tonight, the president's battles. increasing the pressure on north korea to end its nuclear program. the secretary of state turns up the heat. while here at home, president trump takes aim at a sports super star. the immigration fight escalates as nearly 600 children remain separated from their parents. the process of reuniting them gets new scrutiny> revealing new report about the school shooting suspect in parkland, florida, and what may have driven him to kill. as t economy grows, factories can't hire workers fast enough. lsome are using robots to f in the gaps. what happens when t economy falters? s>> and taking care of aummer tradition. we'll visit a place that keeps the country's carousals turning.

evening.d jose is off tonight. i'm kristen welker. we begin with a political split screen. president trump taking to twitter to wage battles with foes old and new. his most recent with nba superstar lebron james. after james aused him of being divisive. and as the president engages in that backd forth, his secretary of state is engaged in a diplomatic challenge with far-re h-reaching conseqnces. the administration's efforts to take the president's negotiations with north korea to the we begin with the president's two tracks tonight, first, north korea. here's white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: after that handshake made history, just eight ag weeks o, new arm twisting from secretary of state mike pompeo. feat a crence in singapore, saturday. over sh, under cutting sanctions on north korean's >> we have seen

reports that russia is allowin ventures with north korea firms and granting new permits to guest workers. >> reporter: those kind of are a economic help for north korea, specifically banned by the international community. >> any violation that detracts from the world's goal of finally,ully denuclearizing north korea would be something that america would take very seriously. >> reporter: despitew eason for mistrust, pompeo reached out to his north korean counterpart with a smile. his warning was delivered, but so was a letter from president trump to kim jong-un, handed over by an american ambassador to north korea's foreign minister. the president is focud, at least publicly, on an improved relationship. >> what i did with north korea was eat. i got along great with chairman kim. reporter: and positive steps, like north korea returning some remains of fallen americans, 65 years r af fighting there. but the u.s. is also ki

tr worrisome evidence that north korea is still working on its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. activities pompeo declined to talk about in an open senate hearing. >> is north korea continuing to pursue submarine launched ballistic missiles? >> i can't answer that for you here in this- you cannot answer that? >> no, senator. >> reporter: and after pompeo lef conference, north korea's foreign minister complained publicly about u.s. insistence that allnc ons remain in place until there's real proof that north korea has denuclearized. north korea says it wants to be rewarded along the way with relief, as it makes positive steps. that's an impasse. kristen. >> kelly o'donnell, live for us in bedminster, tonight, thank you. for that report, kelly. president trump also had his eye on the midterms tonight. he left his working vacation in bedminster, new jersey, for ohio, where he's minutes away from addressing voters, af tuesday's special election in a key congressional

district. a and it com mr. trump is taking on one of the state's native sons, n basketball i lebron james. nbc's geoff bennett. >> reporter: it's the latest skirmish in the ongoing friday night, trump tweeting, lebron james was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, don lemon. he madeebron look smart, which isn't easy to do. earlier this week on cnn, james slammed the president. >> what i noticed over the last few months, that he's kind of used sport to kind of device us. talk sparking a ump torrent of tweets from top athletes in support of james. en the first lady weighing in. saying in a statement, it looks like lebron ngjames is workio do good things on behalf of our nex generation. this week, james opened a new public school for underprivileged children in his ohio hometown. >> kids just want to know if we care about them. >> reporter: president trump ended his twitter insult with "i like mike."

an apparent reference to the ongoing debate over whether james or nba legend mic el jordan is the league's greatest player. jordan telling nbc news i support l.j. he's doing an amazing job for his community. and tonight president trump is here in ohio of all ples. lebron james' home state. this rally comes as the gop scrambles to what had been a reliable congressional seat, all ahead of a must-win special >> geoff bennett, thank you. now to a developing story in portland, oregon, w where a rightg rally has drawn boisterous counterprotest amid a prhuge police ence. the group, patriot at prayer, gred just ahead of the one-year anniversary of that ni controversial the right rally in charlottesville, virginia, where one person was kill today's counterprotesters shouted, "nazis go home" as police in riot gear separated the two groups. extreme heat is returning to the western part of the

country tonight. complicating theight against those deadly wildfires. temperatures are expected to reach the high 90s in northern california tomorrow. the region will heat up even more early neweek, with temperatures in the iple digits. las vegas could get up to 112 degrees. northern california isn't alone in itsff ing from the hot weather. a heat wave is also sweeping through creating extreme conditions. our matt bradley has that story from portugal. >> reporter: in a tiny portuguell viage, the fire alarm is low tech. emergency professionals are more like volunteers. but the fear of forest fires is as high as theng soari temperatures. this region was ravaged by fires that killed more than 60la year's fires were terrifying. they were all around us, said adalin. meteorologists predict spo portugal and spain could see 118 grees, the hottest ever

