welcome to "world news tonight." fight to the end. tonight, we're hearing for the first time from that brave american serviceman wounded during a takedown of a suspected terrorist. >> all three of us started middle of us. ready to run? vice president biden, holding a most powerful and influential could it be a sign that he's clinton? air scare. just one day after that deadly air show disaster where an aircraft plunged into a busy road. a pilot is killed during another airshow. with aging aircraft and ever-bigger crowds, are these shows getting too dangerous? and, high-speed confrontation. >> there she goes. >> the man who triggered a viral video by pulling over a woman

driving erratically. >> the reason he chased her, and didn't stop until she hit the good evening. thanks for joining us on this sunday. i'm tom llamas. we begin with the three american heroes that helped stop an attack on a train in france. there they are at the far end. accompanied by america's ambassador to france, taking us what they feared could have been a massacre. and we're learning new details about the suspected terrorist. a 25-year-old moroccan national, already on watch lists. we begin with david wright in paris. >> reporter: caught on camera, the immediate aftermath of this foiled attack on a train bound for paris.

>> he seemed like he was ready to fight to the end, so, so were we. >> reporter: the gunman trussed up on the floor. hog-tied with the conductor's red necktie. beside him, his small arsenal of weapons. the american that helped him, wounded, but giving first aid to another passenger that had been shot. now speaking for the first time. >> i was going to use my shirt, but i realized it wouldn't have worked. so, i stuck two of my fingers thought to be the artery and the bleeding stopped. >> reporter: authorities say the quick action of all three the the gunman came out of a >> we saw him with the ak-47, so something or die. >> he had a lot of ammo. his intentions were clear. >> alex hit me on the shoulder,

said let's go. ran down. tackled him. we hit the ground. he grabbed the gun out of his hand. while i put him in a choke hold. seemed like he just kept pulling more weapons left and right. pulled out a handgun, a box cutter, started jabbing at me with that. >> reporter: french authorities identified the attacker as ayub el-khazzani. born in morocco. authorities say he was armed with an ak-47, a pistol, a box cutter and eight extra cartridges of ammo. a lawyer says he is a homeless man planning to rob the train. >> it doesn't take eight

magazines to rob a train. >> reporter: plans to thank them personally, awarding them france's highest honor. >> thank you. meeting with senator elizabeth warren. one of the most powerful and outspoken democrats. the question now is, is he getting ready to take on hillary devin dwyer has the latest. >> reporter: it's the summer of the political wild card. vice president joe biden is stirring up intrigue among democrats after that secret political meeting with popular star senator elizabeth warren. warren is an icon among an endorsement eagerly sought by all the democratic presidential candidates. so far, she's been cool to frontrunner hillary clinton, telling wbz friday she thinks the race is wide open. >> i want to see all the presidential candidates lay out where they stand on key issues. >> reporter: the meeting with warren, whose stamp of approval could catapult biden, is the strongest sign yet he's getting serious about the 2016 race. while clinton vacations in the hamptons, seen in this dailymail.com photo, biden supporters see an opening in the

polls. in a recent quinnipiac poll, only 37% say they trust hillary clinton, while 58% say they would trust joe biden. biden, also said to be privately late son beau, who recently died of cancer. >> i know beau wanted his dad to be president. 1988, and he wanted that in 2008. >> unbelievable. >> reporter: on the other side, seen as a longshot, showing staying power. shaking up the republican field with his call to round up and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. >> i still don't hear specifics on how you're going to do this. >> well, you'll see my specifics. my specifics are very simple. i'm going to get great people that know what they're doing, not a bunch of political hacks. >> reporter: sources in both the biden and trump campaigns say what's energizing supporters for both candidates this summer can be summed up in one word -- authenticity. biden's expected to make his final decision on a run in the next six weeks. tom? >> devin, thank you.

turning to some relief on the ground and from above in the fight against the wildfires in the west. as hundreds of civilian volunteers help, kendis gibson is there. >> reporter: tonight, the wildfires in washington growing to a staggering 374 square miles. authorities fearing the return of extremely dry conditions could make fighting these fires more difficult. >> it has the potential to affect all fires in the complex. >> reporter: thousands of residents under evacuation orders. mark desdier rushing to save his lake house at the height of the fires, caught in a firestorm. >> instantly it looked like i was in the middle of a napalm explosion. it was awful. >> reporter: the 59-year-old instinctively drives his quad bike into a lake, waiting out the flames for 35 minutes. what made you say, "i have to go in the lake, and that's my way of surviving this?"

