ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - May 21, 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. Breaking news tonight, the shocking and sudden death. of a NASCAR legend, Kyle Busch, dying at the age of 41. He was admitted to the hospital just yesterday. What his family is saying tonight and the reaction. from the NASCAR world, what we've just learned.

The record holiday travel rush is on. Forty five million Americans expected to hit the roads and. skies for Memorial Day weekend. Today, the busiest day to fly LaGuardia Airport here in New. York still backed up after a sinkhole shut down a runway. While the urgent repairs in the West, a gas line leak, snarling travel outside LAX and on the roads, major. storms wreaking havoc across the country. The rain lingering for days, our weather team. tracking the holiday forecast, the Ebola outbreak. and the terrifying moments on a US bound jet forced.

to divert to Canada. The flight attendants putting on masks and the new images. tonight, a missionary doctor from Virginia, seen here in a. plastic bubble on his way to Germany, still fighting the. disease. The stunning decision in the. criminal case against the former assistant principal, charged. after a six-year-old student shot a teacher. at a Virginia school. The White House on defense amid a growing revolt from Senate. Republicans over President Trump's $1.8 billion fund that.

could give payouts to the rioters who attacked the Capitol. On January 6th, the acting Attorney General's efforts to. quell objections backfiring on Capitol Hill. Mary Bruce with late reporting. A last minute reprieve for a death row inmate in Tennessee. following a botched execution. A critical test of the biggest and most powerful rocket ever. built, the SpaceX Starship, as Elon Musk's company prepares. to go public in a move that could make Musk the world's. first trillionaire. Dramatic new video of that terrifying.

crash involving a fire engine in Los Angeles. The amazing record set at the top of the world. And America's Strong Tonight, the young umpire going. viral, his energy and passion fielding millions of fans. From ABC News World Headquarters in New York, this is World. News Tonight with David Muir. Good evening, thanks for joining us on this Thursday night. I'm Witt Johnson in for David and we begin with breaking news,

shock and heartbreak in the racing world as we've learned. late today that two-time NASCAR champion and legendary. driver Kyle Busch has died. His family announcing that the 41-year-old was hospitalized. after experiencing a severe illness. Hours later, they said in a statement that he had passed. away, adding, "Future Hall of Famer Kyle was a rare. talent, one who comes along once in a generation.". His family now asking for privacy. ABC's Trevor Ault leads us off with late.

details just coming in. Kyle Busch grew up in Las Vegas dreaming of being a... Tonight the shocking sudden death of a NASCAR legend, 41 year old Kyle Busch. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champions family saying today. that Busch had been hospitalized with a severe. illness before dying. No cause of death was given. Back on May 10th, Busch had asked for a doctor to. meet him after a race in New York at Watkins Glen. Can somebody try to find Bill Heisel? He's a injured doctor guy.

Tell him I need him after the race. The married father of two won more races across NASCAR's. three national series than any other driver in history. And in this powerful moment just days ago in. Dover, after winning what would be his last race, reflecting on his remarkable career. Why do these moments never get old, Kyle? Because you never know when the last one is. Tonight, NASCAR says they're heartbroken by the loss, calling. Busch a once-in-a-generation rare talent.

And with the tributes are already pouring in from Kyle. Busch's fellow NASCAR drivers, all of them sending their love. and support to his family during this incredibly difficult time. and expressing their shock at this sudden passing. And our thoughts are with the family as well. Trevor Ault for us, we appreciate it. Now to the 45 million Americans expected to travel this Memorial. Day weekend, with today likely the busiest day in the air. And already there are problems. Major disruptions at New York's LaGuardia. Airport after a sinkhole forced the closure of one of.

the airport's two runways. And the weather isn't helping. Heavy rain causing flash flooding showing. travel throughout the eastern half of the country. causing more problems there. Senior meteorologist Lee Goldberg with the forecast. in just a moment, but first, ABC's Will Reeve. is at LaGuardia Airport. Tonight, the Memorial Day travel rush now underway. Around 45 million Americans projected to hit the roads. and skies for the holiday. The FAA saying it expects today to be the busiest day. of the weekend at the nation's airports with more than.

