Slugger inspiring america. Nightly news begins right now. Announcer this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. Good evening. Two infamous dictators and both in the cross hairs of President Trump tonight raising the potential of military responses after acts that are drawing broad concern and condemnation. The first, syrias leader assad. President trump horrified by the deadly gas attack on civilians saying it crosses many lanes and officers the warning there may be a new u. S. Approach to syria. The President Trumping up heat on north Koreas Kim Jong un ahead of a critical meeting tomorrow. As we showed you during the broadcast from south corkorea, America Armed forces are at a height of readiness with kims threats. We have two reports starting with the Syrian Crisis and nbcs richard engel. Reporter the victims are still struggling to breathe. Quivering uncontrollably. Doctors say its consistent with expo exposure to a nerve agent like gas. President trump said the images of the victims made a deep impression on him. A chemical attack that was so horrific in syria against innocent people including women, small children and even beautiful little babies, their deaths was an a front to humanity. These acts by the regime cannot be to tolerat tolerated. Reporter two days ago administration seemed willing to accommodate assad. My attitude toward syria and assad changed very much. Reporter and blaming president obama for not taking action after drawing a red line on chemical weapons changed, too. I have responsibility and i will have that responsibility and carry it very proudly. Reporter confronting assad means challenging his biggest backer, russia. Which offered today a very different explanation for the victims saying assads troops bombed a terrorist chemical weapons depot but video obtained by nbc news of what witnesses say is the impact site shows a crater in an open road, no depot nearby. Nikki haley made an emotional address. Look at those pictures. How many more children have to die before russia cares . Reporter so will the president respond with military action . He left open that possibility. Im not saying im doing anything one way or the other. Reporter but there are risks like syrian air defenses and possible russian resistance. President trump who came to office with a promise of America First now seems like he wants to be more involved in world affairs. Hes been called an isolati isolationest, he didnt sound like one today. Lester . Richard ingle in the london newsroom. Thank you. The Global Crisis the president addressed. North korea firing yet another Ballistic Missile into the sea of japan. Containing kim jong uns program will be front and center as President Trump welcomes china as his florida estate. Peter alexander has details. I will do whatever i have to do. Reporter tonight President Trump in a showdown with north korea and its erratic dictator kim jong un. We have a big problem. We have somebody that is not doing the right thing, and thats going to be my responsibility. Reporter that responsibility heightened by another north Korean Missile test 24 hours ago with the senior white house official telling nbc news all options are on the table. But dealing with the rogue nations threat falls on china. The president this week warning if the chinese decide to help, that will be very good for china and if they dont, it wont be good for anyone. China is the only country in the world that has predominant material influence on north korea in trade, energy, and in coal. If china pulls the plug, north korea has no other option. Reporter the urgent issue certain to dominant tomorrows highstakes summit with the first facetoface meeting with competing agendas. This is a time when the United States actually defines its relationship with beijing, maybe not only for coming decades but for longer than that. Reporter one tool the president is likely to lean into with china, trade, pun punk waiting a huge campaign. We cant allow china to rape the country. Reporter President Trump says they are manipulating. The historic meeting after renewed scrutiny of mr. Trumps personal ties to china including a Chinese Government owned bank and another lender on a nearly billion dollar trump mortgage. The president denies any conflicts of interest because his sons now run the family business. Tonight, there are also questions about ivanka trumps signature line, much of it made in china with dozens of shipments arriving since the election, three in just the last month. For her part, ms. Trump says shes no longer involved with her company. Its in a trust run by her brotherinlaw and sisterinlaw, lester . Peter alexander, thanks. To the sudden power shift at the National Security counsel. The president s top aid steve bannon is losing his seat at the table weeks after his appointment sparked surprise and criticism as President Trump kicked up dust of his own without any evidence saying susan rice may have committed a crime. Nbcs Hallie Jackson has it all covered. Thank you very much. Reporter the president s inner circle today in a single file line with the notable exception. Chief strategist steve bannon at every other press conference so far. A source familiar says bannon was working on health care but the no show came hours after he was ousted from the National Security counsel. Steve bannon raised eyebrows at first because you dont put political people on the security committee. Too soon to tell if hes losing influence. Reporter the Vice President insisting its not a demotion. This is just a Natural Evolution to ensure the National Security counsel is organized in a way that best serves the president. Reporter the move, winning bipartisan support. Id be very pleased that hes not on the National Security counsel. My hope is that he would have no role in government at all. Reporter thats not happening. While bannon is is not on the nsc anymore, he can attend meetings and has one of the highest security clearances in the west wing. Bannon was put on the committee as a check against michael flynn, the dismissed National Security advisor. His role