right now on "america this morning," president biden outlines his plan to get the pandemic under control announcing sweeping new vaccine mandates affecting up to 100 million workers. this morning the reaction. republicans slamming the plan as a giant overreach. the new threat of legal action and what's next. 20 years later, the final preparations for tomorrow's solemn ceremonies marking two decades since the 9/11 attacks. are we safer than we were 20 years ago? our experts weigh in, plus, we check in with the children of 9/11 victims, their journeys and how far they've come and we hear from the american airlines ticket agent who was witness to history. thriller in tampa.

the nfl season kicks off with a down to the wire nail-biter. what tom brady said after it was over. plus, dream showdown. two teenage phenoms now set to face off at the u.s. open. seeing into the future. the new eyeglasses from facebook. and later if you enjoy pinball machines, we have a sale for you. ♪ sure plays a mean pinball ♪ good friday morning, everyone. we begin with new reaction to president biden and his sweeping new covid vaccine mandates. >> the mandates will affect about 100 million workers. it comes amid a crushing new wave of covid cases. six states have now requested ventilators from the government. >> and just yesterday texas reported a record number of deaths. abc's elizabeth schulze is here with the latest on the president's plan. elizabeth, good morning. >> reporter: andrew, good morning to you. president biden is delivering a blunt message to the millions of americans still not vaccinated

against covid. >> we've been patient, our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us. >> reporter: president biden announced sweeping coronavirus vaccine mandates thursday requiring all federal workers and government contractors to be fully vaccinated. he's also ordering all businesses with more than 100 employees to require shots or weekly testing for their workers. companies that fail to comply could face fines of $14,000 per violation. >> what makes it incredibly more frustrating is that we have the tools to combat covid-19 and a distinct minority of americans supported by a distinct minority of elected officials are keeping us from turning the corner. >> reporter: this morning, republican lawmakers are vowing to fight the new measures. >> my legal team is working and we will defend and protect our people from this unlawful mandate. >> reporter: governor brian

kemp of georgia posting he will pursue every legal option to stop this blatantly unlawful overreach by the biden administration. and now the largest federal law enforcement union is pushing back saying the president's mandate will only undermine the voluntary vaccination effort. but last night the white house standing firm in its decision. >> given that we do have a group of people in this country who have decided not to get vaccinated to date, we are very confident that pulling this lever of vaccination requirements across 100 million workers will have a big impact. >> reporter: the president's push comes as covid cases climb. especially among children. los angeles last night became the first major school district to mandate vaccines for eligible students over 12. >> there's a long history of vaccine requirements for public school attendance, so i think it makes tremendous sense to add covid to the list as well. students who are immunocompromised deserve to have a safe experience at

sc >> reporter: and the debate over masks in schools turning ugly in tennessee. teenager grady knox was trying to make the case for masks only to be mocked by the crowd when >> my grandmother, who was a former teacher at the rutherford county school system, died of covid because someone wasn't wearing a mask. this is a very -- >> no. >> this is a very -- >> shut up. >> reporter: meantime, as covid cases surge more companies are postponing their return to normalcy. microsoft is now telling its employees their return to the office will be delayeds indefinitely. >> elizabeth, thank you. the tsa is increasing the fine for airline passengers who don't wear a mask. this confrontation on a jetblue flight is the latest example of an unruly passenger. fines will now range from $500 for first time offenders to $3,000 for second time offenders. the justice department is suing texas over its new

abortion l restrictive in the country. attorney general merrick garland slammed the law saying it was passed in open defiance of the constitution. the law bans abortions at around six weeks before most women even know they're pregnant and it leaves enforcement up to private citizens through lawsuits that can earn them payouts of $10,000 or more. >> does not rely on the state's executive branch to enforce the law, rather the statute deputizes all private citizens without any showing of personal connection or injury to serve as bounty hunters. >> it has no exception for rape or incest, but texas governor greg abbott says he's confident it will hold up in court. a federal court could potentially block the law within a week or two, but texas is expected to appeal any injunction all the way to the supreme court. tomorrow marks 20 years since the 9/11 attacks, and as we prepare to mark the solemn anniversary, this morning we take a look at what's changed in those 20 years and what hasn't from our homeland security to

