also tonight, president biden speaking to world leaders at the u.n., now back in the oval office tonight. the key meeting with a u.s. ally, after the president made the case for the global fight against covid and future pandemics. the fight against climate change, warning we are nearing a point of no return. and what he said about the chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. cecilia vega live from the white house. that breaking news as we come on in the death of gabby petito. the coroner identifying her body and determining her death was a homicide. tonight, news on the person of interest, where they're now searching. and the image captured by a wildlife camera. tonight, the chaos at the border. the department of homeland security now launching an investigation into those disturbing images of some border agents, images the white house called horrific. tonight, the response from the union representing those agents. and what president biden said when asked about the worsening situation. tonight, news about the death of a 14-year-old high school football player dying after suffering a serious head injury during a game. and our team overseas tonight, on the scene of that erupting volcano and the race to escape the popular tourist destination. you can see the thick lava burning through everything in its path, even the swimming pool. good evening and it's great to have you with us here on a tuesday night. w have several developing stories as we come on. a breaking headline at this hour involving the search for that missing woman. what the coroner has now revealed. but we do begin tonight with news for the millions of americans who got the johnson & johnson one-shot vaccine. today, johnson & johnson now revealing a second dose of their vaccine two months after the first dramatically increased protection against symptomatic disease, they say, in fact, 94% protection after that second shot, they say for moderate and that wn send shot was given months after the first shot, antibody levels increased as much as 12-fold over the initial dose. tonight, also news on pfizer, the potential booster for millions 65 and older and high risk americans. tomorrow, the cdc is now set to meet. we could have a decision by late week. and this all comes as ten states now report a record number of hospitalizations. in alabama, for one, reporting more deaths in 2020 than births for the first time in history. abc's eva pilgrim leading us off. >> reporter: tonight, promising news for the 14 million americans who got the johnson & johnson one shot. the company reports that new data shows a second shot significantly increases protection. >> the single shot is still showing incredible protection, immunity is not waning, but you know, that additional shot could help. >> reporter: giving a second shot two months after the first boosted protection against symptomatic disease to 94%. almost identical to the peak protection seen in pfizer and moderna. and that second j&j shot offered 100% protection against severe disease. regulators will also review data showing a johnson & johnson booster given six months after the first dose produced even higher antibody levels, as much as 12 times the initial level. >> we have a growing body of evidence that a second shot is going to be important. now it's going to be up to the fda to figure out when and how that happens. >> reporter: the johnson & johnson news coming on the eve of an fda decision and a critical cdc meeting where they will decide the fate of pfizer boosters for millions of americans, including people over 65 and those at high risk from health conditions or jobs on the front lines. and new hope for parents, too. 28 million children between the ages 5 and 11 could be eligible for the pfizer vaccine as early as halloween. >> i would imagine we're talking in a matter of weeks. possibly by the end of the month, beginning of next month. because i know the fda really wants to do it correctly but they want to do it quickly. >> reporter: it comes as the number of americans in hospitals is starting to dip, but ten states are still reporting a record number of hospitalizations and six states have 10% or less of their icu beds available. alabama reporting more deaths in 2020 than births for the first time in its history. >> we are seeing a decrease in the number of patients that are in the hospital, but unfortunately, it's not because all of them are getting better and going home to their families. these patients are dying. >> reporter: in idaho, former nurse natalie rise and her mother did not get vaccinated and both wound up hospitalized with covid. but natalie didn't survive. th wluenced by s the 46-year-old misinformation about the vaccine. >> natalie, i believe, fell into the negative social media, but at the end of the day, we have all these doctors and professionals pleading with us, basically begging us to get this vaccination and the people who are telling us not to get it didn't pass high school science. >> reporter: natalie's brother now taking care of her 10-year-old twins with special needs. >> and eva pilgrim back with us again tonight. eva, in addition to this new data on the johnson & johnson booster shot, dr. fauci also suggested that we could see boosters from pfizer, johnson & johnson and moderna, all in the coming weeks. >> reporter: that's right, david. the pfizer booster shot could be green-lighted by the end of the week and dr. fauci says a decision on moderna and johnson & johnson could come in two to three weeks. david? >> eva pilgrim leading us off tonight. eva, thank you. we're going to turn now to the other developing story as we're on the air tonight. the news coming in in the disappearance of gabby petito. the coroner now out with their finding. the autopsy confirming the body found in wyoming is the 22-year-old who went missing. in florida tonight, police have now resumed the search for her missing boyfriend while 500 miles away, authorities are studying