Hillary clinton, who said joe and kamala would win by 3 million votes and still lose, saying take it from her. Tonight, President Trump in bidens home state. The siege of lightning and those firing burning out of control now turning deadly. The chopper going down, the pilot killed. A utility worker dying in his car. Hundreds of fires burning. Tonight, thousands trying to escape. The coronavirus topping 5. 5 million cases in the u. S. Teachers now fighting back against returning to school. The list of universities taking action growing tonight. News from purdue. And the warning involving children, that they can be silent carriers are higher viral loads than adults who are sick. News on how long some americans might have to wait for a vaccine. And dr. Anthony fauci recovering from surgery. Overseas, news coming in from russia tonight. One of Vladimir Putins most vocal critics falling sick during a flight. Was he poisoned . Here at home, the plane thruh near chicago, going off and the mother flight forced off because her 2yearold girl wouldnt wear her mask. The baseball announcer caught on a hot mic using an antigay slur and what he does in the middle of his apology. And were tracking two tropical systems closing in on the u. S. Good evening, and its great to have you with us here on a thursday night. Joe biden about to become the democratic nominee, more than three decades in the making. President trump tonight in bidens home state, by design. But what no one saw coming today was the other major story unfolding tonight the arrest. Trumps former strategist steve bannon arrested and charged with defrauding hundreds of thousands of americans after they had donated to a campaign to help build President Trumps border wall. Bannon and three others are accused of raising more than 25 million to help build the wall and then using some of that money for their personal benefit. Bannon was arrested today on a 28 million yacht off the coast of connecticut. He was the campaign ceo who helped President Trump win and then joined him in the white house. Today, the president distanced himself from bannon and what a abcs chief White House CorrespondentJonathan Karl leading us off. Reporter tonight, the man who ran President Trumps president ial campaign and served as his chief strategist in the white house has left court in lower manhattan, charged with Money Laundering and fraud. He was arrested off the coast of connecticut on this 28milliondollar yacht owned by an exiled chinese billionaire, and charged with Money Laundering and fraud. He and three others are accused of defrauding hundreds of thousands of people by personally profiting off a scheme to raise money to help build President Trumps bo wall epter witoup called we build the wall, bannon and the others raised 25 million, promising to build a section of the wall themselves. They see that this is a way that they can take action to actually, you know, make happen a physical barrier on the southern border and support President Trump and what President Trump is trying to do. Reporter the group promised donors a brick in the wall with their names on it. Youre not gonna last forever, but your brick will. Reporter the project was started by brian kolfage, an a force vet who lost three limbs r in iraq. In fundraising pitches, he insisted every penny raised would go to the wall. 100 of your money goes towards the wall. Its not going to line someones pockets. Im taking zero dollars as a salary. No compensation. Reporter but the indictment alleges kolfage spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on home renovations, payments toward a boat, a luxury suv, a golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, personal tax payments, and credit card debt. And that bannon himself used hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for his own personal expenses. President trump today downplayed his connections to bannon, who. En reaortehavent been dealing t about it, i ditidth ivement. This isnt for private people. And it sounded to me like showboating. Reporter but the president s son, donald trump jr. , promoted the project at an event last year, saying its exactly the kind of thing the private sector should be doing. This is private enterprise at its finest. Doing it better, faster, cheaper than anything else. And what you guys are doing is pretty amazing. Reporter in a statement today, donald trump jr. Said that other than the speech, he never supported the project and said if the allegations are true, quote, the group deserves to be held accountable. Lets get to jon karl live in washington. Whos been following this all day long. Tonight steve bannon pleaded not guilty and hes out on bail . Reporter out on bail, but his travel is restricted to the d. C. And new york areas. He is not allowed to go on private jets or yachts. David, this is just the latest in a long list of close Trump Associates who have faced criminal charges, including s f poad many people very close to the president at top echelons facing criminal charges. Jon karl leading us off tonight. Jon, thank you. All of this comes as joe biden