What the suspected shooter's family says he texted his mother the morning of the attack. Ap lay chee high school, grandfather. What he told me straight ahead. Also tonight, debate showdown. Anybody going to be watching? donald trump gets ready, hitting the trail in wisconsin. She's a threat to democracy. Harris is in pennsylvania. Try a new way forward. I'm in pittsburgh where harris is preparing to take on trump. New tonight, both candidates are speaking out about facing off. Plus, new protests in israel as anger builds over their government's failure to secure a hostage deal. I'm elizabeth palmer in tel aviv, where once again thousands of israelis poured into the streets to pressure their government for a hostage deal and a ceasefire in gaza. ♪ september sizzle. A heat wave intensifies for millions in the west. This california wild fire spreading fast and sparking evacuations. And later, don't look down. Meet the slack liners. Sharing a passion for balance, precision and walking a fine line. Let's try it. Nice job. ♪ announcer: this is the cbs weekend these. We begin tonight with new details about the deadly school shooting that left a small georgia community grieving this weekend. Two students and two teachers were killed. Last night, hundreds attended a vigil held in. 23rd time a school shooting resulted in injuries or deaths. Today dave spoke to the grandfather of the accused 14yearold shooter, who offered new information about what happened that morning. Dave? reporter: he did. You can see behind me the day and night the four victims are being remembered here at the school. Just hours ago, i talked to the suspect's grandfather. The maternal grandfather of accused shooter colt gray is dealing with conflicting emotions. Love for his grandson and disgust other the crime he's accused of committing. He pulled the triggers. He killed people. And i he's my grandson. It breaks my damn heart. Reporter: the 14yearold who has not yet entered a plea was charged friday with involuntary manslaughter and second degree murder. New tonight, cbs news has learned of a text message between the suspect and his mother marcy gray on the morning of the mass shooting. Marcy got a text on the phone from colt saying, i'm sorry, mother. And then we heard on the news of the shooting. The family has also revealed that colt's maternal grandmother was at the school the day before the shooting. They were having some problems with him not going to school. And this kind of thing. Reporter: the georgia bureau of investigation says the boy's father, colin gray, bought the arstyle rifle for his teen the same type of weapon seen laying on the floor inside the school the day of the shooting. Since wednesday's tragedy, there have been a wave of threats across georgia. Law enforcement officials have now arrested more than 13 juveniles and one adult accused of making threats to schools in at least eight different counties. Friday, the fbi deemed the majority of the social media threats noncredible and warned posts like these will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Among the balloons and teddy bears right behind me, there is actually a letter to coach aspenwall, one of the math teachers who lost his life here. Adriana, tomorrow there will be a small vigil for the school itself. So many heart breaking details. Dave melkoff, thank you. Now to the campaign trail. This weekend former president donald trump and vice president kamala harris are preparing for their debate showdown in quite different ways. Cbs news senior white house correspondent weijia jiang is in pittsburgh for us. Good evening. Reporter: good evening to you, adriana. Vice president harris has been camped out here in pittsburgh since thursday, underscoring how critical this state is. When she takes on former president trump for the debate on tuesday night in philadelphia, it will be the first time these two ever meet face to face. Taking a break from intense debate prep in pittsburgh. Can i have a hug? yes, come here. Reporter: vice president harris met with voters at a small business this afternoon. Finally got out of this debate prep to look at these faces. Best part of debate prep so far. Reporter: harris is working with a close team of advisers to practice against the debate against former president trump. The vice president asked what she wants to get across. Time to turn the page on the divisiveness. It's time to bring our country together. Chart a new way forward. Reporter: rallying in another battleground state. 59 days from now we are going to win wisconsin. Reporter: trump had a different message about the debate. We're run by stupid people, stupid, stupid people. And we found that out at the debate with joe. How did that work out? and we're going to find it out again on tuesday night. Is anybody going to be watching? reporter: wisconsin, independent voter rudy lemaster will be. I hope it's about time actual policies, and i hope his opponent will actually talk about things and communicate what she really thinks. Reporter: both candidates are picking up political support from unexpected places. Republicans, former vice president dick cheney and his daughter, former congress woman liz cheney have formally endorsed harris and once trump foe turned ally, nikki haley, sat down with face the nation moderator margaret brennan knows she's ready to stump for trump. I'm ready if he needs me to do that. Reporter: cbs news learned that harris participated in extended mock debates to get ready. Trump, who heads to his golf club in new jersey tonight, has brushed off the need to prepare recently quoting boxing great mike tyson saying, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. Adriana? mike tyson quote, thanks. Weijia jiang in pittsburgh. We'll have complete coverage of the presidential debate on tuesday, starting at 8:00 p. M. Eastern/5 pacific right here on cbs followed by a live simulcast of the debate and cbs expert analysis. Today in israel, thousands of people protested across the country, demanding their government reach a deal to free those hostages