3:00 on air and on livestream, answering your questions. world news tonight is coming up tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. the growing concern over children and covid. child covid cases here in the u.s., the largest increase since this pandemic began. more than 252,000 new cases in just the last week. where they're seeing the worst of this, and the concern over the new variant. could it be resistant to the vaccines. and where it has been detected in the u.s.? tonight, dr. anthony fauci and the stadiums packed with fans, saying i don't think it's smart. and what the doctor is now saying about boosters, that third shot. how soon before that becomes a reality? marcus moore from texas tonight. in new york and new jersey tonight, president biden touring the disaster zone. the storms from the remnants of hurricane ida slamming into that front. dozens killed in the historic

rainfall and flash flooding. more than 50 in the northeast alone, including people trapped in their basement apartments filling with water. and where they're still searching, including two young college students who still have not been found. the president tonight saying it is clear climate change is here and whit johnson from new york. overseas tonight, four americans rescued from afghanistan. how they got out. the state department now saying about 100 americans still stranded. the taliban reportedly blocking commercial planes from leaving. and what we're now learning tonight about the new taliban government already. martha raddatz live in washington. as this nation prepares to mark 20 years since 9/11, the alleged mastermind behind the attacks appearing in court in guantanamo bay. khalid sheikh mohammed, ksm, and four alleged co-conspirators, what played out in court today? terry moran reporting. back at home tonight, one week after texas banned abortions in texas after about

six weeks, tonight, texas governor greg abbott now signing into law a sweeping new voting law, one of the most restrictive ever. the tragic amusement park accident in colorado. a 6-year-old girl plunging 110 feet on an underground ride. the scene onboard an american airlines flight today. the unruly passenger and what he was saying about the president. and news tonight coming in from ethel kennedy, the widow of rfk. some of hir children split. she's now weighing in on the possible parole of her husband's killer. good evening and it's great to be back with all of you at home after the labor day holiday. and we begin tonight with millions of schoolchuildren heading back. and now the largest increase in covid cases in children since the pandemic started. in fact, more than 40 million americans have now tested positive and of course concerns

over that new variant first seen in colombia. it is now being detected in the u.s. and there are questions about how strong it is and whether it could get past the vaccines. tonight, the children, nearly 252,000 new cases reported in just the last week. the biggest weekly increase we've ever seen. a quarter of all new cases in this country now in children. and amid the battle over mask mandates, schools having to close down already because of covid. at least temporarily. at least 1,400 schools now in 35 states. dr. anthony fauci tonight on the crowds this labor day weekend, saying i don't think it's smart. and what he's now saying about booster shots, that third shot. will it soon be part of this 75 of adults 18 and older have at least one dose of the abc's marcus moore leading us off tonight from texas. >> reporter: with millions of students going back to the classroom this week, health officials are warning covid cases could skyrocket.

pediatric infections soaring to nearly 252,000 in just the last week. the biggest increase ever. >> we're calling this the fourth wave, but it is certainly been by far the most impactful surge, really hitting children and adolescents. >> reporter: in texas, where the governor has banned mask mandates in schools, a record number of children hospitalized with covid. 11-year-old brennah gurganious wound up fighting for her life on a ventilator. she was too young to get a vaccine and her mom says she got covid just days after going back to her texas classroom. >> her lungs were going through hell. they've been doing breathing treatments on her every four hours. >> reporter: thankfully, brennah made it home where she's recovering tonight. covid cases have already forced closures in at least 1,400 schools across 35 states this school year. and the battle over mask mandates still raging. >> no more masks! no more masks! >> we've got to get the school system masked, in addition to surrounding the children with vaccinated people.

that's the solution. >> reporter: but after labor day weekend saw big crowds and thousands packed into football stadiums, health officials are bracing for more outbreaks. >> i don't think it's smart. i think when you're dealing particularly, you know, outdoors is always better than indoors, but even when you have such a congregant setting of people close together, first, you should be vaccinated and when you do have congregant settings, particularly indoors, you should be wearing a mask. >> reporter: the country now seeing nearly four times the number of covid cases and double the number of hospitalizations than a year ago when there was no vaccine. but icus are now overwhelmed with unvaccinated patients. >> they're so sick they actually can't breathe. and you see the fear in their eyes. sometimes they mutter, "i wish i would have been vaccinated." >> reporter: in northern idaho, hospitals activating crisis care as a last resort, meaning life-saving equipment may not be available. and tonight, health officials are closely tracking a new variant first identified in columbia called mu, with mutations suggesting it could

slightly evade vaccines. for now, the vaccines are still effective against it, but mu has been confirmed in at least 16 states, with the most cases in california. >> while we have a concern that mu could evade the vaccine, it's not spreading fast enough to be a real concern yet, but the jury's still out. >> but we're going to continue to watch this. and marcus with live us in dallas tonight. marcus, we're expecting to hear from president biden ralate eck this week on new efforts to can tan the spread of this virus. we await news on boosters that could be ready by mid-september. but tonight, dr. fauci say they could be the way of the future here? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, david. we know that the president is expected to lay out his plan on thursday and the first boosters are set for september 20th, likely beginning with pfizer, because they were the first to submit their data. and tonight, dr. fauci says that a third shot of mrna vaccines likely increases dramatically the level of protection and that he anticipates that we will

