today, and donald trump arriving just moments ago. a rematch four years later. both ready to make their case before the american people tonight. the first debate between a sitting president and a former president. strict rules in place tonight. no audience. the mics muted when it's not their turn to talk. our team is all here tonight. this evening, the major abortion ruling from the supreme court. 24 hours after that court document was mistakenly posted online, the justices officially issuing their decision today. testing state aboar shoulrtion deciding whether women whose health is at risk should be allowed an emergency abortion in the er. the ntsb sanging boeing today. tonight, oklahoma, effective immediately, requiring all grades 5 through 12 to teach the bible in the classroom. tonight, the state calling the bible a, quote, necessary historical document. deadly storms in the northeast. a man killed by a falling tree. we're also tracking a new round of severe weather from the plains, all the way into the northeast. possible tornadoes, damaging winds, and hail. in new york city tonight, the apartment building on fire. a flaming e-bike catching fire. and what authorities are now warning. don't, walgreens revealing plans to close hundreds of stores. dramatic images showing a huge sinkhole 100 feet wide opening in a soccer field in the middle of this country. the field disappears. the dodger bat boy to the rescue. his quick reflexes saving their $700 million superstar. and the breaking headline tonight, it's apparently father and son now for the l.a. lakers. and the presidential debate, we'll carry it right here on abc a short time from now. what you need to know, going into tonight. good evening and it's great to have you with us here on a very busy thursday night. the severe storms from the plains to the northeast. we're tracking it all. but of course, we begin tonight here with the historic debate just a short time from now. president joe biden and former president donald trump, the first debate between a sitting president and a former one. the two oldest major party candidates ever, 78 and 81. we will carry the debate live right here on abc, just a short time from now. the two candidates will appear on this debate stage right here in atlanta. their podiums are about eight feet apart. there are strict rules in place tonight. no audience, the mics will be muted when it's not their time to speak. president biden arriving late this afternoon at dobbins air reserve base in marietta, georgia, after spending the better part of this week at camp david holding mock debates. donald trump arriving at hartsfield jackson airport. some policy sessions with advisers behind the scenes. trump said he's been preparing his whole life for this. tonight, we'll break it all down, including where this race stands. several new national polls out in the last 24 hours. where they show this race right now. and why each candidate needs a very strong showing tonight to move the needle, given how close this race is. abc's rachel scott leading us off tonight at the debate site, she's in atlanta for us. >> reporter: president biden arriving in atlanta, surrounded by cheering supporters -- >> four more years! >> reporter: -- just hours before tonight's history-making debate. for the first time, a sitting president and a former president squaring off on the debate stage. the white house tonight saying the stakes could not be higher. >> so i'm on my way to atlanta. you probably have heard, you know, about the debate. >> reporter: the first lady with this message for americans watching at home. >> so, wait you tonight, when you see them both debating, i want you to hear joe's words, but most of all, i want you to listen to his heart. >> reporter: donald trump touching down here in atlanta just minutes ago. for months, the former president has mocked biden's stamina and questioned his mental fitness. but as the debate approached, trump's tone changed. >> i assume he's going to be somebody that will be a worthy debater, yeah, i would say -- i think -- i don't want to underestimate him. >> reporter: tonight, the candidates will stand behind podiums eight feet apart. there will be no studio audience. trump has complained about that, but sources close to his campaign tell me they hope it keeps him on message. and another big difference, the candidate's microphone will only be turned on when it's their turn to speak, an effort to prevent another scene like this -- >> the radical left -- >> will you shut up, man. >> reporter: president biden tonight seeking to draw a direct contrast with his rival. preparing to call out trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the capitol riot on january 6th. >> he's willing to sacrifice our democracy, to put himself in power. >> reporter: trump's team telling me they've prepared for those attacks. and they're advising trump to focus on other issues, immigration, crime, and the economy. >> we had the greatest economy ever, and he's got an economy that is so bad with inflation. >> reporter: donald trump and president biden have not seen each other since they last stepped off the debate stage four years ago. and tonight, they'll meet again, in the most consequential moment yet of this campaign. >> david: let's get live to rachel scott, she's at the debate site in atlanta. and the spin room, where b candidates will spin performance. you mentioned no studio audience tonight. the mics will only be turned on when it's their turn to speak. from my understanding, they are also not allowed to have any sort of prewritten notes. they can write something once they get in there, and they're not allowed to confer with aides during the two commercial breaks? >> reporter: david, no conversations with aides or advisers. the candidates are not allowed to bring anything prewritten on the debate stage. they will be allowed to write notes once they are behind the podium. once this debate begins, it is just