still held by hamas in gaza. Their outrage mounting. Cbs's elizabeth palmer is in tel aviv. Reporter: thousands of israelis are in the streets again tonight, demanding their government make a deal to bring the hostages home. All week anger has been running high. And we see that our government are full of [ bleep ]. Our prime minister is a liar. Reporter: rather than work toward an agreement to release the hostages and bring a ceasefire to suffering gazan and palestinians, these israelis accuse their prime minister of stalling. That philadelphia corridor. Reporter: most recently benjamin netanyahu's condition that the israeli army remain in gaza on the southern border. Hamas flatly rejects this demand. The hostage families staged a memorial for those killed last week, which was also a plea for urgent action. What are your thoughts on your government's negotiations for the hostage release? we feel they can do much, much more. They need to do much, much more. We feel that sometimes they just put more obstacles than trying to get the solution. Reporter: why would they do that? i don't understand it. I cannot understand it. I don't find any reason because people's life is the more important thing in the world. They don't have time. The people over there in the hamas tunnels, they don't have time. Reporter: retired general israel, once commanded israeli troops along the gaza/egypt border the so called philadelphi border. Netanyahu's argument just doesn't hold up. There are other ways, he says, to secure the border. What we should do now is go for the deal. Bring back the hostages and not to stick to philadelp hhi. That can be fixed later on. Reporter: the head of the cia bill burns said the political will is the key ingreedient getting this done on both sides. Adriana, here in israel millions just don't believe it's there. Elizabeth palmer, thank you so much. September is off to a blistering start in the american west. Millions this weekend are feeling it. The extreme heat is also fueling a wild fire in california's san bernardino national forest. So far the flames sparked evacuations for more than 500 homes and scorched more than 7,000 acres. Let's check in with cbs meet allegist andrew koe zach for more. Andrew? yeah, good evening, adriana. So many people want to get an early start on fall. We're dealing with windy conditions, fire danger and excessive heat and poor air quality boise, seattle. And we have been talking about the fire dangers across the desert southwest, san bernardino tomorrow feeling like 102. Inland from los angeles for those on the ground fighting those fires, the weather is not helping with very windy conditions and temperatures that will feel well into the triple digits. And it's not just for the west coast. On sunday, the east coast including florida right now, soth florida from miami to naples down toward key west we'll feel over 100 degrees. We're watching the tropics. It's been a little while. We have a system, cluster of thunderstorms. A good chance to develop into fran seen, the next couple of days as it moves north, we're watching for the potential for heavy flooding rain from texas all the way to the florida panhandle. Between this and the heat a lot to watch in the week ahead. Adriana? andrew, thank you. In new york city today, it was game, set, match. That's it! sabalenko of belarus is the new women's champion after defeating american jessica pa gu la. The 26yearold has made the u. S. Open finals in the past two years and this is her second grand slam win. Straight ahead on the cbs weekend news the starliner spacecraft finally comes back to earth but returns empty handed. ♪ years and this is her second touchdown. Starliner is back on earth. That landing coming and there it is. Boeing starliner spacecraft returned safely to earth late last night touching down in the new mexico desert. The capsule was empty. Astronauts butch willmore and suni williams will be there for several more months at the international space station. Here is the latest. Separation confirmed. Starliner is backing away from station and starting its return to earth. Reporter: flight controllers in houston remotely undocked boeing starliner from the international space station. The spacecraft successfully fired its engines for the critical breaking burn on the return to earth, separated from its service module and reentered the earth's atmosphere. Starliner showing a beautiful streak across the sky. Touchdown. Starliner is back on earth. All of us feel happy about the successful landing, but then there's a piece of us, all of us, that we wish it would have been the way we had planned it. Reporter: astronauts butch willmore and suni williams were supposed to be on board, but worries about starliner's propulsion system led nasa to pull the pair off the return flight, despite boeing's insistence the ship was safe. This is a tough business that we're in. Human space flight is not easy. Reporter: their eightday mission will now stretch eight months. Spacex, boeing's rival will taxi them home next february. Have you talked to suni and butch about it and given them any advice. Yes, we have spoken. They're doing great. Reporter: nasa astronaut frank rubio can relate to delayed homecomings. In 2022 his capsule sprung a leak. A sixmonth mission turned into more than a year. An american record. Certainly there's a little part of me that's disappointed. It's okay to acknowledge that. But you also can't mope around for the entire time, right? you have to kind of dedicate and rededicate yours to the mission. Reporter: starliner is back on erts but the program's future is up in the air. Boeing executives were noshows at a postlanding press conference. In a statement the company said they're going to review the data before determining the program's next steps. Cbs news, atlanta. I hope those astronauts get home soon. Still ahead on the cbs pweekend news the nfl kicks of the new season with a historymaking game overseas. ♪ this season four nfl teams will travel more miles than the distance around the earth. The l. A. Chargers will