ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - March 9, 2026

David Muir, ABC's [music] World News. Tonight, America's most watched. newscast, now streaming [music] same day. with all the breaking news of the day on. Disney Plus. Most watched, [music] most. trusted, now on Disney Plus every night. Tonight, the breaking news just as we. come on the air with President Trump. just said about the war in Iran saying. it could [music] be ended soon. When. asked by a reporter, "Does that mean. this week?" he said, "No.". The president had originally said the. war in Iran could take weeks, four to.

five weeks or more, but late today. saying the war in Iran is, quote, "very. complete, pretty much." It comes amid. major volatility in oil and gas prices. around [music] the world and here in the. US. And as Iran, in an act of defiance. tonight, [music] elects the son of the. late supreme leader as the next supreme. leader. President Trump had called the. son, quote, "a completely unacceptable. choice." And the Pentagon tonight. revealing a seventh US service member. has died, a 26-year-old [music] from. Kentucky. The president's new message.

tonight comes as here in the US the cost. of gas skyrockets. Overnight, oil prices. surged well above $100 a barrel. The. national average for gallon of gas in. the US up more than 50 cents in a week. Here in New York City tonight, the. alarming scenes outside the official. home of the mayor, Eric Garcetti. Two. suspects allegedly trying to detonate. homemade bombs during a protest. [music]. Authorities say they wanted it to be. bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing. Tonight, the travel chaos at many.

American airports, TSA checkpoints, the. long lines, the partial government. shutdown dragging on tonight. TSA agents. haven't had a full paycheck [music] in. weeks. We are tracking severe storms at. this hour across multiple states, heavy. rain, damaging winds, possible tornadoes. from Texas up to the Great Lakes over to. the Northeast tomorrow [music]. and Wednesday. And Ginger Zee standing. by with the forecast. Tonight, five. teenagers facing charges for [music] a. prank on their high school math teacher.

that turned deadly. One of the students. accidentally running over [music] the. teacher. And tonight, what that. teacher's family is now asking of the. authorities. Also tonight, breaking now, the verdict just in in the trial of. those three brothers, two of them. [music] real estate stars, accused of. sexual assault. What the jury has. decided. Tonight, the woman under arrest. after police say she fired at singer. Rihanna's [music] home with an. AR-15-style rifle. Under arrest on. suspicion of attempted murder. [music]. Travis Kelce making his decision tonight.

on his future of the NFL. Will he return. to Kansas City? And punch the monkey and. his stuffed orangutan. The video they. [music] have now sent in tonight, you'll. see it. And look at this, the American. zoos trying the same thing. Two. different zoos tossing in a stuffed. monkey, but two very different. reactions. You'll see it right here. From ABC [music] News, world. headquarters in New York. This is World. News Tonight with David Muir.

Good evening. We begin tonight here with. the breaking news. Just moments ago, President Trump speaking on the war in. Iran saying of the US objectives that. some would say they're pretty well. complete, in his words, and suggesting. the war is ahead of schedule. The. president speaking about the Iranian. missiles destroyed, Iranian ships at the. bottom of the sea. He said the war would. be ended soon and warned if it starts. again, Iran will get hit even harder. When asked by a reporter, "What does. ending soon mean?" asking this week, he. said, "No, but soon." The president.

fully aware of the volatility in the. markets, the cost of oil and gas, and. what President Trump said about Iran. naming a new supreme leader. They've. chosen the son of the late supreme. leader killed in the strikes. ABC's. chief foreign correspondent Ian Pannell. leading us off tonight. Tonight, the stunning statement from. President Trump after initially saying. America should prepare for weeks of war. Now saying the operation will be ending. soon. We're achieving. major strides toward completing our.

military objective. And some people could say they're pretty. well complete. In a move seen as a brazen act of. defiance, Iran's top clerics electing. the son of their dead supreme leader, 56-year-old hardliner Mojtaba Khamenei, as their new leader, despite President. Trump saying he'd be unacceptable. Thousands taking to the streets of. Tehran chanting his name, pledging. allegiance. Later today, President Trump. speaking from Florida after warning any.

