ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - July 16, 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. Dangerous smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires. triggering air quality alerts across 19 states. City skylines disappearing in the haze, from Chicago. to New York to Boston. The American cities now with some of the worst.

air quality in the world. Also breaking tonight, the flash flood emergency in Texas. A deadly wave of water forcing evacuations. Chaotic images showing a massive water main break flooding. a famous American street. Hundreds of cars feared damaged or destroyed. a gaping sinkhole left behind. Late today, the NTSB releasing new details on that horrific. helicopter crash here in New York, killing a CEO, his. wife, and their three children. Could a bird strike have caused the accident?

Just in tonight, news about the parasitic illness affecting. thousands in multiple states. What we're now learning. Tonight sources telling ABC News a White House teleprompter. operator allegedly made $100,000. Also tonight, two deputies are recovering after being. shot in what authorities are calling an ambush.

A small plane crashing into a pond. Witnesses rushing to the scene, trying to flip over the. plane and save the pilot. And Jalyn Brunson leading the Knicks to victory once again, this time at the ESPY Awards. (upbeat music). From ABC News World Headquarters in New York, this is World News Tonight with David Muir. Good evening, I'm Mary Bruce in for David. We begin tonight with breaking news and the dangerous smoke.

from more than 800 wildfires burning across Canada, now. triggering air quality alerts in at least 19 states. Chicago now topping the list of major cities with some of. the worst air quality in the world. The sky's turning orange. Quality alerts there extended through at least tomorrow. Detroit coming in right behind Chicago. Thick smoke blanketing the city today. Here in New York City, clouds of smoke hanging. over the famous skyline. Passenger planes navigating through the smoke landing.

at LaGuardia Airport. Pilots in Philadelphia reporting ash sticking to. the cockpit windshield. Residents from the Midwest to the Northeast urge to take. precautions and limit their time outside. The smoke expected to drift further south tomorrow. ABC's Matt Rivers leads us off. Tonight, massive plumes of smoke from those fires in. Canada choking the upper Midwest and Northeast for a. second straight day. I have asthma, and so I might be a little bit more. concerned than other people.

Millions under air quality alerts in at least 19 states. New York City is handing out free KN95 masks at. public libraries like this one and police. and fire stations. The smoke combined with this oppressive heat. wave is a dangerous pairing, especially for. those with pre-existing conditions. Chicago recording some of the worst air quality in the. world among major cities. When you get to these burgundy dots, that's hazardous. A Delta flight capturing the smoke-clogged skies over New. York City, the pilot alerting passengers.

So if you can smell that, a little bit of smoke, that's. what we're going through right But just wanted to let. you guys know that's from the wildfires out west. At Philadelphia International Airport, the low visibility. triggering flight delays. Ash sticking to an American Airlines plane in flight. Yeah, it's adhering to the windshield. I've never seen it stick to the windshield like this. Tonight, more than 180 fires ablaze in Ontario, Canada alone. An American visiting the area seeing the inferno up close. We're getting out of here in a little closer comfort.

also contributing to the orange haze, at least nine. fires in northern Minnesota. Officials warning some fires could burn for months. There will be some fire on the ground in some form or fashion, along with smoke, until it snows. Mary, this hazardous smoke is expected to linger for at. least a few more days as it pushes further south toward. Virginia and Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, here in New York City, officials continue to hand. out free N95 masks just like this one to anyone.

who wants one. Mary. So important to take those precautions, Matt. Thank you. That smoke now making its way south. So let's get right to ABC senior meteorologist. Lee Goldberg. Hey, Lee. Hey Mary, and that smoky smell is unmistakable here in New. York. We've had it since last night. We'll deal with it tomorrow morning and then we'll. get a little bit of relief. Let's look at the air quality alerts. They go all the way from the upper Midwest into. the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. And timing it out, still extreme tonight from Minnesota. to Michigan, right here in New York City and into southern. New England.

