ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - March 16, 2026

David Muir, ABC's World News Tonight, [music] America's most watched newscast, now streaming same day with all [music]. the breaking news of the day on Disney. Plus. Most watched, most trusted, now on. Disney [music] Plus every night. Tonight, the breaking news, severe. storms slamming the East, tornado. concerns from Florida all the way up to. Philadelphia. Watch is stretching 1,000. miles from Florida to the Northeast. Blizzard warnings elsewhere, drivers. facing whiteout conditions in multiple. states. Cars off highways, winds gusting.

60 miles per hour. Thousands of flights. canceled, Ginger Zee is here. The chaos. at America's airports, these severe. storms, and TSA staffing shortages. worsening. [music] Now, weeks into this. partial government shutdown, nearly. 60,000 TSA workers [music] going without. their paychecks. The major airlines. tonight begging lawmakers to pay these. workers. [music]. The war in Iran tonight, an Iranian. drone hitting a hotel, flames shooting. out the windows. And tonight, President.

Trump now [music] blasting America's. NATO allies, demanding that they now. help secure the Strait of Hormuz. One. ally saying, "It's [music] not our war.". James Longman live from the region. tonight. Just in, a federal judge. tonight blocking Health Secretary Robert. F. Kennedy Jr.'s major changes involving. childhood vaccines. Tonight, the Academy. of Pediatrics calling this a victory and. what they [music] say parents should do. In New York City, the deadly inferno, a. massive fire, four people killed. including a child. The daring Coast.

Guard rescue on the ice, the ice. breaking apart in the middle of the. rescue. Dolly Parton's first public. appearance and what she's now revealed. about her health. >> [music]. >> And the Oscars, the best actor. celebrating with his mother at the. Oscars, and then with his Oscar in one. hand, a burger in the other. Where he. went right after. From ABC [music] News world headquarters. in New York. This is World News Tonight.

with David Muir. Good evening on this Monday [music]. night. We begin tonight with these. severe storms moving into the East right. now. Late today tornado watches. stretching 1,000 mi from Florida all the. way up to Philadelphia. The massive. system from Texas to New York tonight. whiteout conditions in the upper Midwest. a confirmed tornado touching down near. Charlotte, North Carolina. High wind. alerts across multiple states going into. tonight. Drivers facing blinding snow in. Central Iowa police urging everyone to. stay off the roads during the storm. Hundreds of accidents reported across.

the Midwest cars skidding off highways. These pictures from the. Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. Tonight. thousands of flights canceled and. delayed including more than 500 flights. at Chicago's O'Hare Airport alone. This. storm moving quickly into the East the. possibility of tornadoes and. straight-line winds in parts of the. Northeast tonight and then brutal cold. right behind it. Chief meteorologist. Ginger Zee leading us off tonight. Tonight from blizzards to severe. thunderstorms and thousands of canceled. flights. A dynamic system is bringing.

all types of extreme weather to more. than half the country. At one point. tornado watches stretching a thousand. miles from Florida all the way to the. Northeast including Philadelphia. WPVI. chief meteorologist Cecily Tynan. And. even if we don't get the tornado threat. straight-line winds could be a big. problem later on tonight. Widespread. gusty winds knocking over semi's on. Interstate 40 outside Oklahoma City. And wind gusts sending this shelter. flying in Willow Springs, Missouri.

Those donkeys scattering. They're okay. tonight. In Atlanta And it wasn't a big. crash. It was just like a big womp. Tonia Steve thankful that her. 95-year-old mother woke up just before. this huge tree hit their home. Something. told her she just got up. And she walked. into her other room and it came down on. her right on her bed. So she would have. been badly injured if not. killed. The storm plus TSA staffing. issues at several major airports leading. to more than 4,000 canceled flights. And.

on the northern side of the system, an. all-out blizzard in the upper Midwest. Front doors opening to massive snow. drifts in Marquette, Michigan. Vehicles. going off the road all over the Twin. Cities this weekend. And where there's no snow, the winds. fueling dust storms like this one that. blinded drivers on Highway 287 in North. Texas. And fanning the flames of wildfires in. Nebraska that have scorched well over. 900 square miles. Well, it's really. something more than half the country.

