ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - Aug. 14, 2026

David Muir, ABC's World News Tonight, America's. most watched newscast. Now streaming same day with all the breaking news. of the day on Disney+. Most watched, most trusted. Now on Disney+ every night. Tonight, breaking news. In a dramatic turn, Luigi Mangione pleading. guilty in federal court, admitting he shot and killed. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York City. hotel, telling the judge, quote, "I shot Mr. Thompson and. he died," for the first time revealing how he.

tracked him down. Aaron Katersky, outside the courthouse. Also breaking tonight, emergency flood evacuations. underway as we come on the air. Severe storms, flood warnings and watches from. Iowa to West Virginia. The hurricane warning in Hawaii. Tropical storm Lala gaining strength as it closes. in on the Big Island. Winds up to 60 miles per hour. Late today, the U.S. Army ordering a temporary stand down of all Apache helicopter. training flights following a deadly crash in Texas.

Tonight, a quick thinking air traffic controller. credited with averting catastrophe, alerting pilots. after noticing a rare problem involving two American. Airlines flights, both with the same flight number. Tonight, President Trump now filing an emergency. appeal with the Supreme Court to resume construction. on his $400 million White House ballroom. Disgraced attorney Alec Murdoch back in court ahead. of his new murder trial for allegedly killing. his wife and son. What we're now learning about where the new. case will be tried.

After nearly two months on the run, allegedly using multiple. disguises and identities, a fugitive wanted for murder. is now under arrest. A landlord evicting his tenants, finding a long lost masterpiece. buried in the mess they left behind. And America Strong tonight, the firefighters battling wildfires. trying to save homes and And the neighbors coming. together, thanking them for their bravery. From ABC News World Headquarters in New York, this is World.

News Tonight with David Muir. Good evening, I'm Wade Johnson, and for David tonight we. begin with breaking news. The dramatic turn in a case closely watched across America. Luigi Mangione pleading guilty to federal charges in the. death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. For the first time Mangione face. to face with the victim's family as he changed. his plea now pleading guilty describing how he. targeted him telling the judge quote I shot Mr. Thompson and he died.

Mangione explaining how he stalked. his victim, tricked the company into revealing his. location, then shooting Thompson outside a hotel in. midtown Manhattan. A start of. The family of United Health Care Chief Brian Thompson. wished into Manhattan federal court coming face. to face for the first time with a man who now admits to. killing him in cold blood.

face for the first time with a man who now admits to. killing him in cold blood. Luigi Mangione pleading guilty to stalking the husband and. father before opening fire on a sidewalk. "On the morning of December 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in. Manhattan and he died," Mangione said without emotion. or contrition. "I knew what I was doing was illegal.". Thompson's widow seated just feet away, sobbing. as Mancione revealed how he hunted her husband. "I learned that UnitedHealthcare would be holding its annual. investor conference in New York City.". And for the first time, the Ivy League grad claiming he.

tricked the company into sharing the exact location by emailing. them, posing as an investor with more than $50 billion. in capital. "He said I used a 3D printer to make part of a gun, and. I equipped the gun with the silencer and magazine.". Police found those items in Mangione's backpack. Today, he claimed he acted after years of enduring severe pain. from a broken back, navigating the obstacles of the health. insurance system and witnessing similar experiences of countless. others. Before the murder, Mangione. had complained on social media about his back pain and posted.

this spine X-ray. He believed that the system had failed him. and destroyed his life. Police found this notebook with provocative writings. Frankly, one entry said, these parasites simply had it coming. To some, Mangione became a folk hero. The face of their cause. But today, fewer supporters showed up, a few. sobbing in the hallway. Still, as the Thompson family was rushed from the courthouse. to a waiting car, they were subjected to this.

Chance of America loves Luigi. To those who idolize Luigi Mangione, I say this. Violence is not a cause. Murder is not a message. And a killer is certainly not a hero. No grievance, political belief, or ideological cause. can ever justify murder. There can be no celebrity in assassination.

