tonight, the storm threat as we come on the air, the potential for severe thunderstorms tonight and flash flooding. and the passing of a legend. we celebrate tony bennett and what he told me not so long ago about the secret to his storied

career. first tonight, the storms ahead this evening and the record-break heat. triple-digit temperatures across several states. phoenix, 119 degrees. firefighters battling a massive fire there in this heat. the desperate father in texas trying to get to his child trapped in their car. off florida, water temperatures in the 90s. what scientists in florida told us just today about the worst of hurricane season still to come. rob marciano standing by with the potential storms tonight. also this evening, major news involving former president trump. we now know when the federal criminal trial over classified documents will begin. terry moran with late reporting. we have news in the new york serial killer case tonight. authorities want to know -- did the suspect kill young women in the home where he lived with his longtime wife and children? and what the wife, through her attorney, is now saying tonight. aaron katersky reporting. in florida, the board of education and their new standards for teaching black history and slavery in school. planning to teach, quote, how

slaves developed skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit. tonight, vice president kamala harris in florida, her response to this new plan and taking aim at florida governor ron desantis. and tonight here, celebrating the legendary tony bennett. born in queens, his career spanning decades. from his defining moment on "the ed sullivan show" to his duets, and those performances in the end with lady gaga. and what tony bennett told me about breaking a record, becoming the oldest artist ever with the number one album in the world. >> announcer: from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is "world news tonight" with david muir. >> david: good evening, and it's great to have you with us as we near the end of another week together. we'll celebrate tony bennett that career defining moment on "the ed sullivan show" and what he told me a few years back, his secret to his longevity all these years. that's in just a moment.

but we do begin with the storm threat as we come on the air. the potential for severe thunderstorms tonight and flash flooding amid this dangerous and deadly heat. more than 100 million americans on alert in 16 states. take a look -- phoenix suffering an historic heat wave. 119 degrees today. and look at this -- firefighters battling the flames in this heat after an explosive fire there. that city above 110 degrees now for a 22nd straight day. in harlengen, texas, parents accidentally locking their baby in a hot car, smashing through the windshield there to get the baby out. the baby was okay. tonight here, authorities on how quickly children and their body temperatures rise in this kind of heat. it's an important reminder for us all. the heat fueling powerful storms near cleveland. blinding rain in mentor, east of cleveland. rob marciano standing by to time out the storms, and victor oquendo leading us off in florida tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the effects of that relentless and dangerous heat rippling across the country and the world.

more than 100 million americans under heat alerts from california to florida. it's up to 119 in phoenix. breaking another record. firefighters battling the extreme heat and this inferno. propane tanks exploding. it's now day 22 of 110 degrees or higher there. and these temperatures are life-threatening. in harlingen, texas, near the gulf coast, a desperate effort to free a baby locked inside this car. the heat index above 100. children's body temperatures can rise five times faster than that of adults. the baby safe. and with the worst of hurricane season still to come, the waters in parts of the gulf and the western atlantic are climbing into the 90s off the florida coast, four to seven degrees higher than average. it's warm. >> it's over 90 degrees. this water's warm. it gives us reason for pause for what may come for the rest of the summer. >> reporter: researchers at florida international university warn those high temperatures could harm marine life and supercharge hurricanes.

>> there's certainly a concern that with warmer temperatures, you may see stronger storms or more frequent storms. >> reporter: scientists say human-caused climate change is intensifying heat waves across the globe. temperatures topping 110 degrees in southern europe, sparking wildfires in greece, closing the acropolis to tourists. and in italy, sicily hitting 115. here in south florida, we're known for humidity, but it has felt like 100 degrees or more for 41 days straight, and that is a record. scientists say that this heat doesn't bode real for hurricane season, which has yet to ramp up. >> david: victor, thank you. let's get to senior meteorologist rob marciano with much more on this heat, and of course the potential storms ahead tonight. hey, rob. >> reporter: hi, david. we are looking at storms that have already been popping today. here in the northeast, severe thunderstorm watches have been up in new york and much of new

england. tornado warnings outside boston. flood warning in massachusetts and connecticut. that cluster of storms will continue to push east. look at this cluster moving through alabama and georgia. atlanta getting clobbered with severe thunderstorms. that's going to continue for the next several hour as well. the heat continues across parts of the midsouth and back through the southwest. el paso, you'll continue your streak of over 100. phoenix, you haven't had rain in four months. need that monsoon to kick in. the only thing that changes is we expand the heat into the middle part of the country into next week, so even more americans feeling the dangerous heat. david? >> david: we'll be tracking it all week long. rob, thank you. we turn now to the major news tonight involving former president trump. we now know when the federal criminal trial over classified documents will begin. the former president and his legal team had asked the judge to delay the case until after the election. she did delay the trial, but not until after the election. instead it will play out just months before the crucial presidential election in this country. here's terry moran. >> reporter: federal judge aileen cannon setting a trial

