that's what's making news in america this morning. right now on "america this morning," the democrats' big night. the party's major figures out in force as kamala harris makes history accepting the vice presidential nomination taking on racial injustice. >> there is no vaccine for racism. >> and former president obama with his searing critique of trump saying he's using the presidency as, quote, one more reality show. >> he has shown no interest in putting in the work. >> our experts break down what's next. chaos in california. the devastating wildfires tearing through the state burning homes, destroying cars and displacing thousands. firefighters struggling to keep up with the spread. why residents say this deadly outbreak is different than what they've seen before.

new this morning, a baseball broadcaster suspended after using an anti-gay slur. >> i don't know if i would be putting on this headset again. >> his apology before pulled off air. plus, strangers lifting a car to free a woman. the dramatic rescue caught on camera. fighting covid-19 with fashion. the new apparel claiming to inactivate germs and viruses. and the must see video. one family's close call with a whale. >> oh, my god. good thursday morning, everyone. i'm mona kosar abdi. >> i'm will reeve in for kenneth moton. we begin with a historic night at the democratic national convention. senator kamala harris officially accepting the vice presidential nomination. >> harris vowed that she and joe biden will deal with challenges honestly and fight for the ideals of the country. the democrats continue to highlight biden's empathy and lifetime of public service drawing a sharp contrast with

president trump. ent back c'in de la cuetara joins us from washington with the highlights. good morning, ines. >> reporter: good morning, will and mona. a number of speeches last night seemed to focus on the notion democracy itself is on the line in this upcoming election. >> i accept your nomination for vice president of the united states of america. >> reporter: overnight, california senator kamala harris making history as the first black woman and asian-american to formally join a major party's presidential ticket. >> we must elect a president who something better and do the important work. we must elect joe biden. >> reporter: harris giving the keynote on day three of a virtual dnc. >> this virus, it has no eyes

and yet it knows exactly how we see each other and how we treat each other, and let's be clear, there is no vaccine for racism. >> reporter: former president barack obama delivering perhaps the largest rebuke a former president has ever offered of a current one. >> i did hope for the sake of our country that donald trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously. this administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that's what it takes for them to win. >> reporter: hillary clinton with a similar message. >> remember back in 2016 when trump asked, what do you have to lose? well, now we know, our health care, our jobs, our loved ones, our leadership in the world and even our post office. >> reporter: president trump hitting back tweeting throughout the night after making these comments earlier wednesday.

>> the reason i'm here is because of president obama and joe biden, because if they did a good job, i wouldn't be here. >> reporter: and tonight joe biden will take center stage to close out the convention. he plans to accept his party's nomination from wilmington, delaware. will and mona. >> thank you, ines. and as ines mentioned, biden will make his pitch to the american people tonight, which is the final night of the convention. >> our political director rick klein calls it a moment 30 years in the making. >> joe biden finally about to give the acceptance speech that he's waited so long to deliver, perhaps the highest profile speech of a very long political career at a moment where he hasn't done that much in public. the nation's attention has been scattered in so many different places. joe biden is tonight is going to sell normalcy above all else. this isn't about policy. this really isn't about laying out what he would do as president so much as what he

would restore as president, bringing back that sense of calm that he and his fellow democrats have been trying to project throughout this convention as a contrast with president trump. >> our thanks to rick, and tonight, as always, count on abc news for complete coverage as joe biden delivers his convention address. now to the breaking news out of california where firefighters are battling hundreds of new wildfires. the fast-moving flames forcing entire towns to evacuate, and now the fires have turned deadly. this morning, fear and devastation across california. >> we've been through a lot of fires, a lot of fires in this area. nothing like this. >> it was like the entire wall of the forest was just coming at us down the road. >> i looked up, and the back of my house was on fire. >> reporter: hundreds of wildfires ravaging the state. the bay area now the hardest hit of all. >> fire coming down the hill, so we are leaving. >> reporter: thousands in the region woke up in the middle of the night to find ominous scenes. >> i could see the red glow, and

i was hearing explosions. >> you had fire up and here and embers over here. >> reporter: one woman saying she was only able to escape the oncoming flames because a friend called to warn her. >> she told me before it came that it was coming, so that helped. otherwise, we probably wouldn't have known in time. >> reporter: and near fresno a helicopter en route for aerial support crashed killing the pilot and sparking yet another fire. officials say thursday that multiple wildfires have now burned into each other creating massive spans of flames called complexes including one near santa clara that has burned nearly 100,000 acres. >> the size and complexity at which these incidents are burning is challenging all aspects of emergency response. >> reporter: in napa more than 46,000 acres have burned and at least 2,000 homes are threatened, and more than 50 have already been destroyed. and near santa cruz, a staggering 22 fires have burned together. more than 20,000 people now evacuated amid the serious threat to safety. >> code 3 ambulance for burn