travel the most of any team. Nine teams will play outside the u. S. At games in england, germany and brazil. The first international matchup this season took place in sao paulo last night between the philadelphia eagles and the green bay packers. ♪ fly eagles fly ♪ reporter: they traveled thousands of miles to be here, fans like sean mitchell who dime root on the eagles for this firstever nfl game in south america. It's very unique. Like nfl is spreading out. And i have to give them credit for that. Reporter: her son came to cheer on the green bay packers. It's exciting. I've never been to brazil. A different type of football. Reporter: perhaps the real target audience was the thousands of brazilian fans who packed the arena, where in the land where another sport is king, and of legend like pele, soccer is what they typically go wild for. Victor francisco is a sports writer. Everyone wants to be here. Reporter: by one estimate, brazil has 38 million american football fans. Second internationally only to mexico. What is it about american football that brazilians enjoy? i think that the tactics the cleverness of the game. Everybody thinks that it's about strength. But it's about intelligence. Reporter: there was a unique challenge for some american sports reporters, after brazil blocked elon musk's social media platform x saying it had violated the country's rules. Elliott shore parks is an eagle's beat reporter for philadelphia's 94 wip. There were some philly reporters who said they actually handed their family access to their account so they could tweet on their behalf. Yeah. I didn't do that. I debated it. No, i've been doing only threads and instagram while i've been here. Reporter: still, victor francisco says for brazil and the nfl, this was one big night. It's the accomplishment of a dream. All this passion, to show the nfl that we can host this game. And do the most emotional nfl game ever. Eagles! reporter: one sign of the sport's potential here is kids are starting to pick up flag football and parents are okay with it because there's less equipment, therefore less expensive and they consider it safer. Next on the cbs weekend news a recall for a popular pickup truck tied to automatic steering. We'll have the details. ♪ look at that. Today a louisiana landmark is no more as demolition crews imploded the hurts tower in lake charles. Once a familiar sight in the city, the 22story building was badly damaged by backtoback hurricanes in 2020. It had been abandoned and left empty since then. Chrysler's parent company stellantis is recalling nearly 1. 5 million ram 1500 pickup trucks due to a software bug. The company said the problem could mistakenly disable the vehicle's electronic stability control system which helps with steering. The recall includes models from 2019 and 2021 through 2024. Stellantis says it is not aware of any crashes or injuries from the software problem. To the florida keys now where more than 300 people took the plunge today in an endurance challenge. They had to race eight miles to a 151yearold lighthouse all in an effort to help preserve it. The round trip swim must be completed in less than eight hours. When we return, we take a walk in the park with san francisco's slackliners. I hope you're not afraid of heights. ♪ finally tonight, we all strive for balance in our lives, but in san francisco, some are taking that goal to another level. In tonight's weekend journal it's a daring act that happens by letting go. Reporter: on any given wednesday, in the heart of san francisco, a unique community comes to life. They're known as slackliners. An eclectic group of people connected by their love of balance, precision and a touch of daring. It's taught me just so much about not letting anxiety or fear get the better of you. Reporter: michael is a slacklining veteran. He says don't be fooled by the casual sounding name. Slacklining is a great metaphor for life. You focus on what's in front of you. You don't really pay attention to what's behind you. Reporter: slacklining involves walking across the length of nylon webbing strung between two points. Mostly to climbers and acrobats, it found its footing in the bustling city. The sport has been soaring in recent years. As people look for fun ways to connect with nature. For those looking to step up their game, there's a second form of slacklining called high lining where people walk a taut line anchored hundreds, even thousands of feet between two c cliffs. Try to look straight ahead. Okay. Reporter: the best part, anyone can do it, as michael says. We learned out the hard way, that's a bit of a stretch. Summer higgins says the secret is to just go with it. I think it's the flow state. There is few things in life that i feel like just drop your mind into your body. Reporter: and if you do it right, finding your balance can be a walk in the park. And let's try it. All right. Let's try it. Reporter: cbs news, san francisco. Nice job! that is the cbs weekend news for this saturday. I'm adriana diaz in washington. I'll see you next on requests cbs mornings plus. Starting september 30th. It's been so wonderful being with you. Thank you so much for joining us. Good night. ♪ from cbs news bay area, this is the evening edition. One man is trying to take his former bosses job, meet the prosecutor facing district attorney, brooke jenkins in november. Candidates are throwing blame around as to who is responsible for san francisco downtown. And the scorching inland heat is going away, first alert meteorologist, darren peck will break down how cool it will get in your neighborhood. And it takes a village to raise a child, sometimes that includes supportive programs, how in napa county helped a family make sure their son had a place to call home. Thank you for joining us, i'm andrea nakano. She fired him and now he is running to replace her in the general election, brooke jenkins is facing a loan challenger on november 5th, the challenger is a former san francisco prosecutor who says he can do a better job than his former boss. Da lin caught up with the id