ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - April 15, 2025

Tonight, breaking news as we come on the. air, what played out a short time ago. The White House standoff over that. wrongly deported immigrant sent to that. notorious prison in El Salvador. Also. tonight, the man in a gas mask armed. with pepper spray storming into a. courthouse in the Northeast. And a. passenger jet, the flames you'll see. shooting from the engine in the air. after what they call a possible rabbit. strike. First tonight, the heated. showdown between the White House and the. courts over a mistakenly deported. husband and father taken to that. notorious prison in El Salvador.

Following the Supreme Court's unanimous. 90 ruling to facilitate his return, he's. still not back. And tonight, a federal. judge scolding the Trump administration, saying it has done nothing to facilitate. his return. The images coming in. tonight. Police racing to the scene of a. high school shooting in Dallas. Dozens. of students seen running from the. school. The United Airlines flight with. flames spotted shooting from an engine. just after takeoff. The pilot reporting. a possible rabbit strike. Did a rabbit. crawl into the engine right before.

takeoff? The chilling video showing a. man wearing a gas mask storming into a. courthouse. The news late today, a top. aid to defense secretary Pete Hegath. placed on leave, escorted from the. Pentagon amid a leak investigation. Martha Ratit standing by and what she's. learned tonight. The battle escalating. between President Trump and Harvard. Harvard rejecting the president's. demand, saying no government, regardless. of party, should dictate what private. universities can teach and do. Tonight, the president now freezing more than 2.

billion in federal funding. Tonight, the. new CDC report on the autism rate here. in the US. 1 in 31 children in America. And what's driving this? The $5 million. jewelry store heist. The hole in the. wall. How they got in. Look at this. tonight. More than 30 endangered right. whales spotted off Cape Cod, one of them. struggling in the water. Also tonight. here, remembering a popular game show. host and what the elephants did during. the California earthquake, the circle. they formed and why they did it. You'll.

see it right. here from ABC News World Headquarters in. New York. This is World News Tonight. with David Mure. Good evening and it's. great to have you with us here at a very. busy Tuesday night. We begin tonight. with the heated showdown late today. between the Trump administration and the. courts over a wrongfully deported. Maryland man. The husband and father. sent to that notorious prison in El. Salvador. The Supreme Court ruled. unanimously that the Trump. administration needed to facilitate his.

return. And tonight, a federal judge. finding the administration has done. nothing to comply with the Supreme. Court. The judge telling the Trump. administration's lawyers, "The Supreme. Court has spoken. You made your. arguments. You lost." This is now about. the scope of the remedy. Kilmar Abrego. Garcia, a husband and father swept up. and accused without evidence of being a. member of a violent gang. This image of. Abrego Garcia in that prison had shaved. and dressed in white. The Trump. administration acknowledged in sending. him to that prison it was an. administrative error, but now says they. can't compel El Salvador to release him.

The president of El Salvador in the Oval. Office yesterday asked if he'll return. the man, saying that's a preposterous. question. So Rachel Scott tonight on. what a federal judge just told the. administration and where this stands. tonight. Tonight, a federal judge. chastising the Trump administration, saying they've done quote nothing to. comply with the Supreme Court's order to. facilitate the return of Kilmer Abrago. Garcia, a husband and father who lived. in Maryland before the administration. admits he was mistakenly deported to a.

notorious prison in El Salvador. This is. an image of Obrego Garcia in that. highsecurity mega prison known as. Sconot. His head shaved, dressed in. white. There, 80 inmates are jammed into. a single cell. The lights are always on. No books, no visitors. Inmates are never. allowed outdoors. Judge Paula Senise. declaring every day Obrego Garcia spends. in that prison as a day of further. irreparable harm. Today, Justice. Department lawyers insisting the. administration is prepared to facilitate.