54,000 flights scheduled. At New York's LaGuardia, that's sinkhole on the taxiway. disrupting flights for a second straight day. One of the airport's two runways closed as crews. perform urgent repairs. More than 450 flights delayed here today, more. than 50 canceled altogether. That runway behind me was the only one operational. here at LaGuardia Airport, which really slowed things down. as more people take to the skies for Memorial Day weekend. This morning, Michael Simmons trying to figure. out what to do next after his flight got canceled.

All flights are booked. They're all sold out. I've even attempted to go to another airport, you know, and unfortunately to no avail. -And severe weather compounding those travel woes. in the nation's largest city Wednesday. Buses driving through waters several inches deep, water cascading down subway stairwells. That weather forcing air traffic controllers. at Newark Liberty International to tell inbound aircraft. the airport had no space. -The tower just called us and said. they cannot take any more airplanes. They are in gridlock tonight.

And traffic delays in Los Angeles near LAX. after a gas line was ruptured Wednesday night. And Whit, here at LaGuardia, as that sinkhole continues. to impact flights, officials now say they. hope to get that affected runway there reopened before. flight operations begin tomorrow morning, Whit. And they're going to need it, we'll read for us, thank you. Let's bring in ABC's senior meteorologist Lee Goldberg. And Lee, this holiday weekend looking like a. washout in some places. Unfortunately, it's not a pretty picture here in the East. You know, we were 92 degrees here in New York City yesterday.

We're 59 a drizzle right now. Let's start out with the big getaway day tomorrow. It's definitely best in the West, but we'll. see areas of heavy rain from the Gulf Coast to the. Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic, Dakotas into Western Minnesota. Severe weather in the Southern Plains, Texas and Oklahoma. panhandles and a flood watch. It lasts all weekend long in South Texas. This multi-day rain event continues through. the holiday weekend And from Texas to New. York, locally up to a half foot of rain. That would be over the south, one to three inches into the. northeast can cause ponding on roads. And in the northeast, after the early season record heat,

temperatures well below normal in the 50s and 60s. Memorial Day does have the most upside. We might get back to 70 right here in New. York and up to Boston. All right, we'll brace for that. Lee Goldberg, our thanks to you. Now to the growing Ebola outbreak and officials. defending the decision to bar an Air France. passenger from entering the United States, forcing the. jet to divert to Canada. And tonight we're learning another American doctor who. may have been exposed to Ebola has been flown to. quarantine in Prague. Steve Osunsami reporting from the CDC tonight.

What should have been a smooth trip from Paris. to Detroit turned into panic halfway through. the flight on Air France. The captain came on the announcement system and said. that we were being diverted to Montreal Airport. Authorities were telling the pilots that they couldn't. land in America because one of their passengers. was from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The new Ebola hot zone. The The flight attendants all had. masks on, which no one had had on prior to that announcement.

So it was really concerning, like, what is going on here? The plane continued on to Detroit Wednesday. evening without that passenger, but other. people on the flight say they're not sure who it was. and worry the rest of them may have been exposed. Canadian health authorities tonight say that the passenger. from the Congo was showing no symptoms and was unlikely to. spread the virus. This strain of Ebola, a disease that can cause. a person to bleed to death, has no vaccine or effective.

treatment and has already killed nearly 150 people in Africa. A missionary doctor from Virginia, seen here in a plastic. bubble on his way to Germany, is still fighting the disease. this evening. In a statement he He says, "Before I was. evacuated, I was feeling really concerned I. wasn't going to make it. And now I'm cautiously optimistic.". And now another American missionary doctor who may have. been exposed has been flown to quarantine in the. Czech Republic. The U.S. is now denying entry to anyone without a U.S.

passport who has recently traveled. through these affected regions. And any American who is coming home from these. same places is now required to fly into Washington. Dulles Airport. Well, they will be screened by the CDC. Whit? All right, Steve, thank you for that. Now to the stunning decision in the criminal case against. a former assistant principal. Prosecutors had said she failed to act on warnings that. a six-year-old had a gun in his backpack, the child. then shooting and severely wounding his teacher.

