We will defend democracy. Our best tool to meet the challenges we face around the world.

And we're working to show how democracy can deliver in ways that matter to people's lives.

President Biden vows to defend democracy abroad and at home,

where he warned that Trump and Meghan Republicans are determined to destroy it.

Also tonight, on National Voter Registration Day, Pennsylvania makes it much easier to register to vote,

as a truly stunning number of election deniers are now overseeing the vote in their states.

And with the clock ticking towards a possible government shutdown,

a new setback today for Kevin McCarthy, who has completely lost control of the Republican caucus,

if he ever had it at all.

But we begin tonight with the crisis of American democracy on the world stage.

Now, if you're in New York, you may have noticed the traffic jams and street closures,

the type of gridlock that can only mean the United Nations General Assembly has kicked off in the city.

World leaders have arrived, raising the alarm on the world's most pressing issues, war, coup d'état,

the climate crisis, just to name a few.

It's one of those days when you realize what leading, what president actually involves.

And how the role, when done correctly, means calling for unity over crises like Russia and Ukraine.

With Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky addressing fellow world leaders in his first in-person visit

since the invasion of his country began.

It also means the tense navigation of foreign policy, where lives are at stake.

Ahead of today's remarks by the Iranian President Iran and the U.S. long-time antagonists struck a rare deal.

Five Americans detained in Iran are now free and made their emotional return to U.S. soil early this morning.

The release was part of a prisoner exchange agreement that will grant Tehran access to oil revenues previously frozen by U.S. sanctions.

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