Thompson's family is sharing these photos of him through the. years and saying in a statement today's guilty plea marks an. important step toward justice for Brian and for our family. O'Brien was taken away in the most heinous way possible. They lost a son, a brother, a husband, and. a father, and a friend. Mangione's guilty plea here today at federal. court, Whit, comes just weeks before the start.

of his state murder trial. His attorneys are already asking a court to dismiss it, saying a second prosecution would amount to double jeopardy. And Aaron Mangione pleaded not guilty in both cases all along. So what's the legal strategy behind this U-turn today? This may be his shot wit to convince the federal. judge to give him something other than life. in prison when he's sentenced in December. Whatever time he ends up serving, Mangione. is also signaling his preference to serve. Aaron, thank you for joining us.

We're in a federal, not a state prison that could be. more crowded and more violent. Aaron Katersky with those major developments. Also breaking tonight, dangerous flood evacuations underway. in the Midwest at this hour. Storms slamming the region for a sixth night in a row. Indiana still under a state of emergency. ABC's Alex Perez in Indiana tonight. Tonight, new evacuation orders in parts of the Midwest as. storms slam the region for the sixth night in a row. We are back in the houses.

It is chest deep water. Outside Cincinnati, families in Harrison, Ohio, toad to leave. areas near the Whitewater River. First responders searching neighborhoods. All of Indiana under a state of emergency. We've lived here over 45 years and we've never seen. anything like this ever. In Anderson, we met Joan Reed as she still can't. get to her rental property. It's underwater. Her son, Elliot, has been kayaking down the street to. check on it and work on getting some of that water out. The water is halfway up the garage door.

I'm sure everything in there is going to be ruined. As efforts to restore power to more than 170,000 homes. and businesses continue, today the National Weather Service confirmed a sixth. tornado from Tuesday's outbreak. And Whit, back here in Anderson, Indiana, this area. is still completely underwater. Some parts of the Midwest got more than a foot. of rain this week, And unfortunately, many areas. are bracing for even more as we head into the weekend, which.

really a difficult time there. Alex Perez, we appreciate it. Let's get right to ABC meteorologist Leslie Lopez and. Leslie, a variety of threats heading into the weekend. Well, that's right, flash flood watches and flood watches. remain in effect in some of these hard hit regions of the. Midwest, anywhere from Iowa all the way out to West Virginia. The ground is so saturated that any heavy downpours could. lead to additional rounds of heavy rain and. life-threatening flash flooding into the weekend. On top of severe storms, that means on Saturday, this could. also extend into Indiana, Ohio and back to the Carolinas.

Damaging wind will be the main threat there, along with heavy rain. And off to the Pacific, Tropical Storm Lala in the Pacific. is barreling towards Hawaii tonight. On the forecast track, it could become a Category. 1 hurricane by Saturday morning as it approaches. the Big Island. A hurricane warning is in effect and hurricane force. gusts, dangerous surf are the biggest threat along. with two feet of rainfall right through the weekend. Whit, and we know you'll be tracking it all. And tonight, as Leslie mentioned, we're tracking the. hurricane warning in Hawaii. Tropical Storm Lala gaining strength as it closes in.

on the Big Island, winds up to 60 miles per hour. ABC's Melissa Adan is in Hawaii with the images coming in. Melissa, good evening. Hey there, Wits. So Lala could be the first ever hurricane to make a. direct hit on the big island of Hawaii and already residents. here are stocking up. We're seeing them getting generators to bottled water. We see it flying off the shelves. They're also filling up sandbags to protect from flooding. Now swells ahead of the storm already have lifeguards busy. They made over a hundred rescues yesterday and Lala is.

expected to bring up to 15 foot waves in some spots. Now, there's also the question. of Kilauea, the massive volcano erupting here. Some studies suggest volcanic. gases can make storms produce more lightning. But when we're talking about. more than two ft of rain falling on these massive. volcanoes and mountains, the biggest threat will be. mudslides. He has a major concern. Melissa Don for us tonight. Late today, The U.S. Army ordering a temporary stand down.

of all Apache helicopter training flights. following this week's deadly crash in Texas. Two pilots killed when their chopper went down during a. maintenance test flight near Fort Hood. Let's get right to ABC's Jay O'Brien. And Jay, what more are you learning? That's right. We've learned tonight the Army has ordered a. temporary grounding of all the Apache helicopter. training flights after that fatal crash this Wednesday. near Fort Hood, Texas. That attack helicopter going down in a field, bursting into. flames that ignited a grass Tonight the Pentagon identifying. the two service members killed in that crash as Chief Warrant.