this image, captured on a wildlife trail camera. the sheriff not ruling out that it could be brian laundrie, the person of interest. abc's trevor ault in florida. >> reporter: tonight, the fbi conforming a body found in wyoming's grand tetons is gabby petito. the cause of death still pending final autopsy results, but the coroner finding this is a homicide. a cross of riverbed stones now marking the site where gabby was found. today in florida, investigators pouring over alligator and snake-infested marshland. renewing the manhunt for gabby's boyfriend, brian laundrie. drones flying overhead as atvs and canine units weave through that 25,000-acre nature reserve where laundrie's family told officials he may be. >> terrain's very difficult. essentially 75% of it's underwater. >> reporter: and 500 miles away, an okaloosa county trail camera capturing this image monday. the sheriff not ruling out it could be brian laundrie, but so far, they've searched the area and found nothing. >> i love the man. >> reporter: laundrie and petito had been on a cross country road trip. brian returning home to florida without her, but never reporting her missing. now authorities facing growing scrutiny over how the sole person of interest in gabby's disappearance was able to vanish himself. >> from the beginning, this has been a tragedy of errors. you didn't have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to search through the swamp. where were the cops? they should've surveilled him. it's not against the law. >> reporter: while investigators raided the laundrie family home monday, police have stressed brian is a person of interest, but not a suspect. because until now, there was no crime. and the lawyer for the laundrie family advised them not to talk to authorities. and also under fire, the officers in utah who responded to a fight between the couple during their road trip last month. the police report says gabby tried to slap brian. he pushed her away, then she scratched him in the face. the officers separating them. >> what was it you were attempting to accomplish by slapping him? >> i was trying to get him to stop telling me to calm down. >> reporter: but the witness who called 911 said brian was the aggressor. >> we drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl. >> he was slapping her? >> yes. >> and trevor ault back with us live from florida tonight. trevor, last night here, the attorney for brian laundrie's family said the family was going to speak today, but that didn't happen? >> reporter: no, it didn't, david. late last night, that attorney scrapped those plans after he says he spoke with the fbi. he did just release a brief statement, saying, "may gabby rest in peace." we've also heard from the attorney representing the petito family, he says they will have a statement when gabby is home. david? >> trevor ault, thank you. and gabby petito's disappearance is drawing renewed attention to another disappearance. a young geologist missing in arizona. daniel robinson went missing in the desert outside buckeye, arizona, in late june. his family claiming authorities haven't done enough to find him. police say a land owner found robinson's significantly damaged jeep on july 19th, about four miles from the job site where he was last seen. we move onto the other news this evening and president biden on the world stage today, speaking to world leaders on this pandemic, on climate, on threats to security, addressing the u.n. general assembly for the first time since taking office. making his case for the global fight against covid and future pandemics. and on climate change, warning, we are nearing a point of no return. he also addressed the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. and late today, back in the oval office, already meeting with a key ally. our chief white house correspondent cecilia vega from the white house tonight. >> reporter: facing growing frustration from america's allies, tonight, president biden is trying to mend fences. laughing at the white house with british prime minister boris johnson. earlier at the u.n., the president trying to convince world leaders that after four years of america first, america is now back. >> our security, our prosperity and our very freedoms are interconnected, in my view, as never before. and so, i believe we must work together as never before. >> reporter: an olive branch extended after tension with several top allies after america's chaotic withdrawal in afghanistan. >> we've ended 20 years of conflict in afghanistan and as we close this period of relentless war, we're opening a new era of relentless diplomacy. u.s. military power must be our tool of last resort, not our first. >> reporter: the president calling for a new era of unity to fight covid. noting the u.s. has shipped over 160 million doses of vaccine to other countries. >> a dose of hope, direct from the american people, and importantly, no strings attached. >> reporter: he also urged the world to come together to combat climate change. >> the scientists and experts are telling us that we're fast approaching a point of no return in the literal sense. >> reporter: the president noting areas of friction with iran and north korea, but also sending this message to rivals like russia and china. >> we are not seeking a new cold war or a world divided into rigid blocks. the united states is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to shared challenges. >> reporter: now, the president still has a lot of work to do when it comes to winning back these allies. france remains livid over this nuclear powered submarine deal with australia. president was asked today how he'll repair those relations. his response, "relations are great." relations actually aren't great. france is so mad, they recalled an ambassador over this. the french foreign minister today called this a stab in the back. the white house says they are trying to schedule a phone call between president macron and