ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - Dec. 22, 2025

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, the dangerous storms on both coasts, just as the record. holiday travel crush begins. Relentless rain and flooding slamming the west, dramatic new. video showing first responders rescuing a baby above. roaring rapids, as millions in the northeast.

brace for a blast of rain and snow. More than 122 million Americans set to travel over the holidays, our weather team tracking the impacts. Tonight, President Trump announcing the. U.S. is still actively pursuing a sanctioned oil. tanker after the U.S. Coast Guard tried to seize it in the Caribbean. The Jeffrey Epstein files triggering a. fight for transparency. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi under fire, facing a. wave of backlash tonight as demands grow for all of the. documents to be released. And the new statement from a spokesperson for former.

President Bill Clinton. The swimmer reported missing after reports of. a possible shark attack. But witnesses say they saw in the water. An alarming high-speed car chase and crash. Police say an 11-year-old boy was behind the wheel with two. more young children inside. What they allegedly told officers about where they. learned to steal cars. Barry Manilow's health battle. The legendary singer sharing his cancer diagnosis. An encounter with a shoplifting suspect. taking a frightening turn.

Body camera video showing the chilling moments a. man pulls a gun on an officer inside a Walmart. An aviation first, a small plane losing contact with the control. tower landing itself with two people on board. The Steelers' D.K. Metcalf accused of taking a swing at. a Lions fan and the punishment handed down just moments ago. The Powerball jackpot soaring to $1.6 billion for tonight's. drawing, the fifth biggest prize on record. And America's Strong tonight, remembering. the nation's oldest park ranger passing away at 104.

years old, her trailblazing legacy of commitment. and service. from ABC News World headquarters in New York. This is World News Tonight with. David Muir. Good evening. I'm with Johnson and for David tonight, we begin. with the dangerous weather threats on both coasts. Just as millions of Americans are on the move. ahead of the Christmas holiday, major roads and. airports bracing for what's on track to be a record.

setting travel period. More than 30 million people. across California on alert facing days of. heavy rain and life threatening flash flooding. and a close watch on the northeast tonight. A quick blast of rain and snow. along the I-95 corridor for the morning commute. We'll get to the forecast in just a moment, but first. Matt Rivers leads us off from LaGuardia Airport tonight. Tonight, dangerous storms threatening millions. on both coasts as the record holiday travel.

rush kicks into high gear. video showing first respo carefully sliding its baby. just feet above the roaring. of Sacramento california, flooding and mountain sno. authorities in Reading say It's pretty bad. We're a l about even trying to go ov. to turn around to avoid fl in Bella Vista and tonight.

Detroit to new york and B. of rain and snow that cou commute and holiday trave. million americans at the miles from home this holi. record. And here at Lagua flight set to take off ev. flyers getting to the air. that incoming storm. We w here early just to make s. storms causing a tempora San Francisco that after.

knocked out power to 130, San Francisco just days b. lights out, leading to in. driving waymo taxis, bloc causing major traffic bac. at LaGuardia Airport with expected to move in overnight. Concerns mounting over delays and. cancellations tomorrow morning. Whit alright, Matt Rivers for us. Thank you. Let's get right to meteorologist Danny Backstrom. from our New York Station W ABC and Danny more.

dangerous weather on the move tonight. Yeah, what we are still watching the. dangerous flood threat developing in the. West, but let's start in the Northeast. where a quick burst of rain and snow. will create slick travel conditions. Starting first thing Tuesday morning, slushy roads from New York City to. Boston with several inches of snow for. upstate New York and interior New England. moving on by Tuesday night. While in the West, California still dealing with downpours, heavy mountain snow, and then high wind. The focus of the heavy rain in northern California. on Tuesday night before shifting south early. Wednesday, a rare high risk for flash flooding issued for.

parts of southern California on Christmas Eve when inches and. inches of rain will lead to life-threatening flash flooding, especially near burn scars. The rest of the country looks relatively quiet. Christmas Eve, chilly and quieter here in the Northeast, a record challenging warmth in the center of the country. All right, thank you, Danny Beckstrom. President Trump tonight addressing the latest. high-stakes chase off the coast of Venezuela. U.S. officials saying an oil tanker steered out of the. Caribbean and into the Atlantic Ocean after the Coast. Guard tried to seize it. It comes as the president late today announced a new class.

of battleship named after him that will make what he. calls a Golden Fleet. ABC's Selena Wang following the president in Palm Beach. Tonight President Trump announcing the U.S. is still actively pursuing a sanctioned oil. tanker that fled into the Atlantic Ocean after. the Coast Guard tried to seize it on Sunday. "We're actually pursuing it. Can you imagine? Because it came from the wrong location. It came out of Venezuela and it was sanctioned.".

According to a U.S. official, the tanker, called Bella. One, was on its way to pick up oil in Venezuela and was. not carrying cargo when the U.S. attempted to board. The ship was not flying a legitimate national flag, the. official says, giving the Coast Guard legal authority. to intervene. It marks the third time in less than two weeks that the U.S. has targeted oil tankers linked to Venezuela. The Trump administration ramping up pressure on. the country's oil exports, the economic lifeline. of President Nicolas Maduro's regime.