likely see that as the standard regimen, three shots somewhere down the line. david? >> marcus, thank you. in the northeast tonight, in new york and new jersey, president biden today touring the damage after the deadly set of storms, the flash flooding, the tornadoes. the delt toll still rising from that. more than 50 dead in the northeast. the president touring several storm damaged areas today. and tonight here, video showing members of the nypd trying to save people, some trapped in basement apartments, filling rapidly with water. and we continue to follow the desperation in the south. in new orleans, five senior citizens were found dead in their assisted living homes. tonight, president biden saying it is clear climate change is here. and tonight, parts of new york and new jersey are bracing for more rain in the next 24 hours. there could be flash flood watches in the day ahead. abc's whit johnson here in new york tonight. >> reporter: tonight, president biden touring disaster zones in new york and new jersey, meeting with people whose lives were devastated by the remnants of

hurricane ida. >> the losses that we witnessed today are profound. >> reporter: the catastrophic storm, killing at least 52 people in the northeast alone, dropping historic rainfall in new york city. more than three inches falling in one hour. the president making the case that these extreme weather events require urgent action on climate change and calling this an opportunity to harden america's infrastructure. >> the evidence is clear. climate change poses an existential threat to our lives, to our economy and the threat is here. it's not going to get any better. the question, can it get worse? we can stop it from getting worse. >> reporter: but new york city, still reeling from the horror of this storm. many of the victims dies while trapped in flooded basements. the nypd releasing this dramatic video, showing the desperate effort to rescue a family including a toddler in queens. they did not survive.

in new jersey, where three tornadoes touched down and flooding destroyed homes, the search continues for at least four people swept away in raging water. including two college students, 18-year-old nidhi rana and 20-year-old ayush rana of passaic, missing for nearly a week. family members hoping for a miracle. >> pray for them, pray for them, please. everybody pray for them. >> reporter: and nine days after ida slammed into louisiana as a monster category 4 storm. in hard-hit golden meadow -- >> i've been here since 1966. long time. >> reporter: 80-year-old gerald louviere is one of many residents still vowing to rebuild. >> this is home. and it'll always be home. i'm not going to move. no. just got to fight through it. and we'll do it. >> and the pain in the south, the pain still being felt in the northeast and whit johnson with

us from queenqueens, new york, tonight. and whit, i know the president sounding the alarm that climate change is here, saying the only question is, how much worse this gets if we don't act and he said, we must rebuild inf infrastructure to handle these kinds of weather events, pressing congress to take action on his plans. >> reporter: david, president biden called this an eye-opener, saying climate change is everybody's crisis. and he's doubling down on his push for congress to pass that massive infrastructure package, not only to rebuild now, but to be better prepared for extreme weather threats in the future. david? >> all right, whit johnson, thank you. overseas tonight and to afghanistan. secretary of state an tony bl blanken saying the u.s. is working around the crock to help about 100 americans now still in afghanistan. four americans have been rescued. the harrowing story of how they got out. and it all comes as the taliban appoints its new government and troubling signs already tonight. women taking to the streets of kabul to protest. the taliban firing weapon to

disperse the crowds. and tonight, our chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz on that promise from the halldy ban to allow planes to take off, but they're not. >> reporter: the chartered planes have been sitting on the tarmac empty at this airport in northern afghanistan for more than a week. nearly 600 people waiting to flee. and despite the taliban's promise to allow americans safe passage, for the first time tonight, the secretary of state confirming there are a small number of americans among the group stopped by the taliban. >> they have said that those without valid documents, at this point, can't leave, but because all of these people are grouped together, that's meant that flights have not been allowed to go. >> reporter: secretary blinken joining defense secretary lloyd austin in qatar, promising he will work around the clock to m

today in kabul, the taliban firing shots into the air to disperse mostly women protesters demanding their rights be protected. and tonight, more details on this texas mother and her three children who escaped afghanistan over land with help from the state department and a nonprofit. oklahoma congressman markwayne mullin says they traveled 300 miles, through 20 taliban checkpoints, at each one, paying $500 to $4,000 per person. >> and martha raddatz back with us tonight. we're learning more about this new taliban government, one that the taliban promised would be inclusive, but already those troubling signs? >> reporter: yeah, first of all, david, they are all members of the taliban and it certainly does not include any women, but it does include people with ties to terrorism, including the new minister of the interior, who has a $5 million fbi price tag on his head for his affiliation with terrorist groups, including al qaeda. david? >> troubling, indeed.

