give them a 30day deadline. If they dont do it in 30 days, the United States could use its economic power against chinese banks, chinese companies, chinese individuals. Jon but if the North Koreans have already mated a launchable missile, a launchable war head to a missile, that kind of puts them in the drivers seat, doesnt it . Dont they have the power to extort whatever they want from the chinese or maybe the United States . Well, i agree. I think thats part of the reason why going back to negotiations at this time would only get us possibly a freeze, that the North Koreans would violate at any point that they wanted to. Jon because they have done that before. At least four times, yeah. Jon they agreed once before to get rid of their Nuclear Program in exchange for aid from the west. They tore up the deal. Right. North korea has a ph. D. In fleecing the United States and its allies for inducements to give up its weapons programs knowing they are not going to do that. Thats why strong robust sanctions Campaign Like we had with iran, that could be very shortterm. Its up to the United States how far to turn this dial. You know, secretary tillerson talked about a dial. You can turn it to 11 pretty quick if thats what the Trump Administration decides to do. Jon all right. Such as . What more can we do . Sure, i think the first thing you would do is go after chinese banks. You dont have to designate them or freeze their assets, which could harm the u. S. Economy, but you can issue fines and those banks will start to ferret out the north korea transactions. Go to the middle east and talk with some of our partners as a report last week showed that are using north korean laborers and thats 500 million a year that they are getting there. Go back to china and make it clear we are going to stop every vessel between the two countries. There are a lot of things. Thats only a very short list. Go to singapore. Go to the company thats sending luxury goods to north korea. Unfortunately the list goes on and on and on because we spent, unfortunately the last 10 years really not plugging these loopholes. Jon but the sanctions on the North Koreans to this point have not accomplished much in the way that we wanted. Are you saying that sanctions on china and other countries doing business with north korea would be more affected . Right. I mean, thats exactly what im saying. What im saying is, yes, sanctions have failed. They are focused on the wrong areas. We know the right areas. The u. N. Itself has been saying that. The u. N. Has said nonNorth Koreans are facilitating north korea sanctions who designated in the new resolution only North Koreans and north korean companies. Thats really all you need to know. North korean individuals who are designated are operating in four of them are in russia and five of them are in china. Thats really the example of what were looking at here. And the United States has the example with the iran sanctions where the United States was not afraid to go after its allies in europe, in the middle east, in asia and use sanctions against those allies and saying, look, now its either us or you are working with iran. In this case i think people will choose to work with the United States instead of north korea. Jon anthony, foundation for defense of democracies. Thanks for those points. Thank you. Jon iranian drone almost hit a u. S. Fighter jet in the persian gulf today, even after multiple radio calls warned the iranians to keep it away from the jet. Thats according to a u. S. Navy Central Command spokesman who called the move unsafe and unprofessional. He said the drone came within 100 feet of an f18 about to land on the uss aircraft carrier. And that the fighter jet had to swerve to dodge the drone. The navy reports this is the 13th unsafe or unprofessional interaction between the u. S. And Iranian Maritime forces just this year. President Trump Holding a briefing on a major drug crisis that is crippling parts of the country. A crisis Public Health Officials Say kills dozens of Malcolm Jenkins every day. A live report on the Opioid Epidemic ahead. But, first, meteorologist adam klotz with an extreme weather alert. Adam . Dam dam we are tracking franklin over the yucatan peninsula. Over night its going to get back over the gulf of mexico. Pick up steam. This could be First Atlantic hurricane of the year. Winds intensifying getting up to 70 Miles Per Hour before ramming back into the shore of mexico. Not a u. S. Threat with this particular storm but a big threat nonetheless. Currently under Tropical Storm warnings all along the coast. Those could be hurricane warnings. Those are hurricane watches right now as we are waiting to see if this thing is going to strengthen enough to become that very first hurricane. You notice in our future forecast you can Pay Attention to it as it runs off the coast. It really tightens up a little bit. When you can see the eye of the storm, that is when that storm is getting really strong. Thats a time where we are either going to be very strong Tropical Storm or weak hurricane. Eventually hitting shore. Were going to be talking about, yes, those strong winds that come with it, up to 70 Miles Per Hour. With that also just a whole lot of rain. Here is your rainfall forecast when this thing is in motion. You can see the legend just to the top. Widespread we are talking about 8 to 12 inches. This is all mountains along the coast. As it begins to run in, we could be seeing areas where rainfall is getting up to 20 inches, which could be a real nightmare. Again, this could be the first hurricane of the year, sixth named Tropical Storm but still