prepares to accept his partys nomination for president tonight. Hel il w tkemaheas and tonight, what ve learned so far about what biden will say. The president is in pennsylvania, bidens home state, and by design. Abcs mary bruce on the convention again tonight. Reporter tonight, joe biden just hours away from giving the most important political speech of his life. Our cameras spotting him checking out the stage. Biden has been trying to give this speech for more than 30 years, through three runs at the white house. It will be a surreal scene. Speaking before a virtually empty room, biden is expected to highlight his own personal story of loss and resilience. His campaign highlighting his work on behalf of american families. It matters that you have in your mind the family that youre trying to reach, the neighborhood that youre trying to reach, the people whose lives are affected by what you do. Reporter democrats have spent the last three days arguing the president is threatening american democracy and undermining this election. Theyre hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote and to convince you that your vote does not matter. Do not let them take away your power. Do not let them take away your democracy. Reporter Hillary Clinton presenting herself as a cautionary tale, warning democrats not to take anything for granted. Joe and kamala can win by 3 million votes and still lose. Take it from me. So we need numbers overwhelming so trump cant sneak or steal his way to victory. Reporter bidens running mate says shes ready for the fight. I fought against transnational criminal organizations, i took on the biggest banks, and helped take forprofit colleges. Est i know a predator when i see one. Reporter President Trump today counterprograming in pennsylvania, stopping for pizza they supposedly have the best pizza. Reporter he didnt wear a mask, though Pennsylvania HealthAuthorities Say they should be worn in restaurants. Earlier he ripped into his rival at a rally just outside of bidens hometown of scranton. I think you people know it better than i do. He left. He abandoned pennsylvania. He abandoned scranton. He was here for a short period of time. Lets get to mary bruce with wilmington, delaware, m again ustonight. Ro youre learning that even today biden was still putting finishing touches on his speech tonight . Reporter yes, but in many ways joe biden has been preparing for this speech his entire career. While the pandemic largely forced him to campaign behind closed doors, tonight here, joe biden will step before cameras and the nation, his best chance to make his case against President Trump and for his vision for the future. David . Mary bruce with us again tonight. Mary, thank you. Well see you shortly. I hope youll join george, lindsay and me and the entire Political Team for the final night of the democratic convention, 7 00 p. M. Eastern on abc news live, 10 00 p. M. Eastern right here on the network. And the first joint interview with the former Vice President joe biden and senatola makarob will be conducting the first interviews. The exclusive onehour special, sunday night, 8 00 p. M. Eastern right here. We continue with the news tonight and the state of emergency in california. Massive wildfires after that historic lightning siege ignited hundreds of fires. Ni fe to turned deadly. Families fleeing their hes with flames on both sides of the road. This evening, newions just ordereatd. Evacu abcs Clayton Sandell from the. Reporter tonight, homes y engulfed in flames. More families forced to flee as the lightningstoked fires across california take more lives. Power company pg e reporting today that one of their workers helping fire crews fight the blazes was found unconscious in his vehicle and later died. The death comes after chopper pilot Michael Fournier died fighting a different fire, his helicopter crashed in Fresno County yesterday. The lnu lightning complex fire has scorched over 130,000 acres in just two days, an area four times the size of san francisco, and forced more than 20,000 from their homes. Some like Scott Kirshner staying to fight. Just trying to save the house. My fatherinlaws house is down there. Im headed there next. Reporter we met lynn boro at a roadblock. She evacuated in a hurry and forgot her insulin. I had to decide what to pack on very short notice. Reporter after a twohour wait they finally let her back home, but just for a few minutes. Im very thankful they let us come in. Reporter st. Helena hospital in napa county forced to evacuate patients. And Travis Air Force base ordered all nonessential personnel to get out as well. Further south, new evacuations near santa cruz, and the czu lightning complex fire explodes there, burning homes. Tonight visitors and tourists in hotels are being asked to leave the county to make room for fire evacuees. David, there is concern about flareups tonight. Were seeing that here. There is low humidity, lots of dry fuel, and firefighters are stretched thin. David . Claytonk anthagu yo tonight. To the coronavirus now. As more students get back to school, the new study that children