push to make "sheng-chi" a major hit. tonight, the northeast reeling from this week's devastating storms. ida becoming the deadliest tropical. in the last four years, with historic flooding and record-breaking rain. more than 60 dead in 8 states, including at least 49 in the northeast. new images of the fast-moving danger. home surveillance video showing a man getting out of the basement seconds before rushing water burst through the walls. three major fires burning out of control for hours in new jersey today. firefighters helpless, blocked by flooded roads. streets filled with water 24 hours ago, now packed with debris. rob marciano standing by. also tonight, president biden getting a first-hand look at the devastation caused by hurricane ida in louisiana. we're now learning about the investigation into several nursing home patient deaths.

abc news obtaining these images showing the conditions. and the frustration growing. hundreds of thousands still without power and running low on food, clean water and fuel. news on the pandemic, and a possible delay for booster shots in the u.s. top health officials at the fda and cdc telling the white house they're not sure they can meet the president's timeline for offering that third shot. and tonight, the cdc's covid travel warning heading into the holiday weekend, especially for unvaccinated americans. overseas tonight, the terror attack in new zealand. a suspect armed with a knife stabbing at least six people in a supermarket. authorities describing him as a violent extremist. revealing he was under constant surveillance. back here at home, disgraced former cardinal theodore mccarrick in court today. the 91-year-old pleading not

guilty to sex assault charges. one of the key figures in the january 6th capitol riot pleading guilty today. the so-called qanon shaman facing years behind bars. and "america strong." first responders across the country answering the call this week. good evening. it's great to have you with us on a friday night. i'm whit johnson in for david tonight, and we begin with the rising death toll after the remnants of hurricane ida hammered the northeast with historic flooding and record-breaking rain. the deadliest tropical system in this country in four years. tonight, more than 60 people are dead in eight states. at least 49 in the northeast. and we're getting new images of the monster tornado that sliced through new jersey, an ef-3 with 150-mile-per-hour winds. surveillance video showing powerful flash flooding destroying a basement wall. there you see it within seconds.

in new jersey, a doorbell camera capturing a home explosion, suspected to be from natural gas. the neighborhood had already been evacuated. in downtown philadelphia today they were still pumping water out of the vine street expressway into the river. in horseham, pennsylvania, every power line on this street and many others is down. the devastation still so painfully clear. president biden paying a visit today, promising help, saying no community will be left behind. and tonight in the northeast, flood warnings are still in effect. abc's senior meteorologist rob marciano leading us off in westchester county tonight. >> reporter: tonight, new terrifying surveillance video from inside a basement in cranford, new jersey, showing the sheer force and speed of the flash flooding that killed dozens of people across the northeast. watch again. just seconds after that person

moves out of the frame, the walls caving in. fortunately, the family's okay. ida now the deadliest tropical system to hit the u.s. in the last four years. >> we have lost a son, we have lost a sister. this -- this is -- i cannot comprehend. >> reporter: at least 11 deaths in new york city tied to basement and cellar apartments. tonight, officials revealing five of the six apartments where those deaths occurred were illegally converted units. >> the worst tragedies we saw on wednesday did not happen anywhere near the shoreline, and this is another reality we have to face. >> reporter: the other reality families in the storm zone face, a mountain of damage. you can hear the activity picking up on this street that was hit so hard by this storm. the sidewalks are lined with garbage, full of debris and damaged furniture. the water has since receded, but its been replaced with dumpsters for the cleanup. in west orange, new jersey -- >> we got five feet of water in our basement. >> reporter: laura wiesner

surveying the damage. she and her family moved in just over two months ago. >> you can see the washers and dryers were pushed far away from the wall. >> reporter: in montclair, new jersey, photographer neil grabowsky and his team had to break a window to escape from their flooded ground level studio. >> go, go, go, get out of here. >> reporter: escaping through an adjacent parking garage. in manville, new jersey, firefighters helpless as multiple homes and a banquet hall erupt in flames. >> the fire department unable to get to the scenes of these fires because of the flooded roadways. >> reporter: in philadelphia overnight, a race to drain the vine street expressway. water nearly overtaking the bridge. janai norman on the ground this morning. >> even after the rain stopped, this is the vine street expressway through philadelphia. the water had been up to those green street signs. you can see that it's come down, but at ts highest point, this waterline shows it would have been over my head. >> reporter: and outside philadelphia, new video shows that massive tornado in mullica

hill, new jersey, bearing down on a home. >> go. downstairs. >> reporter: the man inside recording as he and his dog race to the basement. emerging to find his windows blown out, damage everywhere. that tornado, rated an ef-3 with winds up to 150 miles per hour. >> rob marciano joining us now. still incredible damage out there. we can see behind you. although the storm is gone, there are still millions under flood alerts, thousands without power. the danger not over. >> reporter: yeah, we're not quite done with this yet. we have several rivers across the northeast that are in flood warning much like the raren river in new jersey. hasn't seen levels since 1999, hurricane floyd. that's over that now. residual flooding, it's going to take time to drain. the bright spot is tomorrow will be the third straight day of dry we thinker and that will help