the families of the nearly 3,000 victims, it's been a long journey since that historic day. this morning, final preparations under way to mark 20 years since the september 11th attack. president biden will attend ceremonies at each of the sites where a total of 2,977 americans were killed after hijackers simultaneously took over four planes. >> we just got a report in that there's been some sort of explosion at the world trade center in new york city. >> reporter: two planes flown into the world trade center in new york, one plane hitting the pentagon, the fourth plane crashing in pennsylvania after the passengers stormed the cockpit. an investigation quickly revealed the hijackers were members of al qaeda, a terror group given safe haven in afghanistan by the taliban. it would take ten years before the u.s. killed the mastermind, osama bin laden. ayman al zawahiri rngs ptian doctorin n

say al qaeda could regenerate then there's isis-k, the group behind last month's bombing in kabul which killed 13 u.s. service members. >> the threat today is different than wha it has evolved and morphed, and in some ways we are in a better place, but in other ways it's more complex. >> reporter: in the meantime, a former airport worker is still grappling with guilt. >> everything brings you back to that morning. >> reporter: vaughn alex was a ticket agent at dulles airport on 9/11 when two late arriving passengers came rushing through the terminal. what vaughn didn't know the men were the alhazmi brothers, two of the hijackers that would crash the plane into the pentagon. >> i thought, you know, if i had done something different, if i had not let them on and just said to the agents, these two guys are late, let them get the next flight.

i realize that there's probably nothing i could have done to prevent what happened. i've come to terms with that. >> reporter: meanwhile, in new york remains recovered after that fateful day are still being identified and the reconstruction in lower manhattan remains a work in progress. google earth releasing this time-lapsed video documenting the rebuilding at the site where the twin towers once stood. and in the shadow of the new freedom tower that now stands tall over the site the children who lost fathers and mothers on that day. diane sawyer back in 2001 sat down with a group of young families who lost someone in the attack including scott larson who was 4 years old when his father was killed. today, he's a firefighter working in the same firehouse where his dad once worked. >> i look exactly like my father. everything from the beauty marks on my face to every single thing. i mean, like identical. >> diane sawyer will bring you many more stories from the children of during a prime time special at 10:00 eastern and

join us tomorrow at 8:00 eastern for live coverage of the anniversary ceremonies. new details about the passengers on the first international flight to leave kabul since the u.s. military withdrawal. the state department says just 10 u.s. citizens and 11 grcaol 200 people on board the charter flight that landed in qatar even though nearly 40 americans were invited to fly out. the white house says the taliban was cooperative and professional in allowing the departure. breaking overnight, president biden called chinese president xi jinping amid growing tensions between the u.s. and china. after the 90-minute conversation the white house said the two leaders spoke about making sure that competition does not veer into conflict and said they could cooperate on issues like climate change if both sides respect each other's concerns. dangerous fire conditions in northern california are forcing more people from their homes. this new video shows firefighters escaping the monument fire with flames surrounding their truck. the fire has burned more than

300 square miles and forced part of a remote town to evacuate. a red flag warning is in effect today with low humidity and the potential for lightning. all right. time now for a look at your friday weather. hurricane olaf roared ashore overnight near the mexican resort town of cabo san lucas with winds around 100 miles an hour. the storm is expected to drop up to 15 inches of rain. thousands of tourists are sheltering in their hotels. in the u.s. showers and storms expected today along the gulf coast and rain in the forecast for the northwest. checking today's high temperatures, 69 degrees in seattle. still hot in the middle of the country, 98 in denver, 70s in the northeast today. coming up, another major company offers free college tuition for its employees. but first new details about a little girl's death on this popular amusement park ride. and later this morning, tom brady does it again. ♪

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back now with this wild crash. a truck slams into a toll booth near mexico city. two people were killed, and the driver was injured. officials say the truck overturned as it was approaching the area, but no word on what caused that crash. breaking overnight, an air force bay in ohio placed on lockdown after reports of a shooter. the all-clear was given four hours later. investigators are still trying to determine how a little girl plunged 110 feet to her death at a colorado amusement park. the 6-year-old was with her family on the vertical drop ride at glennwood caverns adventure park. a friend says the parent's world is shattered, but they are

demanding change in their daughter's name. >> they don't want anyone to do through what they are going through right now. so they're going to do everything they can to make sure this never happens again. even through her death, she's going to make a difference. >> meanwhile, authorities say the ride was last inspected in june and passed inspection since it opened in 2017. we'll hear more from that family friend and have details on a potential legal troubles for the park later on "good morning america." amazon is sending workers to school for fr. beginning in january, hourly staffers can have their college tuition and fees covered. some workers will be eligible after three months on the job. gu.p.s. is hiring 100,000 workers for the holiday season.

