pacific. but the system cannot be counted on to be 100% accurate. while this is just one intelligence assessment, fear is north korea is on track to solve the technical challenges sooner rather than later. >> the north koreans, if they proceed on their nuclear program, will figure out how to miniaturize the nuclear device. >> reporter: tonight north korea threatened guam while some lawmakers are slamming the president's comments. dianne feinstein recommending diplomacy. republican john mccain said he can't think of any other president who would have used that kind of rhetoric. >> whether president trump is prepared to back up his vow to meet with fire and fury, the statement reflects the narrow and risky options the united states has to try and halt north korea's nuclear advances. our national correspondent peter alexander takes a closer look. >> reporter: locked in an escalating standoff in a regime and its erratic dictator. tonight president trump is facing the first foreign policy showdown of his young administration. >> i think the united states has to be very careful in describin

, baltimore. >>> it is scorching in the pacific northwest. third straight day of triple digit temperatures, highs there reaching 20 to 30 degrees above average. not helping matters, smoke from fires in british columbia polluting the air over washington state and oregon. even animals at the oregon zoo are struggling to beat the heat. 14 million people are under heat advisories or excessive heat warnings through tomorrow. >>> tonight officials in minneapolis say they found a second body in the rubble after a natural gas explosion ripped through a historic academy during summer school. two employees, a receptionist and a janitor, were killed, several others were injured. authorities are still working to pinpoint what triggered the blast. >>> tonight there's news that every parent or grandparent of a teenaged girl will need to hear. word of an alarming rise in girls taking their own lives, suffering from depression and often not seeking the help they need. federal health officials are now shining a light on the warning signs you should be on the lookout for. we get details from nb

island of hokkaido, a 14-minute journey into the pacific ocean. kim jong-un's provocation prompting an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council. >> i think enough is enough. >> reporter: japan's prime minister calling it an unprecedented threat. and a rebuke from president trump, who said, all options are on the table. but when pressed how the u.s. would respo respond -- but the u.s. has been preparing for an even bigger danger than a missile test. we're now heading to a secure bunker. it's carved right into the heart of a mountain outside seoul. if north korea ever were to attack, u.s. and south korean forces could continue to operate from here. a place of last resort. >> we've got to be able to command and control on the peninsula. >> reporter: colonel chad carroll giving us rare access to what is effectively the doom's day bunker commanders would use to survive an assault and launch a counteroffensive. a lot of people work here? >> enough to get the job done. >> reporter: u.s. and south korean war planners expect the north would use chemical weapons, so they may have to sta

the south pacific 73 years ago. it's here during world war ii that strombo, a marine, came across the body of a dead japanese soldier, tucked inside his uniform near his heart calligraphy. the kind of souvenir often discovered on the battlefield, but strombo struggled to take this one. >> because i knew it meant so much to him. >> reporter: but he realized if he didn't, so >> and i promised him at that time i would return the flag some day to the family. >> reporter: now 93 recently reached out to a nonprofit that helps americans return fallen soldiers. this one belonged to sue, signed by 180 members of his village, including seven two are still alive today. one of them, his 89-year-old brother. he said the family never received yasua's remains, but today they got his flag. strombo traveled 10,000 miles to fulfill his promise in person. >> i never did think i owned the flag, it was always theirs. >> reporter: the flag fills a deep void for this entire village, including his sisters, in an emotional moment 73 years ago, now blooming in peace, and joe fryer, nbc news. >>> we appreciate