ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - Jan. 6, 2026

Tonight, there is breaking news just as we come on the. air. Law enforcement sources now telling ABC News the Brown. University killer recorded a video before he killed. himself, revealing his motive. Authorities say the killer revealed a lengthy grudge. that brought him to Brown University, who he was angry. with, and what he says about the students in that lecture hall. The authorities say that suspect then traveled to Brookline, Massachusetts, outside Boston, where he killed an. MIT nuclear physics professor in the doorway of his home. Tonight, the messages on that chilling video, the.

suspect saying at one point, "I don't regret what I did.". What we've now learned tonight, Aaron Katursky standing. by with late reporting. Also breaking at this hour, sources now telling. ABC News tonight that the U.S. has now given Venezuela's interim leader a. list of demands that must be met before Venezuela can sell. its oil again. Rachel Scott on the breaking news. She's live at the White House. Tonight the flu surging across the U.S. in record numbers.

cases reported 5,000 deaths. 45 states tonight now reporting. very high or high flu activity. And what we've now learned about this year's flu. shot. How effective will it be in fighting this? Tonight, several states in the northeast with winter. weather advisories as we come on, tracking snow and. freezing rain at this hour. And then the big change coming, Ginger Z is here. Tonight marks five years since the January 6th. assault on the U.S. Capitol. Nearly 1,600 rioters. pardoned by President Trump.

Some returning to the Capitol today holding their pardons. Tonight the White House on its official website. saying the protesters on that day were peaceful. And the White House website now accusing Vice President Mike. Pence of cowardice and sabotage. Tonight, new video of a person of interest tonight. in the killings of a dentist and his wife found dead. upstairs in their home. Authorities now revealing the apparent cause of death. here in New York City. Multiple firefighters injured battling a major fire spreading.

to a number of buildings. One firefighter surviving after being hit in the head. by a falling air conditioner. Also tonight, the newest Girl Scout cookie has just been. revealed as quite something. And Taylor Swift breaking her own record, her new longest. number one song, and what it replaces. From ABC News World Headquarters in New York, this is World. News Tonight with David Muir.

Good evening. We begin tonight with several breaking stories. The U.S. delivering new demands at this hour to Venezuela. ABC News learning that the U.S. says Venezuela must kick out China, Russia, Iran and Cuba. and sever economic ties with them before Venezuela. can sell oil again. So Rachel Scott standing by. But we do start tonight with this chilling video discovered. Authorities say the killer behind the mass shooting at. Brown University and then the murder of an MIT professor. outside Boston actually recorded a video before he killed.

himself in a storage facility in New Hampshire. They say he recorded a video confession, the. killer allegedly revealing it was a lengthy grudge that led. him to Brown University. Two students were killed and nine. wounded in that shooting. Authorities say the suspect then traveled just outside Boston. where he killed that MIT nuclear physics professor in the. doorway of his home, all as part of his plan. Tonight, the message on that chilling video. at the suspect saying at one point, "I don't. regret what I did.". ABC's chief investigative correspondent, Aaron Kutersky, leading us off tonight with what we've just learned.

Tonight, the Brown University killer, in. his own chilling words. Federal investigators say Claudio Valente, the shooter. who opened fire at Brown, then traveled to the Boston area to. kill an MIT professor, recorded a final video confession. just before he killed himself. "I don't regret what I did," Valente said. "I am not going to apologize.". The attack stunned the nation and launched a multi-state. manhunt across New England just before Christmas. Valente recorded several videos in his native Portuguese,

explaining how he planned his attack on a study group, killing two students and injuring nine others. "I never wanted to do it in an auditorium. I wanted to do it in a regular room," Valente said. "And I had plenty of opportunities, especially. this semester.". And while federal investigators say they still lack a specific. motive, law enforcement sources tell ABC News the suspect. revealing he went to Brown because of a. 20-year grudge against a university staff member. He then went to Brookline, Massachusetts, fatally shooting.

MIT professor Nuno Lallaro at his home. Valenti's body was found after a six day search inside a. storage unit in New Hampshire where investigators say. he died by suicide after recording his testimonial. It concludes with the suspect callously suggesting his. victims could have escaped. That chilling confession, David, recorded inside the storage. unit in New Hampshire where the suspect was found dead. He says on it he was not seeking fame, but clearly, David, he wanted the world to know what he had done.