Now by tomorrow, it dips farther south, like you said Mary, Ohio down to Virginia. A front Friday afternoon The Midwest and the Great Lakes, that brings thunderstorms and clears the smoke out by. Saturday morning. It will linger here in the Northeast after a break tomorrow. until Saturday afternoon. Speaking of heavy rain, third night in a row of a rare high. risk of flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country, an. additional eight inches possible on top of the. 20 inches they've seen. We've had enormous flash flood emergencies today, a flood watch. goes into tomorrow, finally some dry weather into the. weekend and early next week. Mary? Lee, thank you. And let's get right to that flash flood emergency.

you mentioned in Texas, a deadly wave of water. forcing evacuations. Their families pulled from their homes. Water rescues taking place around the clock. ABC's Faith Abubey in Texas. Tonight, deadly walls of water inundating Texas Hill Country. Families rescued from attics in the dead of the night. Blood sirens sounding outside San Antonio. National Weather Service alerting the public. that the large and deadly flood wave was rising.

fast on the Guadalupe River. Search and rescue teams in Kerrville navigating. chest deep water and cars and trees, pulling. families out of windows and into boats. Richard Shelton's 11-year-old daughter, Ava, woke him up at 2 a.m. The door broke open and more water came rushing in. And so we went to the attic. The water got all the way up to within a foot of the attic. I was scared the house was going to break apart. And I didn't know what would happen after that.

Receding floodwaters revealing utter devastation. And in this Kerrville neighborhood, the power of the. floodwaters is just undeniable. It rammed this SUV up the tree and another car into the house. Not far from there, this RV park hit hard, but thankfully everyone evacuated before the flood. And Mary, authorities say the level of flooding. that they're seeing this time around is even. worse than those deadly floods that devastated. camps here last year.

This time, though, they were prepared and so far. those campers are safe. And we are so thankful for that, Faith, thank you. And Justin here tonight, there is news about that parasitic. illness sweeping across the U.S. Thousands of people now infected in multiple states and late. today, a potential source of the outbreak identified. So let's get right to ABC's Elizabeth Schulze. Elizabeth, what are you learning? Mary, a source familiar with this investigation. tells ABC News that the outbreak of that severe. stomach bug is linked to shredded iceberg.

lettuce that was served at Taco Bell locations. >> Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Rachel Scott. I'm David Muir. I'm here to talk about the Taco Bell locations in. five states. Those states are Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. The source says that the FDA's. investigation identified a single supplier of iceberg. lettuce from Mexico that was used by the Taco Bell locations. where the sick people say they ate. Now, earlier this week, Taco Bell preemptively removed. some ingredients at select locations, telling ABC News. that the health and safety of our guests is our top priority. and that they are closely monitoring the situation.

The CDC's reported nearly 7,000. cases of this infection. intestinal illness in 34 states. We have reached out to Taco Bell again for comment. and have not heard back. Mary. Elizabeth Schulze with the. late breaking developments. Elizabeth, thank you. And next here tonight, the chaotic scene in West Hollywood, a major water main break, flooding Sunset Boulevard. and surrounding streets. Hundreds of cars feared damage and underwater. The ruptured main also creating a massive sinkhole. ABC's Trevor Ault is in Los Angeles. Tonight the massive water main break that unleashed a.

torrent of water through West Hollywood. It was geyser after geyser after geyser after geyser. All the water was flooding in and going in through the. sewage and splashing back out. Just before four this morning, a 36 inch pipe ruptured, ripping. open a giant sinkhole and sending river rapids racing. down the Sunset Strip. Oh my goodness. One person clinging to safety. That person just got swept away with the water. They tried to get out onto the sidewalk and move. Dozens of city buses left swamped in this lot, and.

hundreds of cars feared damaged or destroyed. We met Mike and Stacey, who woke up to their. apartment garage flooded and Mike's new car underwater. Do you have any hope that it's salvageable? I'm going to guess it's not. How many cars would be in here? I think about 50. Oh, that's a lot. And Mary, right behind me here on Sunset Boulevard, you can. see that enormous sinkhole. And officials say the pipe that burst is more. than 100 years old. It could take quite some time now to clean up all this damage.