president biden, it should happen in the coming days. >> still work to be done there. cecilia vega live at the white house. cecilia, thank you. and the president, as you know, cecilia, also answering a question today about the growing concern at the u.s. border in texas. and the department of homeland security is now launching an investigation into those disturbing images of some border agents on horseback. images the white house called horrific. tonight, the response from the union representing those agents and abc's kenneth moton now from texas. >> reporter: tonight, as federal authorities work to ramp up mass deportations, the biden administration struggling to contain the surge on the texas border. roughly 8,000 men, women and children, mostly haitian, in encampments under that del rio bridge. thousands have already been sent pack to their home countries by the u.s. but tonight, this has become a political battle, too. today republican governor greg abbott on the ground. the biden administration believes that they can process those remaining migrants by the end of the week. do you believe that? >> they have shown no capability of being able to process all of these migrants by the end of this week. the only thing that they have shown is an incapability of dealing with this crisis. >> reporter: on capitol hill, republican senators pressing the secretary of homeland security. >> how many people have been returned? how many people are being detained? and how many have been dispersed to all points around america? >> senator, i would be pleased to provide you with that data. >> i want them now. why don't you have that information now? >> senator, i do not have that. >> reporter: and tonight, amid questions over images the white house called horrific, dhs now launching an investigation into these images, showing border patrol agents on horses, confronting migrants as they enter texas from mexico. tonight, president biden reacting to those chaotic scenes. >> we will get it under control. >> reporter: the union representing border patrol agents, saying that's their training. david, sources tell us agents are still patrolling this border on horseback like they've always done, but dhs says it right now has agency monitors on the ground to make sure those policies are being followed. david? >> all right, kenneth moton in texas again tonight. kenneth, thank you. and now, to growing tensions on the korean peninsula, with world leaders here in new york city. abc's juju chang sitting down with the president of south korea, asking about those long-range missile tests by north korea in just the last week. >> reporter: the u.n. nuclear watchdog issued warnings saying that north korea is moving full steam ahead with the nuclear program, just days after those long-range missile launches. does that concern you? >> translator: of course it's concerning, if north korea resumes its nuclear activities in earnest. that's a very concerning point. that is why we need to resume the north korea/u.s. talks and also inter-korean talks, before such stage becomes a reality. and i believe that we need to have north korea understand that dialogue and diplomacy is the only way to achieve peace on the korean peninsula. >> our juju chang with the south korean president today. secretary of state antony blinken is scheduled to meet with his south korean counterpart tomorrow. and juju will have much more of her interview on "gma" and "nightline" on friday. overseas tonight, new threats after that volcanic eruption at a popular spanish tourist spot in the canary islands. earthquakes rocking the island. a new vent opening up in the mountainside. and fears tonight of toxic gases now when that river of lava reaches the sea. thousands of families forced to leave, racing to save what they can. some of those homes already gone. look at the fire right at the edge of that pool. abc's james longman on the island of la palma tonight. >> reporter: spain's volcanic island is still roaring tonight and now authorities are alarmed at another series of earthquakes opening up new fissures today. an unstoppable wall of lava is eating everything in its path. super-heated molten rock sizzling as it hits this swimming pool. neighborhoods incinerated. a further 2,000 evacuations from la palma, which is just off the coast of north africa, meaning more than 7,000 have now had to flee their homes. some in tears, with only an hour's notice to take everything they could. in an area reliant on agriculture, 300 farms turned to ash. i've never seen anything like this. we're just a few hundred feet from the actual volcano. one of the fissures is just there. i'm not sure if you can tell, but we are being rained on with ash. it's just extraordinary. i'll show you down here, this is the stuff that's coming down. all this moving towards the ocean and when the 1,800-degree lava hits the water, thermal shocks may release clouds of toxic gas and acid rain. another natural disaster for this scarred island to battle. >> just spectacular images tonight. james longman with us live from the island of la palma. and james, we're looking at the volcano right there behind you. >> reporter: yeah, you can see lava and hot ash still shooting up into the night sky. but what officials are really worried about is happening. streams of lava rather than heading to the ocean are now heading inland, which is causing further destruction. and officials worry this could go on for weeks. david? >> all right, james, obviously you and the crew, please stay safe and we appreciate it. and when we come back here tonight, back here at home, news coming in the death of a 14-year-old high school football player dying after suffering a serious head injury during a game. and then later here tonight, remembering a legendary singer. today, you have to deal with a lot of moving parts. you want everything to be on autopilot. and to be prepared if anything changes. 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