date of may 20th, 2024, for the classified documents case against former president trump in florida and striking a middle ground, calling special counsel jack smith's request for a trial this coming december inconsistent with ensuring a fair trial. but judge cannon, who was appointed by trump, also rejecting trump's call to postpone any trial until after the 2024 election, acknowledging the public's interest in a speedy trial. trump's campaign claiming victory, calling the ruling a major setback for prosecutors. but the reality is trump will now be on trial in front of the american people just months before the election. on the campaign trail, trump's trying to turn it all to his advantage. >> i consider it to be a great badge of honor and courage. i'm doing it for you. i'm being indicted for you. >> reporter: but he will now have to show up for at least two criminal trials right in the middle of the 2024 campaign. first in march when he will be in a manhattan courtroom to face charges related to his payment of hush money to porn star

stormy daniels. then the documents case in may, and he's bracing for two more criminal indictments. as soon as monday, as trump himself has predicted, he could face indictment and arrest in connection with efforts to overturn the 2020 election, culminating in the attack on the capitol. and in georgia, he could could face state criminal charges stemming from alleged efforts to change the election results there. that decision could come in a few weeks. the immediate legal concern for the former president is the grand jury investigation here in washington, d.c., into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. all signs pointing to an imminent indictment there. perhaps as soon as monday, setting in motion a new familiar process -- donald trump in a courtroom, arrested, arraigned and charged. david? >> david: terry moran tonight, thank you. there is also news tonight in the new york serial case. the architect and father charged with murdering three young women. tonight investigators now want to know if any of those young

women were killed inside the home where he lived with his longtime wife and children. here's aaron katersky. >> rex, did you do it? >> reporter: tonight, a week after suspected serial killer rex heuermann was charged with murdering three women later found on gilgo beach, law enforcement sources tell abc news investigators are working to determine whether he killed any of the victims in his home where he lived with his longtime wife and children. >> he had a family, he had a wife and two kids, but what he did at night, he was a different human being and a dangerous individual. >> reporter: heuermann's wife of more than 25 years, asa ellerup, has filed for divorce. in a new statement tonight, her lawyer called this a devastating time for the family. prosecutors say phone records show heuermann's wife was out of town when each of the victims disappeared. tonight, police in south carolina, where heuermann also owned property, are checking whether he could be tied to the 2014 disappearance of aaliyah bell, the 18-year-old seen in these pictures released by police. and authorities in atlantic city are investigating any links between the gilgo beach killings

and the unsolved 2006 murders of four women working as prostitutes. heuermann has pleaded not guilty. for investigators, david, there's a new focus on massage parlors in the new york area that he may have visited, and they'll be here at the house searching for clues through the weekend. david? >> david: we see the police presence behind you. thank you. we turn to florida and the controversial move by that state's board of education -- their new standards for teaching black history and slavery in middle school, planning to teach how slaves developed skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit. tonight, vice president kamala harris in florida, her response to the plan, taking aim at florida governor ron desantis and what she says he's really doing here. tonight, the governor just now responding. here's mary bruce. >> reporter: tonight, vice president kamala harris traveling to florida to condemn the state's new education standards, which critics say water down the horrors of

slavery. >> they want to replace history with lies. >> reporter: under the new standards, middle school students will now be taught how slaves developed skills, which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit. >> adults know what slavery really involved. it involved rape. it involved torture. how is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities that there was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanization? [ applause ] >> reporter: high school students will also be taught that horrific events like the 1920 ocoee massacre, the deadliest election day violence in american history, where a white mob brutally attacked black voters, were acts of violence perpetrated against and by african americans. >> high schoolers may be taught that victims of violence, of massacres were also

perpetrators. they insult us in an attempt to gaslight us. and we will not have it. [ applause ] >> reporter: the new guidelines written to meet new standards signed into law by republican governor and presidential candidate ron desantis. without saying his name, the vice president accusing desantis of trying to create unnecessary scary debates to divide our country. >> people who walk around and want to be praised as leaders, who want to be talked about as american leaders, pushing propaganda on our children. >> reporter: ron desantis has just responded calling the vice president's criticisms ridiculous and outrageous, and he initially defended these new standards calling them robust, thorough, and factual, but when pressed on students being taught that slaves may have benefitted from the skills they were taught, desantis quick to distance himself, saying he wasn't involved with it. david? >> david: mary bruce live at the white house.

thank you, mary. tonight we celebrate a legend. we learned today that singer tony bennett has died, just two weeks shy of his 97th birthday. tonight here, his music, and what he told me, the person who was his inspiration as a boy. >> reporter: his voice was unmistakable. ♪ i left my heart ♪ ♪ in san francisco ♪ >> reporter: tony bennett on "the ed sullivan show" in 1964, his signature song, "i left my heart in san francisco." it would prove to be a pivotal performance. his voice, his longevity was singular, performing on stage for more than 70 years. "the way you look tonight," in 2015. ♪ there is nothing for me but to love you ♪