Iranian leader picked without his. approval will not last long. We think. they should put a president in or the. head of the country in that's going to. be able to do something peacefully for a. change. And amid reports that Russia's. giving Iran intelligence on American. troop locations in the region to make it. easier for Iranians to target them, President Trump today speaking to. Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin saying Putin. suggested ideas on a quick end to the. war. And it comes as the US and Israel hit.

hundreds of targets across Iran. >> [screaming]. >> Dramatic video circulating online. showing people racing to escape. as missiles blasted this military base. outside Tehran. Israel also striking multiple oil depots. turning the skies black with toxic. smoke. Those attacks raising some. concerns in the West about destroying. valuable infrastructure. And tonight a barrage of Iranian strikes. across the region.

killing at least one person in central. Israel. Interceptor missiles streaking over the. skies of Bahrain. And Qatar releasing this video of. Iranian drones shot out of the sky. Tonight, the Pentagon identifying. 26-year-old Army Sergeant Benjamin. Pennington as the seventh US service. member killed in action. Officials say. he died from injuries sustained during. an Iranian missile strike on a military. base in Saudi Arabia last week. Moments.

ago, Vice President J.D. Vance and top. officials attending the dignified. transfer for Sergeant Pennington at. Dover Air Force Base. Over the weekend, President Trump attending the dignified. transfer of six more US service members. who were killed in Kuwait. And tonight, video emerging of a strike. near that Iranian girl's school where. more than 160 people were killed. A. close review of the video appearing to. show a US-made Tomahawk missile slamming. into a building next to the school. Sources telling ABC News it is possible.

American forces are responsible for the. strike as the US was attacking a. military base in the area at the time. President Trump blaming the attack on. Iran. The Pentagon says it's still. investigating. David, the president saying repeatedly. that the US and Israel are winning. decisively and that the war will end. soon. He was pressed on whether it would. end this week replying no, giving no. timetable. David. >> Ian Pannell leading us off here tonight, and thank you. President Trump's new. words suggesting the war could be ending. soon comes as the cost of gas skyrockets.

here at home. Overnight oil prices. surging well above $100 a barrel before. easing a bit late today when the. president gave an interview suggesting, quote, "I think the war is very complete. pretty much." The national average for. gallon of gas in the US now at $3.51. up more than 50 cents in a week. Our. chief business correspondent Rebecca. Jarvis on the ripple effect across the. economy and why the White House knows. the president's words are moving. markets. Tonight, the oil markets.

and gas prices here at home. are riding on the president's every word. and on the unfolding war in Iran. Overnight, a record surge in oil prices. reaching nearly $120. a barrel before plunging late today amid. word the president said the war is very. complete pretty much. The wild. volatility from this war in Iran already. reaching the gas pump across the US. tonight. Drivers like Michelle in Boston. trying to fill up the tank but stunned.

by what she was seeing. I'm already at. $65 and still pumping. The national. average tonight now $3.51. a gallon up 57 cents from a week ago. This is truly a certainly unprecedented. situation. The war has triggered the. biggest disruption to oil supplies in. history with the Strait of Hormuz. effectively shut down. Tankers loaded. with fuel have no place to go forcing. three major OPEC oil producers Kuwait, Iraq and the UAE to cut production.

Analysts have warned the longer the. disruption, the higher gas prices will. go and the ripple effect far beyond the. pump. grocery prices, airfare and the. cost to do business for farmers and. small companies. And for Michelle, by. the time she was done at the gas pump, it cost more than $90 to fill up her. SUV. If it stays like this, it's going. to be pretty bad. And David, to give you. a sense of just how volatile and fast. moving this situation is, just 24 hours.

ago the price of oil was nearly $120. a barrel. Now, it's more like 89. That. is an unprecedented drop and it shows. just how price sensitive these markets. are to what the president says and what. happens on the ground in Iran. David? >> Yeah, it really shows just how closely. these markets are following what the. president is saying day to day here, Rebecca. Thank you. To the other news. this Monday night, the alarming scene. here in New York City outside the. official home of Mayor Zoran Mamdani. Two suspects allegedly trying to.

detonate homemade bombs right during a. protest. Authorities say they They it to. be bigger than the Boston Marathon. bombing. Here's Aaron Katersky. You. don't get to come for Tonight, these. dramatic new images show an 18-year-old. hurling a homemade bomb in what police. say was meant to be a terror attack. bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing. Another teen then hands him a second. device. He ignites it, sprints down a. sidewalk, hops a police barricade, and. is tackled while the device is still. smoking. This chaos interrupted dueling protest.

Saturday outside the home of New York. City Mayor Eric L. Adams started by. far-right anti-Muslim provocateur Jake. Lang. The violent rhetoric of. hate speech and violence of speech. Police say 18-year-old Amir Balaj and. 19-year-old Ibrahim Khayum drove from. Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and told. investigators they were inspired by. ISIS. This was not random violence. This. was a planned attack motivated by. extremist ideology and inspired by a. violent foreign terrorist organization.