seeing severe weather tonight. Let's. bring in Ginger. She's live in Raleigh, North Carolina, of course, right in the. path of these storms. Hi, Ginger. Hi, David. We've got a severe. thunderstorm warning right now. The. sky's getting dark behind the airport. here. The storms will bring a gust of. wind. It's a very thin line of storms. and then serious cold. But the strong. storms are still riding the coast up. through Delaware, New Jersey into. Connecticut now. And then behind it, you. note the snow even into northern. Alabama. So it goes deep. Let's talk. about how this is going to time out and.

who gets what when. All about those wind. advisories, too, tonight. That's what's. impacting travel big time from New. Jersey and Long Island right up through. Massachusetts. But watch what happens in. Boston. High wind warning for gusts up. to 65 mph. Those storms are going to be. strong at times, pounding on some of the. roads. You see them there as we time it. out into the overnight. Boston picks up. the strong storms. And then there's some. snow in upstate New York behind it. But. that cold, David, brings freeze alerts. all the way to the Gulf Coast. Temperatures as low as 29 in. Mississippi. David.

>> Yeah, be very careful on the roadways. these next 24 hours. Ginger's leading us. off. Thank you, Ginger. These severe. storms and TSA staffing shortages. leading to chaos at America's airports. tonight. Now, weeks into this partial. government shutdown, nearly 60,000 TSA. workers are going without their. paychecks. And tonight, the major. airlines now begging lawmakers to pay. these workers. Here's Geo Benitez. Tonight, that monster storm triggering. major flight disruptions straining. airports already stretched thin by TSA.

staffing issue. Been very frustrating. here. sitting in these lines. From New York's. JFK to Chicago's O'Hare, Andrew Degs. trying to reach Asheville, North. Carolina. They rebooked me onto a flight. to Charlotte. Now, I've got to pick up a. rental car and drive myself across. That. also got cancelled. So, I've now been. here for 16 hours. The spring break. travel surge coming as nearly 60,000 TSA. officers got their first $0 paycheck. this weekend. The starting salary for. some TSA officers $34,000 a year. The.

partial government shutdown is in its. fifth week with no end in sight and. funding still paused for the Department. of Homeland Security. More than 350 TSA. officers quitting since the shutdown. started. The highest number of call-outs. reported this weekend. >> They have reason for not showing up. Whether it's I can't put gas in my car, I have to take care of my children. In. Atlanta today, Hartsfield-Jackson. International Airport shutting down one. of its security checkpoints again. because of a staffing shortage. If you.

plan to travel through Atlanta. Hartsfield International Airport, you. need to be at this airport at least 4. hours early. If you do not, you'll run. the risk of missing your flight. And David, the airline CEOs are begging. Congress to pay these TSA workers. telling them, quote, "It's difficult if. not impossible to put food on the table, put gas in the car, and pay rent when. you are not getting paid." David. >> no question about that and we can see. the lines right there behind you at. Newark tonight. Geo, thank you. We're. going to turn now to the war in Iran.

tonight. New images just coming in. tonight. An Iranian drone hitting a. hotel in Baghdad. Flames shooting out. the windows there. And tonight, President Trump now blasting some of. America's closest allies demanding that. they now help secure the Strait of. Hormuz. Many are not interested. One US. ally saying it's not our war. We didn't. start it. Here's our chief international. correspondent James Longman from the. region again tonight. Iran still causing chaos across the. region tonight. A massive explosion as a.

drone slammed into this hotel in. Baghdad, flames shooting out of the. building in video circulating online. And near the US Embassy. video showing the moment air defense. systems shot down a rocket flying. nearby. Tonight, President Trump is. blasting some key US allies for refusing. to answer his new call for help in. reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz. That's more than 2 weeks after he. launched the war in Iran without those. allies. >> We don't need anybody. We're the. strongest nation in the world. We have.