martha raddatz tonight. thank you. and as this nation prepares to mark 20 years since 9/11, tonight, a hearing for the alleged mastermind and four accused conspiratconspirators. part of their defense, interrogation methods that were used. but this is finally under way, after years of delays. abc's senior national correspondent terry moran listening in on that hearing today. >> reporter: tonight, nearly 20 years after the attacks on 9/11, the long wait for justice continues. the pretrial hearing beginning today at guantanamo bay for five men accused in the plot that killed nearly 3,000 people. the lead defendant khalid sheikh mohammed, called "the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks" in the 9/11 commission report. ksm, as he was dubbed by the agents who tracked him down, was captured in pakistan in 2003. in 2007, he confessed in a statement to the combatant status review tribunal, saying, "i was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from a to z." but before the trial begins, the

judge must also decide what evidence can be admitted. the defense team arguing that the men on trial were tortured, subjected to brutal interrogation techniques. and that their accounts and that confession are in question. the cia has admitted to subjected khalid sheikh mohammed to repeated waterboarding, a technique that similar lat simu drowning. and the trial has been held up for nearly a decade. for the survivors and family members of the victims, it's a process that has taken far too long. 22-year-old patricia smith lost her mother, moira smith, in the attacks on september 11th. she was the only female nypd officer to die that day. >> justice delayed is justice denied. and now we're 20 years later with no justice. >> reporter: a group of family members of the victims of those 9/11 attacks is in guantanamo bay to witness these proceedings, and there are other viewing sites here in the united states. as for khalid sheikh mohammed, he was active and engaged in court. he was conferring with his

lawyers, bantering with his co-defendants. waving to reporters. almost as if he enjoyed it all. david? >> terry moran tonight. terry, thank you. and tonight, closure for some of the families, the families of two more victims of the world trade center attack. the new york city medical examiner's office making two new identifications through dna analysis. dorothy morgan of hem stead, new york, the 1,646th victim. and a man whose family requested his name be withheld tonight. he's been identified, as well. about 1,106 victims remain unidentified. we should note that abc news will have coverage all week here as we mark 20 years since 9/11. robin roberts with the women of 9/11 tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. eastern. and on friday night at 9:00, i'll be reporting on the day that changed america. and then diane sawyer at 10:00 p.m. eastern on the children of 9/11. and rob bun, diane and i will all be here saturday morning as a nation remembers. in the meantime, we turn to texas tonight. one week after that sweeping

abortion law took effect banning abortions in that state about six weeks, governor greg abbott signing into law tonight a sweeping new voting law. one of the most restrictive ever. here's our chief white house correspondent cecilia vega. >> reporter: today in texas -- >> election integrity is now law in the state of texas. >> reporter: -- governor greg abbott signing some of the most sweeping voting restrictions in the country. >> we must have trust and confidence in our elections. >> reporter: but in texas and every other state, there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud. still, the new law bans drive through voting and 24-hour polling locations which have increased turnout among my or thes. it prevents election officials from sending absentee ballot applications to voters who haven't requested them. this comes just one week after texas enacted the most sweeping abortion law in the nation, banning the procedure as early as the sixth week of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant. doris dixon, who works at a

planned parenthood in houston, telling our rachel scott about one patient seeking an abortion who then tested positive for covid. she was told she had to quarantine for 14 days, but by that point, she would be more than six weeks pregnant, and unable to get an abortion under the new law. >> to hear her beg for someone to help her was hard. >> she was begging? >> she was begging. >> reporter: today, governor abbott pressed on why the law makes no exception for rape or incest. his answer -- it's not needed because the state will eliminate the crime of rape altogether. >> texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of texas by aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them and getting them off the streets. so, goal number one in the state of texas is to eliminate rape so that no woman, no person will be a victim of rape.

>> reporter: governor abbott has not called on the legislature to take up any new rape prevention legislation. the attorney general says he is urgently exploring all options to challenge this texas law, but as we have been saying, this law is extremely unique and complicated. they don't have a legal path forward yet. david, today the press secretary here said they are still kicking the tires. >> cecilia vega live at the white house tonight. great to see you. when we come back here on the news tonight, the deadly amusement park accident. and the unruly passenger on an american airlines flight. what he was saying, arrested when they landed. with dupixent, i can du more....beginners' yoga. namaste... ...surprise parties. aww, you guys. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks... ...for 3!... ...so i can du more of the things i love.

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to the index. the widow of rfk has revealed she's against any possible parole of the killer of her husband. her children are divided. a parole board in california recommending his release. when we come back, the first day back. and children are always the most resilient. nary, rollerball design. because with the right pain reliever... life opens up. aleve it, and see what's possible. oh my, with chase freedom unlimited, i earn all this cash back? oh, i gotta tell everyone. hey rita, you can earn 3% on dining, including takeout!

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brother and his little sister and their hug. tonight, the children going back, america strong. in beaufort, south carolina, first grader brody bennett dropping off his little sister. 4-year-old kinley. it was her first day. some encouraging words and then a hug at st. peters catholic school. in am bridge, pennsylvania, raising the flag outside ambridge area senior high school. in guilford, vermont, teacher myra reading to her class. in freeport, nshg, teacher felicia with a hug at bay view avenue school of arts and sciences. while back in beaufort, 4-year-old kinley with her brother now ready. her teacher miss joy right there and their dad saying, he hopes everyone will take care of each other this year, just like big bro brody did with his sister. >> and we hope so, too. i'm david muir. i hope to see you right back he