rachel scott hat the white house, terry moran in washington. >>> also tonight, 200 million americans under severe weather, dangerous heat and air quality alerts heading into the july fourth weekend. new york city reporting the worst air quality in the world. the heat dome expanding from california to florida. the heat index reaching up to 120 degrees in some places. rob marciano tracking it all. >>> tonight, all this unfolding with record holiday travel well under way. more than 50 million people on the move. trevor ault with the best and worst times to drive this weekend. >>> the scathing report on the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. the state department blaming the trump and biden administrations for the chaotic end to america's longest war. >>> the images coming in, authorities cracking down on violent protests in france. violence erupting for a fourth night following the police killing of a teenager during a traffic stop. >>> here at home, tens of thousands of actors threatening to go on strike in a matter of hours. hundreds of top stars, including meryl streep and jennifer law

>> terry moran tonight. ank you, terry. >>> when we come back, the mother of a 6-year-old boy who allegedly shot his teacher facing federal charges tonight. robin roberts with the new apple invention. and the 13-year-old trying to make the u.s. open at this hour. what we've learned. enters the room. phil: excuse me? hillary: that wasn't me. narrator: said hillary, who's only taken 347 steps today. hillary: i cycled here. narrator: speaking of cycles, mary's period is due to start in three days. mary: how do they know so much about us? narrator: your all sharing health data without realizing it. that's how i know about kevin's rash. who's next? wait... what's that in your hand? no, no, stop! oh you're no fun. [lock clicks shut] okay everyone, our mission is complete balanced nutrition. together we provide nutrients to support immune, muscle, bone, and heart health. everyone: woo hoo! ensure with 25 vitamins and minerals. enter the $10,000 nourishing moments giveaway. my a1c was up here; now, it's down with ryb

terry moran leading us off tonight. terry, thank you. president biden speaking to the nation a short time after the court struck down affirmative action as we know it. the president saying discrimination still exists in this country. and today's decision, quote, does not change that. and that moment when he declared, this is not a normal court. our chief white house correspondent mary bruce on that part of the story tonight. >> reporter: president biden blasting the supreme court, saying he strongly disagrees with today's decision. >> the truth is -- we all know it -- discrimination still exists in america. discrimination still exists in america. discrimination still exists in america. today's decision does not change that. >> reporter: in a statement, former president obama saying affirmative action "allowed generations of students like michelle and me to prove we belonged. now it's up to all of us to give young people the opportunities they deserve." michelle obama insisting the policy "helped offer new ladders of opportunity for those

here's abc's terry moran. >> reporter: this time, it's justice samuel alito under scrutiny for luxuryvel paid for by a billionaire republican megadonor. "propublica," a nonprofit media organization, reporting that in 2008, justice alito flew to alaska for a fishing trip on a private jet that belonged to a hedge fund manager whose businesses brought several cases before the supreme court. alito, seen here on that fishing trip, in a private photo obtained by propublica, did not pay for his flight and did not report the trip on his annual financial disclosure forms. paul singer, the hedge-fund billionaire, is one of the republican party's biggest donors. his hedge fund later had cases come before the high court, one of which was heard. justice alito didn't recuse himself. in an unusual move, justice alito blasted the propublica report before it was published in a "wall street journal" op-ed, saying that he did not know that singer had an interest in any case before the court and that singer's name did not appear in court documents. alito explaining that on that private jet flight he was

terry moran at the supreme court tonight. >> tonight a supreme court stunner. two conservative justices, chief justice john roberts and brett kavanaugh joined the court's liberals in striking down alabama's congressional map that critics said diluted the power of black voters. in a 5-4 decision the court upheld a lower court ruling that found a restricting map drawn by the republican led alabama legislature violated the voting rights act because it only drew one district out of seven that had a majority of black voters, even though more than one in four alabamians are black. in his opinion for the court, chief justice john roberts wrote that the voting rights act does not permit states to provide some voters less opportunity to participate in the political process. the court's ruling, he added was based on a fair reading, containing undeniable evidence of alabama's extensive history of repugnant racial and voting related discrimination. that fierce descent justice clarence thomas said it amounted to hijacking the districting process to pursue a goal that has no

terry moran has covered the court for years for us, he's there tonight. take us through why this is so significant tonight. >> reporter: david, this is a major case. it's all about power. who should have the power to run our federal elections? from drawn congressional districts to voting by mail to counting the votes. comes out of a redistricting battle in north carolina, with democrats accusing the republican-controlled state legislature of drawing a partisan gerrymander, and the state supreme court there agreeing, throwing out the gop map. when the case came here, those republican lawmakers pointed to that line in the constitution that thetimes, places and manner man manner. government or governor or election official. this so-called independent legislature theory, embraced by former president donald trump as part of his attacks on the 2020 election, but today, the supreme court soundly rejected that theory in a 6-3 vote. two trump-appointed justices joining the majority there brett kavanaugh and amy coney barrett. writing that the constitution did not