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colder than normal. they say prices this winter could be the highest in 13 years due to less supply and higher demand. we turn to florida. police revealed how they foiled a school shooting plot. >> reporter: this morning, police near ft. myers, florida, say they foiled a mass shooting plot at this middle school. >> this could have turned disastrous. we are one second away from a columbine here. >> reporter: 13 and 14-year-old boys arrested after police say another student told a teacher one of the teens had a gun. authorities say no gun was found but they found a map with locations of all the school's security cameras. and they say search warrants at the boy's homes turned up a gun and several knives. the kids had been studying the columbine massacre. and in north carolina -- [ gunfire ] this video shows high schoolers shooting more than 150 bullets

into a home in charlotte. inside, a 3-year-old boy was killed while he was sleeping. the suspects, on the run. police say the violence stems from a feud with local students. one of six recent shootings. >> how can you wake up this morning knowing that your actions last night took the life of a 3-year-old who will never get the opportunity to grow up and play and have fun? >> reporter: and not far away, a salem, north carolina high school was placed on lockdown last week after a student was accused of shooting and killing another student. as for that foiled plot in florida, police say the boys will be evaluated at a mental health facility and charged with conspiracy to commit a mass shooting. police say they've been to the boy's homes nearly 80 times in the past. mona, andrew? >> andrea, thank you.

in sports, it's a new season but the same results. another comeback win for tom brady. he threw for four touchdowns last night, in the season opener against the cowboy needed a las drive to set up the field goal and they got it. brady spoke about the fundamentals and family after the game. >> that's football. it's never perfect. but sometimes you got to get the win. we got it, and we got obviously a lot of work to do. >> congratulations. thanks for the talk, tom. >> i want to say hi to my parents and my wife and kids are home sleeping. daddy loves you and see you in the morning. >> and it was brady's 49th game winning drive. the u.s. women's final will be an all-teenage affair. the 18-year-old from the uk will face the 19-year-old canadian. it will be the first all-teen

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live every moment. glucerna. checking the top stories. republican governors are accusing joe biden of overreaching and they're vowing to sue after he announced sweeping changes to get more americans vaccinated. he's ordering companies with more than 100 workers to mandate vaccines. >> the white house has withdrawn its nominee to lead the atf. david shipman was facing bipartisan opposition and the atf has not had a director for six years. juul is waiting to hear from the fda whether it will be allowed to keep selling vaping products here in the u.s. critics want more federal oversight. today's weather. storms in the northwest bring rain and lightning. sunny and hot in the plains. rain along the gulf coast and in florida.

finally, a story of one mother and her biological son finding each other again. >> it's a story of hope, determination, and love. >> reporter: for years an ohio woman wondered about the son she gave up for adoption three decades ago. melanie was 18 when she got pregnant. >> i wanted him to have a mother and father. >> reporter: in june 1988 she gave birth to his son. she didn't name him. presley has had three more kids, but every day she thought about her first born. >> there was still always that sadness in me on that day. >> reporter: 300 miles away in virginia, presley's son was thinking of her, too. he was adopted by the bosser family and named greg. >> maybe 9 or 10, somewhere around that range, they shared with me the story i was adopted. >> reporter: he said it was always in the back of his mine. then he decided he wanted to know more. >> i don't know any of my

medical history, netics, you know, where i'm from. >> that year, melanie's mom died. >> i started crying and i said, i need to find my son. >> reporter: when her daughter brought back a 23 and me test, the result came back. >> the first message was, we are related. my message is, i believe i am your birth mother. >> it was surreal. >> reporter: the messages turning to emails and then a reunion. >> life has a funny way of giving you what you need, not what you want. life realized we needed this connection and our families needed each other. >> they spoke for four straight hours when they first met each other. of course, we can't end the show without mentioning tomorrow is the somber anniversary marking

20 years since the attack on the world trade centers. >> we'll have special coverage right now on "america this morning," president biden outlines his plan to get the pandemic under control announcing sweeping new vaccine mandates affecting up to 100 million workers. this morning the reaction. republicans slamming the plan as a giant overreach. the new threat of legal action and what's next. 20 years later, the final preparations for tomorrow's solemn ceremonies marking two decades since the 9/11 attacks. are we safer than we were 20 years ago? our experts weigh in, plus, we check in with the children of 9/11 victims, their journeys and how far they've come and we hear from the american airlines ticket agent who was witness to history. thriller in tampa.

the nfl season kicks off with a down to the wire nail-biter.