♪ just the way you look tonight ♪ >> reporter: his style, his warmth, consistent through all the decades. ♪ so make it one for my baby one more for the road ♪ >> reporter: his duets over the years would keep him relevant, young, current. it was often the other performers who were star struck. >> i'm so nervous. >> reporter: in the end, his work with lady gaga. ♪ heaven ♪ ♪ i'm in heaven ♪ >> reporter: 60 years between them, but just a few feet in that studio. ♪ in a river or a creek, but i don't enjoy it half as much as dancing cheek to cheek ♪ >> reporter: tony bennett was born anthony dominic benedetto. in 1926. he grew up in working class astoria in new york city.

his father emigrated from southern italy, and he was just 10 when his father died. his mother was left to raise the children during the great depression. he told me in recent years that it was his mother who was his inspiration. >> that's the reason i went into show business, because she was working so hard to raise three children. >> reporter: as a young man, tony bennett would serve in the infantry in world war ii, helping to liberate a concentration camp. he would come back to america on the g.i. bill and go to school, working as a singing waiter. it was bob hope who discovered him one night and asked him to open for him, and it was bob hope who suggested tony shorten his name from benedetto to bennett. from then on, tony bennett. ♪ who can i turn to? ♪ >> reporter: bennett once told us about his early years, counting frank sinatra as a mentor and a friend. >> sinatra was my best friend he gave me the best advice. he was ten years my elder and he was my master.

he said stay away from bad songs. he said, just do great songs, because if you do the american song book, by doing those songs, which will live forever -- they're not old songs, they're great, great songs. ♪ because of you ♪ >> reporter: in 1951, his first number one hit, "because of you." in 1962, he won his first grammy with "i left my heart in san francisco." ♪ in san francisco ♪ >> reporter: 20 grammys in all, more than 70 albums. ♪ just wake up kiss the good life good-bye ♪ >> reporter: and when it came to his music, he told us he fought the critics for decades who told him to sing something more modern. but he told me he loved the classics. >> i said, i'm just doing the great american song book over and over again, because it was

the greatest music that ever came out of any country in the world. >> reporter: tony bennett would reveal he was diagnosed with alzheimer's in 2016, his wife said while his mind was slipping, on stage he was as sharp as ever. >> it is progressing. the fact he can perform was invigorating and life affirming. i think tony can still serve as an inspiration to people that if you love what you do, whatever it is you do, keep doing it. you don't have the hide away. >> reporter: his last performance with lady gaga in 2021. tony bennett died today in his longtime apartment, his home in new york city, just two weeks shy of his 97th birthday. survived by his wife, his four children, and nine grandchildren. we remember what he told me just a few years back when i asked him what it was like to set a record, the oldest artist to have the number one album in the world. >> i always wanted to be one of

a kind somehow, and it happened. ♪ i get a kick out of you ♪ ♪ get my kicks out of you ♪ >> david: he certainly was one of a kind. i loved that conversation with him. haexs a legend. true to the end. and later tonight right here, what he told me, the secret to his longevity all these years. but first, when we come back here tonight, the young girl saved tonight. she wrote help me, and they believe it saved her life. news tonight on a long time member of our own abc family. age-related macular degeneration may lead to severe vision loss and if you're taking a multi-vitamin alone, you may be missing a critical piece... preservision. preservision areds 2 contains the only clinically proven nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. preservision is backed by 20 years of clinical studies. so ask your doctor about adding preservision and fill in a missing piece of your plan. like i did with preservision.

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>> david: finally tonight here, tony bennett. we asked him just a few years back, what's the secret to your longevity all these years? ♪ i left my heart ♪ [ applause ] ♪ in san francisco ♪ >> reporter: tony bennett on the ed sullivan show in 1964, an appearance that would help shape his early career. and it was not so long ago our interview with tony bennett. i remember asking him, what was the secret to his long and storied career? >> i can tell you the secret, but no one believes what i'm going to tell you, because i never worked a day in my life because i love what i do. i keep studying, i keep learning, and i just love the fact that i'm getting away with it. >> reporter: tony bennett on what he loved and that early appearance on the ed sullivan show that put him in front of

millions. ♪ your golden sun ♪ ♪ will shine for me ♪ >> david: let's all play some tony bennett to celebrate him this weekend. whit and linsey here this weekend with the news. i'll see you on monday. kristen: breaking news. the richmond-san rafael bridge is shut down. we are monitoring. julian: hours away until a total shutdown of eastbound i-80 that will last all weekend. kristen: and tonight, new bike lanes put to the test. they are getting mixed reviews. see what it looks like. sandhya: and we are tracking the heat and haz

we take a look at the smoke forecast and temperatures for the weekend. abc7 news starts right now. >> live breaking news. kristen: that is the gridlock ruining traffic all around the bay area. julian: it is happening on the richmond-san rafael bridge where a person suffering in mental health crisis has shut down the eastbound lanes. dion: it started at 12:45 p.m. this afternoon, at one point traffic backed up and the chp has opened up one lane to clear traffic from the bridge. there is no eastbound traffic on the bridge. instead, the cars are being diverted at main street and san rafael. they are asking drivers to avoid the area until they can resolve the situation, but after hours the traffic is immense. kristen: it is backed up beyond the bridge. this is the gridlock