it was the only thing i could think of to get out of the flames. >> reporter: battle-weary fire crews getting much-needed reinforcements. dozens of firefighters from new zealand and australia now en route, along and hundreds of volunteers expected on the front lines within days. >> everybody helps somebody out. whether you know them or not. >> reporter: the weekend weather conditions that allowed ground crews to make progress, also dealt a setback. low visibility preventing pilots from flying. tom? >> kendis, thank you. >> let's go to rob marciano. with the other big weather headline. what's the latest with danny. >> once it was a category three, but it's weakened. we expect tropical storm force conditions, 40-mile-an-hour winds expected to continue to diminish. might not even make it to cuba by the time the week is done. and we're also watching two other disturbances in the atlantic.

one with an 80% chance of becoming tropical storm erica in the next few days. and watching trap -- tropical depression kilo. and here's the latest track, expected to become a category one, maybe a two, but it will be away from the hawaiian islands. >> good news. rob, thank you. and jimmy carter, back teaching sunday school. for the first time since revealing he's battling brain cancer. the baptist church in his hometown was packed beyond capacity. drawing hundreds of the faithful from 17 states and three countries. >> do we have any business this morning. >> clearly enjoying that moment. many in the crowd camped out overnight just to get a seat to hear the former president. today's topic -- love. economy. many have been spending a weekend of worry on the drop in

wall street. the dow dropping 530 points. rebecca jarvis joins us. what's going on? >> right now, stocks are already pointing to a considerably weaker day tomorrow. and wall street has a gauge of fear. called the volatility index, and it spiked, a sign of more to come. >> some people saw changes they didn't like last week. what should they do? >> for the vast majority of people, the answer is to wait it out. if you look it historically numbers, people that bailed in 2009 on stocks lost half of their money. those that stuck it out, made it back in three years and now they're doing much better. >> thank you. one group of americans concerned more than ever about finances, college students. with many students heading back

to school this week, we're seeing new numbers that recent college grads are struggling and are defaulting on loans in record numbers. here's ty hernandez. >> reporter: as millions prepare for their college dream, a sobering reality. the number of defaults sharply rising. this woman got her degree, but not the job she wants. ten years later, she makes $10.50 an hour. >> i have to keep food on the table, so student loans wasn't one of my priorities. >> reporter: maria is not alone. the number of defaults, up to nearly 7 million, nearly a fifth of all borrowers. this financial adviseor learned the lessons herself. living with this for decade after decade, until you die, that lingers. >> reporter: many of the dropped out of school before

earning that income-boosting degree. and some that attempted a payment plan couldn't catch up with the spiraling interest. >> whenever i got anything from the student loan place, it pretty much went to the garbage. there was no way i could pay it. >> reporter: what are the consequences of defaulting? >> that makes it harder for you to do everything from rent an apartment, get a mortgage, secure an auto loan or credit card. or even get a job, because many employers look at your credit rating. in determining who to hire. >> parents should be aware, they're equally responsible if their children default. so, it's important to request a copy of all statements and after a time, you can get a co-sign release. tom? >> thank you. back to school may be just around the corner, but the boys of summer are still in ballparks across america. but after yet another fan

getting hit by a foul ball, one of baseball's biggest stars is issuing an appeal to the major league. here's linzie janis. >> oh, back in the seats in a hurry. >> reporter: you can hear the reaction in the stands. barely a second after the ball comes off the bat, it smacks a woman in the face. she was sitting behind the detroit tigers dugout friday night. paramedics taking her to the hospital where she spent the night. justin verlander, it was the last straw. >> it's something that needs to be addressed. immediately. >> reporter: in july, stefanie wapenski also hit by a foul ball at fenway park in boston. >> there was no reaction time. bat flying, striking another woman in the head at the same stadium in june. but in a sport obsessed with statistics, there isn't one for how many times fans get hurt. one study estimates that number is 1,750 every year.

the most dangerous places to sit are often the most desirable and expensive. along the first and third baselines. in recent years, pro baseball bosses have resisted attempts by some fans to require stadiums to put up protective netting in those areas. the league saying catching a foul ball is all part of the fan experience. but tonight telling abc news they are "evaluating a number of issues related to fan safety." a number of players have gone on the record, saying they tell their wives and children to only sit in the safest spots. like behind home plate and way up in the stands. tom? >> thank you. still ahead on "world news tonight," a disastrous weekend in two air shows. is the thrill of these daredevils worth the risk? and look at this.