the two candidates and the moderators, all alone for 90 minutes. no studio audience to cheer them on. we'll see if the mock debates the president has been doing will ultimately pay off. and which version of donald trump shows up tonight? the former president, who is on the attack, or a much more measured version of the former president who wants to stay on message, david? >> david: rachel, thank you. let's get right to mary bruce, with me here in new york. it's impossible to overstate the stakes for the current president, the sitting president, joe biden, who is aware of the poll numbers, obviously, going into tonight. also aware of the questions of age and fitness. both of them 78 and 81. and on the economy, which has been such a difficult issue for him, created millions of jobs, inflation is easing, but voters tell us over and over again that they feel as though their money simply suspect going as far. >> well, look, the campaign, first of all, is well aware of what is on the line here tonight. and the president's goal here is to hammer into voters the enormity of what is at stake in this race. he's been doing it for months out on the campaign trail, but never before in this race has he had an opportunity to reach an audience this large. and they feel that, look, donald trump supporters aren't going anywhere. that is fully baked. but they do feel that he doesn't have a lot of room to grow. so, the president tonight is going to try to reach out to those critical independent, undecided voters, and see if he can convince them to join him. perhaps more important than the substance, voters will be paying attention to his performance. the president has to convince voters who are concerned about his age that he can do this, and also convince worried democrats that he can win, david. >> david: and the question th, e independents, they put him over the top last time. can they do it this time. let's go to rick klein. the new national polls that are just out tonight, they show just how close this race is. and, of course, our new fivethirtyeight polls of polls. >> exactly, david. anything from trump six-point lead to a biden two-point lead. and you combine it all togethering and our average has it basically tied. and it hasn't moved for months. if anything, maybe a slight bump for biden since trump's criminal conviction a month ago, but it is tight as can be. when it comes to the big issues that voters want to hear about tonight. look at the big ones. inflation, half the country says that's important. immigration, more than a third of the country. those are both trump advantages. big edges in trump's trust to handle those issues. the big biden issues including political extremism and abortion rights, a little bit lower on the priority list, david. >> david: president biden fully aware on inflation, immigration, he's got to make his case tonight. rick, mary, you'll all be here just a short time from now. the debate live here on abc. you can watch the cnn p presidential debate, we're going to carry it here. we're going to help set up the night at 8:00, and then, of course, 9:00 p.m. for the debate here on abc. in the meantime, we move onto the other news tonight, to the major news this thursday. 24 hours after that supreme court document was mistakenly posted online, the justices officially now issuing this decision. testing state abortion bans in decide wing if women should be allowed an abortion in the er. what the supreme court has decided for now. terry moran at the supreme court again tonight. >> reporter: today, the official supreme court ruling on idaho's abortion law makes clear, women in idaho can once again obtain emergency abortions if their health is at stake, at least for now. >> it's a good start, i guess, but it's not enough. >> reporter: the court's ruling, identical to that mistakenly posted document yesterday. the justices sending the case back to lower courts, at least temporarily clearing the way for idaho er doctors to provide an abortion if necessary to protect the mother's health. it's the first major state abortion case since the court overturned roe versus wade two years ago. idaho is one of 21 states that have passed restrictions or bans on abortion since then. the decision coming just hours before tonight's presidential debate, with abortion sure to be a topic. president biden's campaign quick to blame donald trump. because trump's supreme court majority overturned roe versus wade, women are being turned away from emergency rooms and forced to the brink of death before receiving the care they need. if trump returns to the white house, he and his allies will ban abortion in all 50 states. doctors in idaho say the state law put on hold today ignores the realities of emergency care for pregnant women. >> we need to be able to have all options on the table in order to protect that person that's in front of us, that pregnant person. >> reporter: another huge decision today from the court, the justices dealing a devastating blow to a sweeping nationwide settlement for victims of the opioid epidemic. the settlement, negotiated for years, involved purdue pharma, makers of oxycontin, and members of the billionaire sackler family, former owners of purdue. purdue and the sacklers had agreed to pay $6 billion to victims, but in exchange, the sackler family would be shielded from any future liability. but now, that deal is off. the court saying u.s. bankruptcy law prevents the sacklers from being let off the court. but justice neil gorsuch, writing for the court, suggesting, “there may be an even better deal on the horizon.” most of the plaintiffs supported the settlement, and were stunned by the court's ruling. justice brett kavanaugh in a strong dissent upset that those families won't see any of that money any time soon, writing, "the decision is wrong on the law and devastating for more than 100,000 opioid victims and their families." jill chichowicz lost her twin brother, scott, to an overdose