terry moran at the court. mary bruce in the studio with me. and rachel scott on how this immediatelying bes an issue in the race for president. >>> also tonight, more than 130 million americans under air quality alerts tonight. millions more suffering from that intense heat. growing more deadly today. the smoke from the canadian wildfires now blanketing 23 states, from wisconsin to the northeast. washington, d.c. and detroit with the worst air quality in the world today. and the heat. tonight, the amazon delivery driver nearly collapsing on a front porch. rob marciano timing this all out. >>> the officer in the parkland school shooting seen on video, he stayed outside the school with the gunman in that school, found not guilty today on all counts. after being accused of failing to confront the gunman. 17 children and staff were killed. the officer bursting into tears today. and what he said afterward. >>> tonight, we are learning one of vladimir putin's top russian generals is missing. what abc news has now learned. ian pannell standing by in

terry moran in our entire team, thank you.live and abcnews.com. i'll be back here with the tape for world news tonight. i'm whit johnson from new york. have a great night to speak of this has been a special report from bbc news. lorraine banks, look, county of macomb, michigan? look at grandma... hey grandma! unbelievable. everybody deserves to know who they are and where they came from. ohhh...cool. this whole journey has been such a huge gift for our family. (vo) at dog chow we believe helping dogs live their best life... this whole journey has been such a huge gift should be simple. that's why dog chow is made with high-quality protein and no fillers. purina dog chow. keep life simple your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire try killing bugs the worry-free way. not the other way. zevo traps use light to attract and trap flying insects with no o

reported by abc news senior national correspondent, my old friend and abc collie, terri moran. -- terryoran. terry moran and his small producing team took two months to win the trust of atlanta poll workers. the first time they spoke to the press after the january 6 committee hearings. judges called it a powerful showcase explaining the harrowing personal consequences of disinformation for ordinary real people. this kind of intimate storytelling deeply humanizes a political story and should be acknowledged as worthwhile journalism. [indiscernible] -- >> when i heard that call he made to the secretary of state office, i had hoped -- >> i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. >> and i'm like this is it. he just told on himself. it will be over with. >> that would be the end of it, but it wasn't. >> from the moment those videos went viral, they started getting threats. she said her facebook was filled with messages from total strangers. >> i looked at every single one and said i should be hung, me and my mom will die. like burning crosses. a slap in the face, just

. >> terry moran tonight. when we come back, the 6-year-old boy who allegedly shot his teacher facing fred charges tonight. robin roberts with the new apple invention and what we've invention and what we've learned. alizing it. that's how i know about kevin's rash. who's next? wait... what's that in your hand? no, no, stop! oh you're no fun. [lock clicks shut] okay everyone, our mission is complete balanced nutrition. together we provide nutrients to support immune, muscle, bone, and heart health. everyone: woo hoo! ensure with 25 vitamins and minerals. enter the $10,000 nourishing moments giveaway. my a1c was up here; now, it's down with rybelsus®. enter the $10,000 his a1c? it's down with rybelsus®. my doctor told me rybelsus® lowered a1c better than a leading branded pill and that people taking rybelsus® lost more weight. i got to my a1c goal and lost some weight too. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multip

terry, i want to bring in our senior national correspondent, terry moran, for just some final thoughtse. terry, when you look back historically, how significant is this day? it's big. look, there have been a lot of relatives of presidents who have tried essentially to make money off of that relationship. that's what hunter biden stands accused of in the largest sense. what this indictment is are very specific violations of the law. a united states attorney for five years looked at this one individual. you don't want to be on the receiving end of that kind of scrutiny. and this is what it results. misdemeanor tax charges and a essentially a gun charge that is at the minor level. the question is the one that pierre thomas has asked is, is this what the only thing that the us attorney in dela ware, appointed by president trump was looking at over the course of five years, us attorneys have a tendency to look wherever there might be wrongdoing, which then leaves the question for republicans and democrats and the country. maybe there's a difference between what's legal and what's right. wha

i wn terry moran, who has covered the supreme court for years for us. this is a blow for harvard and for uncw trying to defend their programs. again, the supreme court striking down their programs. but it appearing to limit moving forward, saying race can be a factor, but it has to be part of an individual student's biography, personal story, their narrative. that's it exactly. >> david it's not just harvard and the university of north carolina that used the justification of diversity in the campus life and in the student body as a way of reaching out and finding students that could contribute to that in that way. chief justice john roberts writing for the court and striking down harvard's and university of north carolina's admissions policy, has said that they used race in an unavoidable in a negative manner involved racial stereotyping, and they lacked meaningful end points. when would they know that the balance had been achieved? and roberts saying rather sternly, we have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way. and we will not do so

i want to bring in terry moran tonight. d, terry, it's a question i haven't been able to ask anyone yet. and this is bigger picture when it comes to the special counsel here, jack smith. there has been so little that's been leaked from this special counsel investigation. of course, we haven't even heard from him. when you see the range of charges and i've been really careful here because obviously we don't have the document in front of us. we just know at least seven counts. we know the range of these charges. but when you see how significant these charges are and a special counsel who knows the weight of history here in this decision, what does that say about the evidence they may or may not have? to me, david, it shows that this prosecutor, jack smith , must believe that he has the evidence to make these convictions because he knows this target is unprecedented in our history. and he has demonstrated it by not whispering a word to the press that that office just did not leak, that he would do it by the book and amass this

