Pence jonins us this morning. Those Deadly Wildfires in the west just keep growing. Hundreds of blazes burning out of control. Were live from the fire zone and the double tropical threat. Two possible hurricanes now on track for the south. Florida and texas already hit hard by the pandemic now bracing for the powerful storms. Arrested. President trumps former campaign chief and top adviser steve bannon charged with defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors to build a border wall. Bannon taken into custody on 150foot, 28 million luxury yacht. College covid crackdown. Health officials warn about parties driving the spread. At least 22 states reporting outbreaks on campuses. North carolina state blames offcampus parties for moving to online classes. Judgment day. Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband just hours away from learning their fate as a judge gets ready to hand down their sentences on zoom. Both about to face prison time, but for how long . And friendly competition. Okay, you want to play . Okay, lets play. Jennifer aniston versus Courteney Cox in an epic game of pool but which star is the ultimate shark . Hit me with your best shot fire away good morning, america. Happy friday to you all. Its a big it was a big night for joe biden last night. Definitely was and take a look at this. Its a real sign of the times. The end of an unconventional convention, the socially distant drivein celebration with fireworks after the former Vice President formally accepted his partys nomination for president. That speech more than three decades in the making. Biden put the covid crisis front and center in this election, laid out the stakes in sharp terms and promised to be a president for all americans. Mary bruce is in wilmington, delaware, with all the highlights. Good morning, mary. Reporter good morning, george. This was the most important speech of joe bidens political life. One he has waited decades to deliver. It was passionate and personal. The strongest remarks yet of his campaign. The new nominee pitching himself as the man who can meet this moment and help heal a nation saying he can restore hope in times of darkness. Joe biden overnight celebrating a moment more than 30 years in the making. Accepting the nomination with a passionate promise to unite the country. This is our moment, this is our mission. May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of american darkness began here tonight as love and hope and light join in the battle for the soul of the nation and this is a battle we will win and well do it together. I promise you. Reporter biden declaring he is the leader who can guide the country back into the light. The current president has cloaked american darkness for much too long. Too much anger, too much fear, too much division. Here and now i give you my word, if you entrust me with the presidency, i will draw on the best of us, not the worst. Ill be an ally of the light, not the darkness. Reporter speaking to the nation from a virtually empty room, biden was introduced by the family members who urged him to run including his four granddaughters and even his late son, beau. My father, my hero, joe biden. [ applause ] reporter in his address biden didnt mention Donald Trumps name once, but he was blunt in saying america cannot afford another four years of his presidency. If hes given four more years, hell be what hes been for the last four years. The president takes no responsibility, refuses to lead, blames others. Cozies up to dictators and fans the flames of hate and division. Hell wake up every day believing the job is all about him, never about you. Reporter instead, biden vowed to be a president for all americans. Ill work hard for those who didnt support me, as hard as i do for those who did vote for me. Reporter attacking trumps response to the pandemic biden said his first priority, get the virus under control. Our current president has failed in his most basic duty to the nation. Hes failed to protect us. Hes failed to protect america. And, my fellow americans, that is unforgivable. Reporter and in his moment of reconning, biden optimistic change is coming. History has thrust one more urgent task on us, will we be the generation that finally wipes out racism from our National Character . I believe were up to it. I believe were ready. Reporter as voters make their choice, biden making clear whats at stake. Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot. Decency, science, democracy, theyre all on the ballot. Who we are as a nation, what we stand for, most importantly who we want to be, thats all on the ballot. And the choice could not be more clear. Reporter now the president once again was tweeting throughout much of the night and just as joe biden was wrapping up his remarks, trump wrote, quote, in 47 years joe did none of the things of which he now speaks. He will never change, just words. George . The case hell be making at the Republican Convention next week and robin and david muir will sit down with joe biden and Kamala Harris on sunday at 8 00 p. M. Michael . Thank you, george. Now to the california wildfire emergency thats taken a deadly turn. At least six people have now been killed. The flames rapidly spreading scorching more than 560,000 acres across the entire state forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. Clayton sandell is in napa county with the latest this morning. Good morning, clayton. Reporter hey, good morning to you, michael. One of the many wildfires here came roaring through napa county overnight. You can see this garage