tonight, several breaking stories as we come on the air. president biden on the hill a short time ago. what he said behind closed doors amid this showdown among democrats on the president's two key bills. one on traditional infrastructure. the other bill expanding health care, child care, education, and fighting climate change. what we have just learned tonight. what the president floated in that room. rachel scott live on the hill. also tonight, the coronavirus and the major headline this evening. what could be a new covid pill. merck saying their trials involving a pill were so encouraging, they've stopped trials early. they will ask for emergency authorization. they say the pill cuts the risk of severe covid and death in half. dr. jha standing by with your questions answered. and just in tonight, supreme

court justice sonya sotomayor and her decision involving vaccine mandates for teachers and staff in new york city schools. justice kavanaugh testing positive for covid, a breakthrough case. the school shooting in houston. this time a school employee shot in the back. the alleged gunman, a former student, shooting his way into the school. newly released police body camera video tonight involving gabby petito. the part of the video not shown before. officers noticing bruises, asking if she had been hit in the face. her exchange with police. the major news tonight involving the national women's soccer league now postponing games after two prominent coaches were fired amid allegations of misconduct and abusive behavior. several players coming forward. already some high-profile support. the deadly midair collision. e idg with a helicopter. a frantic mother's harrowing 911 call after a toddler falls down that open manhole at a

playground. >> my son fell in an open manhole. >> seconds later, jumping down to rescue her boy herself. >> and what happened 50 years ago today? tonight we've gone back to find the images, american workers building the magic. good evening, and it's great to have you with us as we near the end of another week together. we begin tonight with two developing stories. news of that potential covid pill. dr. jha standing by. how this would work. but we begin tonight with president biden, a short time ago on capitol hill meeting with house democrats, moderates and progressives together behind closed doors. and we have just learned tonight the president appearing to float a compromise. his domestic agenda at stake. two key bills, the $1 trillion bill for roads, bridges, broadband and jobs. the larger one that would expand health care, child care, and fight climate change.

the price tag on that bill is what's making news right now. sources say the president floated a new price tag, a range he hopes moderates and progressives will embrace. the question tonight, will it work? and what the president said when asked, will both bills pass and when? rachel scott leading us off from the hill again tonight. >> reporter: with his domestic agenda on the line, president biden today traveling to capitol hill to try and unite his own party. >> mr. president, any compromise? >> permission to come aboard. >> reporter: the president meeting with house democrats for just over a half an hour. >> i'm telling you, we're going to get this done. >> when? when? >> it doesn't matter when. it doesn't matter whether it's in six minutes, six days, or six weeks. we're going to get it done. >> reporter: sources in the meeting tell us the president floated a compromise between moderates in the senate and progressives in the house. a $1.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion price tag for a sweeping bill

covering everything from early childhood education to health care to fighting climate change. progressives want $3.5 trillion, saying until there's a vote on that, they won't support the separate bipartisan infrastructure bill. >> we need a vote. we need to be real. are we going to deliver universal pre-k to this country, or not? are we going to expand health care to our seniors and include vision and dental or not? >> reporter: but the head of the progressive caucus hinting if speaker pelosi and president biden can reach an ironclad agreement with moderate senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema, that might be enough. >> i want to be assured that there is no delay and that there is no misunderstandings about what we agreed to. and so if there's something else that's short of a vote that somebody can offer me that gives me those same assurances, i want to listen to that. >> reporter: but jayapal saying they're not there yet. >> are you working through the weekend or are you leaving town? >> me? >> yeah. >> i'm here, baby. i'm here.

>> they'll be there this weekend. let's get right to rachel scott live on the hill tonight. you'll be watching from washington as well. and, rachel, the president saying it doesn't matter if it takes six minutes, six days or six weeks as we all heard here to pass these bills. but of course veterans on the hill knows the longer this drags out, the trickier this all gets. right.orter: that's exactly - a troubling sign for democrats, they have been working all week to close this deal, and tonight they still do not have the votes to get it passed. some members left the meeting with the president frustrated. i just spoke to one democrat who said victory would have been a path forward, but right now we're still searching for that. david? >> all right. rachel scott still leading us off friday night, and the days are counting. thank you. we're going to turn to the other major news this friday night, the sobering new milestone in this pandemic, nearly 700,000 lives lost. now the deadliest pandemic in u.s. history. but tonight with that number comes new hope tonight for a potential new weapon. drugmaker merck announcing a new pill, an antiviral treatment for people who have symptoms.