Trump asked tonight what is his goal with Venezuela? What's your endgame? There's no answer. He can do whatever he wants. I mean, we have a massive armada formed, the. biggest we've ever had, and by far the biggest we've. ever had in South America. He could do whatever he wants. It's all right. Whatever he wants to do. If he wants to do something, if. he plays tough, it'll be the last time he's ever. able to play tough. The president pressed again.

Does he want regime change? Goal in Venezuela to force Maduro from. power? Well, I think it probably would. I can't tell that that's up to. him what he wants to do. I think it would be smart for. him to do that. But again, we're going to find out. And with tonight, President Trump also announced a. new class of battleships named after himself as. he moves to revamp the U. S. Naval fleet. Trump claims that they'll be. 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever. built with Selena weighing for us tonight.

We appreciate it turning to. the growing backlash over the Jeffrey Epstein. files. The Department of Justice missing a key deadline. to release all of the Epstein photos and documents. Now U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is under fire. facing a bipartisan threat of legal action. from lawmakers pushing to have her held in contempt. And tonight, the new response from. a spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton. ABC's Jay O'Brien reports from Capitol Hill. After the Department of Justice missed the legal.

deadline to release all of its Jeffrey Epstein files, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle now. threatening legal action. The two congressmen behind the new law forcing the release. of the files, pressing for a House vote to hold Attorney. General Pam Bondi in contempt. "I think they're flouting the spirit and the letter of the. law. It's very troubling the posture that they've taken.". By law, the DOJ had until last Friday to release all of. its Epstein-related records. But sources tell ABC News what the department.

published was just a fraction of its Epstein files. And reams of released records are heavily redacted, entire pages blacked out. In a statement, more than a dozen Epstein survivors, including Danny Bensky, writing, we are told there are hundreds. of thousands of pages of documents still unreleased. These are clear cut violations of an unambiguous law. We have pages and pages of grand jury testimony. that are completely black. And then there have been survivor names. that have been released. And so it just feels absolutely intentionally.

careless at this point. Among the thousands of records already released, photos of former President Bill Clinton and. Epstein. No Epstein survivor has ever. accused Clinton of wrongdoing. And tonight a Clinton spokesperson challenging. the DOJ to immediately release any remaining. materials referring to, mentioning, or containing a. photograph of Bill Clinton. Refusing to do so will confirm the widespread suspicion the. Department of Justice's actions to date are not about.

transparency, but about insinuation. Tonight in his first remark since the files started to be. released, President Trump asked about the photos. made public so far. A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released. of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein, but they're in a picture with him because he was at a. party and you ruin the reputation of somebody. So a lot of people are very angry that this continues. And with the DOJ drawing scrutiny tonight for removing. more than a dozen previously released photos, including one.

of President Trump, saying it was double checking to make. sure the identities of victims were not released. This photo was later restored. The deputy attorney general promising that any photo or. mention of President Trump in these files will be made public. All right, J. O'Brien, thank you for that. Tonight a swimmer who witnesses say was attacked. by a shark is missing off the coast of Monterey, California. The 55-year-old woman last. seen Sunday afternoon. Here's ABC's Melissa Adam with the latest.

on the search efforts. Tonight, a woman still missing off the Central California coast. after a possible shark attack setting off an urgent search. "Possible water rescue, 630 Ocean View, the Lover's. Point. It looks like it's going to be a shark sighting.". The first calls coming in around noon on Sunday, according. to Pacific Grove Police. A group was in the area near Monterey for a weekly. swim, but one of the swimmers never returned. "Something we got was that the subject was about 50. to 100 yards from shore.". "There was a large splash that was seen by a witness up here.

on the shoreline, and from that all the other swimmers. came in because they thought maybe it was possibly a shark. attack." The U.S. Coast Guard telling ABC News at least one witness. reported seeing a shark with a person in its mouth before. it went back underwater, but they are still investigating. Police say the missing swimmer is reported to be a 55-year-old. blonde woman with blue eyes. Wit, late today the Coast Guard suspended its search for that.

swimmer who remains missing. This as several beaches along California's central coast will. be closed through tomorrow. It's a big deal. We're going to have to wait a little bit. Okay, Melissa, Don, thanks so much. Now to the wild police chase involving an 11-year-old. driver and two other kids who police say learned to steal. and drive cars on the internet. The car ended up crashing into a house in Cleveland and the. video tonight of the three young suspects caught. and placed in handcuffs. ABC's Stephanie Ramos with new details. Tonight dramatic new video showing police in hot pursuit.

of a stolen car in Cleveland with three young children. inside the dangerous chase reaching speeds of more. than 70 miles per hour before suddenly the car. crashes into a house several children seen running. away as police arrive body camera video shows the. moment officers caught the young suspects at gunpoint. A 12 year-old boy an 11 year-old boy who. police say was driving as well as his 8 year-old.

brother will call. >> A second guys are doing good. Thank you for the playing. We're not we're not going to jail right now where you're. going to be detained okay. All placed in handcuffs. Tonight, authorities say the children told officers they. learned how to steal cars by watching videos online. And Witt, the three kids were not injured. They're now facing charges in juvenile court. Such an alarming case. Stephanie Ramos, thank you.