recorded in europe. sparking wildfires in the arctic circle. even melding so much snow on sweden's hight peak, it's no longer the highest. catherine and jen shoemaker are visiting lisbon fm boston. >> our original plan was to walk around, see all the sights. now with this heat, we're probably going to be in and out of places that have air conditioning. >> reporter: they say they don't want you to drink alchen it's really hot. >> well, probably not. >> we can't take all of the advice. >> reporter: even caution takes a vacation. you know, kristen, we didn't see those european-wide record-breaking temperatures today, but here in lisbon, they broke their ownco . it was more than 111 degrees fahrenheit. that's the hottest been eve recorded here. and i got to tell you, kristen, it's eltering. we still might see those european-wide temperatures broken tomorrow or the day after. kristen. >> all right, we know gyou'll be watch closely. matt bradley, thank you. tonight, a federal dge is callinghe trump administration's

efforts to reunify migrant children irseparated from t parents unacceptable. this comes as the president's zero tolerance policy faces new scrutiny. nbc's maya rodriguez ne reports on o family's struggle. >> reporter: a bittersweet good-bye rnt orlando's inteional airport. 39-year-old alejandro juarez leaving behin her family as she is deported back to mexico on friday. >> my mom is a good person and she's not a criminal. >> reporr: she first entered the country illegally 20 years ago. and had two daughters here after marrying a marine who served three tou duty in iraq. >> when you always said on the news that you loved veterans, u yoove our military that you're doing everything for the military h band is a veteran. he fought for this country three times. >> reporter: the cas is just one facet of the trump administration's zero tolerance immigration policy, which began in april. among those affected, children separated ts from their part the border. of the more than 2,500 separated,572 are

still waiting reunification with their parents. now, a federal judge is demanding accountability. judge dana sabra yesterday blasting the administration for not having a plan on how to reunify chiren in their custody, calling it unacceptable. adding, quote, the freality is that every parent who is not located, there will be a permanently phaned child. the administration defended the process this week. certainly, the president himself has stated he doesn't like the idea of family separation. i don't think anybody wees. lso don't like the idea of open borders. >> reporter: back in florida, a differentki nd of separation for the juarezes. as a mother headed back to a country where she no longer has family. leaving behin part of the family she created here. maya rodriguez, nbc news. one of the country's best-known college football macoaches ed side lined tonight, as ohio state university launches an investigation into how much head coach urban

meyer knew about allegations of domestic violence against a former assistant coach. now we're hearing new comments from both men. nbc's gadi schwartz ose details. >> reporter: it was a day of two simultaneous bombshells for buckeye nation. >> i've never hit her, i've never beat her, nothing. >> reporter: former assistant coach zach spitz saking out to espn about his ex-wife's allegations of domestic violence and these pictures released by her. >> anything that ppened to her body was all justefensive movements to remove myself fro the situation. >> reporter: at the same time friday, ohio state's famed head coach urban meyer acknowledgie ining he did know about the allegations, contrary to what he told this is what he said about the allegations a week ago. >> i was never told about anything. never anything came to light. i never had conversation about it. so i know nothingou it. >> reporter: but yesterday, an about-face. meyer tweeting, my intention was not tsa anything inaccurate or misleading. however, i was not

adequatelyre preto discuss these sensitive personnel issues. adding, i have always followedr reporting protocols and did i so regarding the zach smith incident in 2015. and after this, smith, who was fired by meyer, still coming to coach meyemeyer's defense. >> if he loses his job, it's flat wrong. this is the guy who fired me. it would be a crime. >> reporter: zachit was never charged with domestic violence. his ex-wife says she was pressured not to file charges by smith's family and by a lawyer with close ties to both ohio state university is now investigating and has placed coach meyer on paid administrative leave. >> gadi, thank you for that report. there are new insights tonight into the man charged with killing 17 students and staff a members a high school in park land, florida. to that rampage.d here's nbc's blake mccoy. >> reporter: tonight, an independent review finds broward county schools should have done more to help mass

shooter nicholas cruz in the two years before his rampage that killed 17 people at marjory stoneman douglas high schl is past february. a judge ordered the report partially redacted. but a mistake in that process means when you cut and paste the textin a new document, it becomes visible. among the key findings, cruz who had a learning disability, had been receiving support services his entire education. bufa series conduct violations in 2016 led to a recommended return to cross creek, a special needs school. cruzad just turned 18 and not wanting to leave marjory stoneman douglas opted out of further support services. his grades decled. d no longer on track to graduate, he left in.ebruary 20 and purchased an ar-15 rifle. he returning for first time a year later, the day of the shooting. the report finds broward county schools largely supportive cruz, but is critical on two points.