the strongest military by far in the. world. We don't need them. Late today, the president claimed the UK was. unwilling to help in the beginning. I. was very surprised with the United. Kingdom. because the United Kingdom. 2 weeks ago, I said, "Why don't you send. some ships over?" And he really didn't. want to do it. I said, [clears throat] "You don't want. to do it. We've been with you President. Trump said today the UK is now offering. aircraft carriers, but that he told them. it's too late. He said. "We're going to send over two aircraft. carriers." I said, "I don't want them.

anymore. I don't want them after we win. I want. them before we start. I don't need your. aircraft carriers after we've already. won." Tonight, the British Prime. Minister says the concern is a wider. war. We will not be drawn into the wider. war. And tonight, Germany is refusing to. send help for the Strait of Hormuz. saying quote, "It's not our war." We. can't be every at every place to to. support a war which we didn't start it. While questioning the loyalty of some. allies, late today the president.

marveled in the Oval Office at his model. of an American B-2 bomber. And if these. gorgeous B-2 bombers, give me that. bomber, Andrew. Let me just hug that. little sucker. >> [laughter]. >> Give me that bomber over there. It's. like you knew immediately which one. This looks small, but in person it's. very big. >> [laughter]. >> Cuz it's it's the only plane capable of. carrying a 200,000 200,000 lb bomb. So, I don't know how they do it cuz it's. very sleek and nice, but it carries a. lot of weapons and there's a lot of. bombs. 20% of the world's oil flows.

through the strait. The danger of Iranian attacks keeping. most from getting through. Global oil. prices are hovering around $100 a barrel. today. Gas prices in the US have risen. more than 80 cents since the start of. the war. And tonight, the president says. some countries are sending help, but he. wouldn't say who. Numerous countries. have told me they're on the way. Uh some are very enthusiastic about it. and some aren't. The president says the US has struck.

7,000 targets so far in Iran and. destroyed 100 Iranian naval ships, including all 30 vessels that lay. underwater mines. The president is. tonight saying he's not sure who is. leading Iran, saying he doesn't know if. the new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei. is alive or dead. And of other potential. leaders, Now they think maybe the son is. gone. They're all gone. My biggest problem is. I have no idea who we're talking to. because nobody ever heard of any of. these people. They're all. dead. And tonight, the Pentagon is revealing.

200 American troops have been wounded so. far in this war. At least 13 US service. members killed. And tonight, tributes. for the six American service members who. died when their refueling plane crashed. in western Iraq. The youngest, 28-year-old Technical Sergeant Tyler. Simmons of Columbus, Ohio. Seen here just months ago training on. the same type of aircraft that went. down, a KC-135. His mother says she spoke to her son the. day before he died. We actually had. beautiful conversation. I was like, "Well, Tyler, how are you?" He said,

"I'm good. I'm good. I'm good." He just. just wanted to do amazing things cuz. he's an amazing man. 33-year-old Major. John Alex Clinard from Auburn, Alabama. had just been promoted. The married. father of three had 7-month-old twins. 31-year-old Captain Ariana Savino of. Covington, Washington. 34-year-old. Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt of. Bardstown, Kentucky, remembered as a. devout wife and mother, leaving a. 3-year-old daughter. 30-year-old Captain.

Curtis Angst of Wilmington, Ohio, and. 38-year-old Captain Seth Covel of. Mooresville, Indiana. Covel's wife. tonight saying he was exceptional in. everything he did. And back in the Oval Office late today, President Trump made news when he. suggested a former president he's been. speaking with wishes he had done to Iran. what Trump has done. And he said, "I. wish I did what you did.". Could have done it. Other presidents. Somebody should have done it. 47 years. this went on.