all right, terry moran, devin dwyer, asha rangappa, thank you. and thank you for joining us.will continue on our streaming channel, abc news live. and all day long on abcnews.com. we'll have a complete wrap up tonight on world news tonight with david muir. right now, we will return you to your regular programing >> jordan van der slooograming his way from peru. jordan van sloot prime suspect in the disappearance of 18-year-old natalie holloway now handed over to american authorities just hours after touching down in peru, the federal agents arriving at a military base to secure the dutch national before escorting him to alabama where he will face extortion and wire fraud charges. the peruvian government agreed to extradite van der sloot from this maximum security prison where he's serving a 28 year sentence for the 2010 murder of a different woman, stephanie flores. this video showing him leaving the prison, transported to lima, where u.s. authorities will arrived to get him around 8 a.m. eastern, 7 a.m. local time. >> the key is he will be here for a period of time. i'm sure

the late congressman was watching this ruling happen, watching our friend terry moran from abc news talkinggger at the heart of the voting rights act so he was very disappointed, very forlorn of what was going to happen to the rest of the voting rights act. >> yeah. >> so you have to imagine that he was smiling and thinking all is not lost with his voting rights act, of course, which he marched as a student. he was >> he bled for. >> he did bleed for it on the -- on the edmund pettus bridge in alabama, so this was something -- i guess, just a reminder that we don't always know. he always talked about the arc, of course, of the moral universe as long as it bends towards justice. it's certainly his supporters thought that today. >> it's not that it heads towards justice. it bends towards justice meaning it's an effort. >> it's back and forth. >> as president obama always said that as well. it's not a straight line. >> all right. good to see boast you. he became a harsh critic of barack obama's time in office. he tried to help senator brnds run for president, and now cornell west is launching

terry moran is at the court with more. good morning, terry. >> reporter: good morning, michael.s blockbuster week here at the supreme court. the justices saving some of the biggest cases for the final days including that major election law case. the court deciding yesterday and soundly rejecting a theory that was embraced by former president trump and others that said that under the constitution, state legislatures have nearly unchecked power to run federal elections in their states. this so-called independent state legislature theory experts warn could have put things like mail in voting and same day registration, congressional redistricting, even settling election disputes at risk. but the court, in a 6-3 opinion written by chief justice john roberts, joined by two trump appointed justices reaffirming the old principle of checks and balances there. there's more. some of the biggest cases remaining affirmative action. the court seems poised once and for all now to end the use of race as one factor in college admissions. president biden, student loan plan. the court will decide

our senior national correspondent terry moran is at the supreme court this morning. d brett kavanaugh siding with the liberals in a congressional case which many fear would end up weakening the voting rights act. the court decided a congressional redistricting map drawn by the republican led alabama state legislature violated the voting rights act because it drew only one district out of seven where majority of voters were black when one in four or more alabamans are black. under this legislature's map the court found many black voters were packed into one district, many others cracked or splintered into other districts, diluting their influence in elections. the chief justice, in his opinion, writing the voting rights act does not permit a state to provide some voters less opportunity to participate in the political process. fierce dissent justice thomas said the approach that roberts and the liberals took is a proportional allocation of power. roberts said the court was following the law. the voting rights act. this decision will have a huge political impact not jus

let's go to terry moran. >> reporter: good morning, robin.ice brett kavanaugh rejecting the idea that state legislatures alone have unfettered power to decide how and when and in what manner elections are conducted. the so called independent state legislature theory. this case comes out of north carolina. a group of republican legislators had argued the congressional redistricting plan they passed was unreviewable by the state supreme court. and the constitution gave state legislatures alone no checks, no balances, the power to set the manner of our federal elections. in this opinion, by chief justice john robert, he rejects that argument altogether, restoring checks and balance, the normal checks and balances to how we run federal elections. just a huge case that will have impacts across the country. >> we're going to turn now to travel chaos. more than 2,000 flights have been cancelled across the country due to severe weather. stephanie ramos is at newark airport with the latest. good morning again, stephanie. >> reporter: hey there, robin.

terry moran has the story. >> reporter: good morning, george.s decision time here at the supreme court. in the coming days the justices are expected to hand down major rulings on affirmative action, student debt relief, lgbt rights and more. once again today it's what justices are doing off the bench that's making headlines. at the supreme court this morning fresh controversy over wealthy supporters doing favors for a sitting justice, this time justice samuel alito. the nonprofit news outlet pro publica saying judge alito flew to alaska on the private jet of paul singer, a billionaire gop mega donor for a luxury fishing trip that he didn't disclose. >> justice alito didn't pay anything. we've discovered this pattern of wealthy business men getting private access to supreme court justices. >> reporter: by law, all federal officials are required to publicly report most gifts but alito never did. when singer had business before the court, alito never recused himself. now in an unusual move, alito is defending himself in the press writing in a wall