The FBI says one of the teens watched. ISIS propaganda videos on his phone, and. the other told the neighbor he wanted to. carry out an attack bigger than the. Boston Marathon bombing, and lamented. that attack caused only three deaths. The devices were made from Mason jars, nuts, and bolts. One of them tested. positive for the highly volatile. substance TATP used in attacks around. the world. Make no mistake. What. happened this weekend was incredibly. dangerous. Tonight, David, the two teens. are being held on a terrorism charge and. use of a weapon of mass destruction. There were no injuries, but it's just.

the kind of thing authorities have been. fearing with America at war in the. Middle East. David. Aaron Katersky right. here in New York. Aaron, thank you. Now. to the travel chaos at many American. airports TSA checkpoints, the long. lines, this partial government shutdown. dragging on, and TSA agents haven't had. a full paycheck in weeks. Here's Geo. Benitez with the pictures. Tonight, missed flights and ruined. vacations as TSA staffing shortages. throw spring break travel into chaos. Airports packed from Miami to Phoenix to.

Houston's Hobby Airport where even. seasoned travelers like Claire Lee were. shocked by the crowds this morning. >> First time ever and I travel the world, I've never seen anything like this. Officials telling passengers to arrive 5. hours early. Usually I witness this on. TV. Watching it, now I'm a part of it. At. Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans, passengers started lining up right by. their cars in the parking garage. >> Two lines, two escalators. The TSA. short-staffed amid a partial government. shutdown affecting the Department of.

Homeland Security. And because of that. shutdown, the roughly 60,000 TSA. officers who get you through security. haven't gotten a full paycheck in almost. a month and many of them aren't showing. up to work. >> To not have your full entire paycheck. come through, that puts a strain on. finances for your household. So, they. having to make very tough decisions. And David, so far big airports like. Newark have been faring better, but. there's a real concern here about lines. the longer this shutdown goes on. David.

>> Gio Benitez reporting tonight. Gio, thank you. Tonight we're tracking severe. storms across multiple states. 75. million Americans under alerts. This is. going to extend from Texas right up into. the Great Lakes over to the Northeast. Let's get right to Chief Meteorologist. Ginger Zee with us here on a Monday. night. Hi, Ginger. Hi, David. Strong to severe. thunderstorms are moving through now in. northeastern Louisiana right up to. Tupelo, Mississippi. Birmingham to. Huntsville getting in on the mix tonight. along that state line into Georgia. Tonight it's the main hazard of damaging. wind, but by tomorrow that tornado risk.

ticks up and you'll see it in parts of. Texas like Abilene or San Angelo through. the later afternoon and evening and then. into the overnight a place like Quincy, Illinois, Kankakee, Illinois, Chicago, uh northwest Indiana like Rensselaer up. to Valparaiso. We're watching that. carefully and baseball size hail comes. along with that as well. And finally, we've got another threat Wednesday, Pittsburgh back to uh Alexandria, Louisiana. David. We'll track it right. here with you. See you first thing in. the morning on GMA. Thanks, Ginger. Tonight, five teenagers are facing.

charges for a prank on a beloved high. school math teacher in Georgia. One of. the students then accidentally running. over the teacher. Here's Faith Abubey. Tonight, five teenagers facing charges. after the tragic death of a beloved. teacher during a high school prank gone. wrong. Police say on Friday night, the. students went to Jason Hughes' home in. Gainesville, Georgia to throw toilet. paper at his trees. The Hughes family. telling ABC News the teacher knew the. teenagers were coming and he was excited.

to catch them in the act. When Hughes, a. math teacher at North Hall High School, went outside, the students, all 18 years. old, tried to flee in two vehicles. Authorities say the teacher tripped and. fell in the roadway and was struck by. driver Jaden Wallace. Police say Wallace. and his friends tried to render aid to. the teacher, but the 40-year-old later. died at the hospital. The driver now. charged with first-degree vehicular. homicide and reckless driving. Police. charging all five teenagers with.

criminal trespassing and littering on. private property. The family wants to. make really clear is that they knew. these kids, that they loved them, and. these kids loved the Hugheses. This was. not a malicious act. And David, all five students have been. released on bond. The teacher's family. says this was a tragic accident and they. fully support dropping all criminal. charges, but the DA who will make that. decision has yet to respond to our. request for a comment. David. >> All right, Faith Abubey reporting.

tonight. Faith, thank you. Tonight, AI. giant Anthropic is suing the Pentagon. for labeling the company a supply chain. risk. The company claims it's being. punished for ideological reasons after. the Trump administration abruptly cut. ties with the company. Anthropic. refusing to allow its artificial. intelligence for use in autonomous. lethal weapons without human involvement. or for the mass surveillance of. Americans. The Trump administration then. partnering with Open AI instead, which. has many of the same red line. restrictions.