so encouraged by what they were seeing, they cut their trials short and will ask for emergency authorization right away. merck saying this covid pill reduces the risk of hospitalization and death by up to 50%, but authorities warn it will not be a replacement for the effectiveness seen in these vaccines. and tonight california now the first state that will require covid vaccinations for school children once it's fully approved by the fda. and late today, supreme court justice sonya sotomayor denying a request to block the mandate by new york city for school employees. so that deadline to be vaccinated by today remained in place, but, of course, a lot of attention tonight, a lot of hope for this new covid pill. dr. jha is here, and here's abc's whit johnson here in new york. >> reporter: tonight, a potential game changer in the battle against the virus. the first antiviral medication specifically designed to treat covid-19. pharmaceutical giant merck announcing that trials show its

new drug, molnupiravir, may cut the risk of hospitalization or death in half. >> this is a pill you can take at home and will significantly reduce the risk that you either ultimately are hospitalized or more importantly, that you would ever face the unfortunate outcome of death. >> reporter: the drug course consists of four pills taken every 12 hours for five days, beginning soon after testing positive. the trial included 775 patients with mild to moderate covid who had at least one risk factor for severe disease. after 29 days, no deaths reported in patients who received the drug, compared to eight deaths in patients who got a placebo. the drug also appeared to be effective against variants of concern like the delta strain. >> take something which is such a devastating disease like covid-19 and hopefully turns it into something that's manageable. >> reporter: merck saying the results of their phase 3 trial were so promising, they ended it more than a month early with support from the fda and plan to apply for emergency use

authorization within days. >> the news of the efficacy of this particular antiviral is obviously very good news. they will be submitting their data to the fda imminently. the data are impressive. >> reporter: while other treatments like monoclonal antibodies require patients to be infused at a hospital or clinic, these pills would only need a prescription and could be taken at home. data on two more antiviral drugs from pfizer and roche are also expected in the coming months. but health officials insist they are not replacements for the vaccine. >> vaccination is our best defense against covid-19. we have the scientific tools needed to put an end to this pandemic. >> reporter: across the country, a sweeping push for vaccine mandates. california today becoming the first state in the nation to require the vaccine for all students as soon as it gets final fda approval for each age group. >> we want to end this pandemic.

we are all exhausted by it. >> reporter: the governor pointing out that schools already require multiple vaccines for diseases like measles and mumps, saying vaccines work. [ crowd chanting "usa" ] and in new york city, despite protests and a last-minute appeal to the u.s. supreme court, which was denied, time running out late today for school staff to get vaccinated or lose their jobs by monday. >> it wasn't an easy decision, because, you know, i'm giving up first and foremost how i support my family. you know, i'm a single mom. >> reporter: still, the city saying 90% of school employees now have at least one shot. >> this mandate has worked, and the goal was to protect kids including our youngest kids who can't be vaccinated yet. >> reporter: and tonight, word of another breakthrough infection. the supreme court confirming justice brett kavanaugh has tested positive for covid-19. he's been vaccinated since january and is currently showing no symptoms. and, david, we're learning it

was supreme court justice sonya sotomayor who denied that request for an emergency junction against new york city's vaccine mandate for school employees. she has the power to make that call because she oversees the second circuit, including new york. sotomayor did not release a statement and did not refer the matter to the full court for a vote. david? >> all right. whit johnson, thank you. that mandate remains in place, but we do want to get back to the potential covid pill from merck. so let's bring in dr. ashish jha, dean of the brown university school of public health. coming to us tonight from california. always great to have you. the fact that merck would stop this trial early after finding the pill, they say, cut hospitalizations and deaths in half, if this science holds up on this, this could be significant. >> good evening, david. thanks for having me back. absolutely. this is enormously important. you know, we've all been waiting for an oral pill that could reduce the severity of this illness. this might be it. we'll see what the full data looks like, but it's going to be an important tool in the fight against the pandemic.

