ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - Aug. 21, 2025

Tonight, breaking news as we come on the. air in the West. After decades in. prison, a parole board decision on Eric. Mendez. The news just coming in. The. Menendez brothers behind bars for more. than three decades for the shotgun. murders of their parents. Tonight, what. we've just learned about their push for. freedom. Matt Gum with late word on the. case. The dramatic video just coming in. SWAT teams moving in on the campus of. Villanova University after reports of an. active shooter on the first day of. orientation. Aaron Kurski with late. reporting. What officials are now saying.

about what happened. Hurricane Aaron. lashing the east coast. Flood alerts. from the Carolinas up to the northeast. Massive waves crashing into homes. surging over dunes. Beaches now shut. down on a major week for summer. vacations. Our weather team standing by. with the latest track. Developing in the. West tonight, a deadly accident at a. Colorado dairy. What we just learned. tonight. If the Kremlin all but rules. out a face-to-face meeting between. President Zalinsky and Vladimir Putin. anytime soon, despite the promise the. White House says Putin made to President.

Trump as Russia ramps up attacks on. Ukraine. The midair scare on a Delta. flight when passengers look out the. window and see a piece of the wing. dangling during landing. President Trump. celebrates a major legal victory in a. civil fraud case when an appeals court. just ruled. A new era for sports fans. and our friends at ESPN. How you can. find all of your favorite content all in. one place. The daring effort to locate. and save a missing hiker stranded on a. remote Alaskan cliff. And America Strong.

tonight, two teachers, families, their. unbreakable bond thanks to one selfless. act. From ABC News World Headquarters in New. York, this is World News Tonight with. David Mure. >> Good evening. as we come on the air in. the west. And thanks so much for joining. us on this busy Thursday night. I'm. Rachel Scott in for David. We will have. the latest on the active shooter scare. at Villanova University in just a.

moment. But we do begin tonight with. breaking news. A major turn in that case. that has made national headlines for. decades. More than 35 years after. murdering their parents, Lyall and Eric. Mendez getting their first chance at. parole today. Late word just coming in. on the case a short time ago. ABC's. chief national correspondent Matt Gutman. leads us off tonight. >> Tonight, that crushing defeat for Eric. Mendez. His bid for parole rejected by a. California parole board. Eric and Lyall. have been behind bars for decades for. the shotgun murders of their parents,

Kitty and Jose, 36 years and a day ago. And in a marathon session via video. link, the now 54year-old grilled about. the savage murders of his parents in. their Beverly Hills mansion. And just as. he had claimed in that first trial, >> that my dad had been molesting me. >> Eric Mendez said they killed after years. of sexual abuse by their father. Fear. was driving me to that den, our lives. were in extreme danger immediately. And. once they broke the secret of that. abuse, they said they feared their.

father would kill them. And when asked. why he killed his mother, Eric described. feeling betrayed when he learned she. knew about the abuse for years. I saw my. mother, my father as one person after I. learned that she knew. So when I was. running into the den, I was in a state. of terror, of panic, of rage. A parole. member telling Eric he understands the. concept of the learned helplessness for. sexual abuse victims. But that same. member excoriated Eric's record for. being replete with diverse violations,

including violence, manipulation, misuse. of things. You have criminal acts. And. the commissioners hammering Eric about. his serial use of illicit cell phones in. prison. One noting the violation would. have required a prison guard to smuggle. it in and likely have benefited a prison. gang which taxed the import of the. phone. Eric admitting he'd paid $1,000. for one of the phones, saying, "I really. became addicted to the phones. You're. doing life without parole. This is not. really harming anyone." But that all. changed after that Netflix series.

Monsters triggered an avalanche of new. support. This is done. This is done. You. understand? >> Spurring the former DA to call for the. brother's release. >> I believe that they have paid their debt. to society. >> Eric telling the board today in November. of 2024. Now the consequences mattered. Now the consequences meant I was. destroying my life. The hearing's final. words left for the victim's family. In. this case, also the brother's family. 18. of them speaking on the brother's.

behalf, including Jose Mendez's sister, Terry Baralt, battling stage four. cancer. We spoke with her in April. You've held your silence for 35 years. >> It's a whole branch of my family erased, the ones that are gone and the ones that. are still paying for it, which were. kids. And today, speaking rapidly, almost out of breath, she made her plea, calling Erica sweet, gentle soul who. deserved to be protected from his father.

