ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - May 25, 2025

Tonight, chaos in the sky and allegedly unruly passengers. zip-tied after trying to open a cabin door mid-flight. A major interstate shut down for hours during the busy holiday. travel rush, and the American arrested for allegedly. trying to attack a U.S. embassy in Israel. First, an international flight bound for Houston was diverted. to Seattle after a passenger tried to open an. emergency door mid-flight. He was restrained with zip ties by fellow. passengers and workers. This is millions of Americans are on the move for the.

Long Memorial Day weekend. The severe weather and heavy rain puts a damper on. some holiday celebrations. Our weather team is standing by with a forecast. The dramatic rescue of nine people after their. sailboat capsized in the San Francisco Bay. And the warning to beachgoers about staying. safe in dangerous waters. A 28-year-old American man arrested for allegedly. attempting to bomb a U.S. Embassy building, suspect seen here in. this Facebook photo, would authorities say. they discovered in his backpack? The GOP braces for a tough budget battle, and what's it's.

take for millions of Americans and their health care? And the chilling new details in alleged kidnapping. here in New York City, police say the abduction. in torture of an Italian tourist was part of a twisted scheme. to get his Bitcoin password, how the victim managed to. escape after several weeks. Also tonight, the nation marks the fifth anniversary of George. Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer. This is some activist say they are facing a backlash from. the Trump administration, and Floyd's family.

speaks out tonight. Stunning images of a propane tank explosion in the back of. a box truck, what caused the blast and the battle for. the Memorial Day box office record who came out on top. between Lee Loan stitch or mission impossible the. final reckoning and America strong tonight a. heartwarming reunion is we honor those who serve. from ABC news world headquarters in New York. this is world news tonight.

Good evening, everyone. Thanks so much for joining us on this. busy Sunday. I'm Lindsay Davis, breaking news as we come on. the air tonight. What President Trump said about Putin just. moments ago, threatening sanctions after a barrage. of attacks against Ukraine over the weekend. But we do begin with chaos in the skies as a. passenger allegedly attempted to open an emergency. exit mid-flight. Authorities say the international flight was. traveling from Tokyo to Houston and diverted. to Seattle. Passengers and crew members use zip ties to.

restrain the man. He was taken into custody in Seattle and. evaluated at a hospital in Florida. Propane tank explosion is. to blame for a traffic nightmare shutting down a major. interstate for several hours. All this during the height of the holiday travel rush and. whether is also causing some headaches for travelers, strong winds and hail battering parts of the planes and into. the south. Our weather team is the. But ABC's Morgan Norwood leads us off tonight with. the holiday travel hiccups. Tonight, K-Oz in the sky.

Passengers wrestling an unruly man who authorities. say tried to open the plane doors mid-flight. The flight from Tokyo to Houston diverted to Seattle. Passengers and crew using a zip tie to restrain the passenger. Ashley Bradley recording the whole ordeal. thankful other stepped in to help. The airline all nip on airways confirming the. incident and saying a second passenger became unruly. while on the tarmac in Seattle and that both were. removed from the flight by port of Seattle police. The harrowing incident comes during the height of.

the Memorial Day weekend travel rush. The TSA is screening more than three million. passengers on fly day, making it the third busiest. travel day ever. It's definitely a very busy airport. This is crazy. In Newark, passengers met with more than 300 delays. to start the weekend. The airport sang a slight improvement after weeks. of disruptions from runway construction, aging technology, and the ongoing air traffic. controller shortage. And for those hoping to avoid the lines at the airport,

an expected 39.4 million are hitting the roads, where long-wait stack up on major highways. "It's really, really bad. It's awful. It's bananas on the roads. This tanker fire on Interstate 595 in Florida, bringing traffic to a standstill early today. And out west, thousands of visitors. expected this holiday weekend at Lake Havasu. The San Bernadino Sheriff's Office ramping up staffing. as rescuers raised to this boat fire. Battling the flames as those high winds. threatened to spread the fire to other vessels.