David. Eric Gatursky leading us off here tonight. Aaron, thank you. Also breaking at this hour, this major development. involving the US and Venezuela. Sources telling ABC News tonight that the US has now given. Venezuela's interim leader a list of demands. that must be met before Venezuela can. sell its oil again. Demanding Venezuela kick out Russia, Iran, Cuba, and sever economic ties with them. Rachel Scupp at the White House with late reporting tonight. Tonight, sources telling ABC News. that the U.S.

conveyed a list of demands to the interim leader. of Venezuela that the regime must meet before the. U.S. will allow Venezuela to sell more oil. They include Venezuela must kick out China, Russia, Iran and. Cuba and sever economic ties. And Venezuela must agree to partner exclusively with the. U.S. on oil production and favor the U.S. when selling heavy crude oil. The U.S. threatening the lifeline of the Venezuelan. economy, imposing a military blockade. It sits on the largest oil reserves in the world. The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger.

Wicker, saying the U.S. plan in Venezuela hinges on. controlling the oil, and that he did not believe the deployment. of U.S. troops will be required. With President Trump hailing the daring raid that led to. the capture of Nicolas Maduro. It was an amazing military feat. We sort of got him a little by surprise, but. it was a brilliant, it was brilliant tactically. It was an incredible thing. Three days later, still no clarity from the. administration on how the U.S. plans to "run Venezuela.". But the President has maintained the U.S.

is in charge of the country. The administration has a one-day plan on how to get rid of. Maduro, but no idea of what happens after. And tonight, the President facing sharp condemnation. from world leaders over his threats to take. over Greenland. The White House not ruling out using the military to do it. The President and his team are discussing a range of options. to pursue this important foreign policy goal. And of course, utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the. commander-in-chief's disposal. The White House sang in a statement, "President.

Trump says controlling Greenland is a matter of. national security.". We need Greenland from a national security. situation. It's so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and. Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national. security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it. Amid the escalating tensions, Denmark and. Greenland now requesting a meeting with Secretary. of State Marco Rubio. And with the stability of the NATO alliance on the line, the.

UK, France and Germany signing on to a statement defending. Greenland's sovereignty, saying Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on. matters concerning Denmark and Greenland. Also tonight, Colombia's President Gustavo. Petro responding to President Trump's threat. to go after him next. Petro writing on X, Trump's label of me. as a drug trafficking outlaw is a reflection. of his senile brain. And David, just moments ago, the president posting on social.

media that the interim president of Venezuela will be turning. over 30 to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the United. States. The president says that it. will be taken to storage ships and then unloaded here in the. United States and sold at market price. David. All right, Rachel Scott. with the breaking news. Rachel, thanks. Tonight, the CDC is warning about. the flu surging across the U.S. in record numbers now. Roughly 11 million cases reported, 5,000 deaths. In fact, 45 states tonight now reporting very high or. high flu activity, New York being hit especially hard.

And what we've learned this evening about this year's. flu shot, how effective will it be in fighting this? Here's Stephanie Ramos. Tonight, after all those holiday gatherings and travel, a record. breaking surge in cases of the flu that health officials say. is likely to get even worse. New York State reporting a record four thousand. five hundred and forty six hospitalizations, up 24. percent from the week before. When it first started spiking, we were seeing a lot more. kids and now the older patients are starting to catch up.

At Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital in New York City, Dr. Eric Legome tells me they're seeing as many. as 30 percent more flu patients this year than last. And that kind of traps what we're seeing across the state. or even across the country. We're seeing it earlier and the numbers we're seeing. earlier are much higher. The CDC says all but five states are reporting high or very. high flu activity and more than 8 percent of all visits. to a health care provider are for flu symptoms. That's the highest level since they started keeping track.

Experts say the predominant type of flu this year, a H3N2 historically hits harder and this year's. predominant strain of a H3N2 called subclade K is different. than the strain that this year's flu shots were. designed to protect against. It doesn't mean that the vaccine isn't working. That vaccine like we've seen historically will. protect you against severe illness, hospitalization, and even death. So it's still not too late to get that flu shot. So far this season, there have been at least 10. pediatric deaths from the flu.