Here's ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas. Tonight, a dramatic conclusion to a case. that shocked the nation. A former assistant principal in tears after a judge dismissed. all criminal charges against her stemming from the 2023. shooting of a teacher by a six-year-old student. The court is of the legal opinion that. this is not a crime. Eboni Parker was facing child abuse charges after a boy shot.

and wounded his first grade teacher Abby Zerwerner. with a gun he brought to school in his backpack. Prosecutors allege that Parker failed to act and to follow. school protocol after staffers raised concerns that the. student had a weapon. There was only one person in the school that day that had. both the authority to act and the knowledge of. non-loyal prices. And that person, you'll see, was Dr. Parker. The wounded teacher testifying earlier this week.

He was holding a gun, the student, and it was. pointed right at me, and then I was shot. The assistant principal's defense attorney today arguing. potentially mistakes were made, but that her actions did. not amount to a crime. Her actions in the end were not criminal. It was just at the most it was a lapse of judgment. With the assistant principal was facing eight felony counts, one for each bullet in that child's gun. But the judge held that the principal's actions. did not constitute a crime under Virginia.

The boy's mother already convicted in this case. Witt. Pierre Thomas reporting tonight. To Washington now and the growing controversy. over President Trump's $1.8 billion fund of. taxpayer money that could give payouts to political allies. who claim they were targeted by the Biden administration. Now a growing number of Republicans on Capitol Hill. are raising objections. Here's ABC's chief White House correspondent, Mary Bruce. Tonight, Senate Republicans in open revolt over President.

Trump's new taxpayer fund to reward allies who claim. they were persecuted by the Biden Justice Department. A group that could include the rioters who stormed the Capitol. and attacked police officers on January 6. These people don't deserve restitution. Many of them deserve to be in prison. And this is just stupid on stilts. Republicans demanding answers or they won't approve more funding. for the president's immigration crackdown. Today, acting Attorney General Todd Blanch. scrambled to Capitol Hill.

What questions do you have for Todd Blanch. about this weaponization? I just want him to explain it to us. We don't have any details. Blanch even suggesting in this fact sheet that senators. could claim money from the fund. But sources tell us the meeting backfired spectacularly. Some Republican senators screaming at the. acting attorney general, saying the president's fund. could cost them the midterms. As things went downhill, Senate Republican leader John Thune. abruptly canceling the planned immigration vote,

sending everyone home for a week. Y'all have a good week. Republicans were already struggling. to justify the president's request. for a billion dollars in taxpayer money for his ballroom. There's no architectural plans. There is no environmentals. There's no engineering. There's no sense of, when we ask, how did it happen. to cost exactly a billion? I just don't get it. Trump insists the project is being paid for entirely by.

private donations, but says he needs a billion dollars from. Congress for security upgrades. Are you losing control of the Senate, Senator Paul? I don't know. I really don't know. I can tell you I only do what's right. And with the president today, also spent time. talking about his new triumphal arch to be. built near Arlington National Cemetery today, a federal panel stacked with Trump appointees. approved the plan. Trump was asked if he also needs congressional approval. He said, quote, No, we don't. We don't need anything from Congress.

All right, Mary Bruce at the White House, thank you. Tonight, an abrupt reprieve for a death row prisoner subjected. to a botched execution. Tennessee halted the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers. after his executioners could not find a vein. Carruthers was convicted of three 1994 murders. The governor says the state will not try again to execute. Carruthers for at least a year. Next tonight, a critical test of the biggest and most. powerful rocket ever built. Elon Musk's Starship has been delayed as the billionaire's.

company prepares to go public in what could be the. largest IPO ever, a move that could make Musk the. world's first trillionaire. Here's Stephanie Ramos. Tonight, the high-stakes test flight of Elon. Musk's SpaceX Starship, the world's most powerful. rocket, called off late today. We are going to be standing down from a launch. This is the new and improved version of the. gigantic 408-foot-tall Starship, with major. upgrades, including better engines. Musk says Starship will eventually carry up to 100.