to break down the obama era structure inside that National Security team led at the time by susan rice. Shes in the president s cross hairs now as he accuses rice with no evidence of committing a crime by requesting the names of people connected by the trump team be unmasked. There is simply nothing wrong, illegal about doing that. What would be wrong and illegal is if she took that name and then, you know, emailed it to the press. I leaked nothing to nobody. Reporter the president , yet again, making an unsubstantiated surveillance claim telling the New York Times its quote one of the big stories of our time. President trump says he will explain his claim at the right time, susan rice declined to comment on what her spokesperson is calling allu ludicrous charge, lester. Tonight there are tornado warnings firing up across the south. Homes demolishes as storms continue to threaten millions of americans. In a moment al roker will be here but first, from Kerry Sanders on the ground in the storm zone. Reporter a suspected tornado today in westin, georgia, twisted metal scattered across fields, this home collapsed and winds ripping this building apart. No serious injuries reported but high anxiety. We gathered down here, it was really bad because the top on the home house started peeling off, so we knew it was a very serious storm. Reporter another possible tornado this afternoon in henry county, alabama. It got calm and the trees started spinning and the rain started pouring. Reporter across the south today, damaging hail, lightning strikes igniting several house fires. And wide spread flooding. Several feet deep on these streets in colombia, south carolina. In some areas more than two inches of rain an hour. In augusta, georgia, weather suspending par three three at the masters for the first time in 53 years. Travel across the country impacted with more than 500 flights out of atlanta cancelled. A large extremely dangerous and potentially deadly tornado. Reporter in total, at least 61 Million People under threat today and into the evening. Its all part of the same weather system that produced this tornado in tiny goodman, missouri on tuesday. Today, they are starting to clean up while the region braces for another dangerous night. Tonight, as we look live here in rural georgia, those inside here when the tornado hit say they are just happy to have escaped what were some heartpounding moments adding in todays tornados, its been a busy season so far, more than 350 twisters this year. Lester . Okay. Kerry sanders, thanks. Al roker is tracking the storms for us. Where is the danger moving forward. Lester, the southeast. Were watching this. 20 Million People under a tornado watch and currently not just a major risk but a high risk. The greatest threat for storms and tornados down through central and southern georgia into central south carolina. As this moves east. These tornados could be rain wrapped. It will be dark. You wont be able to see them. That will be the danger. The strong storms move into the northeast, mid Atlantic States and new england bringing heavy flooding. In fact, were talking about 47 million under a flood threat this evening on into tomorrow. Lester . Al roker, thanks, al. To the growing backlash against fox news star bill oreilly. Nearly three dozen advertisers aid bbandoned his show after the network paid out millions to settle Sexual Harassment claims. Ann thompson has more. The factor begins now. Reporter ased a ver t advertisers continue to flee, accusations the fox news star actually harassed female colleagues. Coming to his side, president donald trump. In an interview with the New York Times, trump calling oreilly a good person. Oreilly and fox news settled claims from five women for 13 million according to the times but trump said, i think he shouldnt have settled adding i dont think bill did anything wrong. That defensive oreilly who trump knows well infuriated attorney lisa bloom. Ive been flooded by calls from fox news women all week. Reporter now representing wendy walsh, a former fox contributor who claims oreilly harassed her. I simply said im sorry, i cant do that. Reporter trump is accused of unwanted Sexual Misconduct in the past and denied it. His comments to an actress during his acceaccess hollywood taping. A statement earlier this week his fame made him vulnerable and he settled to protect his children. A vonlt secontroversy in the headlines, what president claimed as National Sexual assault and prevention month. Ann thompson, nbc news, new york. Amazon shoppers listen up, why the Online Shopping giant is refunding 70 million to parents and how you might be able to get your share of it. Also, bubbling controversy, how pepsi also, bubbling controversy, how pepsi de p breath phone ringing theyll call back. No one knows your ford better than ford and ford service. Right now, during the big tire event, get a 140 rebate by mail, on four select tires. Anyone ever have occasional y constipation,diarrhea, gas or bloating . She does. She does. Help defend against those digestive issues. 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Suddenly, up popped an option for the child to buy more virtual pets, more gold coins or stars but for real money. Anywhere from 99 cents to 99. The kids, of course, quickly agreed. So we allege that parents were being hit with these charges, many of which were largedollar charges and large numbers of consumers complained. I was pretty astonished. I was quite ill to my stomach. Reporter julie panicked after then 8yearold hanna spent 10,000 buying virtual food for a virtual pet online. Putting the family trip to yellowstone in jeopardy. We thought we were going to have to change our vacation plans or cancel our vacation plans that we had worked on for months and months of planning. Reporter thankfully, amazon refunded the 10,000. Now its reaching out to tens of thousands of customers refunding 70 million back to their credit cards. Its also requiring passwords for purchases made in kids games and encouraging parents to go to the app store and settings and in App Purchases to set passwords or pin codes. The take away, paying customers do have to consent before their credit card is charged. Tom costello, in,nbc news, washington. Were back in a moment with a fighter were back in a moment with a fighter weve done well in life, were back in a moment with a fighter with help from our advisor, we made it through many market swings. Sure we could travel, take it easy. But weve never been the type to just sit back. Not when weve got so much more to give when you have the right Financial Advisor, life can be brilliant. Ameriprise on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. Your Insurance Company raises your rates. Maybe you shouldve done more research on them. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Liberty Mutual Insurance. 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The 2. 5minute add released tuesday on youtube, features model and tv reality star Kendall Jenner happily joining a group of young protesters. It never specifically references the black lives Matter Movement but many critics noted the spark contrast between the image of genre handing a soft drink to an officer and pictures like this one of riot police detaining a woman in baton rouge last summer. This ad trivializes the issues and the gravity of why we got into the street in the first place. Reporter on social media, the video quickly drew anger and ridicule. Martin luther king juniors tar tweeted if only her father had known about the power of pepsi. Ive never seen this ad get negative response so quickly and i think pepsi will reevaluate. Reporter today pepsi yanked the ad showing a global message of unity, peace and understanding, clearly, we missed the mark and we apologize. Decades ago, this iconic coke commercial during the Flower Power Movement struck the right tone at the right time. As pepsi found out, times have changed. Gabe gutierrez, nbc news, miami. When we come back here tonight, the baseball super star using his lifes other passion to connect with kids. Inspiring america is next. Announcer nbc nightly news is brought to you by pacific life, helping generations of families achieve like a human fingerprint, no two whale flukes are the same. Because your needs are unique, pacific life has been delivering flexible retirement and Life Insurance solutions for more than 145 years. Ask a Financial Advisor how you can Tailor Solutions from pacific life to help you reach your financial goals. All umm. Ed. You wouldnt want your painter to quit part way, i think you missed a spot. So when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day . Aleve, live whole not part. You want this color over the whole house . May not always be clear. But at t. Rowe price, we can help guide your retirement savings. So wherever your Retirement Journey takes you, we can help you reach your goals. Call us or your advisor t. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. As after a dvt blood clot,ital i sure had a lot to think about. What about the people i care about . Including this little girl. And what if this happened again . I was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me . So i asked my doctor. And he recommended eliquis. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. Yes, eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. Eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Both made me turn around my thinking. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. Plus had less major bleeding. Both made eliquis the right treatment for me. Ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you. Finally tonight with baseball season in full swing a story about a man of many talents, not only does he have four world series championships to his name, hes also a Latin Grammy Nominated recording artist and now using his love of music to go to bat for school kids. Nbcs rehema ellis has more in our inspiring america report. Hey, kids. Reporter hes best known as a champion baseball player but these kids are cheering for the other side of bernie williams. Reporter what came first . Your love of baseball or your love of music . They both came around the same time in my life. Reporter the former new york yankee and Latin Grammy Nominated guitarest grew up playing baseball and attending a performing arts school. Hes now joined another team called turn around arts, that gives students something his mother made sure he had. She said, well, you have to be a wellrounded individual. In order for you to do that, you need to be exposed to arts, music, and sports. Reporter funded through a grant from the kennedy center, the Program Allows schools to mix the arts and into all academic subjects. Drawing and history and its working in 68 schools nationwide with turn around arts programs, math scores are up by more than 22 . Reading by more than 12 . When you bring the arts into school, schools go from grade of color, parents become more engaged and attendance starts to go up. Reporter this year, joshua went from chronically tardy to honor roll. You have to be good to be in band or you cant come practice. Reporter a lot of them will have talent to become musicians and artists but the ones that dont got experience to lead them into whatever they decide to do. Reporter from center field to classroom, now hitting home runs with kids. Rehema ellis, nbc news, bridge port, connecticut. Thats going to do it for us on a wednesday night. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, thank you for allegedly got pregnant with mel bs baby. The secret affair with a 300,000 payoff. Extra, extra extra, extra the other woman in mel bs ugly divorce revealed. How mel b found out her 23 nanny was carrying Stephen Belafontes love child. The were new details on the scandalous live triangle. Kendall jenner under fire. Attacked over her controversial new pepsi commercial. Ivanka trump versus scarlett johansson. Date night for jen and justin. What jen thinks of his six pack poster, and why she is telling renee qaa list is sas new alist interview with reached gere. His latest role norman. Newly mini mama june. The dating scene, whats going on . Jason