A routine shoplifting incident at the Walmart in. Canton, Ohio turned into a terrifying scene last week. The thief suddenly pulled a gun on the police. officer making the arrest. Body cam footage shows the suspect aiming. straight for the officer. Fortunately the gun did not discharge despite. multiple attempts. The suspect is being held on a million dollar bond. Legendary singer Barry Manilow revealing tonight he's been. diagnosed with lung cancer. The 82 year old sharing the revelation to. fans on social media. Manilow putting his concerts on pause and preparing for surgery.

Here's ABC's Victor Okendo. Tonight, Barry Manilow, the iconic American singer and. songwriter with a career spanning more than 60 years, revealing he has lung cancer. the world for a string of number one hits. beginning in the 1970s.

Tonight, the 82 year old saying his lung cancer was. found by surprise during an MRI after suffering from. months of bronchitis, sharing that he will undergo. surgery to remove a cancerous spot on his left lung, saying it's thanks to "pure luck and a great doctor. that it was found so early," adding, "The doctors do not. believe it has spread.". It was just five years ago Manilow battled and successfully. recovered from throat cancer. He's told reporters in the past he was a smoker for years.

Tonight, he is encouraging others to not ignore. symptoms and get tested. And Whit, Barry Manilow is postponing his 2026 tour by a. few weeks, including here in Florida, adding his treatment. includes, quote, no chemo, no radiation, just chicken soup. And I love Lucy reruns. Whit. That sense of humor. We are thinking about him and his family. Victor, thank you. When we come back here tonight, the breaking news just coming. in, a plane crash in Texas. Also ahead, three inmates, including a murder.

suspect, breaking out of a Georgia jail this. morning, setting off a manhunt. Plus, an aviation first, a plane safely. lands itself after losing contact with the air traffic. control tower. And the NFL handing down a punishment after. a physical exchange between DK Metcalf of the Pittsburgh. Steelers and a Detroit Lions fan. Next tonight, breaking news, a small plane. crash near Galveston, Texas, just moments ago, the. Mexican Navy confirming that one of their planes on a.

medical support mission went down near Galveston. The Coast Guard launching a. boat and helicopter to search for the plane. Multiple agencies are on the scene and the F. A. A. Is heading there as well. Tonight, there are reports of casualties. The urgent search for three. inmates, including a murder suspect. The three escaped from DeKalb County Jail. early this morning. Stevenson Charles is accused of. murder and armed robbery. The other two inmates face charges that include. armed robbery and arson.

Authorities say they should all be considered armed. and dangerous. When we come back, the NFL star. suspended for two games after an altercation with a. fan. And could you become a billionaire before Christmas? The Powerball jackpot soars to 1.6 billion. To the index now, what could be a remarkable. aviation first, a small plane switching to automated. technology for an emergency landing. It happened after the cabin lost pressure and the. two pilots aboard the plane were forced to use oxygen masks.

on Saturday. The plane landed safely at an airport near. Denver. Both pilots are okay. The FAA is now investigating. The NFL is suspending the Pittsburgh Steelers' DK. Metcalf for two games after an altercation with a. Detroit Lions fan yesterday. Metcalf appears to grab the fan, then shove him. The fan claims that Metcalf was upset about. being called by his full name. His attorney also denying a report that the fan. used a racial slur during the encounter. Meanwhile, ESPN confirms that Metcalf had previously reported.

the same fan to the security team for the Seahawks before. he was traded to the Steelers. Ahead of tonight's Powerball drawing, the jackpot has. surged to $1.6 billion, making it the fifth largest drawing. in U.S. lottery history. The pot grew after no tickets matched all six. numbers Saturday night. winning the jackpot are o in 292 million. A single have the choice of taking.

estimated at 735 million. come back America strong, blazer and the nation's o. abc world news tonight wi. by progressive. Finally t Remembering Betty Reed S. oldest park ranger, Ameri remember Betty Reed Soski. Ranger in America, passin 104 in Richmond, Californi.

in 1921. She was the grea a slave in 1942. She beca a segregated union hall t. workers during World War II. Here she is at 20 years old, April 1942. When so many other women joined the war effort by. working in the defense industry and other related jobs, Betty was excluded from those traditional Rosie. the Riveter era roles.

As a young woman of color, I could have been either working. in agriculture or I could have been a domestic servant. Working in a Jim Crow Union Hall was a step up. She went on to marry and raise a family near. Oakland, California, working on civil. rights and equality, later helping to launch the. Rosie the Riveter World War II Homefront National Historical. Park in Richmond, California, at 85 years old, becoming. a park ranger there, retiring when she. was 100 years old.

It is so important that we go back and revisit history to. measure how far we've come. Her Bay Area community even naming a school after her, the. Betty Reed Soskin Middle School. Betty challenging injustice through her life's activism, encouraging others to find their purpose too. People need heroes and I'm maybe one of those. I think it's important we all follow our passions.

We all need passions. I'm Whit Johnson in New York. Good night. David Muir, 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. [MUSIC PLAYING].