seven years ago. >> it's devastating, and it breaks my heart. but we're not quitting, we're standing back up and we'll get back up and we'll come back stronger. >> david: so many families in this country affected by this. i want to bring in terry moran, live at the court again tonight. terry, this $6 billion settlement really took years, as you know, hundreds of thousands of families involved, but the court essentially saying here the sacklers might end up paining even more money, but everyone looking at this, saying, that could mean many, many more years of waiting for these families. >> reporter: absolutely, david. look, this is back to square one right now, and the court has struck down the key provision in this deal, that shielded the sack lelers from future liabili in exchange for those bulillion of dollars. today, all the parties, including the sacklers, saying they want to reach a new deal, but that certainly will take years. david? >> david: terry moran with us at the supreme court. terry, thank you. meantime, there is new trouble tonight for boeing, facing tough new sanctions from the ntsb, after federal authorities say boeing revealed debates to reporters about what caused that door plug blowout at 16,000 feet. while the incident is still under investigation. gio benitez covers aviation. >> reporter: tonight, boeing under fire. the embattled jet-maker facing unprecedented sanctions from the ntsb for publicly disclosing details about that alaska airlines door plug blowout, now under federal investigation. in a scathing statement today, the federal agency saying boeing “blatantly violated ntsb investigative regulations and boeing's signed party agreement with the ntsb by providing non-public investigative information to the media and speculating about possible causes of the january 5th door plug blowout." adding, "few entities know the rules better than boeing." at issue, this highly choreographed and controlled tour of boeing's factory in renton, washington, on tuesday. the first since the january incident. here inside the 737 factory, each plane goes through ten different stations, with entirely different teams. and boeping says that safety procedures have changed at all of those stations. boeing telling us that alaska airlines jet had defects when it arrived from spirit aerosystems and boeing workers removed the door plug and bolts to make repairs. but no one ever documented that door's removal. a different crew later moving the plane outside and reattaching the door, because of the weather. but boeing says, because the door's removal wasn't documented, those bolts were never put back. >> very transparently, the fact that one employee could not fill out one piece of paperwork in this condition and could result in an accident, was shocking to all of us. >> reporter: that boeing 737 max 9 making more than 150 flights before that door plug flew off 16,000 feet in the air. and david, tonight, boeing has apologized to the ntsb, saying that it deeply regrets that some of the comments overstepped the ntsb's role. david? >> david: gio benitez who covers aviation. thank you, gio. there is a developing headline from texas tonight. the first criminal indictments stemming from the school massacre in yuval dee more than two years ago now. multiple reports tonight, a grand jury has filed criminal charges against two people for abandoning or endangering a child, a state felony. authorities found officers arrived at robb elementary school and waited 77 minutes before confronting the shooter. 19 fourth graders and two teachers were killed. uvalde school police chief pete arredondo is one of two potentially facing charges here, including to "the san antonio express news." no confirmation yet to abc news. we turn now to oklahoma tonight, and the new ruling involving the bible in public schools. that state mandating teaching the bible in schools, effective immediately, calling it an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone. here's matt rivers tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the top education official in oklahoma directing all schools across the state to incorporate the bible and the ten commandments into the curriculum. the new requirement for grades 5 through 12 effective immediately. >> every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a bible in the classroom and will be teaching from the bible in the classroom. >> reporter: oklahoma's superintendent ryan walters calling the bible "a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country." the move coming just days after louisiana became the first state to require all public school classrooms to display the ten commandments. texas and utah are weighing similar laws. civil liberties groups are already suing louisiana, arguing its new law is unconstitutional and violates the separation of church and state. today's move by oklahoma, they say, is part of a larger trend. >> i think they are emboldened by this supreme court. i think the religious extremists saw the success they had with roe versus wade and are feeling emboldened all around the country. that is one of the reasons that you're seeing this wave of christian nationalism rising right now. >> reporter: david, oklahoma will be giving its school districts instructions on how to implement this policy for the upcoming school year, but the state superintendent says strict and immediate compliance is expected. david? >> david: matt rivers in los angeles tonight. matt, thank you. when we come back here, deadly storms in the northeast. a man killed by a falling tree. and now a new round of severe storms from the plains all the way to the northeast, we'll track it. here in new york city tonight, the flaming e-bike pulled from a burning apartment building. they had to get people out. and look at this draft matic images showing the moment a huge sinkhole 100 feet wide opens on a soccer field. the field 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