Abrego Garcia's presence in the United. States if he presents at a port of. entry. But they argue they cannot compel. El Salvador to release him from prison, even though the administration is paying. El Salvador more than $6 million to hold. him there along with more than 200 other. undocumented immigrants who they claim. without providing evidence are members. of violent gangs. The Justice Department. pointing to these comments in the Oval. Office from Salvadoran President Naim. Boule, a close Trump ally who declared.

he would not release a BGO Garcia. Of. course, I'm not going to do it. It's. like I mean the the the question is. preposterous. How can I smuggle a. terrorist into the United States? Today, the judge brushing aside Boulli's words, saying they are not evidence. The White. House claims ago Garcia, who is from El. Salvador, is a gang member. He illegally. came into our country and so deporting. him back to El Salvador was always going. to be the end result. But tonight, the ripple effects of this.

case being felt across the country in. Fort Madison, Iowa. Republican Senator. Chuck Grassley confronted by angry. constituents at a town meeting. You. going to bring that guy back from El. Salvador? Why not? Well, because that's not a. that's not power of Congress. Supreme. Court said to bring it back. Grasly. insisting it's up to El Salvador to send. Obrego Garcia home. The president of.

that country is not subject to our US. Supreme Court. The crown's frustration on full display. These people have been sentenced to life. imprisonment in a foreign country with. no due process. Obey the Supreme Court. Trump's not. obeyed the Supreme Court. He just. ignores him. Yeah. And tonight, outside. court, Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer,

an American, pleading for his return. I. will not stop fighting until I see my. husband alive. The judge is now giving. the Trump administration two weeks to. prove that they are facilitating the. return of Albrego Garcia to the United. States. At that point, it will have been. three weeks since the Supreme Court. first issued its order. And for all that. time, Alrego Garcia will be sitting in. that prison in El Salvador. All his. family has heard about his condition is. what the administration has said that he. is alive and secure. David Rachel Scott.

with late reporting from the White House. tonight. Rachel, thank you. Now to the. terrifying scene at a Dallas high. school. Gunfire inside the school. Law. enforcement then rushing to Wilmer. Hutchkins High School. Students, you can. see there running to safety. Authorities. say one student shot and wounded. And. what they revealed just moments ago at. the same school where they had a. shooting nearly a year ago to the day. Berea Val on the scene in Texas. Tonight, terrified students running out. of this Texas high school after multiple. shots fired. You got an active shooter. Wilmer Hutchkins High School. We do have.

reports of one student being one shot. First responders swarming the scene at. Wilmer Hutchkins High School in Dallas. around lunchtime. The shooter at the. school is reportedly run out of the back. of the building. Authorities say four. students were injured. Three of them. shot. Police still searching for the. shooter. The senior forced to take. cover. We heard a few gunshots and we. were still standing there confused. And. then we heard more. Saw a few students. running. heard a few screams and we had.

to go and take cover back in the. bedroom. Students seen walking out with. their hands up. Parents desperate for. answers. I'm glad this is my last child. in school and I won't have to go through. this anymore. You might wake up one day. and your kids be beside you and the next. day they gone. David, today's incident comes nearly one. year to the day of a similar shooting. that happened at the same school that. you see right behind me. The. superintendent telling me that they have. spoken to the governor. They have.

updated him and he has offered the. resources they need to help in this. investigation. David Maria Valol in. Texas. Maria, thank you. Now to the. United Airlines flight with flames. spotted shooting from an engine just. after takeoff. The pilot can actually be. heard reporting a possible rabbit. strike. Of course, the question, how did. a rabbit get into the engine before. takeoff? And if not a rabbit, what was. it? Here's Gio Bonedz with the pictures. Look closely tonight. That's United. Flight 2325 packed with passengers bound. for Edmonton. Its right engine in flames.

after officials say a rabbit made it. inside during takeoff. Rabbit through the number two. That'll. do it. All right. Harrowing video from. inside the plane shows the midair scare. Large flames shooting from the engine. The Boeing 737 in the air for just 75. minutes before turning around. We lost. the right motor. The pilots at one point. thinking the fire compromised the. landing gear. Scott Wolf was on board. Someone near the rear of the plane uh.

started to shout out that the wing was. on fire. Thought to myself all of a. sudden, I shouldn't be recording. I. should be texting. On takeoff, the. engines are going at their maximum rate. and anything that's in front of them uh. is probably going to get ingested. And. David, that flight landed safely back in. Denver. Now, in 2024, the FAA says there. were more than 20,000 wildlife strikes. in the US. Only four of those were. rabbit strikes. David Gio Bonitz in New. York. Gio, thank you. We're going to. turn to the chilling scene in a.

courthouse in Wuburn, Massachusetts. A. man wearing a gas mask, storming in. using pepper spray. Here's Trevor Alt. Tonight, terrifying video of a man. storming a Massachusetts courthouse in a. helmet and gas mask Monday, firing. pepper spray at an officer, and rushing. in. The court officer came just pulled. the door shut and just told everybody, "Get out of the courtroom. Get out of. the courtroom. Run. Run out the back. door." It happened in the city of Wuburn. outside Boston. Watch as he pushes. through the entryway, sprinting through. the metal detectors. I started to hear.