who might be silent carriers who dont know theyre sick may have higher levels of the virus than adults who are visibly ill. Tonight, more than 174,000 american lives have now been lost. Syracuse university blasting students at this large party, saying they could force students to leave campus and study from home. The new school year starting in los angeles. All 800,000 students studying remotely. And new york city schools, the teachers there say they want ppe and a robust testing plan before they even go back. And how long some americans y cct now have to wait to get epor aana,re the foote ans ything to this school, today they announced that five of their players tested positive for covid19 along with 75 other students. They now have more than 300 confirmed cases, and students are now having to live with new restrictions. In classes you sit six feet. Youre asked to wear a mask. Reporter Health Officials say this is part of the problem, parties like this one under investigation at syracuse university. This junior at the university of michigan, where more than a dozen students have tested positive, wants her classmates to do better. Your choices will have repercussions. Reporter at purdue today, School Administrators say theyre not kidding and suspended nto re partying just last night. Ni uheitve theyve just connected 89 new bee vto greek houses on campus. I have really bad asthma. Reporter theres a study out tonight that says many of the Nations School children could be, quote, silent spreaders of the disease and that many children with covid19 who have no symptoms can have higher levels of the virus in their airways than sick adults who are hospitalized in icus. There are also new guidelines that schools should only reopen classrooms in areas where veest nts their schools. Only a couple dozen of the 750 counties that we track each week would meet those criteria today. Se lgestchool system in ons los angeles, Remote Learning started this morning. But theres a nationwide shortage of the laptops and devices that schools need. Im still working from home as well, so it was kind of hard for me to try to work and try to get the ipad working as well. So we had to run back up to his school and they tried to fix it. Unfortunately it didnt work, so here we are. Reporter Health Officials are concerned about heading into cold and flu season th covid19. A vaccine, of course, would help, but the governments chief adviser to that program says that a vaccine may not be widely available to most americans until as late as june of next year. June of next year. U. Da d . Ht, steve, thank viyo overseas tonight, one of Vladimir Putins fiercest rivals is now fighting for his life, hospitalized on a ventilator, falling ill on a flight. Was he poisoned . Heres our senior Foreign Correspondent ian pannell. Reporter tonight, russias best known Opposition Leader and outspoken critic to Vladimir Putin in intensive care in a coma amid allegations hes been poisoned. Alexey navalny suddenly fell ill on a flight to moscow. You can hear a painful moan. Other passengers filming just after the plane makes an Emergency Landing in siberia. He was rushed to the hospital where he was put on a and r n tg navpuny was poisoned, perhaps in a cup of tea he drank this morning, although the hospital isnt confirming this. [ speaking Foreign Language ] reporter navalnys a major thorn in the side of the kremlin and Vladimir Putin, often leading antikremlin demonstrations. Hes been beaten up, arrested, and even hospitalized before, again with suspected poisoning. A number of putin opponents have been poisod in the past. Skpals england two years ago and Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 who died after being poisoned. The kremlins always denied involvement. Va want to s get him to europe for medical treatment, and a german out tonight, but so far russian refusing to let him go. David . Ian pannell reporting in live tonight. Ian, thank you. Back here at home, a federal s dge projected presid nancial records private. Manhattan prosecutors subpoenaed the president cords pas rtx itanto hush money payments to stormy daniels. And the Supreme Court did rule that the state investigation can move forward. Today the president called it all a part of a political witchhunt. A note tonight about dr. Anthony fauci. Hes recovering from paut o voc. Hes been a fixture since the pandemic began. He is said to be resting at home and recovering. When we come back here tonight, the plane crashing near chicago, and two tropical systems closing in on the u. S. Ing in on th s. U. I had this 100,000 student debt. 225,000 in debt. Ah, sofi literally changed my life. It was the easiest application process. And paying student loans. Student loans dont have to take over for the rest of your life. Y ght. Student loans dont have to take over amoblv i mmicio in e di for 45 years. For at least eight years. 