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welcome back. tonight, not one but two air show tragedies making headlines, and leaving about a dozen dead. and has many asking, is this form of entertainment becoming too dangerous? jennifer eccleston with the story. air show, stunts in the sky turning to disaster on the ground. leaving up to 11 dead in southern england. all of the victims in cars, on bikes or standing. and today, two planes colliding in switzerland. the allure of airshows is undeniable. thousands lining up for daredevil aerobatics and that but is the risk worth the >> airshows are inherently dangerous.

they are exciting. they are aircraft doing things that are fast, low to the ground. mishaps are going to occur. right now they are above a level that's acceptable. >> reporter: in reno, nevada, 2011, ten spectators killed and 70 wounded. ramstein, germany, 1988, 67 dead. over 300 injured. and lviv, ukraine, 2002, 77 people killed. among them, 28 children. over 500 injured. each accident ideally bringing a review of regulations and a sharper focus on public safety. >> we never accept a high number. we always want to bring that number down. but it's going to a concerted international effort to bring standards to a higher level to reduce the number of mishaps that we see every year. >> reporter: as the death toll continues to rise here, people are asking if any risk is just too high. tom? >> thank you. when we come back, the giant panda with an even bigger

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back with our "instant index." starting with a new development in a case involving rosie o'donnell's daughter chelsea. the 17-year-old found safe in new jersey after being missing for a week. now, a man living there, facing charges for allegedly having inappropriate communications with a minor. he was arrested after rosie turned over her daughter's cell phone to police. and a driver taking action to stop another driver. the white car, he says was driving erratically. you see her there. recording all of it while screaming at her. telling our affiliate that his sister was seriously injured in a car accident and knew he had to do something.

the driver, sandra tucker-harris, has been cited for driving impaired. now to the new wonder twins at the washington zoo. playing out live on the national zoo's on line panda cams. mama bear, giving birth to a cub after seven hours of labor. but apparently, she wasn't done. five hours later, a surprise delivery, a second cub arrives. since pandas don't usually nurse twins, the staff is helping her so she only has to take care of one at a time. still ahead tonight, the devastation hurricane katrina forced her to leave her hometown. how she cooked up a plan with a famous chef and worked her way home. pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira helping me reach for more. doctors have been prescribing humira for more than 10 years.

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finally tonight, nearly ten years ago, hurricane katrina slammed into the gulf coast, destroying so many lives. tonight, you'll meet one woman that rebuilt her life in a kitchen. and living proof it's not the spices that go into a recipe that's special, it's the people that make it. here's robin roberts. >> if you talk to any new orleans person, how we set time >> reporter: one of the many people trapped after the storm, stuck on the roof of this house, was 15-year-old syrena johnson. now 25. long time. >> reporter: she was evacuated to houston. to new orleans. but her old neighborhood, a ghost town. >> i could have ended up in bad places from where i came from. i chose to work instead of stay out on the street. i chose to finish school. enter a program called liberty's

kitchen. >> it's for at-risk youth and it's a program to teach you job skills through cooking. >> reporter: there she caught the eye of chef john besh, at the time a rising celebrity chef, who picked her for a scholarship in new york city. tell me about your first meeting with chef besh. >> we talking for a while. i went home and was like, i think i might have this. i think this man liked me or he sees something in me. >> she has the energy, she has the smarts. she went to new york and just killed it. >> reporter: soon after graduating, syrena began working at some of new orleans' top restaurants. >> no sooner did she arrive in new orleans, then she started working. training those in the same outreach program that she came from. >> y'all need this program. >> she has come back and she's made a difference in her world. >> reporter: so when habitat for humanity helped her dream of home ownership come true, a certain someone arrived as a surprise at the dedication ceremony. >> when i think of one person

that really embodies the soul of what this is all about, it's syrena. now i'm crying. >> reporter: her life, once tattered by katrina. now whole again. >> tune in tonight as robin hosts a one-hour special, "katrina: ten years after the storm." "gma" first thing in the morning. we'll see you right back here tomorrow night. i'm tom llamas in new york.

have a great evening.