everybody in the recovery efforts. in the meantime in louisiana, grim fallout from hurricane ida. four nursing home patients have died. a dozen hospitalized after being evacuated to a warehouse. still so many without power. scrambling for food, fuel, and other things. president biden paying a visit, promising federal help. abc's elwyn lopez is there. >> reporter: tonight, growing anger and misery, five days after ida cut a path of destruction through parts of louisiana and mississippi. people still waiting in hours' long lines like these, searching for food, water and gas in the blistering heat. >> we need to be rescued right now. we need ice. we're barely surviving through this heat. >> reporter: and tonight, the investigation into the treatment of more than 800 nursing home patients, evacuated to this warehouse ahead of the storm. at least four of them have died. abc news obtaining these disturbing images, showing the

crowded conditions inside the the most vulnerable and elderly, sleeping on mattresses on the floor. one of the residents in there for five days describing what it was like. >> it was terrible. the mattresses were awful. it was terrible. >> reporter: her daughter says she was not allowed to visit her mother in the warehouse. >> they didn't have any electricity, no air-conditioning for a while. no generator. i thought they were coming to a nursing home, that they would have nursing beds and they would be taken care of like they were in a nursing facility. >> reporter: investigators from the louisiana health department saying they were denied access to the facility. officials now working to find alternative places for the residents. the governor vowing a full investigation. >> we will do everything that we can to make sure our most vulnerable citizens are properly taken care of. >> reporter: abc news reached out to the owner of the nursing

homes for comment, but so far, have not heard back. he reportedly told local station wafb that he believes they did a good job given the circumstances. late today, president biden touring the devastation, promising no community will be left behind. >> it's just simply about saving lives and getting people back up and running. and we're in this together. >> reporter: and in the face of so much destruction, communities pulling together, helping one another. >> no power. >> no power, no water. >> reporter: you're out here helping others. >> that's what it's all about. >> elwyn lopez joins us from hard-hit laplace. elwyn, you're learning when power may be restored to parts of louisiana? >> reporter: that's right, that won't be back up and running until next wednesday, but in some of the hardest hit areas it could take longer, possibly weeks. >> not the news people were hoping to hear. elwyn, thank you. we move on now to the pandemic. new questions about booster

shots and the rollout set to begin on september 20th. the fda's advisory board will review pfizer's data on september 17th, but moderna's data a few weeks behind, submitted today. 72% of everyone 12 years old and older received one dose. with 38 million people expected to trfl this labor day weekend, the cdc now warning the unvaccinated to stay home. here's abc's steve osunsami. >> reporter: even the president's own top health officials are warning tonight that they aren't sure they can realistically meet his september 20th timeline. that's when president biden was hoping to start widely delivering covid-19 booster shots to americans, but both the cdc and the fda are saying they need more time to study the data from the makers of the vaccine. moderna, for example, just finished turning in theirs today. >> if the recommendation is needed to get an additional dose, we don't know which

populations, and we don't know when. six months, eight months, ten months. we don't have all of that data yet. >> reporter: at the cdc tonight, they're also underlining their new holiday weekend travel warning for the estimated 38 million americans trying to get away. saying that if you haven't yet gotten the vaccine, you should say home. >> first and foremost, if you are unvaccinated, we would recommend not traveling. >> reporter: the numbers are keeping public health officials up at night. more than 1,000 americans are dieing from covid-19 each day. the worst we have seen in nearly six months. the wife of 47-year-old carlos chavez says he did not have to die. she says that the youth football coach from southern california was unvaccinated because he was afraid of possible side effects from the drug. >> you need to get vaccinated. in my case, it saved my life. unfortunately, my husband not being vaccinated, it cost him his life. >> reporter: the number of children getting sick and needing to be hospitalized

is also growing. and there are millions of children heading back to school next tuesday. at two grade school and a high school in miami, students lost three of their favorite teachers. the teachers union reports all three, including high school teacher michael thomas, were unvaccinated. >> this devastated me, because he didn't get vaccinated, so it just -- it just broke something within me. >> reporter: there's that important meeting at the fda on booster shots on september 17th, three day before the federal government is expected to widely roll out booster shots across america. the acting fda chief says it feels like they're making a plan without all the data. whit? >> steve, thank you. now to texas tonight. planned parenthood pushing back against that new law that has halted the vast majority of abortions in the state, asking a court to temporarily block some potential lawsuit the measure allows. president biden weighing in on that part of the law as well,

saying while he respects those who oppose abortion, the law ecouraging individuals to sue doctors and other providers is pernicious. >> it just seems -- i know this sounds ridiculous, almost un-american what we're talking about. i was told there are possibilities within the existing law to have the justice department look and see whether there are things that can be done. >> abc's rachel scott joins us now from houston. is there anything the white house can do now in the face of this state law? >> reporter: well, whit, the biden administration appears to be looking for every possible avenue to be able to challenge this. we know this morning white house lawyers met with advocates. but at this point their options are limited. parenthood has now filed a request for a temporary restraining order seeking to prevent an anti-abortion group from suing its doctors and health-care workers.