No one injured in that blaze. And on the roads, expect peak traffic tomorrow. the best time to leave is before 2 p.m. But as for that plain incident, Lindsey, authorities say the. man was taken to the hospital after they found he had some. sort of medical episode that plain did go on to Houston as. planned. Good reminder, get on the road. before two if we can. Morgan, thank you now to the tornado and severe thunderstorm. watch for the planes and parts of the south. Let's bring in W ABC meteorologist Danny Bextram from. our New York station, W ABC. Danny, give us a sense of the greatest risk tonight.

tonight. Greatest concerns are going to be tornadoes, strong. storms damaging wind gusts for the southeast and parts of the. southern plains. A tornado watch now. in effect in parts of Texas and Oklahoma with the. severe thunderstorm watches expanding from eastern. Oklahoma to northern Georgia. Wind gusts over 70 miles per hour and. large hail both can cause damage plus. we have the flash flooding that remains an ongoing issue with an. additional 2 to 4 inches of rain between now and Monday night. This area already saturated, which makes roads. extra dangerous for those heading. home from the holiday. Severe threat focused on Texas tomorrow,

Lindsey, and it looks like a storm. in Memorial Day for a lot of the Southeast. - Could be a messy Monday for many. And I know you'll be back later with the forecast for the. rest of the country, Danny. Thank you. Now to the arrest of US citizen for allegedly. attempting to bomb an American embassy. Let's bring an ABC's Alex Prashe in Washington. Good evening, Alex. Tell us what you're learning. Lindsay, the FBI arrested Joseph Numeier, a dual US and. German citizen at JFK Airport in New York today. The 28-year-old is accused of attempting to fire bomb the.

US Embassy field office in Tel Aviv. And authorities say that Numeier, seen here on Facebook, walked up to the office earlier this month and allegedly. spat on an embassy guard before ditching. his backpack and running away. Inside authorities say they found three Moltov. cocktails later disarmed by Israeli national. police. New MIRR was arrested and deported to. face charges in the US. A newly unsealed criminal complaint says a subsequent. investigation found a Facebook page with hate-filled posts, including this one from the day of the alleged attack that. says, "Join me as I burn down the embassy in Tel Aviv, death.

to America, death to Americans.". In Lindsey tonight, New MIRR faces a number of charges. that could land him in prison for up to 20 years. Lindsey? Alex, thank you. Next tonight's cities across the country. are marking the fifth anniversary of. George Floyd's death. His final words, I can't breathe, became a rallying cry for the nation. But now some say they're facing backlash. from the Trump administration. What Floyd's family is saying tonight. Here's ABC's A Rene Shaw. - Tonight, five years since the death of George Floyd,

a moment igniting a unifying movement. for racial injustice and police reform in America. in the middle of a global pandemic. In Minneapolis, where it began, the community gathering. at George Floyd Square, the site of his tragic death. for a candlelight vigil. Attorney Ben Crump, who represented the Floyd family, attended a street festival, celebrating change. and resilience. - What we want our children to know, is that we stood up for George Floyd.

to get justice. Brianna Taylor. to get justice. Amard. Georgia. We stood up in Houston. This week his daughter, Gianna sharing. her life's purpose help in the world. Like come together as black and white and it just helps us come. all together and be nice to each other. They reflected on Floyd's murder by fired officer Derek. Shovon who knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes.

As Lloyd repeatedly said, "I can't breathe.". "It sparked a person wanting to get up and be active. and be more of an advocate.". But recent developments raising concerns for that movement. DC's Mayor Muriel Bowser ordering Black Lives Matter. Plaza to be paved over in March. Activists seeing the removal as a "racer" of. a racial justice symbol. And deaths at the hand of police officers, many of. which are deemed justifiable, have been climbing since 2020, according to the project mapping police violence.

President Trump saying officers are unfairly targeted. and reforms may make a challenging. to keep communities safe. The DOJ moved to abandoned police reform agreements. in Minneapolis and Louisville, and investigations of other. local police departments. Minneapolis is mayor pushing back. Minneapolis is serious about our commitment. to police reform, even if the president of the. United States is not. Minneapolis's police chief says recruiting police officers. five years later is still a struggle.

And George Floyd's death is still an open wound, but he says. meaningful change is possible without the help of. the federal government. Lindsey. Zorin, thank you. Overseas now to Russia launching a large-scale assault in. Ukraine, a barrage of drones and missiles targeting. dozens of cities. And what President Trump is saying about those attacks. tonight, threatening Russia with sanctions? Here's ABC's Marcus Moore. Tonight President Trump saying he's not happy with Russian. President Vladimir Putin after a second consecutive night of.