and has repeatedly over the past 35. years asked her forgiveness. I want to. make it clear, she told the. commissioners that although I love my. brother, I have fully forgiven Eric. But. in the end, those pleas weren't enough. Deliberations, Rachel, lasted about nine. hours, but it took only minutes for that. parole board to come to its conclusion. Now, tomorrow Lyall is up. It's a. different set of commissioners, same. process, and we expect tomorrow to also. be a very long day. Rachel, >> Matt Gutman with this breaking news. All.

right, Matt. Thanks. Next tonight, with. millions of students returning to. college across the country, a chaotic. scene unfolding late today at Villanova. University just outside Philadelphia. Reports of an active shooter during the. first day of freshman orientation. Heavily armed officers swarming the. campus, searching for the gunman. The. school put on lockdown. students urged. to shelter in place. But just moments. ago, officials at Villanova now calling. this a cruel hoax. And there were scares. on two other college campuses today. Here's ABC's chief investigative.

correspondent, Aaron Kurski. >> Tonight, fear and chaos as school begins. at Villanova University outside. Philadelphia, one of the nation's best. known Catholic schools. Police searched. the campus, but found no victims. >> There was never an active shooter on the. campus. Um, and we are going to conduct. a full investigation. Panicked students. seen running and ducking for cover after. the university warned of an active. shooter at the law school. Police. pouring into the campus on orientation. day. Heavily armed officers, long guns.

drawn entering buildings, clearing. classrooms. The alert came around 4:30. in the afternoon. Students and faculty. cell phones blaring a warning of a. possible active shooter. The message. instructing everyone to shelter in. place, move to a secure location, and. lock and barricade doors. >> Surround the Villanova Law School. warning specifically to stay clear of. the law school's scarpa hall. K-9 units. and columns of officers armed with. rifles moving in. >> Everybody use caution around the. windows. Subjects on the second floor. >> Police escorting students out. Yesterday.

was movein day. Villanova posting this. video on social media. Some 1,800. students and their families on campus. when the alert sounded. A welcome mass. for the freshman class and their. families was being held at the time. Worried parents were separated from. their children. Getting that text. message was surreal and thank God no. one's hurt. >> Again, Rachel, there was no shooting. There were no victims. But you saw the. overwhelming police response to what. Villanova now calls a cruel hoax. Tonight, police are investigating who.

did it because it's a serious crime. Rachel. >> Yeah, just terrifying moments for those. students, right? Aaron Kurski with this. breaking news. Aaron, thank you. We move. on now to Hurricane Aaron battering the. east coast from the Carolinas to the. northeast. The massive storm now a. category 2 hurricane and only growing in. size. The latest path shows Aaron. running along the coast about to make. its next move. Winds up to 100 mph, waves up to 20 ft, and dangerous rip. currents. Those waves bashing North. Carolina's Outer Banks where a state of.

emergency remains in place. The surf. running through beachfront properties. The storm now stirring up dangerous. waves in the Northeast. Surfers flocking. to New York City's Rockaway Beach. Flood. alerts now reaching into New England. The forecast in just a moment, but. first, here's ABC's Morgan Norwood. >> Tonight, 20 foot waves turning. life-threatening surf, flooded roadways, the images still coming in as Hurricane. Aaron carves up the east coast like a. bus saw in Hatteris. The dunes lining. Highway 12 no match for Aaron's.

relentless surge. The man shooting this. video scrambling to safety as waves. crash over, inundating that main route. along the Outer Banks. The storm bashing. the coast all night long. Wind whipping. on this pier in Nags Head as people come. out to see the awesome power of the. ocean. Aaron seen here on satellite. Massive more than 700 miles across. And. it's bringing massive swells along. hundreds of miles of coastline from. Florida to New England. On New York's. Long Island, waves up to 16 ft. Swimmers.

banned from all New York City beaches. But that didn't stop surfers from taking. advantage of massive waves that look. more like Hawaii than Rockaway Beach. >> The surf's a lot bigger. The the. current's really strong. It's, you know, very big swell. You know, at least. double the, you know, triple the size. that it normally is. >> Our Ginger Z is on the Jersey shore. Here in Manisquan, down the shore in New. Jersey, the seafoam is kicking. We're. getting sand blasted. The waves easily 8. to 10 ft. But by tonight, it will be. even closer. The big bulldoze of water.

toward the shore. And that's why the. concern for homes there without any dune. in front of them. >> New Jersey's governor declaring a state. of emergency for all 21 counties. And. Rachel, we're certainly feeling it here. on Rockaway Beach. Of course, the winds. are whipping, but the waves are the big. story. You can see those massive waves. crashing onto the shore. Also hitting. that lifeguard stand as well. And look, we know it's only expected to get worse. as high tide approaches. Beaches once. again closed again tomorrow. Rachel. >> All right, Morgan Norwood, thank you. So, let's get right to meteorologist.