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When we come back, the fier. Im happy to give you the tour, i loy ohjay. Hi. He helped me set up my watch lists. Oh, hes terrific. Excellent tennis player. Ebye. I yeah she helped me find the right bonds for my income strategy. Youre very popular around here. Theres a birthday going on. Karl he took care of my 401k rollover. Wow, you call a lot. Yeah, well its my money were talking about here. Joining us for karaoke later . Ah, id love to, but people get really emotional when i sing. Help from a team that will exceed your expectations. brian ive had a hcopd. Tack, a heart transplant. Lung cancer. Way, itll get you another. Eke announcer you can quit. For free help, call 1800quitnow. Heres to the duers. To all the people who realize they can du more with less asthma thanks to dupixent, the addon treatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma. Dupixentor sudden breathing problems. And heer asthma attacks. Or eliminate oral steroids. Dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection including stoperoids, without talking to your doctor. Are you ready to du more with less asthma . Talk to your asthma specialist about dupixent. If your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. A small plane has gone off the runway from chicagos rockford rnion one person onoard did not survive. A mother and her six children fght from flando the nerkorce off a she says the airline forced her off when her 2yearold daughter wouldnt wear her mask. Passengers coming to her jet bl all passengers 2 and older must wear a mask. The baseball announcer suspended in the middle of a game. Brncinnati reds broadcaster tom th in e middle of his apology he stopped to call a play. From the bottom of my h, rtea i pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith. As theres a drive into deep left field by castellanos. It will be a home run. Late today, fox sports saying he will nobeoft arirhe t when we come back, two brothers, best friends and the message in a bottle. When we come back, two brothers, best friends and the message in a bottle. When we come back, the two brothers, best friends and a brothers, best friends and a messag tine ot bhetl capital ones toprated app is right here. So you can check your balance, deposit checks, thats banking reimagined. Whats in your wallet . Thousands of women with metastatic Breast Cancer, which is Breast Cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. Ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or foren with hr her2 metastatic Breast Cancer, he first hormonalpausal women basetherapy. Disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. Which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breat before taking ibrance,fe or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, are pregnant, breastfeeding, infections, tiredness, nausea, Team Coverage of the destruction and evacuations from local wildfires. Plus, well go live to cal fires evening update merica stron message in a bottle. Of reportehe story r thiiss er b henry. Growing up in minnesot they have been inseparable since the start. Will is at getting married to his fiance a. J. , and he thought hed ask his brother to be his best man through a message in a bottle. Will had buried it out back. You hit something. What is that . Old bottle. You can see henry lift the bottle, and he notices the message. It says, henry joe reporter he and his brother read it. You are already the best bro, and also thees friend. Friend. So will eaplu ay sse my best man . Love, will. What . Orepou want to be my best man . His brothers arms. . Esyou want to say i love you. Reporter and dont forget the family dog. Buddy hi, david, this is henry. Reporter tonight, henry right here. This is so awesome. Im so excited to be part of the wedding. H, eydad. Vi message for henry. Youre already the best brother. Now youre my best man. Keep spreading the positivity. I hope everyone else does too. We love those brothers. The final night of the convention, 10 00 p. M eastern, and robin and me in our interview, sunday night right here. Good night. Tonight raging wdfires evac alov we are Just Moments Away now from a live update on the fires forcing people from hesom and t cruz mountains. Im not leaving. Im planning to stay here. I haveter, tractorswa, good health. Standing his ground to wildfire that is expected to creek road in sonoma county. Ty. E last night walbridge fire burned through and took many houses with it. Were still downing number. He a ts those fires continue to burn, poor air quatylicloseup n just a moment. Abc7 news at 6 00 begsin the ferocious destruction of the bay areas chimneys crumbled. A driveway to nowhere. A window into in tnog. Houses tang alongside the road. Reporter two houses out of how many . Reporter as the continues amidst breath taking losses, hope remains in it does indeed. Thank you fo im ama daetz. Well hear from cal czu lightni complex. You can see the setup is ready to go from scotts valley. Lightning sparked wildfires. So many and so large that they are now turned complexes. You can see them all around the bay area. The initials you seeam at th in different cal the lnu lightning complex is the walbridge fire. It has destroyedesom hn sonoma county. Wayne freedman h aas io ae . T b some of the destruct