Russian air strikes targeting more than 30 cities across. Ukraine. This latest offensive, the largest since Russia. invaded Ukraine more than three years ago, involved nearly 400 ballistic missiles and drones. Ukrainian officials say killing at least 18 people. and wounding dozens more. "I want more for sure.". This woman, thankful her daughter, declined in invitation. to escape her apartment in Kiev and stay with them, saying, "And thank God she didn't come,

because the rocket hit on the side with the. children's rooms work.". "That's the first time!". These attacks come amid the conclusion of a. historic prisoner swap between the two countries. Both sides agreeing to exchange a thousand captives each, but despite that cooperation, airstrikes have only. seemed to intensify. Zelinsky calling for new sanctions. and additional pressure on Russia to agree to a ceasefire, writing on social media, silence of America, silence. of others around the world, only encouraged Putin. Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership,

this brutality cannot be stopped. On Sunday night in response to questions from reporters, Trump. said he was "very surprised by Putin's actions and suggested. that the United States was weighing a response.". "I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people and I don't know what the. hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people. and I don't like it at all. Okay? We're in the middle of talking. and he's shooting rockets into Kiev and other cities.

I don't like it at all. Lindsey President Trump has often touted his. strong relationship with his Russian counterpart. But tonight, these are some of his most forceful comments. on President Putin in recent memory. Lindsey. Marcus Moore, thanks to you. back here in the U.S. the GOP is bracing for a tough budget. battle ahead. House past president Trump so-called big. beautiful bill last week. Now it heads to the Senate. Let's bring an ABC senior White House correspondent Selena Wang. I Selena, tell us what's the latest. Well, Lindsey President Trump's mega bill barely passed a house.

And it faces a tough road ahead in the Senate with one Senate. Republican today saying there is enough opposition. to stop the process. Now the House bill extends Trump's tax cuts, ends taxes. on tips, and sloshers spending for food stamps and Medicaid, which could leave millions of Americans. without health insurance. Now, some Senate Republicans want to see. even steeper spending cuts while others. are concerned about those changes to Medicaid Lindsey. - And Selena, you mentioned these cuts. could leave millions without health insurance.

House administration's squaring that. with the president's plans to spend millions. on an upcoming parade on his birthday. - Well, Lindsey, the White House says. that this is a special chance to honor our nation's heroes. who keep our country safe, but Democrats are slamming. the administration for spending on this parade. while slashing spending for critical programs. The Army says that it plans to spend up to $45 million, but the final tally is expected to be much higher. Right now it's expected to include thousands of soldiers, tanks, armored vehicles, helicopters, and even horses.

All of this, Lindsay, to commemorate the Army's. 250th anniversary on June 14th, which also happens to be. President Trump's birthday. - Lindsey. - Selena Wang from the White House for us. Thank you. Now to the chilling details of an alleged kidnapping. here in New York. Police say the alleged abduction and torture. of an Italian tourist was part of a twisted scheme. to get his Bitcoin password. And tonight, police are now searching. for an alleged accomplice. Here's ABC's Reena Roy. - Tonight, an urgent man hunt underway.

for another suspect in what police say. was a horrific case of torture at a lavish Manhattan townhome. Police looking for the alleged accomplice of crypto businessman. John Woltz, who's accused of holding a man hostage for. weeks, beating him, shocking him with electrical wires and. dangling him off a ledge. And officials say it was all part of a twisted scheme. to get his Bitcoin password. Police say the alleged victim told them he arrived in New. York from Italy on May 6th and went to the suspects. home where he says wolves took his passport.

and threatened his life until he was able to. escape Friday morning, running out of the Soho. apartment to a traffic officer for help. Police arresting wolves who was barefoot in a bathrobe. as they handcuffed him. I saw like the sort of swatitude going with the shields. And then shortly after that, I saw a guy in a white woman. Handcuffs come out. investigators say they recovered bags of evidence, including. a saw, chicken wire, body armor, ammunition, and. Polaroid photos of the 28-year-old alleged.

victim with a gun pointed to his head. Law enforcement sources telling ABC News, they're. looking into whether the Italian man was hired. for sex work, if the suspect turned him into a sex slave, and if the two may have known each other from. the crypto world. Walt's facing a judge in Manhattan Criminal. Court on charges of kidnapping, assault, and. unlawful imprisonment. He's now being held without bail and will. be back in court on Wednesday. We reached out to Waltz's lawyer who said no comment.