>> you know there are already concerns from some who fear that people will hear about this potential pill coming and ask, why get the vaccine if the pill will cut severity in half? >> yeah, you know, look, the pill is important, but vaccines cut vaccinations by more than 95%. vaccines prevent the spread of the virus. vaccines are a whole different set of preventive therapies. it's much, much better than the pill, but the pill is an important tool. vaccines are the path out of the pandemic. >> dr. jha with us tonight. thank you as always. we continue here and for the second night in a row, we find yourselves reporting on a school shooting. this time a terrifying incident at a houston high school. the principal shot in the back. the suspect a former student, armed with a rifle, they say shooting his way into the school. kenneth moton in houston tonight. >> reporter: tonight, sc ojust hoern mpus. m with a gun the school. >> reporter: police say the

gunman, identified as a 25-year-old former student at yes prep southwest, was armed with a rifle and shot his way into the school. >> the front door, it's a glass door, it was locked. he gained entry by shooting through a glass door and immediately fired upon one of the employees of the school. >> reporter: that employee the school's principal struck in the back, rushed to the hospital in serious condition. police in tactical gear swarming the scene. >> we've got spent shell casings inside, so we're up against a rifle. anybody coming in this building, make sure you've got your plates and helmets. >> reporter: within minutes, police confronting the gunman, who they say surrendered immediately. more than a thousand middle and high school students evacuating with their hands up. anxious parents there to meet them. >> i got her. i got her. it's a blessing. as you can see, she's shook up, too. i just want to get her home, get her safe, and just love on her. >> reporter: david, still no motive. no students were injured. and that one shooting victim,

the school's principal, is expected to survive. students here had just gone through an active shooter drill two days ago, david. >> all right. kenneth moton tonight, kenneth, thank you. now to the gabby petito case and police body camera video shows part of an exchange between police and petito not seen before. when she was asked if she'd been hit. here's abc's victor oquendo. >> reporter: tonight, newly released police body camera footage revealing more about this domestic incident between brian laundrie and his girlfriend gabby petito, one of the last times they were seen together and she was seen alive. >> did you get hit in the face? >> reporter: officers in moab, utah, responding to a 911 call in august. witnesses say they saw brian hit gabby. >> did he hit you, though? >> i guess, yeah, but i hit him first. >> where did he hit you? don't worry. just be honest. >> he grabbed my face like this. >> uh-huh. >> he didn't, like, hit me in the face. like, he didn't punch me in the face or anything. >> reporter: police noticing bruises on her body, pressing petito. >> did he slap your face or

what? >> well like he grabbed me like with his nail. i definitely have a cut right here because i can feel it. if i touch it, it burns. >> reporter: brian telling officers his side of the story. >> she gets really worked up. and when she does, she swings. and she had her cell phone in her hand so i just pushed it away. >> reporter: the officers seen on the video discussing the incident and what to do next. >> in no way, shape, or form that i can perceive, does what happened here, a little slap fight between fiances who love each other and want to be together, can i perceive that this is going to digress into the situation where he's going to be a battered man. >> right. >> but then again, i don't have a crystal ball. >> reporter: officers deciding to separate the two for the night, putting brian in a hotel, gabby sleeping in their white van, neither pressing charges. there's now an independent investigation into how the police department handled this call. we've reached out to the city of moab, and because of the investigation, they're not commenting. david? >> all right. victor.

our thanks again to you tonight. tonight, the national women's soccer league in an extraordinary move, calling off weekend games after two coaches fired amid allegations of misconduct and abusive behavior. here's erielle reshef tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the national women's soccer league canceling all games for the weekend. two prominent coaches fired amid allegations of misconduct. paul riley, head coach of the north carolina courage facing accusations of sexual harassment from several players. those allegations first surfacing in "the athletic." players sinead farelly and mana shim going on the record, accusing riley of making unwanted sexual advances. other players accusing him of inappropriate comments about players' weight and sexual orientation. riley denying the majority of the allegations, writing, i have never had sex with or made sexual advances towards these players. earlier this week, the former head coach of the washington spirit richie burke who had been suspended by the team also fired

after an investigation into allegations of verbal abuse of players. burke had stepped down as coach in august when the allegations first surfaced. soccer stars like megan rapinoe slamming the league, tweeting, burn it all down. let their heads roll. jewel if i foudy, minority owner of the angel city football club, speaking out. >> this is a time of reckoning for this league, honestly, in trms of how they deal it and how they stand up for the players. >> reporter: the league acknowledging this has been traumatic for both the players and staff. fifa, the global governing body of soccer, is now investigating. david? >> all right. erielle reshef tonight. thank you. when we come back here on a friday night, the deadly midair collision, a plane colliding with a heicopter. der. fluzone high-dose quadrivalent is the only vaccine approved