And David, reporters asked President. Trump if that former president was. George W. Bush. He said it was not. He. was asked if it was Bill Clinton. He. wouldn't say. And tonight, a source. close to former President Clinton tells. us he's not spoken with Trump about the. Iran strikes. And David, one more note. tonight, President Trump says he wants. to postpone his trip to China, which was. supposed to take place later this month. David. >> James Longman covering the war in Iran. tonight. He is live from Iraq for us. James, thank you. Back here in the US. meanwhile, the breaking headline at this. hour, a federal judge tonight now.

blocking Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s major changes involving. childhood vaccines. Here's Steve. Osunsami. The ruling tonight from a federal judge. in Massachusetts overturns nearly all of. the changes that Health Secretary RFK. Jr. brought to the CDC's vaccine. advisory panel. The judge sided with. medical organizations who sued, blocking. changes to the suggested childhood. vaccination schedule that included. removing shots for rotavirus, hepatitis. A and B, meningitis, RSV, and the flu.

For health groups like the American. Academy of Pediatrics, who fought this, this is a major win. It's a victory for. the children of the United States with. regard to protecting them against. vaccine preventable diseases. RFK Jr., a. lifelong vaccine skeptic, told Congress. he wouldn't change the existing vaccine. recommendations and did so anyway, leading to protests outside the CDC. Last summer, he fired experts who make. the recommendations and replaced them. with 13 members more aligned with his.

views. Tonight, the judge is also. suspending all 13 of those replacement. members, writing that there is a method. to how these decisions historically have. been made, a method scientific in. nature. Unfortunately, the government. has disregarded those methods. This is a. fight that is likely to make its way all. the way up to the US Supreme Court. The. government, of course, is appealing. The. American Academy of Pediatrics is. telling parents in all of this. confusion, if you have questions, to. check first with your child's doctor. David. Yeah, there's been real whiplash.

for parents across the country, Steve. Thank you. There was yet another. developing story as we're on the air. tonight. Here's Melissa Adan. Has the jury reached a unanimous. verdict? Tonight, a guilty verdict on. all counts in the murder trial of Utah. mother Kouri Richins, charged with. killing her husband, Eric, by poisoning. him with fentanyl. Count one, aggravated. murder. We, the jury, unanimously find that the. defendant, Kouri Richins, is. guilty of aggravated murder. The case.

making national headlines when Richins. was arrested for her husband's murder. after writing a children's book about. grief. Prosecutors said that Richins. slipped five times the lethal dose of. fentanyl into a cocktail that she made. for her husband. They said Richins. killed her husband for money while. planning to start a new life with a new. man. At the time of the murder, Richins'. home flipping business was millions of. dollars in debt. The jury watched body. camera video of the moments after Eric. Richens was murdered, his wife Kouri.

sobbing. But prosecutors say she had. plotted to murder her husband and had. already made plans for a vacation with. her boyfriend. After just 3 hours, the. jury finding Richens guilty on all five. counts, including murder, insurance. fraud, and forgery. David, Kouri Richens. is scheduled to be sentenced in 2. months. She faces at least 25 years to. life. David. Melissa, thanks. Tonight, one of President Trump's closest. advisors, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, revealing her battle with breast cancer. and what she's saying tonight about the.

millions of other women who have battled. this, too. Here's Rachel Scott. Tonight, President Trump announcing. White House Chief of Staff [music] Susie. Wiles, one of his closest and most. trusted advisors, is battling, quote, early-stage breast cancer. She's an. amazing person and amazing fighter and. she announced a little a minor. difficulty, which will be in. good shape good shape for they'll be. around for a long time. The president. saying that as Wiles undergoes. treatment, she will be spending. virtually full-time at the White House.

She's going to take care of it. immediately as opposed to waiting. She. said, "Let's do it now." I said, "Do it. immediately. cuz there's with that particular. ailment, uh the faster the better." That's the. only thing I know about it. The faster. the better. The 68-year-old Wiles, the. first woman to serve as White House. Chief of Staff, saying, quote, "Nearly. one in eight women in the United States. will face this diagnosis. Every day, these women continue to raise their. families, go to work, and serve their. communities with strength and. determination. I now join their ranks.".