building here behind me destroyed. A van parked inside or what used to be a van. The good news is that the house down the hill here was saved, but not by professional firefighters. It was saved by civilians who are fighting to save their community. This morning, california is fighting a losing battle as destructive and deadly new fires ignite all over the state. We are still sitting at zero percent containment. Reporter around the clock crews are battling massive flames that have already destroyed at least 175 homes, threatening 50,000 more. This is huge. This is almost unprecedented. Reporter Authorities Say at least six people have died and two are missing. Across california, there are simply too many fires and not enough firefighters. Some of these fires were allowed to smolder because, frankly, we didnt have the resources to get out there and put eyes on them. Reporter private citizens are now taking matters into their own hands. In napa county we met residents who formed a renegade fire brigade bringing their own hoses and chainsaws. Desperately racing to save a neighbors home. This is a community. This isnt the first fire. So, yes, of course i know everybody pitches in. It doesnt matter whether its your property or not. Reporter it was too late to save the barn. These people are making a desperate effort to try and save these structures here. You can see that one is already completely engulfed. But with an assist from helicopters above they stopped the flames just a few feet from the front door. How many homes have you been able to save . Probably four for sure, four ranches. Reporter conditions getting worse for people in the fire zone with blackouts, a grueling heat wave and nearly unbreathable, unhealthy air. If im thinking about it too hard ill just start crying. Reporter officials are warning civilian not to form their own fire bribrigades. They say theyre putting their lives here in danger. Folks we met here say theyll be out here as long as it takes. George . Thanks very much. We turn now to the arrest of President Trumps former campaign chief and Top White House strategist steve bannon. Taken into custody from a 150foot yacht. Bannon is the sixth closest trump associate to be indicted joining paul manafort, rick gates, roger stone, Michael Cohen and former National Security adviser michael flynn. Jon karl has the story. Good morning, jon. Reporter good morning, george. Steve bannon is calling the charges against him a fiasco. He has pleaded not guilty but these are serious allegations against the president s former chief strategist accused of ripping off hundreds of thousands of people, most if not all of them almost certainly trump supporters. Overnight steve bannon appeared defiant as he emerged from a new york courthouse after pleading not guilty to charges of Money Laundering and fraud. Bannon was arrested while aboard this 28 million luxury yacht owned by an exiled chinese billionaire off the coast of connecticut. Bannon ran Donald Trumps president ial campaign in 2016 and went to the white house as his chief strategist. He and three others are accused of defrauding hundreds of thousands of people, allegedly profiting off a scheme to raise money to help build President Trumps promised wall on the mexican border. Build that wall. Build that wall. Reporter with a group called we the build wall, bannon and the others raised 25 million promising to build a section of the wall themselves and offering donors a brick with their names on it. Youre not going to last forever but your brick will. Reporter this is a fundraising video of the group from february 2019. Its really the heart of the trump movement. I think its one of the reasons if not the reason that Donald Trumps president of the United States. Reporter the group was who lost three limbs in iraq. An air force vet who lost three limbs in iraq. In fundraising pitches he insisted every penny raised would go to the wall. Everyone who donates right now, your money goes towards this wall, 100 of your money goes towards the wall. Its not going to line someones pocket. Im taking zero dollars as a salary. No compensation. Its going towards the wall. Reporter the indictment alleges kolfage used hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for personal expenses including home renovation, payment towards a boit, a luxury suv, a golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, personal tax payments and credit card debt. The indictment alleges bannon himself used hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for his own expenses. President trump called the charges very sad and downplayed his connections to bannon who he fired three years ago. I feel very badly. I havent been dealing with him for a long period of time. Reporter the president said he never liked the build the wall campaign. When i read about it, i didnt like it. I said this is for government, 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 it is 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 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. Bannon has been released on 5 million bail. His travel is restricted to the new york and d. C. Areas and, cecilia, he is also not allowed to travel on private jets or yachts. Okay, jon, thank you so much. Well stay in washington and the postmaster general is now set to testify later today on capitol hill. This Senate Hearing comes after trump ally louis dejoy implemented costcutting initiatives that many say led to service delays around the country. He since backtracked on those plans, but the accusations that mailin voting would be in jeopardy for the election remain. On monday dejoy will also testify before the House Oversight committee. Were going to turn to the latest on the coronavirus emergency with cases in the u. S. Nearing 5. 