screaming and everybody just got up and. ran. Video shows the first officer. tackling him from behind, then multiple. officers ultimately subduing him. The. bails were really quick and on point. with what their training I guess is and. they handled the situation right away. In total, three officers were taken to. the hospital. All of them later. released. Authorities now identifying. the suspect as 28-year-old Nicholas. Akerberg from Yarmouth, saying he had. eight cans of pepper spray and two smoke. canisters on him. He was scheduled to.

appear in court that same day on several. charges, including alleged assault of a. 67year-old man. Tonight, his bail for. those cases now revoked. David, the. suspect pleaded not guilty to the. charges stemming from this latest. incident and he was taken to the. hospital for a mental health evaluation. He's due back in court next month. David, Trevor, thank you. Now to the. developing headline tonight at the. Pentagon where a top aid to defense. secretary Pete Hgse has been placed on. leave tonight, escorted from the. Pentagon amid a leak investigation. Let's get right to Martha Ratit. Martha,

what have you learned tonight? David. Pete Hegsth has been adamant that leaks. will not be tolerated in the Pentagon, but this was surely a huge shock to. Hegathth that one of his own top. advisers, Dan Caldwell, has now been. kicked out of the building after a leak. investigation. Caldwell was escorted out. of the Pentagon today by security and is. now on administrative leave. Caldwell. has such close ties to Hegsth that he. was his point of contact with the NSC.

for strikes on the Houthis in Yemen. during that signal chat last month. Caldwell was on that signal chain. Of. course, Hegsth himself has been under. fire for passing on attack plans on the. signal chain. But this leak. investigation began after a story about. a possible top secret briefing for Elon. Musk was leaked and that a second. carrier would be heading to the Mid. East, but it is unclear exactly what. story led to Caldwell being escorted out. of the building. David. All right, we. know you'll continue to follow this for.

us, Martha. Thank you. Next tonight to. the battle escalating between President. Trump and Harvard. Harvard rejecting the. president's demand, saying no. government, regardless of party, should. dictate what private universities can. teach and do. Tonight, the president is. now freezing more than two billion in. federal funds and is now threatening. Harvard's taxexempt status. Our chief. national correspondent Matt Gutman in. Cambridge, Massachusetts tonight. Tonight, 24 hours after Harvard refused. President Trump's demands, President. Trump escalating his threats against the. university, now suggesting the.

university should lose its taxexempt. status if it continues its defiance. The. president posting today, perhaps Harvard. should be taxed as a political entity if. it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist. inspired/supporting sickness. But. critics of the president say it's Trump. who's playing politics with academic. institutions. The White House freezing. $2.2 $2 billion in federal funding to. Harvard after the university refused to. comply with a series of demands, including reporting to federal. authorities foreign students who commit.

conduct violations, submitting to an. audit to ensure academic departments. have diverse viewpoints, ending all DEI. programs, sharing hiring data with the. administration, and submitting to an. audit of admissions data. The school's. president, Alan Garber, writing, "No. government, regardless of which party is. in power, should dictate what private. universities can teach, whom they can. admit and hire, and which areas of study. and inquiry they can pursue." And. tonight, with about $7 billion in. federal funds still on the line, Harvard.

doubling down, vowing it will not. surrender its independence or relinquish. its constitutional rights, neither. Harvard nor any private university can. allow itself to be taken over by the. federal government. So, with the. university saying that it's not going to. surrender, where does this go next? One. place it could go is court. Um, what the. Trump administration's doing is illegal, and the university has a very strong. legal position here that the First. Amendment and the Civil Rights Act do. not permit what the Trump administration. is demanding. The administration.

targeting about 60 universities and. claims what's driving this is their. effort against anti-semitism. Harvard. says it has taken steps to combat. anti-semitism. And critics of the. president say this is about much more. than that. And tonight, the acting. president of Colombia, also a target of. the White House, addressing the. university's efforts to restore $400. million in canceled funding, saying. they're working with the administration, but would reject any agreement that. would require us to relinquish our. independence and autonomy as an.

