' comments followed a korea, that it's preparing military plans to strike the american pacific island of guam. it's a sovereign u.s. territory, the size of chicago, home to 160,000 u.s. citizens and much closer to north korea than to the u.s. mainland. the threat was unusualel specific, mentioning the b one bombers stationed there at andersen air force base. the island's governor dismissed north korea's threat. >> there is no threat to our island. >> reporter: not everyone is convinced. >> it is scary. >> reporter: anxiety too in hawaii. >> if a ballistic missile was launched from north korea, it could reach this state in less than 20e minutes. officials here in ohio say they are working onnen aemergency plan. they say the threat is real, but the risk is low. >> reporter: it's a crisis growing fast. in just five weeks north korea ha missiles that u.s. officials now believe could reach as far as chicago. >> this is the highest tension i've ever seen in the korean peninsula. it's a very grave situation, close to being a crisis. >> reporter: well, here in seoul, south korea's president is t

coast missile defense tests have successfully shot down a missile over the pacific. but the system cannot be counted on to be 100% accurate. while this is just one intelligence assessment, the 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 nuclear device which they have shown that they know how to detonate, miniaturize it and put it on top of an icbm. >> reporter: tonight north korea threatened guam. some are slamming the president's comments, recommending diplomacy. republican john mccain saying he can't think of any other president who would have used that kind of rhetoric. >> andrea, whether president trump is prepared to back up his vow to meet north korean threats with fire and fury, the statement certainly reflects the narrow and risky options. the united states has to try and hamt north korea's nuclear advances. our national correspondent, peter alexander, takes a closer look. >> reporter: locked in an escalating standoff and the erratic dictat

. >>> 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 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 nbc's rehema ellis. >> reporter: 15

japanese 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 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. it's a place of last resort. >> we've got to be able to command and control on the korean 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

a deadly season at sea, two navy destroyers involved in collisions in the pacific. >> there convicti coincidences here. we don't have enough time or resources. >> next month, congress will hold a public hearing to determine if some of these accidents are related and whether or not they stem from budget cuts. hans nichols, nbc news, washington. >>> in lon todon, police are trying to determine whether an attack outside of buckingham palace ways carried out by a terrorist. it happened last night and kristin dahlgren is in london and has details. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. tonight, people here in london are being urged to be alert yet not alarmed as police investigate an act of terror. metropolitan police say on friday night a man drove a car directly at a police van. when officers confronted him, they say he reached for a four-foot sword, repeatedly allah akbar. no members of the royal family were in the palace at the time and many tourists gathered outside were not injured. the attack came the same night a soldier was attacked in brussels. isis has claimed respon

you, kristen. >>> the navy says it's suspending search recovery efforts in the pacific to find nine missing sailors. divers will continue to search the flooded compartments inside the ship itself. the body of a tenth sailor has been recovered, all ten have now been publicly identified. >>> now to a hostage drama that played out for hours today in charleston. authorities say it starts when a fired dishwasher shot and killed a chef in a crowded restaurant filled with tourists. he locked the door to the restaurant and told diners to get down on the floor. all but one managed to run out another exit. after a three-hour negotiation, the suspect was shot and wounded by police, and the lone hostage was freed. >>> a massachusetts mom has come forward to claim one of the largest jackpots in american history. one ticket worth a whopping $758 million. nbc's rehema ellis has the lucky winner and what she plans to do now. >> reporter: marv is couldn't believe her own eyes when she checked her powerball ticket after leaving work. >> i go, hey, i have that number, i have that. i have that. he goes

wreckage of a navy destroyer. a growing investigation in the pacific. >>> chicken health warning. a spike in people getting sick as more and more families invest in a backyard trend. >>> preventing a sudden killer, the leading cause of death for people over age 40. for the first time doctors say they may be able to predict who's at risk and stop it before it strikes. >>> and to serve and protect, how a policeman doing double duty as the ice cream man is inspiring america. begins right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. and thank you for joining us tonight. after enduring one of the roughest patches of his presidency last week over the violence in charlottesville, president trump is off to a busy start this week rallying supporters at an event in arizona this evening on the heels of last night's primetime speech in which he announced an open-ended american commitment leaving a lot of unanswered questions. meantime, tensions are high in phoenix right now where protesters are also massing for tonight