Danny Beckram from our New York station. WABC. Danny, time this one out for us. >> Rachel, Hurricane Aaron still a category. 2 with max sustained wind of 100 miles. hour as that northeast turn begins. But. significant impacts are still expected. up and down the east coast even as Aaron. pulls away. Right now, the center about. 375 miles east northeast of Cape. Hatteris, North Carolina. But this large. hurricane is bringing widespread. impacts. Tropical storm warnings remain. in effect from the Outer Banks to. coastal Virginia and coastal flood. alerts from the Carolinas to Maine where.

several feet of inundation is possible. during high tide even into tomorrow. The. wind helping to push that water on shore. as gusts continue 30 to 45 miles per. hour tonight from the Outer Banks to. Cape Cod contributing to the flood. threat and coastal erosion. The wind. relaxes as Aaron pulls away, but this is. such a large storm system that it will. take days for the water to settle. High. surf advisories posted up and down the. east coast for waves up to 20 feet on. Friday and in some cases into Saturday, especially in the northeast. The risk. for life-threatening rip currents. continues from Florida to Maine. And. while the improving weather conditions.

make it look like beach weather, it's so. important to remember life-threatening. conditions in the water up and down the. east coast. Rachel, back to you. >> Yeah, that threat stretching to the. weekend. All right, Danny, thank you. We. turn now to a disturbing discovery on a. dairy farm in Colorado. Authorities. responding to an emergency call finding. the bodies of six farm workers. Here's. ABC's Trevor Alt. >> Tonight, authorities making a tragic. discovery at a dairy farm in northern. Colorado. >> I'm on scene. Unconscious victims. approximately 12 ft down um with.

possible high levels of H2S and unknown. gases. >> First responders arriving at the scene. outside Boulder around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday for what they called a. confined space rescue. Instead, finding. the bodies of six workers. >> You can go ahead and stand on the. chopper. It's not yet clear what exactly. the victims were doing at the time of. their deaths, but authorities are. calling this a dairy accident. In a. statement tonight, the Dairy Farmers of. America says in part, "We are deeply.

saddened by this incident, and our. thoughts and most sincere condolences go. out to the friends and families of the. deceased.". And Rachel, authorities say this was not. a criminal incident, and OSHA is now. investigating. Rachel, >> Trevor, thank you. President Trump's. efforts to end the war in Ukraine now. hitting a setback. The president. signaled a meeting between President. Zalinsky and Vladimir Putin could happen. within a couple of weeks. But tonight, Russia suggesting that meeting won't be. happening anytime soon. Here's ABC's. chief Washington correspondent Jonathan.

Carl. >> Today, Russia all but ruled out a. meeting between President Putin and. President Zalinski anytime soon. This. after the White House said Putin. promised President Trump that the. meeting would happen in a matter of. weeks. >> Did Putin promise to do a meeting with. Zilinski, a direct meeting in the coming. weeks? >> He has. >> Overnight, Vice President JD Vance said. a Zalinsky Putin meeting should take. place even if there is no agreement on. the terms of a peace deal. >> I think the president's preference and.

and my preference would be let's have. them meet regardless. We shouldn't say. that they can't sit down until you. figured out every little detail. Sometimes them sitting down is what. facilitates figuring out those details. But hours after Vance said that, Russia. flatly rejected the idea. Foreign. Minister Sergey Lavough saying the only. way Putin would sit down with Zilinski. is if quote all issues requiring. consideration at the highest level are. thoroughly worked out first. Lavough. suggests that would require a long. process of lower level meetings to.

hammer out the details. Meanwhile, Russia continues to bombard. Ukraine, launching more than 600 drone. and ballistic missile attacks in just. the last 24 hours. According to the. Ukrainian Air Force, Zinsky said today. Moscow's strategy is clear. Quote, "They. are trying to wriggle out of the need to. hold a meeting. They do not want to end. this war." Today, President Trump was. asked if a peace deal is still possible. >> I would say within two weeks, we're. going to know one way or the other.