not letting cruz stay at marjory stoneman douglas, h school of choice, with special education support. also, not following through oncruz's request to return to the special needs school two months after droppingut of stoneman. cruz is currently awaing trial, facing the death penalty. blake mccoy, nbc news. >> as we track that tragedy, guns and gun control remain politically divisive and have many wondering how to reconcile the right to bear arms with public safety. well, one european nation may offer some insights. lucy cavnauf reports. >>eporter: each mass shooting in america echoes thousands of miles away in switzerland. with a population of just over 8 million, ythis tin nation has an outside love for its guns. >> we believe in the right to have your own rifle and be armed, free cin. >> reporter: after the u.s., switzerland has

one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world. one reason, a centuries old tradition of armed neutlity. and protection by its citizen militia army. all ieable-bodd men are required to serve. en they're giv weapon, trained to use it and can keep it service.e >> they go to the military and they sht with friends, with family. this is t tradition of switzerland. >> reporter: a tradition that spans all age groups. there are hundreds of usshooting ranges like this one all across switzerland. guns are a regular part ofwiss life. but mass shootings arera . there are plenty of rules. >> because it's so highly regulated, it gives us the freedom to bear arms, to shoot our arms. all this under highly regulated regime. >> reporter: so i can't just walk in here and say hey, i want to buy a gun? >> no, absolutely impossible. >> reporter: before buying any gun, you have to get a license from local

authorities. and undergo background checks that include screenings for violence, mental health and addiction sues. erin zimmerman, a former police officer in colorado who now lives in zuch, conversation the swiss model shows that guns and sensible gun control laws could go hand-in-hand. >> the relationship between the swiss and guns is more it's matter of national security. whereas in the united otates, it's more base a personal freedom. they have a firearm to protect their own personal liberties because they don'ttr t the government in some cases. >> reporter: yasmin is too young to remembe switzerland's last mass shooting in 2001 and thinks the swiss have a different relationship with their weapons. t>> you shouldn't just get to have it or lf protect yourse because in switzerland you're usually safe. >> reporter: like the u.s., a country that values its guns but sees gun ownership in starkly differenrm nbc news, zurich. a fascinating look at one country's

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high-tech start-up that aims to help solve the worker storage. reporter: metal finishing can't hire workers fast enough. demand for their seat parts has doubled over the last year and keeping up has been a challenge. >> we have to think of things differently. >> reporter: beyond putting up a hiringgn n the window, they turned to hire bothics for help. hiring two robots. left con and little guy. paying them each an hourge. for labor intensive jobs that once belonged to people. how much is one of >> a robot like this, starting rate is about $15 an hour. >> reporter: the bots work about 80 hours a week with a break on sundays. hire botics' ceo says he started renting out robot workers to save companies the huge up front cost of paying for a custom bot. >> the idea was how do we make automation as easy as hiring a person. >> reporter: these robots are 30% more

productivehan human workers. what was your reaction? >> i didn't think it was going to work. >> reportes t just the late esst wave in a rising tide of robotics. one report estimates by 2030, 800 million workers around the world could be replaced robots. >> robotic options don't necessarily mean that people are going totose their jobs, i just means that people are going toave an opportunity to do other jobs within the organization. >> reporter: but that could quickly change an economic downturn. robots, especially e equipped with artificial intelligence, may keep their jobs while blue and white collar workers lose them. hea new rise of machines that at least today is taking some humans with it. nbc news, monroe, michigan. >> it's a sign of the times, that's for sure. well, when we touring a amily touring a amily drive-through people are taking steps to fight type 2 diabetes... ...with fitness ...food ...and farxiga, the pill that starts with "f". farxiga, along with diet and exercise, helps lower a1c in adults with type 2 diabetes.

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finally toni kids of all ages still enjoy a turn around a classic carousal. it's a summer tradition, after all. a classicce where they've been keeping it spinning for decades. >> reporr: up at the bronx zoo, you learn pretty quickly the kids can't enoh of the carousal. to be clear, this is not your grandmother's carousal. this one is populated by bugs a preying mantis. a asshopper. even a dung beetle. where, one wonders, does something like this come from? tucked away in an industrial park near mansfield, ohio, carousal works has been rebuilding carousals for more than 30 years. machines.joy art richie is the founder and co-owner. he says being in touch with your inner 5-year-old helps you

understand who your customers are. >> you're working for a 5-year-old. think of it as a 5-year-old. ing back to that chdhood. >> reporter: be it a horse or a bug, all ofth work is done by hand. of these are some the other figures we're making. >> reporte jones is art's business partner. >> i'm here 25 minutes. i've fallen in love with all of this. >> yout to make a carousal, right? >> reporter: i've just such anciation for the hours and hours and hours that ego into every sin one of your pieces. their carousals are sphening all over t world. art's wife marilyn has lost count on just how many figures she's painted. what pride do you take in what happens in this building? >> i have really enjoyed doing this. it's a happy thin u know when people go to that carousal, they're going to be kn smiling, you ow? what's better than ephat. >> rorter: if you're a kid of a certain age,he answer is

obably notmuch. harry smith, nbc news, mansfield, ohio. >> and you're never too old to enjoy one, that's for sure. that is ht"n news" for this saturday. i'm kristen welker. for all of us at nbc news, thanks for watching have a gre night.

lights, camera, access. >> red flags before demi's apparent overdose. this is access the weend edition. there is so much to talk about this week. what do you say we start with people magazine story demi lovato? >> sources telling thezi ma, the red flags were all there. and that, quote, this is absolutely with so many people feared would happen. >> sources close to demi lovato started to change regarding her sobriety, that she believed -- start today believe in what they all the myth of moderation and controlled consumption, she could maybe dabble here and there and be able to not let that lead to harder drug use. >> we've sinn talked to addictxperts and they all say the myth of moderation, it ne