educational. institution. And David, of course, Harvard with that over $50 billion. endowment. And while scientific research. is on the line, university officials say. it's not a piggy bank that could be just. mined for anything. And the university. president making it clear that no. government should dictate to a private. university what it should teach and do. David, Matt Gutman in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Matt, thank you. We turn. tonight to the new CDC report on the. autism rate in America. One in 31. children now diagnosed with autism.

spectrum disorder and what HHS Secretary. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now promising. to do by September. ABC's Steo Sansami. at the CDC in Atlanta. Authorities at the CDC are trying to. explain what's behind new numbers. tonight showing that one out of every 31. children in America was diagnosed with. some measure of autism in 2022. The. latest figures available. Those numbers. were one in every 36 children just 2. years earlier and one out of every 150. children in the year 2000. And the.

report shows that autism was much more. common in boys than girls. US Health. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, who for. years as a civilian helped blame autism. on the use of vaccines, is underlining. the new numbers tonight. His take on. this has been rejected by the world. medical community. In my generation. today, the rate of autism is 1 in. 10,000. And this is just one disease. Other health officials this evening are. explaining that the larger numbers are. because parents and doctors are now much.

more aware of the disease and are now. correctly identifying more symptoms. Not. a reason, they say to buy into unproven. theories that discourage Americans from. using vaccines. So now we have better. diagnosis, broader recognition of autism. spectrum. So many children with less. severe learning and behavior differences. are being included in these new rates. Autism is not new and it is not caused. by vaccines. Kennedy has ordered scientists here at. the CDC and across the federal. government to investigate what causes.

autism and has promised that he may. start to have answers as soon as. September. David, really important. reporting affects so many families. Steve, thank you. When we come back here. tonight, you'll see the 30 endangered. right whales spotted right off the coast. in the northeast off Cape Cod and a. 5-year-old calf tangled in fishing gear. Also tonight, we remember a popular game. show host and the $5 million jewelry. heist. The store ransacked the hole in. the wall. How they did this in a moment. here. Tonight, authorities are investigating a.

jewelry store heist in Los Angeles. At. least $5 million in jewelry stolen. Police say the family-owned store was. ransacked. Owners say the thieves stole. jewelry and gold bars knocked out the. surveillance cameras. Authorities. believe thieves broke in right through a. wall. The owners are offering $100,000. in cash reward for any information. Tonight, about 30 endangered right. whales have been spotted right off the. coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Take a. look. The whales include multiple pairs. of mothers and calves. Marine experts. say the rich feeding grounds drawing. them in. But there is concern for a. 5-year-old calf entangled in fishing.

gear since December. Some of that gear, but not all, has been removed. When we. come back here tonight, we remember a. well-known game show. host. To the index tonight, former game. show host Wink Martindelle has died. known for tic-tac-toe, gambit, and high. rollers. More than 20 game shows during. his career. Wink Martindale was 91. Tonight, Major League Baseball paying. tribute to an all-time great and a. trailblazer. On this day, every year, every team honoring Jackie Robinson. Every player will wear his number 42, honoring his breaking baseball's color.

barrier. When we come back here tonight, what the Elephants did during the. earthquake in California yesterday. What. the cameras revealed and why they did. it. Finally tonight here, the elephants. and the circle they. formed. It was a moving scene captured. during that strong 5.2 magnitude. earthquake in Southern California. yesterday. The elephants instinctively. forming a circle to protect their young. The elephants at the San Diego Zoo. Safari Park in Escanido, California. begin running as the earthquake hits.

The surveillance camera shaking. Then the older elephants rushing to. protect their young, forming what's. called an alert circle around the. youngest of their. herd. The adults standing in that tight. circle there, facing outward, shielding. the calves. The zoo sharing the. remarkable images, reminding us. elephants are highly intelligent social. animals who have the unique ability to. feel sounds through their feet. And this. was their natural response to a. perceived threat to defend the.

vulnerable. Right here tonight. Hello, David. Marco Win, wildlife ambassador at. the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. We. are all connected with mother nature and. this was an excellent reminder of the. beauty and the nuances of wildlife. What. a really unique and very special moment. for us that we can share with your. audiences and around the world. Telling. us the elephants were all unharmed. The. circle dispersing once they determined. all of the elephants were safe. The. beauty of the elephants tonight. I'm. David Mureer. Thank you for being here. From all of us here, have a good.

evening. Good night. Thank you for making World News Tonight. with David Mure, America's most watched. newscast.