fate is in question, but the reality is setting in here in texas women just spoke to a health-care worker in the clinic behind me. she says their call center turned into a crisis hot line. she says since this law has taken effect, she has had to turn away 70% of the women she's talked to. >> other states watching this closely. rachel scott, thank you. job growth slowed abruptly last month, just 235,000 new jobbed in august, though unemployment fell to a 18-month low and wages did rise. president biden blaming the delta variant surge and vowing to lay out new steps to fight the pandemic next week, but said the economy is durable and strong. the president's job approval already suffering a hit from 50% in late june to 44% this week, falling six points. the decline reflecting the afghanistan withdrawal while 77% support ending the war, 60% disapprove of his handling of it. we move overseas tonight --

a terror attack in a new zealand supermarket by a known isis supporter, even though police had him under constant surveillance. the stabbing spree left six people injured, three in critical condition before officers moved in and took him down. here's abc's james longman. >> reporter: tonight, panic at this new zealand supermarket as shoppers realize a man has started to stab people at random. >> he's got a knife. >> reporter: fear spreads through the shopping center. people run for the door. the man, who grabbed a knife from a shelf, attacked six people, injuring three critically. and then -- [ gunshots ] >> reporter: gunfire rings out, he's shot and killed by police on the scene. he just started stabbing. he then went "alu akbar," and then, i just realized, oh my god, i have to run. >> reporter: an islamic extremist and isis sympathizer, the sri lankan national was known to security services. in fact, he was considered such

a threat that he was under constant police surveillance. officers had followed him to the store but assumed he was shopping. as soon as he started his stabbing spree, they moved in, killing him in less than 60 seconds. the man was on a terror watch list for five years but was still able to carry out the attack. it raises yet again big questions not just in new zealand but around the world -- how can you stop a random attack, even when you know the person is a threat? and how can you do that while guarding civil liberties? whit? >> james longman, thank you. former district attorney jackie johnson is charged with obstruction and violation of duty, accused of directing police not the make an arrest after arbery's fatal shooting as he was jogging through a neighborhood last year. a trial is set for october. they have pleaded not guilty. when we come back here on "world news tonight," disgraced former cardinal in court today, and the guilty plea from one of the key suspects in the january 6th capitol riot.

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an emotional scene as disgraced former cardinal theodore mccarrick appears in court in massachusetts. makeot in hell. >> protesters greeting the 91-year-old mccarrick outside the courthouse today. he pleaded not guilty to sex abuse charges dating back to the 1970s. one of his alleged victims now in his 60s appearing in court today. it's the first time a u.s. cardinal has been charged with abuse. when we come back, news tonight about the shot-called qanon shaman. remember when no dream was too big? and you could fearlessly face the unknown? you still can. when you have a rock you can depend on for life, you'll be unstoppable. like the millions of people who rely on prudential

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finally tonight, "america strong," the first responder on the scene. >> reporter: from the gulf coast to the northeast, america's first responders answering the call in a week of catastrophic weather events. in new york's central park, two nypd officers seen on body-camera video wading through waist deep floodwater to save a stranded driver. >> get your stuff. i'm here. i'll hold you. >> reporter: in southeastern, pennsylvania, marriott hotel being escorted into armored vehicles and flatbed trucks. >> the firefighters put heroic efforts in with a line across raging water. and we were incredibly grateful. >> reporter: and when the category-4 hurricane battered the louisiana coast sunday, first responders, many leaving their own damaged homes behind, rushing in to help stranded families using high water

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>> conditions are improving as firefighters continue to better the caliber and we are getting a better idea of just how bad the destruction is. good afternoon, think joining us. >> the calfire continues to make progress. that number is steadily rising up to 29% up from 27% yesterday. as crews safely enter more of the burned out areas, the number of destroyed homes also rises. more than 31,000 structures remain threatened. abc 7 news reporter aiden freeman has been covering the fire and joins us live from south lake tahoe. >> good evening. lake tahoe is the one place we have not and a lot of time so we thought we would be here today.

this is a south lake tahoe note be wants to see. closed businesses and all of that on a holiday weekend. no one knows when this place will reopen. >> the immediate future what will happen in south lake tahoe -- >> i want clear air. >> it all depends on the surrounding mount with the fire smolders and burns britain's lists as calfire takes nothing for granted. >> this is not over. it is not the beginning of the end but it is the end of the beginning. >> they need plenty of work ahead but we found optimism as forest service crews continue to clear trees. >> seems like the fire is running out of fuel in some areas but not elsewhere especially in the heavy backcountry.