Now, Waltz was ordered to surrender his passport with. prosecutors saying they're worried he could try to. make a run for it on his helicopter or private jet. Lindsey, "Rina, thank you. Now to the dramatic rescue. of nine adults from a sinking sailboat, emergency. crews pulled them from the choppy waters of. the San Francisco Bay and the warning tonight. for those out in the water for the long holiday weekend. More now from ABC's Melissa Don.". Tonight, a warning for those out in the water. after San Francisco first responders rescued.

nine people from a capsized sailboat Saturday. They call up here as a nine of ore in distress. The Coast Guard and firefighters racing to rescue a group from a. 30 foot sailing vessel owned by C Scout, a youth sailing club. The company says they had a season crew of. adults participating in a master's race when the. rudder failed and the vessel capsized. The spanker caught the wind wrong. and tipped over the weather. The boat filled up with water. everybody was wearing their life jackets.

This rescue comes as the National Weather Service warns. of rip currents through memorial day. Lifeguards say those rip currents can cause drownings. and capsize small boats. Rip currents are dangerous if you don't know how. to get out of them. In urgent warning on the East Coast too, officials. telling Beachgoers to be alert following recent. early season shark sightings off the coast of Long. Island and Massachusetts. Cameras attached the backs of sharks off of Cape Cod deployed. by scientists from the Atlantic white shark conservancy.

to track and monitor interactions with fishermen. We're using those tags to learn more about their. predatory behavior, how they hunt for seals. in the waters off of our beaches, and how they're. just using the coastal waters off of Massachusetts. in general. Lindsay, no one on board that capsized. sailboat was injured. The San Francisco Fire Department says they believe. that it was high winds that caused the sailboat to top. over. Lindsay. Melissa, thank you. There's so much more ahead on world news tonight. This Sunday our weather team is standing by with.

your Memorial Day forecast. Plus what caused this box truck to explode in a. Chicago suburb? Next tonight, a big blast in a Chicago suburb. Home security video shows a rental truck explosion. yesterday in Addison, Illinois. Police are calling it an accident, blaming. a leaky propane tank. The driver suffered minor injuries. Penske, the owner of the truck, is cooperating. with investigators saying customers are not. allowed to transport hazardous items.

When we come back, cute, fluffy, and killing it at. the box office, Lilo and Stitches. record weekend. To the index now, a big holiday movie weekend. led by a little blue alien. The live action remake of Lilo and Stitches. on track for the best ever Memorial Day weekend opening, the film from ABC's parent company, Disney, a whopping $145 million in second place. The other big blockbuster mission impossible, the final reckoning, ricking in 63 million.

And back to weather now, despite some severe spots, looks like much of the country will have a pleasant. memorial day holiday. ABC's Danny Bexjom is back with the details. Hi again. Hey, Lindsey. Yeah, the Central US has. the best wrist store, highest risk for travel. trouble with those strong to severe storms. flooding could also create messy roadways with heavy. rain and scattered storm strut stretching throughout. the south. But the Midwest sees more clouds. slide in staying mostly dry through daylight hours. The Southwest turning up the heat but staying dry.

with no major weather worries on the west coast. Well here in the Northeast finally Lindsey we're. looking at sunny skies and seasonable highs tomorrow. coming off a cool cloudy and showery weekend. So I think we deserve the 75 and sunshine Lindsey. It is about time, Danny. Thank you. When we come back an emotional moment, that was a long time coming. Finally, a memorable Memorial Day for one little girl. It was a big day for these students at her.

elementary school in Bernie, Texas last week. I'm Rayberg and Somber. I'm on my way. On their way to first grade after graduating. from kindergarten, a bit bittersweet for 60. Lorelai Howard who's been missing her dad all year. Her father, Staff Sergeant Darius Howard, has been deployed. since June on a combat mission in the Middle East. And she thought he was still overseas missing her big day.

But little did she know. She has no idea I'm here and it's been super hard for me. to be able to not run across town and say daddy's here. And be able to scoop her up and hold her lower life. What her name was called to go up they played this. video message from her dad I am super excited. Thank you here and they will accomplish everything. that you do and then miss six-year-old received. the surprise of her life. (applause). - Lorelai jumping into her dad's arms.

and embrace nearly a year in the making. - It's been a long time. Good night.