Mary? It certainly could, Trevor, thank you. And we move on now to the investigation into. a horrific helicopter crash here in New York. City. A CEO, his wife, and three. young children killed. The rotors seen flying off before the helicopter plunged. into the Hudson River. The NTSB now saying it was likely caused by a bird strike. Here's ABC's Perry Russom. Tonight, more than a year after that tourist helicopter. crashed into the Hudson River off New York City, killing all six people on board, newly released NTSB.

documents show birds likely brought down the chopper, video capturing the chopper breaking apart. falling from the sky. Investigators say large birds hit the main. and back rotors, both separating from the chopper. The remains of several birds found lodged in the wreckage. It was a flock of geese that led to that miracle landing. on the Hudson in 2009. The FAA has warned that bird strikes, though less. common for helicopters, can cause significant damage. It wasn't just one bird, but it was a flock of birds.

and there were multiple impacts on the helicopter, which ended up creating enough damage to bring. the helicopter down. The pilot flying a family of five visiting from Spain, among them three children, ages 4, 8, and 10. Relatives of the family sued the charter company. Newark Helicopter Tours for negligence, alleging. the company failed to perform required maintenance and an. inspection on the chopper. So far, no response from the family on the. NTSB's report today. Mary, that tour company has since shut down. They have not responded to our request for comment.

Mary? Okay, Perry, thank you. Tonight, sources telling ABC News a White House teleprompter. operator allegedly used inside information to make. more than $100,000 betting on the president's speeches. The White House saying he's now on administrative leave. Here's ABC's chief investigative correspondent, Aaron Katersky. He was the man behind the scenes operating President. Trump's teleprompter for more than a decade, Gabriel Perez, the guy who knew what Trump was going. to say before he said it.

I have a guy, Gabe, he's excellent. I've had some real bad ones, but I have Gabe. But tonight, sources tell ABC News, Gabriel Perez used. his inside knowledge to place bets and win more than. $100,000 in the prediction market, Cali. My fellow Americans, our nation is back. Sources tell us Perez bet on more than a. dozen Trump speeches, including this year's. State of the Union through Cali's Mentions Market, where users wager on whether certain words. and phrases will be said. President Trump is famous for going off script.

You know, when you go up here, you take a big chance, especially me, because I go off teleprompter. about 80% of the time. Sources tell us Perez sometimes pulled bets mid-speech. when Trump skipped words that were in the teleprompter. It was the prediction market itself that sounded the alarm. Calshi says it flagged federal regulators. Trump was informed of the situation. He believes it's deeply unfortunate and. frankly a disgrace. And tonight Perez put on indefinite unpaid leave. Sources told us Mary Perez is now in talks with.

federal regulators to settle the allegations. That could require him to give back the profits. he made from those bets, But he's expected to. face no criminal charges. Mary? Okay, Aaron, thank you. Tonight, President Trump addressing the nation. After years of pushing false claims about the 2020 election, what he's now saying as voters prepare for the. crucial midterm elections. Here's ABC's Rachel Scott. Ever since he lost the 2020 election, President Trump has. been pushing unfounded claims of voter fraud.

And tonight in primetime, he made the case for. tighter election security, with the midterms. just four months away. No country could be great without fair. and honest elections. You have to trust your country because if. there can be no trust, there can be no greatness. And that's very simple. No trust, no greatness. Democrats say President Trump can't move on. from his 2020 defeat. The world's most famous sore loser.

will deliver a primetime presidential sour grapes. address to pursue his six-year-old grievances. Trump lost in 2020 by 7 million votes, lost the. Electoral College, and lost more than 60 court cases. challenging the election, some in front of judges he. appointed. Today on Capitol Hill, some Republicans. wishing he would move on. Look, we can't re-prosecute that campaign. Anytime you're looking back, you're not looking ahead, and I'm looking ahead to these elections, and the. president should as well.

I brought those concerns to the White House press secretary. What does the president say to Republicans who think that. focusing on the 2020 election, election integrity, all of. these issues right now is not the right approach, so close to the election? The administration, and especially this president, are able to walk and chew gum at the same time. And tackle a number of issues on a number of different. subjects every single day. We know the president is pushing Republicans on Capitol Hill. to pass the Save America Act, his voter ID bill, which would. require proof of citizenship to register to vote and also.

dramatically restrict mail-in voting. But right now, Mary, just does not have the votes to pass. No, it does not, Rachel. Thank you. And tonight, President Trump's attorney general nominee, Todd. Blanch, facing a new challenge in his Senate. confirmation battle. The acting AG meeting privately with Jeffrey. Epstein's survivors today. The meeting following an ultimatum from Republican. Senator Tom Tillis. He said he's inclined to back Blanche but wanted him to. meet with survivors first. And when we come back, two Florida deputies. airlifted to the hospital. Officials say they were ambushed by a suspect.

