he says special counsel jack smith has informed him he s now the target of a wide-ranging january 6th investigation. did trump know he lost the election and still sent supporters to the capitol that day? was he involved in attempts leading up to january 6th to overturn an election he knew he lost? tonight, trump confirming the letter saying such a letter, quote, almost always means an arrest and indictment. jonathan karl standing by with late reporting, when this could all happen. also tonight the major news involving a u.s. army soldier now being detakened in north korea. the pentagon tonight confirming to abc news the soldier willingly crossed the dmz on his own. our chief foreign correspondent ian pannell reporting. here in the u.s., the deadly heat and now all-time records being set from phoenix to elliel paso to miami. what the water temperatures are and why they re concerning. this is seen across europe.
2020 presidential election. special counsel jack smith notified the former president late sunday that he is a target of the wide-ranging investigation into the events leading up to the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol. trump himself revealed the news today in a statement saying he had received a letter from prosecutors stating that i am a target of the january 6th grand jury investigation, which almost always means an arrest and indictment. he added, horrifying news for our country. such a target letter is a clear indication an indictment is likely to come soon, possibly within days. sources tell abc news trump s aides and attorneys spent the day calling around to see if anyone else had received a target letter. we can t find anyone, one of those sources tells us. trump said the prosecutors gave him until thursday to testify before the grand jury. sources close to the former president say he is unlikely to accept the offer. no word from smith himself.
calling around to see if anyone else has been informed they are a target too. so far, it appears trump is the only one, at least known publicly at this point. the special counsel s investigation apparently going far beyond the events of january 6th that day to efforts in multiple states to allegedly put up alternate electors in states trump lost to biden to try to overturn the election and give the white house back to trump. investigators have questioned aides including jared kushner, all of them close to former president trump to establish his state of mind, whether he knew he lost the election but still took part in efforts to illegally overturn the election anyway so tonight if the former president himself suggests an arrest and indictment is coming, how soon could this all play out? abc s chief washington correspondent jonathan karl leading us off tonight. reporter: donald trump is now on the verge of indictment on the most serious allegations he, or any other american president,
she just wants her son home. david. david: ian pannell reporting for us tonight, thank you, as always. here in the u.s. tonight, the deadly and now record-shattering heat wave and this note tonight, the earth s 15 hottest days on record have all been recorded this month alone and it s only july 17th. it s not just the u.s., across europe too, searing triple-digit temperatures in several countries, the raging wildfires across greece, evidence of a changing climate and here at home tonight, 100 million americans under heat alerts again this evening. ginger zee is standing by and abc s mola lenghi in phoenix where they just shattered an extraordinary record there and where first responders are answering heat emergencies around the clock. reporter: tonight, phoenix, arizona, has broken a record that stood for nearly 50 years. for 19 straight days, real temperatures hitting 110 degrees or more, and it s not over. every day in our 7-day forecast is at 110 plus. in fact, most days are
when he sent thousands of his enraged supporters to the capitol? we re gonna walk down to the capitol, because you ll never take back our country with weakness. you have to show strength, and you have to be strong. reporter: the special counsel recently spoke to several of those closest to trump, including son-in-law jared kushner and top aides, hope hicks and johnny mcentee, seeking to establish whether trump knew he had lost the election but illegally tried to overturn it anyway, ultimately sending that mob to capitol hill. david: so let s bring in jon karl tonight. you reported the former president s team has been calling around to see if anyone else received a letter from the special counsel saying they re a target too. you reported there so far it appears only the former president has. we know that could change. and, jon, take us inside the trump camp tonight. how is the former president responding to this news that he could soon be arrested, he could soon be indicted again?