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into flames with the two victims on board. the plane was still able to land safely at the airport. and we're now hearing a mother's frantic call to 911 after we told you about her 14-month-old son who fell down a manhole in new jersey. >> henry! henry! henry! >> 911, where is your emergency? >> i need someone. i need someone. there's an open manhole. >> ma'am, what's going on? >> my son fell in an open manhole. >> so difficult to listen to. the incredible thing is the mother then jumped in to save her son herself, getting out of that manhole. when we come back here tonight, news this evening about former president jimmy carter. and what happened 50 years ago today. - i'm norm. - i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a little

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♪ and what you ♪an do next—to take control of your sight. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ to the "index" tonight. former president jimmy carter turning 97 today. the oldest living former president in american history. he and former first lady rosalyn carter quietly celebrating at their home in plains, georgia.

they celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary this summer. when we come back here tonight, the american workers helping to build the magic. the opening 50 years ago today. but when the twitching and jerking in my face and hands affected my day to day... i finally had to say, 'it's not ok.' it was time to talk to my doctor about austedo. she said that austedo helps reduce td movements in adults... while i continue with most of my mental health medications. (vo) austedo can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease. pay close attention to and call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, behaviors, feelings, or have suicidal thoughts. common side effects include inflammation of the nose and throat, insomnia and sleepiness. don't take austedo if you have liver problems, are taking reserpine, tetrabenazine, or valbenazine. austedo may cause irregular or fast heartbeat, restlessness, movements mimicking parkinson's disease, fever, stiff muscles, problems thinking, and sweating. (jackie) talk to your doctor about austedo...it's time to treat td.

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i'm making my appointment. bill's all yours... 50 years or older? get vaccinated for shingles today. finally tonight here, disney. of course, our parent company, celebrating 50 years of disney world. tonight, the workers who helped bring the magic to life, opening 50 years ago today. tonight, we mark 50 years since this moment. it was the vision of one man, walt disney, already successful in the west. he had his sights on something in the east. >> disneyland was very successful, and we were talking about doing another project. and he was talking about, we've got to be east of the mississippi. >> reporter: looking at several locations east of the mississippi. >> places like niagara falls.

>> washington, d.c. >> a location in new jersey. >> we looked at st. louis. >> reporter: walt disney would pick orlando, florida. the land, 27,440 acres, twice the size of manhattan, all to build a park in record time. >> believe me, it's the most exciting and challenging assignment we've ever tackled at walt disney productions. >> reporter: walt disney would die not long after embarking on this new project. his brother roy would keep it going. >> the responsibility is now ours to carry out walt disney's imaginative plan. >> reporter: the world's biggest construction project was going full steam ahead. >> reporter: 8,000 construction workers. >> enter locomotives from the yucatan, monorails from martin marietta. the carousel framework was erected two inches off target. tear it down and start again. >> i remember the day that we set the top spire on top of the castle. that was neat. >> reporter: it was 50 years ago

tonight, october 1st, 1971. >> the grand opening of walt disney world, starring julie andrews. ♪ there's so much that we share that it's time we're aware ♪ ♪ it's a small world after all ♪ >> reporter: in that first year, 12 million people taking part in walt's dream. >> incredible to look back. and tonight a special edition of "20/20" marking 50 years of walt disney world. 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on abc. i'm david muir. hope to see you back here on monday. from all of us here, good night. monday. from all of us here, good night. >> announcer: thank you for making "world news tonight" with david muir america's most watched newscast.

moving forward finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. we're almost 18 hours into a water main break in alamo. and this is the third one there in a week. so we asked east bay mud. i it is the first day without california's eviction moratorium in place. we check back in with people who talked to on monday to find out how many got help with rent in time. today governor newsome announced that california will become the first state in the country to require covid vaccines in schools. i'm kate larsen coming up what this means for k-12 students teachers and school staff. i'm spencer christian. there's some hot weather coming our way this weekend, but with rising temperatures, we'll come declining air quality. of the details actually seven news at six begins now. building a better bay area moving forward finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. i have four young kids. i can't take this anymore. i'm like most parents.

he is a parent, but he's also the governor and his announcement today will impact millions of california students. thanks for joining us. i'm kristin z. i'm larry beil. you're watching abc 7 news at six live here on abc 7 hulu live and wherever you stream with a new emergency order, california will require eligible students be vaccinated for covid-19, although places in the bay area already took this step. it's something that no other state has done. this will affect millions. of that's why we call the kate larsen. we want to end this pandemic. we are all exhausted by it and with that governor gavin newsom announced all california students public and private kindergarten through 12th grade be vaccinated against coronavirus. once the shot is fully approved by the fda for the younger age groups. we also want to see all of our