pacific. ten american sailors missing. >>> war plan. president trump addresses the nation on america's mission in afghanistan. are more troops headed into harm's way? >>> courthouse ambush. a gunman opens fire on a judge. the judge firing back and survives. tonight, the suspect's connection to a case that made national headlines. >>> and under pressure. doctors sound the alarm about a silent kids. >>> "nightly news" begins right now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening, everyone. thanks for being with us. things were looking up all across america today as the united states found itself in a celestial sweet spot, a front row seat for a total solar eclipse that swept its shadow from oregon to south carolina in just 90 minutes. there were cheers and some tears of joy as day turned to twilight in its direct path and eclipsed pilgrims who traveled from far and wide to experience the moment from just the right places even in the sky aboard a special eclipse flight were rewarded for their efforts. our team w

pacific, more than 72 years after the japanese torpedoed her in the final days of world war ii. >>> and dance dreams. how one summer camp is making a difference for hundreds of kids with lessones that go far beyond the stage. "nightly news" begins now. headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with jose diaz belart. >> good evening, kate snow is off tonight. an american icon has died. jerry lewis passed away in las vegas today at the age of 91. he was a beloved star of the screen and stage but may best be remembered for those annual telethons to raise money for the muscular dystrophy association. lewis was passionate about that cause and the children he helped who called themselves jerry's kids. tonight, the mda said his decades of devotion can be summed up in a motto that lewis would often quote. "i shall pass through this world but once. any good, therefore, that i can do or any kindness that i can show to any human being, let me do it now. let me not defer nor neglect it, for i shall not pass this way again." tonight tributes are pouring in across the country. our

into the south pacific, according to officials. this comes after north korea tested two of its own icbms last month including one on friday which analysts say could strike a wider range of the u.s. mainland. >>> now to an nbc news exclusive, revealing president trump's growing dissatisfaction with america's military strategy in afghanistan. just today two u.s. killed when their nato convoy came under attack reportedly by a suicide bomber. the taliban have claimed responsibility. tomorrow the national security council is scheduled to meet and discuss changing the u.s. strategy in afghanistan. but the last time they met, things got very heated. the president blasting his own advisers. nbc news chief white house correspondent hallie jackson has an inside look at what happened in that room. >> reporter: tonight an exclusive look behind the closed doors of the situation room at an increasingly frustrated president, agitated with his military on afghanistan, even as he delays a decision on a new strategy in a fight his top generals describe as a stalemate. senior administration officials

. a vow made in 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 was a flag covered in 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, someone else might. >> and i promised him at that time i would return the flag some day to the family. >> reporter: now 93 years old, strombo recently reached out to a society that helps veterans return japanese flags to the families of fallen soldiers. they learned this one belonged to yasua, signed by 180 members of his village, including seven who 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, inclu

the open pacific up close with a beast. this gray whale soaked up the sun in dana point harbor this week. out on a whale watching tour, he put his drone to work catching a woman who got a tad frenzy's. >> she dived into the water and swam over to this whale. everybody was stunned and then a whole bunch of people helped out and actually were able to get the whale out of the harbor. that's not something i would normally recommend doing. >> you're good. >> reporter: the orange county sheriff's department pt encounter, shooing this young whale out to sea. but his travels were just beginning. the whale took a couple more detours, first laguna beach and then newport beach. this time of year, gray whales have usually made the trek to their summer home in the bering sea. whether he was simply lost, it's not known. wildlife officials are monitoring his whereabouts and health saying there's no cause for harm. a handful of weepers who missed seeing a whale spouting grace and thanks for showing the way. ron mott, nbc news. >>> and that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. tomorrow on "nightl

. sharing the pacific up close and personal with a friendly beast thanks to an apparent wrong turn. he soaked up the sun in dana point harbor this week. captain put his drone to work. >> this lady on the front just dives into the water and swims over to this whale. everybody is kind of stunned and then a whole bunch of people kind of helped out and they were actually able to get the whale out of the harbor. it's not something i would normally recommend doing. >> reporter: the orange county sheriff's department also captured the stunning encounter as good samaritans tries to shoo the young whale out to sea. but the whale took a couple more detours, first laguna beach and then newport beach. this time of year, gray whales have usually made the 6,000 mile trek from their winter homes near baja to the bering sea. whether this whale was simply lost isn't immediately known. wildlife officials are monitoring its whereabouts and health saying there's no cause for concern. finders keepers it's not though probably a handful of weepers perhaps thanks for showing the way. ron mott, nbc news. >