Last season, 289 kids died from the flu. That is a record. About 90% of those kids were not vaccinated. David, Stephanie Ramos on these flu fears tonight. Steph, thank you. At this hour, snow and freezing. rain moving quickly across parts of the Northeast. Winter weather advisories up across several states. And then there's a big change coming. So let's get right to chief meteorologist Ginger Zee. with the forecast for us. David, that freezing rain in the northeast can be. really tricky, especially along I-90 in Massachusetts. We're watching up to a tenth, maybe two-tenths of an inch.

You don't need a ton of it. It can create that glaze on the road. So that's what you're seeing here in the. winter weather advisories. They go all the way up along the state lines of Vermont. into New Hampshire and Maine. Some of the higher elevations, it will be snow, but that. pink on the map between Boston and Portland, that's where we're really concerned with the icing. tonight through tomorrow. Also want to mention, it's not going to last long. because the warm-up is on. We're talking easily 10 to 20 plus degrees above average. Some people from Orlando to Atlanta, even Raleigh, could break records, daily records on Friday.

And then right here in Southern California, the mountains behind. me have a high wind watch. So you can see them there. That starts tomorrow through Thursday on that anniversary. of the fires here in Southern California. David. Ginger Zee with us. tonight. Thank you. Tonight marks five years now since the January 6th. assault on the U.S. Capitol. After the election, President. Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 rioters, some returning. to the Capitol today, holding onto their pardons. And tonight, the White House on its official website. saying the protesters on that day were peaceful.

The official White House website also accusing Vice. President Mike Pence of cowardice and sabotage. And what Mike Pence is now saying tonight. Here's Jay O'Brien. Tonight, exactly five years since the violent January. 6th attack pardoned Capitol rioters returning to protest. with counter demonstrators as they marched to. the Hill, marking the anniversary, the White House. unveiling a new website trying to rewrite the history of the. riot repeating the lie the 2020 election was stolen and accusing.

then vice president Mike Pence of cowardice and sabotage for. rejecting president Trump and certifying the election and. calling many in the mob that injured more than 140 police. officers peaceful protesters President Trump pardoned. all of the nearly 1,600 January 6 defendants. Today some proudly carrying. framed copies of those pardons and lifting a banner. thanking Trump. But one rioter rejected Trump's pardon. Pamela Hemphill pleaded guilty and served two months. in prison seen here in videos she filmed that day.

Hemphill now 72 says she was convinced of Trump's. election lies and today apologizing to Capitol. Police. I am truly sorry from the bottom of my. heart for being part of the mob that put you and. so many officers in danger. I can't believe people are still disrespecting. you and trying to lie about January the six and. David tonight while the White House is blaming. Capitol Police for violence that day, former Vice. President Mike Pence is out with a statement praising law.

enforcement for quelling the chaos and allowing lawmakers. on both sides of the aisle to "finish democracy's work. under the Constitution.". David. J. O'Brien, live at the Capitol for us, Jake, thank you. We turn now to the other news this evening. There is new video tonight of a person of interest in. the killings of a dentist and his wife found dead upstairs in. their home in Columbus, Ohio. And tonight, authorities now revealing the. apparent cause of death. Here's ABC's Ike Kachachi. Tonight, new surveillance video showing a person of interest.

walking through an alley near the Columbus, Ohio home. where a dentist and his wife were found shot to death. Detectives believe 37-year-old Spencer Tepe and his 39-year-old. wife Monique were killed last Tuesday in the upstairs. of their home sometime between 2 and 5 a.m. They say the person of interest was captured on surveillance. during that time, seen wearing light jeans and a dark hoodie. Police say there were no signs of forced entry and no murder. weapon has been located. Their two young children, just four and one,

found inside unharmed. The couple's family now speaking out. What kind of person can take two parents away from such young. children and just two beautiful people away from this earth? Spencer's boss calling 911 for a wellness check when. he didn't show up for work. This is very out of character. And we can't get in touch with his wife, which is probably. the more concerning thing. Officers knocked but got no answer. Shortly after, a friend arrived and made this.