injuries. two victims en route. >> reporter: firefighters now urging anyone in the fire's path to take their safety into their own hands. >> even if you think the fire is a far distance away, we don't know what is going to happen. we need everybody to take responsibility for their own evacuation. >> reporter: and with much of the bay area covered in smoke, which can be seen from space, health officials warn the region's air quality is now the worst in the world. and now breaking overseas, russia's most prominent opposition politician apparently poisoned and is now in grave condition. a spokesman says alexi navalny is on a ventilator at a hospital in siberia after falling ill on a flight. she believes his tea was poisoned. the 44-year-old is a vocal critic of the kremlin barred from running against vladimir putin two years ago. and breaking overnight here in this country, a massive settlement in flint, michigan, over the water crisis. the state will pay flint residents $600 million.

chilenurbyt crisis. the contamination began in 2014 when the city changed its water supply. researchers found high levels of lead in the water after residents started complaining of health concerns. teachers across the country are pushing back against re-opening classrooms for in-person learning at least until they're sure safety protocols are in place. after nearly two dozen states reported outbreaks on campuses health officials warn young people are driving the spread of the virus. abc's andrea fujii has more. >> reporter: this morning, a new coronavirus study released overnight finds some asymptomatic children can carry a viral load higher than hospitalized adults. troubling news as schools and colleges across the country struggle with re-opening. >> there have been some studies to show that children from 10 to 19 can transmit to adults as easily as adults transmit to adults. >> reporter: with many new york schools set to start in weeks,

some offering in-person instruction, governor andrew cuomo called re-opening risky and problematic. >> look at manhattan on a thursday night and friday night and saturday night and tell me how well they've been listening. do you think their behavior is going to change? >> reporter: now the new york city teachers union threatening legal action unless their school's safety plan is met. >> this city went through hell and came back, and we are not going back to hell because of shortsighted political agendas. >> reporter: in detroit though it's illegal in michigan for teachers to strike, they threatened to walk out concerned about safety. >> we will do whatever we need to do to ensure the health and safety of our members and of our students. >> reporter: nearly 80 teachers in utah quit over covid concerns, and an emotional hearing in the ongoing case brought by florida teachers to stop in-person learning. >> i've chosen my kids, my students, over so many difficult

things, but i can't put my family at risk. >> reporter: leaders around the country enforcing measures to curb the virus. in los angeles, the mayor shutting off utilities at this mansion reportedly owned by tiktok star bryce hall where several big events violated health orders. the move coming a week after the mayor announced a crackdown on party houses. as cases spike in puerto rico, the governor announcing the territory will now be on lockdown every sunday, residents only allowed to leave home for essentials. in the u.s. virgin islands cases nearly doubled in the past week with more than 200 new cases. tourists now banned for a month. mona, will. >> andrea, thank you. and time now for a look at your weather for this thursday morning.ia see another one of these today. a waterspout as more storms roll through that area.

this waterspout briefly came on land as a tornado taking down some trees causing some other damage. luckily there were no reported injuries. miami gets to 90 degrees today. some fall-like temperatures up in the northeast this morning before things warm up. phoenix reaching 110 or above for the 43rd time this summer. that is a new record. most of the interior west remains quite hot. coming up, the country's first $2 trillion company. also ahead, the dramatic rescue caught on camera. a group of people lifting this suv off of a woman. this morning we're hearing from one of the rescuers. the investigation under way after a plane was seen flying under a bridge. how will 2020 census data be used? where there are more people, there are more needs for public services. that's why the census is used by the government to inform funding decisions each year. but that's not all. it's also used by nonprofits to inform services,

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back now with the second story of a home damaged by a car.cen sld y 50 feet, high enough to hit the second story of have home. the driver taken into custody after fleeing the scene. a woman inside the home was injured. now to that amazing rescue caught on camera in new york. >> a group of people lifting this car off a woman trapped underneath. now we're hearing from one of those good samaritans. this morning, a dramatic rescue caught on camera in new york city. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. oh, my god, oh, my god. >> reporter: a woman struck by an suv then pinned u swing of o lifting the vehicle off the trapped woman. >> crazy afternoon, i got to tell you. >> reporter: jesse hershkowitz was one of those good samaritans. >> there was one guy there who initiated everything. he had stepped towards the car initially and made a gesture that it was liftable and that we could move it.

there were probably four or five people positioned on the passenger side. another handful behind the car pushing, and we lifted it up onto the two driver side wheels, moved it forward, you know, about four or five feet so that it was clear of the woman who was underneath. >> reporter: and although witnesses say the woman was very badly hurt, she was alive. >> i saw her wiggle her feet, and i think at one point, you know, he asked her if she was able to squeeze his finger. in retrospect that's probably one of the best teams i've ever performed on. >> incredible. right now the woman's identity and current condition are unknown. police say it's unclear who was at fault. and coming up, the new fashion trend, covid-fighting clothes. also ahead, the president of an nba team pushed by a police officer after winning the nba title last year. why the new body cam video is raising questions about what