The deadly crash into a pond, what bystanders. tried to do to help. A grandmother trapped in a Tesla as temperatures rose inside. What deputies did next. And the new pill to help lower cholesterol. without the use of statins. Next tonight, two Hillsborough County, Florida deputies. are recovering after being shot in what authorities. are calling an ambush. The two were airlifted to a Tampa hospital. Authorities say the suspect was shot by other deputies.

and later died. The sheriff visiting both deputies in the hospital. Both are expected to survive. And an investigation is underway after a deadly. small plane crash in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Bystanders racing to the plane, trying to rescue the. pilot, who was the only person on board, desperately. trying to flip the plane over to reach him. The pilot was rushed to the hospital, where he later died. And deputies in Washington state near Seattle. rescuing an elderly woman trapped in a Tesla. Deputies communicating with the woman who indicated it.

was very hot inside the car. Eventually locating her granddaughter. Officials say the car's pet safe mode was engaged and the. air conditioning should have been on, but it wasn't working. And when we come back, the new treatment for high cholesterol, a pill for when those statins don't work well enough, and the passing of a well-known character actor. To the Index now. The FDA tonight approving a new drug to lower cholesterol. The daily pill, called Lipfendra, is for people. whose LDL cholesterol levels didn't improve.

enough with statins. Previous versions of this type of drug were only. available as an injection. Drugmaker Merck says the pill will be. available in a few weeks. The American Heart Association estimates. that one in four adults have high LDL cholesterol. And new details tonight in the death of actor Sam Neill. Neill's team saying the 78-year-old Jurassic Park. star died of pneumonia. He had previously battled and beaten lymphoma. His family plans to hold a private memorial at.

a date to be determined. Neil died Monday at a hospital in Australia. And a passing tonight. Actor Hal Williams, best known for his role as Officer Smith. on the 70s sitcom Sanford and Son, has died. Williams also appeared in dozens of other TV shows, including. Good Times and Hill Street Blues. Hal Williams was 91. And when we come back, the latest honors for the NBA. champion, New York Knicks. ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, sponsored.

by the Farmer's Dog. And finally here tonight, the biggest names in sports. coming together to shine at this year's ESPYs. Here's Will Reeve. The New York Knicks. Overnight at the ESPYs, the New York Knicks. taking home best team. I hope this trophy, especially here in New York, getting this. trophy shows the word love. Jalen Brunson sweeping his categories, winning best. championship performance and men's athlete. I lost the words. It's been a hell of a run, to say the least.

And this game-winning moment enshrined in NBA Finals. history, now earning OG Ananobi the SB for best play. What's it like being at the ESPYs, getting to bask in all. the glory of winning this title? I think it's pretty exciting for everyone. I grew up watching this award show, so full. circle, crazy to be here. Why were your boys laughing at you while you. were getting the award? I don't know. I don't know. Something's wrong with them, all of them. I don't like them. You don't like them? Well, they seem to like you. They're annoying. No, I like them. Our Robin delivering one of the night's most moving moments,

presenting the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, honoring. NBA trailblazer Jason Collins, the first openly gay player. in NBA history. He set quite an example for all of us, in particular for. athletes who followed in his footsteps as different. kinds of pioneers. His twin brother, Jaron, accepting the award. on his behalf after Jason died of a brain. tumor in May. You were out there with our dear friend and. colleague Robin Roberts. She has also been a trailblazer in so many ways.

How important is it for people like Robin, like your brother. and others to be their true selves and lead from the. front and inspire change in the ways that they do? Representation matters. When you see someone of the LGBT community following their. passions, following their dreams, living their life, being their authentic self, it inspires other people. And what an inspiration he was.

I'm Mary Bruce for David and all of us here. Good 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.