not a hurricane yet. We are still early in this season. I will end you with this one. We are just sitting right here. Still a long ways to go left in this tropical season. Thats what we will be watching for the next six weeks or so. More Shepard Smith reporting coming up after the break. E doesnt have that. What . you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. Liberty mutual insurance. Her long day as anne. Hair stylist starts with shoulder pain when. Hey joanne, want to trade the all day relief of 2 aleve with 6 tylenol . Give up my 2 aleve for 6 tylenol . No thanks. For me. Its aleve. Jon President Trump holding a briefing this hour on what he calls a tremendous problem, the Opioid Epidemic, according to the centers for Disease Control and prevention, more people died from heroin overdoses than gun violence in 2015 in this country. Public Health Officials call it the worst drug crisis in american history. But as i mentioned before the meeting got underway. President trump issued a harsh warning to north korea. Laura ingle is live in bridgewater, new jersey, not far from President Trumps golf club where he is staying right now. Laura . Hi, jon. While speaking with his arms crossed and in a very stern tone of voice, President Trump spoke right to the people in the room about this very pressing issue, here, take a listen. North korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening beyond a normal statement. And as i said, they will be met with fire, fury and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. And a reporter teed up that question for the president as he was about to speak about the Opioid Crisis, having that briefing today. All of this took place in a little side room in his in the Gulf Coast Club room. So were waiting to hear more on that as we get the reporters coming out of that room, jon. Jon what about the Opioid Crisis . What did the president have to say about that . Yeah. We have been going through this read out. I have been going through it. Of course, there was a lot going on today. This was on the president s schedule. Very important subject matter to him and members of his cabinet. The president talking about what he called the tremendous problem of the Opioid Crisis saying nobody is safe from this epidemic that threatens young, old, rich, poor, rural and urban. The first lady, the president sson and his new chief of staff general kelly on hand for todays briefing. You know, jon, we can only assume that we will see more tweets coming out after todays meeting. The president has been very active over the last 24 hours on his working vacation on twitter. He had 13 yesterday. 8 so far today. When the news of north korea broke he did tweet about some other things. But we are expecting to see more from him today. Back to you. Laura ingle. Laura, thank you. We will be right back with a look how the u. S. Led the way to try to make the world a better place and it happened on this day in history. Thats ahead. When you have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, the unpredictability of a flare may weigh on your mind. Thinking about what to avoid, where to go, and how to work around your uc. Thats how i thought it had to be. But then i talked to my doctor about humira, and learned humira can help get and keep uc under control. When certain medications havent worked well enough. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Raise your expectations and ask your gastroenterologist if humira may be right for you. With humira, control is possible. Announcer no one loves a road trip like your furry sidekick so when your side glass gets damaged. [dog barks] trust Safelite Autoglass to fix it fast. Its easy just bring it to us, or let us come to you, and well get you back on the road woman thank you so much. Safelite tech my pleasure. Announcer cause we care about you. And your copilot. [dog barks] safelite repair, safelite replace. Jon planning a book it last minute trip to see the Solar Eclipse . Some traffic sites are reporting places along the path of totality have seen a big jump in prices with flights and hotels. According to one side, the average flight to nashville for the week and will set you back about 700, 300 more than the average for the time of year. Of course, if you can spare that kind of cash, pull up a seat, and Shepard Smith will have a special coverage on august 20th, when it would streaming throughout the day. On this day in 1945, the United States became the first nation to officially join the United Nations. President truman signed the charter along with the secretary of state, jane burns. It was the same day the u. S. Dropped a second atomic bomb gimmick bomb on japan. Dozens of nation created the u. N. To try to prevent future wars and defend human rights. Today, u. N. Peacekeepers put their lives on the line in hot spots around the world after america joined a global push for peace, 72 years ago today. I am jon scott and for Shepard Smith. The dow hit a new high today, but it is off just a little bit. Your world with neil cavuto is next. Trish regan in four neil cavuto. Here is trish. Trish did north korea up the ante with a Nuclear Showdown . Im trish regan in four neil cavuto. The Washington Post said they will have a miniature warhead can fit inside a missile. They may have more bombs. The president warning north korea, any new threat will be met with quotes, fire and fury, like the world has never seen. Lucas tomlinson at the pentagon with the latest. Hello, lucas. Hello, trish regan. Detailing from the Washington Post, the pentagon is not commenting. The results are pretty startling. North korea h