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back now with an aerial mystery in michigan. state police and the coast guard want to know who flew this small plane under the bridge that connects michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. it happened the last sunday in june. politician called the move extremely reckless. and now to the sports broadcaster suspended indefinitely after using an anti-gay slur during a major league baseball game. thom brennaman is the play-by-play announcer. he made a homophobic slur live on a hot mic apparently not realizing he was on the air. brennaman apologized later in the game. >> i made a comment earlier tonight that i guess went out over the air that i am deeply ashamed of. if i have hurt anyone out there, i can't tell you how much i say from the bottom of my heart, i'm so very, very sorry. i don't know if i'm going to be putting on this headset again.

that is not who i am and never has been. and i'd like to think maybe i could have some people that could back that up. >> another broadcaster then replaced brennaman in the booth. the reds releasing a statement saying the team is, quote, devastated by the remark. newly released video provides a very different look at an on court altercation at the end of last year's nba finals in california. the alameda county sheriff claimed raptors president masai ujiri shoved a deputy when he was told he didn't have the right credentials but body cam shows ujiri being shoved first as he reached for his pass. the video was released by attorney generals representing ujiri in a lawsuit. apple made some history becoming the first wit sre. shares of apple are up nearly 58% fueled by strong sales despite and during the pandemic. the company crossing the $1 trillion threshold just two years ago. by the end of trading wednesday

apple slipped back under that $2 trillion level. and today a big day for moviegoers. the amc movie chain re-opening theaters at more than 100 locations. tickets costing only 15 cents, but those prices are good for today only. it's part of the chain's centennial celebration. the coronavirus has inspired a new fashion trend. antimicrobial clothing. designers are creating new lines using the latest technology they say that can add extra layers of protection. it inactivates the virus when attaching to the virus and can see some hitting the market as early as next week. >> everything in our household has changed and how we sort of even clean things in our household has changed. there's no reason why your clothes wouldn't have a layer of protection. >> the italian clothing maker diesel claims some of its new jeans can disable 99% of viral activity in two hours. experts say there are no studies showing the virus lives on clothing. coming up, what else is new?

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if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. ♪ we hope you're on beat because "the pulse" begins with another quarterback named manning. >> yeah, arch manning is a sophomore at a new orleans high school. you may have heard of his uncles, peyton and eli manning. >> arch has gotten hype. he's just been ranked as the nation's top high school quarterback in the class of 2023. he's already been offered scholarships from several schools including his uncles' alma maters tennessee and ole miss, the son of the third manning brother cooper. next the luckiest guy in the world.

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in santa cruz county this morning. and this is why. this is video we just got in of homes going up in flames. there are evacuation orders for the coastal town of davenport all the way south to the santa cruz city limits. and julian glover is in santa cruz county and we'll check in with him in a moment. but first we want to show you this map, it shows the evacuation zone. it includes boulder creek,

any do you knune. and the lightning fires are also forcing evacuations across san mateo county. and these orders include low low made mar, dearborn park and the surrounding areas. we know the heat and winds of course playing a big role in how firefighters are able to battle these flames. >> and we have some breezy conditions around fairfield and vacaville also, and that will bring an increase in the humidity, it woulded lower our temperatures, but the winds could es. in vacavi to 6 miles per hour. the not too bad there. and the winds will pick up around 15 miles per hour, maybe up to 20 at times during the afternoon hours. and then calm down hopefully a

little bit during the evening hours. that is the forecast for now. and you can see the higher elevations are a little quiet up in the northern part of sonoma and southern lake counties there, and that is good news because the winds will pick up during the afternoon hours also up to 15 it 20 miles per hoto 2 per around. and in san mateo county, you can see that we have a light breeze, 5 to 8 miles per hour. and notice the temperatures, we're just a touch milder this morning. not quite as mild as they are in the lower elevations where most of us live, and i'll show you that in a second. the excessive heat warning is ovaverage.temperatures still >> and we want to check in with julian who is in santa cruz county this morning. we saw that video of those homes going up in seeing now? >> reporter: good morning.

we're actually staged at the command center where we expect to get an update at 6:00 this morning so we don't have any vantage point of the quickly spreading fire, but we know right now from cal fire the fire sits at around 25,000 acres, 0% containment. and there is new video shot overnight from bonny doon, this is on empire grade road. and there are a alfew cars torc as well. evacuation orders currently in place for 20,000 people.people.. and is an gregorio all the way south in the county as this fire is burning.