Officer Deantre Huey and Warrant Officer Seth Olmsted. Apache helicopters have a higher rate of incidents. compared to other aircraft, but it's unclear exactly what. caused this week's crash. And the Army saying tonight its Apache training flights will. remain grounded until it has a better sense of exactly. what went wrong here. Witt. Okay, Jay O'Brien, thank you very much. Next tonight, a quick-thinking air traffic controller credited. with averting catastrophe alerting pilots after noticing. a rare problem involving two American Airlines jets, both.

with the same flight number. Here's ABC's Matt Rivers. Tonight, a potential midair catastrophe averted. thanks to a quick thinking air traffic controller. It could have been disastrous. Two packed American Airlines 737 jets over Phoenix last. night, both with the same exact flight number, causing confusion. in the tower as radar shows the planes headed in the same. direction. One was flying into. Phoenix while the other had just taken off. Listen to the controller alerting the pilots of.

the identical call sign. One o'clock in 10 miles is your company. Same call sign out of one thousand eight hundred. descending to one zero thousand. Moments later, the planes crossing paths without incident, maintaining their required distance. I've been working air traffic for 25 years. I've never seen two aircraft pretty much merge. with the same call sign. That's pretty incredible. One of the pilots praising the controller. Yeah, we're going to say good job. You know, I've been flying a lot less than that.

I've never seen that either, so nice work. -Wit, both planes continued on safely, but officials say this should not have happened. American says it's reviewing the incident. The FAA also investigating. Wit? -All right, Matt Rivers, our thanks to you tonight. To Washington now, and President Trump filing an emergency. appeal with the Supreme Court to resume construction. on his $400 million White House ballroom. After nearly a year of work, the White House. claiming the project The project is too far. along to be stopped. ABC's Mary Bruce at the White House tonight.

Tonight, a new look at President Trump's plans for. his lavish new ballroom, adorned with gold and marble, as he takes his fight to complete it to. the Supreme Court. The White House asking the justices to allow. construction to continue, arguing the project is beyond. the point of no return. It's going to be one of the most beautiful buildings that's. ever been built in the country or in Washington, D.C. A district court ruled most above-ground construction. must stop next week unless the president gains.

congressional approval. But the White House argues the president doesn't need their. permission and says halting the project threatens the security. and safety of the president, citing "recurrent assassination. The president deeply involved. New renderings showing the massive 90,000 square foot. project adorned with Corinthian columns and a new detail, gold presidential seals. Inside yellow marble floors and more gold finishes. The president has said his design was inspired by.

the halls of Versailles. In a statement, the White House saying, thanks to the builder. in chief, the White House will be properly glorified. And Whit, in response to the filing, the National. Trust for Historic Preservation says the White. House is "actively attempting to outrun the courts by ramping. up construction to try and finish this project before. President Trump leaves office.". And Mary, well I have you. President Trump also making news on the war in Iran with. a bold declaration about the We're talking about the Strait.

of Hormuz and commenting on reports about poor conditions. on board the USS Lincoln. Whit, the president says that the Strait of Hormuz will soon. be declared a U.S. territory, though it's not exactly. clear what that means. Iran responding tonight saying, quote, "The Strait of Hormuz. cannot be seized by tweet.". As for the USS Lincoln, which has now been at. sea for over 250 days, the president claims. that families of service members are not concerned. And he says the vessel hasn't been deployed for. quote "nearly long enough.". OK, Mary Bruce at the White House tonight.