After that, uh, we'll have to maybe take. a different attack, but we'll see. But. we'll know pretty soon. >> So, let's get right to John Carl. He. joins us live from the White House. And. John, the White House says Putin agreed. any peace deal would include security. guarantees for Ukraine. But what are the. Russians saying about that? Well, Rachel, the Russians are saying that. Russia would have to have a say in those. security guarantees for Ukraine, an idea. that is seen as absurd because the whole. point of the security guarantees is to.

protect Ukraine from another Russian. invasion. Rachel. >> John, thank you. Tonight, a major legal. victory for President Trump. A New York. appeals court throwing out the massive. $515 million penalty in the state's. fraud case against him. The court. allowing the conviction against him to. stand, but saying the dollar amount was. excessive. The president calling it a. total victory. It comes more than a year. after the president, his eldest sons, and his business were found liable for. inflating the value of his real estate. assets. The New York Attorney General.

says she plans to appeal. We learned. today that evangelical leader James. Dobson has died. He was the polarizing. founder of Focus on the Family and the. Family Research Council, a vocal. opponent of abortion, same-sex marriage, and LGBTQ rights. He advised five. presidents, wrote dozens of books, and. had millions of followers. James Dobson. was 89. When we come back, the alarming. site for passengers on board a Delta. plane as the 737 came in for landing. Part of the wing flap dangling, and the. daring efforts to locate and rescue an.

injured hiker on the side of an Alaskan. cliff. Details ahead. Next tonight, the FAA is investigating a. Delta flight that landed with a damaged. wing flap. Passengers spotted the. problem as they were still in the air, the wing flap dangling as the 737 landed. in Austin on Tuesday. It had taken off. from Orlando. No one was hurt. The plane. landed without incident. Delta says the. plane has been taken out of service for. maintenance. And a dramatic rescue off a. cliff in Alaska. A Coast Guard. helicopter located a stranded hiker.

using a powerful search light and. guidance from first responders. The. hiker had fallen off a trail and was. unable to signal for help. The crew. hoisting the hiker to safety, rushing. him to the hospital. And when we come. back, we go inside the exciting new way. to get all your sports news in one place. from our friends at ESPN. And the images. just in a runaway front loader barreling. through a busy Massachusetts. intersection. Details ahead on what. happened. To the index now, the police chief in. Milford, Massachusetts says it's a.

miracle no one was killed. A 60,000lb. front end loader barreling through. traffic after its brakes failed, taking. out a traffic sign and clipping an SUV. before hitting a guardrail in a pole. before coming to a complete stop. No one. was injured. Tonight, a new era for. sports fans and our friends at ESPN. For. the first time in the sports media. company's history, ESPN is rolling out a. brand new way to watch sports all in one. place. ESPN chairman Jimmy Petaro says. starting today 12 networks including all.

the shows, games, and features are now. available on an interactive ESPN app and. streaming service. >> You'll finally be able to get all of. ESPN all in one place. All of our. content, all of our networks available. direct to consumer for the first time in. ESPN's history. So, that's 12 networks, uh, 47,000. live events. On top of live games, all. of our studio programming, all of our. original films, 30 for 30, E60, SC.

featured, all that will be available. direct to consumer. >> ESPN is also adding more NFL content. All of it will be available through the. new app. If you're already a paid ESPN. subscriber, you don't have to do. anything to get the new service. Of. course, Disney is the parent company of. ABC and ESPN. When we come back, how the. families of two teachers created an. unbreakable bond. >> ABC World News Tonight with David Mure, sponsored by Progressive.

And finally tonight, America Strong, the. selfless gift that formed an incredible. bond between two families. >> They are two teachers at the same. elementary school in Waneka, Illinois. Ally Suzinski teaches K through 4. Lillian Johnston teaches art. But weeks. ago, their lives became even more. entwined. After learning Alli's husband, Brad was in dire need of a new kidney, Lillian stepped up to be tested. >> Lillian was one of the first people who.

did it. And I remember coming into. school the next day and she said, "Ally, I filled out that form." And I was like, "Thank you so much.". >> And as it turns out, Lillian was a. perfect match. Even though it had only. been a few months that we've been. looking, you know, it was getting down. to the deadline for us. >> Lillian did not hesitate to volunteer. her kidney to Brad, well aware of what. it was like to go through health. challenges, too. >> About 11 years ago, I was in a situation. where I almost lost my life. And I. remember thinking about my kids growing. up without mom.

>> This is classic Lillian. So, was it. surprising to me? No. The surgery at. Northwestern Memorial Hospital was a. success. Brad is back home and healing. >> It's a new lease on life, that's for. sure. Our daughter is 5 and a half. Our. son is two and a half. Like, we don't. want them to go through life without a. dad. >> And Lillian tells us tonight recovery is. going well and she plans to resume. teaching in just about a month with a. new bond that stretches far beyond the. classroom.

>> You can't get through life by yourself, right? You need to lean on people. I'm. just really grateful. Really grateful. Thank you so much for watching. I'm. Rachel Scott. For David and all of us. here, good night. David Mure, the most watched newscast in. America. And now, ABC's World News. Tonight has won the Emmy for best live. news program for the third year in a. row.