6 million. This as we see a covid19 crackdown at colleges around the country happening now as students are returning to campuses and ignoring those health warnings. Whit johnson joins us with more. Good morning, whit. Reporter cecilia, good morning to you. Here at New York University you can see the large testing tent behind me here. Thats because students are required to get a covid19 test before they can go back to class and theres a mandatory 14day quarantine for anyone whos coming here from hot spots, but what many colleges are learning across the country is that their safety plans only go so far if students dont listen. This morning, Health Officials sounding the alarm about wild College Parties driving the spread of coronavirus. This video sparking outrage and an investigation at syracuse university, a Large Group Gathering on the quad. The vice chancellor saying it may have done damage enough to shut down campus. I think maybe syracuse should take this as a sign to just just to stop the semester and allow people to do remote and online. Reporter nationwide at least 22 states reporting outbreaks on college campuses. N. C. State the latest to move to online instruction blaming offcampus parties for covid clusters. Purdue suspending 36 students for a Party Wednesday night and the university of kansas reporting 87 students tested positive linking a large majority of those cases to fraternities and sororities. Its irresponsible for us to return at the capacity that we are and under its current plan. Reporter at notre dame the Football Team canceling practice for a second day after five players tested positive. That school already switching to Remote Learning with more than 300 cases. Dr. Deborah birx of the Coronavirus Task force urging universities to beef up their testing capabilities to process thousands of samples in a single day. Each university not only has to do entrance testing, but what we really talked to every university about is being able to do surge testing. Reporter now, the chief adviser to the u. S. Vaccine effort, operation warp speed, says we should know if we have a safe and effective vaccine by the end of this year but he also predicts that vaccine likely wont be widely available to most americans until as late as june of 2021. Michael . All right, whit, thank you for that. Appreciate it. Now we turn to that double tropical threat. Two possible hurricanes now on track for the south and, of course, ginger is tracking the latest for us this morning. Good morning, ginger. Reporter michael, ive never seen this and weve not seen two hurricanes in the gulf of mexico since 1933. Were going to see this from the keys all the way to texas. South eastern bahamas, puerto rico involved there. Then it makes it way back into the gulf. Plenty of hot water for these two potential hurricanes. This one be on alert. Cecelia . Very rough out there. Thanks so much. We turn to the latest on Vladimir Putins common rival in a this morning, suspected of being poisoned. Ian pannell joins us with more on this, ian, there is now a push to get him out of russia for treatment . Reporter yeah, thats right, and russian doctors controversially claiming that he wasnt poisoned after all and, yes, theyre still refusing to let him fly to europe for treatment and this is against the wishes of his family, colleagues and his doctor. Were just hearing german doctors have been granted access to see him. The 44yearold as you know is russias highest profile opposition leader, vocal critic of the kremlin and Vladimir Putin and became ill on a flight to moscow. This video from the airport shows the activist before he boarded the plane. His spokesperson saying he was poisoned possibly in a cup of tea that he drank there. Now, on the plane can you hear a painful moaning in a video recorded by passengers. Others filmed as the plane makes a landing in siberia and navalny is put onto a stretcher and rushed to the hospital. Navalnys team claim that they were told the substance in his system was dangerous for anyone to be around him and they accuse the kremlin of blocking his evacuation from siberia in a deliberate attempt to cover up his poisoning. The russian government is accused of poisoning its critics in the past, of course, george . What a precarious situation, thanks very much. Were following judgment day for Lori Loughlin. Full house star and her husband hours away from sentencing. We have new details this morning. Also, the mother speaking out after being forced off a flight because her 2yearold would not wear a face mask but first lets go over to ginger. Reporter you know, cecelia, the impacts of the storms will have to be fine tuning through the weekend. Right now certainly preparing for rain. Your local weather in 30 seconds. First the weekend forecast sponsored by caesars rewards. Stay right there. Well be right back with all the action from the nba playoffs. I have a lot to tell you about. You know all about that. What if i sleep hot . Or cold . Of the year on the new sleep number 360 smart bed. No problem, with temperature balancing you can sleep better together. Can it help keep me asleep . Absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable will it help me keep up with mom . You got this. So you can really promise better sleep . Not promise. Prove. Its our weekend special. 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