Now to the fugitive wanted for murder under arrest after. 45 days on the run, allegedly using multiple disguises. and identities. Authorities say she killed a man in Florida and buried. him in a shallow grave. Here's ABC's Victor Oquendo. Tonight, the woman accused of killing a father. and using multiple identities to avoid capture. for nearly two months, now in police custody. in Northwest Florida. We have her. The search is over. Isabel Johnson, arrested by U.S. Marshals at a house on Thursday after authorities say.

they tracked her communications. Her shirt reading, "A force to be reckoned with.". The 38-year-old now behind bars on a murder charge in the. death of Jason Coulthart, who Johnson went missing in May. Coulthardt's remains, found a month later, buried in a shallow grave. Investigators have not said how the two are linked. Authorities calling Johnson a master manipulator. who used various aliases and exploited the. kindness of others to get help while on the run. Ms. Johnson, good morning. Tonight, Johnson making her first appearance before a judge.

Do you have any questions, ma'am? No. Have a good day. Johnson is being held without bond. More charges are expected and at least five others have been. arrested for allegedly helping her avoid authorities. Witt. Victor Oquendo reporting. Thank you. A judge in South Carolina is granting a change. of venue for the new murder trial of disgraced. attorney Alec Murdoch. His conviction for the murders of his wife and son overturned. after the court clerk admitted to jury tampering.

The judge ruling the retrial cannot be held. in the same county. A new location has not yet been announced. The judge also ruled Murdoch's testimony from the original. trial will be allowed at his retrial set for April. When we come back tonight, the pilot walking away from this. mountainside crashed the new video of where he was. discovered moments later and what he said about that crash. And the fireball streaking across the sky seen in multiple. states, what we've learned And tonight.

Next tonight, stunning new images of a military. pilot walking away from a horrific crash in. Washington state. The fighter jet slammed into a mountainside in June, plumes. of black smoke visible igniting a wildfire. The pilot ejected from the plane and can be seen in. this just released video. Listen to what he said moments after that crash. I came over that tree line. His face bloodied there, but otherwise okay. When we come back, the flash of light streaking across the sky.

seen in multiple states, what we're learning tonight. To the index now, in a stunning display in the sky, a meteor. spotted shooting over Washington State followed by. flashes of light. That bright fireball was also seen by hundreds in Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia. The FDA has upgraded an egg recall of nearly. 1.6 million cartons to its highest risk level. The recall first announced in July is over a possible. Salmonella contamination.

The eggs are the white and brown cage-free varieties sold. in Kroger and Brookshire's grocery stores across multiple. states, including Texas. That Salmonella outbreak has been linked to. nearly 100 illnesses. And a lost masterpiece recovered after a messy. apartment eviction in Milwaukee. The Pablo Picasso etching was stolen from an. art gallery in 2018. It was created back in 1949 and signed by the legendary artist. The piece was discovered while the apartment was being. cleaned earlier this month.

Still ahead, America Strong. The people who lost so much during the wildfires in Spokane. now thanking the firefighters. Finally, tonight, America Strong. Despite devastating loss, one community giving thanks to the. firefighters who protected them. The road to recovery near Spokane, Washington, will. be long and difficult. Recent wildfires destroying at least 900 homes, forcing more. than 65,000 people to evacuate. But residents in one neighborhood have just.

been allowed back to assess the damage. You're sad because you lost stuff, but you're so happy. that no life was lost, not one. Despite the loss, these grateful neighbors coming. together to thank and celebrate the firefighters from. Spokane for their bravery. This video showing Fire Captain Todd Wood fending off. roaring flames to save homes. Coming back here today, it's bittersweet. There's a lot that we saved, but what is. remarkable is seeing this neighborhood coming together.

and whether they lost their house or their house is still. here, it didn't break their spirit. That strong spirit providing comfort and making sure. these firefighters know they are appreciated. They suffered a lot of losses that night. It was very hard on them to lose this many homes. Many of them expressed thankfulness to be. able to see what they saved, to talk to those. people, to see those little memories that remain. This block party offering a rare opportunity to connect in. person, helping this hard hit community come.

together and heal. If any of us need the other person's help, we're there. We're always there. Kind of like a family. A neighborhood truly grateful. Thanks so much for watching tonight. I'm Whit Johnson in New York. Have a great night. David Muir, the most trusted and most watched. newscast in America. And now, World News Tonight has won the Emmy for Best Live. News Program for the fourth year in a row.