horrific discovery. There's a body. He's laying next to his bed, off of his bed, and there's blood. David, police are investigating this as a double homicide, and they want the public to look closely at this. surveillance video and to come forward with. any information that might help identify. the person of interest. No word tonight on any possible motive. David. Ike Kajachi with us as well. Thanks Ike. Tonight, more than two weeks after the deadline requiring the. release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, the Justice Department. revealing in a new court filing more than two million documents.

are still under review. The department with no time frame for when the work will. be completed and no word on when more documents will. be made public. The filing says about 400 federal. attorneys will be reviewing them in the weeks ahead. The D. O. J. Says it has posted more than 12,000. documents so far, totaling 125,000 pages, but more. than two million pages still under review. That's less than 1% of the documents released so far. When we come back on the broadcast tonight, multiple. firefighters injured in New York City battling. a major fire. The images.

firefighters surviving after being hit in the head by. a falling air conditioner. This fire spreading quickly and then later. tonight, the new Girl Scout cookie that's just been. revealed tonight. This is really something. we'll be right back. tonight. The major fire in New York City across four. buildings, the five alarm fire erupting overnight. in Queens, blasting through the roof of the. initial building with residences inside. It spread quickly to several. other buildings. Two firefighters suffered. serious injuries, including one who was hit by in the.

head by that falling air conditioner. We're told he is conscious and alert. tonight. One resident was injured as well. Minor injuries. No word on what caused the blaze tonight. Republican Congressman Doug Lamalfa has died while. undergoing emergency surgery in Chico, California. Authorities responding to a medical emergency at. his home last night. He was first elected to Congress. in 2012. His sudden death narrows the Republican. majority in the House to 218 to 213. A special election will be held in the. coming months. Congressman Doug Lamalfa was just 65.

when we come back on the broadcast tonight, Taylor. Swift breaking her own record tonight, her. new longest number one song and the song it. replaces. Also the new Girl Scout cookie that has. just been revealed tonight and what they're. calling this one in a moment. to the index of other news tonight. A new quarter is out celebrating the. United States 250th anniversary this year. The U. S. Mint has rolled out the Mayflower compact quarter. It features two pilgrims on the front and the. Mayflower ship on the back. Four more quarters on the way this year, marking. the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence,

the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address. It is Girl Scout cookie season. The newest cookie just tonight. They're calling a rocky road ice cream i. packed with chocolate, ma almond flavored cream. Th name explore mores is insp. exploration at the heart. Taylor Swift tonight, bre yet again. Her newest hit number one single.

Save m fate of aphelia clinching. at the top of the billboa the eight week reign of h. When we come back here to a nine year old golden re. been adopted. This is quit jumping into help. Finall year old golden retriever. adopted. Where did she go Tonight the Peter family in. Columbia, SC is starting the new year grateful to have their.

newest member of the family home and safe after one remarkable. rescue. Abby, a 9-year-old golden retriever mix, had just. been adopted. The non-profit Final Victory Animal Rescue. driving Abby to her forever home, when suddenly Abby ran. off from the rest stop along the New Jersey Turnpike. They immediately started the search. They got the word out to local animal control, local police, and they reached out to the non-profit Unmanned Search and. Rescue Drone Team, all of them jumping in to help.

And incredibly, just 7 minutes, 13. seconds after that drone was up in the air, they spot something. They zoom in, they see. That nine-year-old golden retriever had already. traveled 26 miles. The team racing to that spot. Right near exit 11 on the turnpike. With their flashlights on, searching for. Abby in the darkness. They move in.

Abby's hip was injured, but she was OK. They got her. They got her. Excellent job, guys. Excellent job. Excellent coordination. The officers then leading Abby into their patrol car. And at nine years old and newly adopted, Abby tonight is now home safe. Hey, David. We're the Peters. Here's Abby. She's safe and sound and doing well. And right here tonight-- Hi, David. --Michael Parziale, the founder of that nonprofit USAR drone. team. This was their 123rd rescue.

The Woodbridge Police Department and the. Animal Control Officer and everybody came together. at the right time. The best thing we can do for. each other is to help each other. No question home and safe in that drone team. 123 rescues. I'll see you tomorrow. 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.

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