When we come back here tonight, breaking. news, the verdict just in at this hour. in the trial of three brothers, two of. them real estate stars, accused of. sexual assault, what the jury has now. decided in a moment here. Also, the. woman under arrest tonight after police. say she fired at singer Rihanna's home. with an AR-15 style rifle. She's under. arrest tonight on suspicion of attempted. murder. And later this evening, punch the. monkey, that stuffed orangutan, the. video they've now just sent in. You're. going to love the update. And then two. American zoos, look at this, they're. trying the same thing, but two very.

different responses in a moment here. Don't go away. Tonight, the three multimillionaire. brothers on trial for sex trafficking, two of them real estate stars from New. York to LA to Miami, now the verdict. The jury finding Orenthal and Elan. Alexander guilty. The verdict after 20. hours of deliberations. Prosecutors say. the brothers used their wealth and. luxury lifestyle to lure drug and rape. women. The brothers face up to life in. prison when they're sentenced in August. Tonight, a woman is now in custody. accused of firing shots at Rihanna's.

mansion in Los Angeles. She's been. arrested on suspicion of attempted. murder. Allegedly armed with an AR-15. style weapon, police say Ivana Ortiz. fired from her car on Sunday. Multiple. bullet holes visible in the side of. Rihanna's home. Police say Rihanna was. home at the time, but was not injured. When we come back here on a Monday. night, Travis Kelce has made his. decision on his future in the NFL. Will. he return to Kansas City? And then punch. the monkey, the video they've now sent. in. To the index of other news tonight, NFL. star Travis Kelce revealing his football.

future. A source telling ESPN tonight. that Kelce is coming back to the Kansas. City Chiefs for a 14th season. The. decision coming ahead of the NFL's free. agency period and shutting down. speculation that Kelce could retire. A. passing to note tonight, actress. Jennifer Runyon has died, best known for. her parts in Ghostbusters, A Very Brady. Christmas, and her lead role as. Gwendolyn Pierce in Charles in Charge. No official cause of death as of yet. Jennifer Runyon was just 65. Do those. multivitamins help you live longer? A. new study tonight finds that taking a.

daily multivitamin may help slow the. aging process. Researchers observed. hundreds of adults who took. multivitamins in a clinical trial. published in the journal Nature. Medicine. Over a 24-month period, the. participants taking the multivitamin. only aged 20 months at the cellular. level. We could hope. When we come back here. tonight, Punch the Monkey and the video. they've just now sent in, you'll see it. And the American zoo is now trying the. same thing, but with very different results. Finally tonight here, Punch the Monkey,

the zoo outside Tokyo sending out the. newest update. And it turns out Punch is. now a trendsetter. The zoo is right here. in the US trying the same thing, and. let's just say with very different. results. Tonight, we just had to share some good. news about the baby monkey the world. [music] has fallen in love with, Punch. the Monkey. The 7-month-old monkey abandoned by his. mother, shunned by the other monkeys at. the zoo outside [music] Tokyo. Zookeepers giving him that stuffed. orangutan from IKEA in hopes of. comforting him and to help him build his. confidence. Images of Punch cuddling and.

dragging that stuffed animal around with. him going [music] viral. His fellow primates grooming him, sitting with the adult monkeys, hitching. a ride in the back of this monkey before. falling off. And tonight, his zoo sharing this new. video of Punch from over the weekend. playing with other young monkeys closer. to his age. And tonight, back here in the US, zoo is. trying the same experiment. At the San. Antonio Zoo, caretakers tossing a. stuffed animal to their adult gorillas. The gorillas staring at it, seemingly.

unimpressed. And this gorilla taking a. moment to look at it and then walking. away. The stuffed animal falling down. At the Phoenix Zoo, the care team. tossing a stuffed animal to Bodhi, their. 4-year-old Siamang ape. Bodhi studying it, picking it up, playing with it, hugging and kissing it. And right here tonight, hey David, Joaquin Hidalgo from the Phoenix Zoo and. Bodhi. Behind me is a Bodhi. He's having.

a blast all over there. But that. orangutan plush is somewhere out there. on the island yet to be recovered. He's. been pretty playful with that thing for. the past week. They say Bodhi loving his. new stuffed monkey. >> [music]. >> Well, back outside Tokyo tonight, Punch. is still loving his. Although the zoo. tonight saying if all goes well, they. think [music] there will come a day when. he will no longer need his stuffed toy. Well, maybe Punch and Bodhi can hang out. one day. Thanks for watching here on a. Monday night. I'm David Muir. I'll see. you right back here tomorrow. Goodnight.

David Muir, the most trusted anchor in. America, the most watched anchor in. America. Thank you for making World News. Tonight with David Muir the [music]. number one newscast in America.