people to the Moon and Mars. NASA hoping to use Starship to land astronauts on. the lunar surface in 2028. It'll be the one that puts humans back on the Moon. It'll be the ones that put the first blueprints. and then city on Mars. It's been seven months since the last launch, delayed until tonight after a pre-flight booster. test ended in this explosion. Starship, a huge part of SpaceX's future, which Musk is taking public in what could be the biggest stock.

offering in history, which could make him the. world's first trillionaire. The SpaceX Starship is designed to be fully reusable. Witt, this is a critical moment for Elon Musk and SpaceX as. the company moves closer to launching missions to the moon. Witt. Stephanie Ramos, our thanks to you. Tonight, a former Minnesota non-profit leader sentenced. to nearly 42 years in prison. Amy Bach was convicted of illegally receiving $250 million. in federal funds meant to feed underprivileged children.

Her lawyers arguing for a three-year sentence, the case became a political flashpoint after. President Trump described the state as a hub. of illegal activity. Prosecutors have charged 78 people, 60 have pleaded guilty. or have been convicted in the scandal. When we come back, Waymo temporarily suspends service in. Atlanta when one of the vehicles drives into floodwaters. The stunning video and what the company is saying tonight. A new footage of the moment an L.A. fire engine overturned rolling into a nearby office building.

What we're learning about the crash. Also, a record breaking day on Mount Everest. How history was made on the world's tallest peak. Plus, why one Little League umpire is going viral. with millions celebrating his energy on the field. Next night, Waymo service temporarily suspended in Atlanta. on Wednesday when at least one of the autonomous vehicles. became stuck in floodwaters. Video here shows the car driving into a flooded road during. heavy rain and stalling out.

No passengers were inside the car at the time. Waymo released a statement saying, "Safety is Waymo's top. priority, both for our riders and everyone we. share the road with.". Now to an investigation into the moment an LA fire engine. overturned on Tuesday night. New footage shows a first engine weaving through. traffic just before a nearby SUV moves forward. That reduced space for a second engine, causing it to veer. out of control, you see right there, striking a parked car, then crashing into a building.

Two firefighters in the vehicle were treated for minor injuries. When we come back, the incredible record set at the. top of the world and what the hurricane forecast says. about the upcoming season. To the index now, history has been made on Mount Everest. The record number of climbers, 274, scaled the world's. tallest peak on Wednesday. It's the highest number ever to do so from the. Nepali side in a single day. The previous record was 223. NOAA has released their outlook for the upcoming.

Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June. 1st through November 30th, predicting below-average. tropical activity. The agency is currently predicting a total of. 8 to 14 named storms, with 3 to 6 forecast. to become hurricanes. Still ahead, a Little League umpire is going viral, what. the 18-year-old is saying about the energy he brings to the game. and getting millions of fans. Finally tonight, the Little League umpire making headlines. for his spirit on the field.

He's the Little League umpire going viral on social media. Look at him. [laughs]. I love this guy. With his expressive and high-octane game-calling, fans across the country can't get enough. of 18-year-old Sawyer Sparks from Bakersfield, California. He's, like, chasing kids at first. Sliding, making calls. Dude, he's amazing. This video posted to Instagram hitting about 3 million views. and more than 2,000 comments saying he's an absolute boss.

The greatest youth baseball ump I've ever seen. Hustle is on point. That's called the love of the game. Kids deserve this energy, always. A former Little League player himself, Sawyer. revealing the motivation behind his energetic style. with like certain plays are just like, like really fast, like hard for me to like determine from that, like just. from the home plate distance. I decided to just to start running just just to make sure. I am there.

I'm at the play. I'm just want to make sure I'm getting the right call. Players and parents appreciating what Sawyer brings to the game. most favorite thing is when there's a play and. he's at home just dynamites himself to second slides it. gets there so he can call it fair. Sawyer reacting to his sudden fame telling. us tonight his goal is to spread fun and to give. everyone a fair shot. I want to at least make the. game active make the game lively try to get everybody.

hyped up get their blood pumping I just want to say. 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. number one newscast in America.