Susie Wiles says that she has already. started her treatment and will continue. to work here at the White House, David. >> with powerful words for all of the other. women fighting this, too. Thank you, Rachel. When we come back tonight in New. York City, the deadly inferno, a massive. fire breaking out, four people killed, including a child. Also tonight, the. daring Coast Guard rescue, and you'll. see it on the ice. The ice actually. breaking apart in the middle of their. rescue. Dolly Parton's first public. appearance in months, and you'll hear. straight from Dolly herself what she's.

now revealing about her health. And the. Oscars, the best actor. is Oscar in hand, celebrating with his. mom right there, and then where he. headed after. It sounded pretty good to. us. We'll be right back. Tonight in New York City, four people, including a child, have been killed in a. building fire. Flames seen sweeping. through apartments in Flushing, Queens. Authorities say three people escaped by. jumping from a third floor window. Five. firefighters were injured when a. stairwell collapsed. We're told they're. all in stable condition tonight. On Lake. Michigan, the race to save a man.

stranded on the ice a mile offshore. A. Coast Guard crew responding to a call of. a snowmobile or trapped on a chunk of. ice. He couldn't get back. Coast Guard. cutter then breaking through the ice. right there to reach the man. He is okay. tonight. And when we come back here. tonight, Dolly Parton's first public. appearance in months, and what she. revealed about her health. You'll hear. from Dolly in a moment. It's the first time we've seen Dolly. Parton in public in the last few months. Opening day at her theme park, Dollywood. Dolly opening up about her. health and the toll from the death of. her husband, Carl Dean.

Uh I've had a few little health issues, and we're taking good care of them. I. just kind of got wore down and wore out, grieving over Carl, and. Dolly postponed her Las Vegas residency. She says she is getting better, and she. looked and sounded great. When we come. back tonight, backstage at the Oscars, best actor winner Michael B. Jordan, and. where he took his Oscar right after. Sounded pretty good to us. And Barbra. Streisand and her tribute to Robert. Redford in a moment. ABC World News Tonight [music] with.

David Muir, sponsored by Consumer. Cellular. See how much we can cut your. bill. Finally tonight here, it turns out. winning an Oscar can make you pretty. hungry. He won the Oscar for best actor, but he. wanted something else, too. Actor. Michael B. Jordan heading to an In-N-Out. Burger holding his Oscar statue. Congratulations, Mike. Thank you, brother. The first-time nominee winning. for his role in Sinners playing twins. I'm so happy for you. >> Thank you. He told our Lara Spencer.

about the weight of the moment after his. win. I'm so happy for our our film. Um. And like. This doesn't really happen. Yeah. So. taking that moment in. Taking his mom as his date, sharing this. photo of her holding the winning Oscar. envelope with his name on it. Yeah, mama, what's up? >> [cheering]. >> Y'all know how how I feel about my. mother. What'd your mom say when you got. back to your seat after winning your.

Oscar? >> Baby, I'm so proud of you. And then she I mean it's just I mean, you know. try to stop herself from crying. >> Jessie Buckley. The Oscar for best actress going to. Jessie Buckley for her role in Hamlet. My little girl who is 8 months, I love. you and I love being your mom and I. can't wait to discover life beside you. It is Mother's Day in the UK. Yeah, my. first Mother's Day. My first ever. Mother's Day. What a Mother's Day. >> Yeah, pretty great way to celebrate. I. uh I mean, I don't know if I expected.

it, but I'm happy to be Yeah. >> [laughter]. >> One battle after another. The best picture going to One Battle. After Another. There were tributes last. night to Diane Keaton, Catherine O'Hara, the Reiners. And this moment for the. late Robert Redford. Barbra Streisand singing the song from. their movie, The Way We Were.

>> [singing]. >> The Way We Were, a moving tribute to. Robert Redford. I'll see you right back. here tomorrow night. I'm David Muir. Good night. David Muir, the most trusted anchor in. America, the most [music] watched anchor. in America. Thank you for making World. News Tonight with David Muir the number. one newscast in America.