ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - Sept. 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 plus most watched, most trusted now. on Disney plus every night. Tonight breaking news, the horrific and deadly. helicopter crash in Los Angeles, a news chopper. falling out of the sky, exploding into flames, and what. we're now learning tonight about what might have happened. in those final moments. And the tributes this evening to the beloved KNBC reporter.

and pilot, a third victim killed on the ground. We're on the scene tonight. Also breaking tonight, the Federal Reserve hiking interest. rates for the first time since 2023 affecting mortgages, car loans, credit cards, the chair of the Federal. Reserve tonight pointing to the war in Iran and to. inflation here in the U.S. Gas prices soaring diesel. hitting an all time high tonight right here. The shocking video in a. courthouse, an inmate breaking out of his handcuffs. and punching a deputy, then racing to escape tonight. The new video emerging During a chilling attack at.

a hospital emergency room, multiple staff members attacked. This evening, ABC News now obtaining images, the damages on US bases and damage to US military. aircraft from Iranian strikes. Also the video tonight of the FBI and Coast Guard forces. boarding US-bound tankers hit with cyber attacks. Was Iran behind this? Tonight authorities say Travis Kelce and others. falling victim to a Ponzi scheme, duping investors. We're tracking dangerous flash flooding at this hour.

Lee Goldberg is here. There's an urgent search tonight for a missing father of two. last seen on his paddleboard and what's just been. discovered tonight. The backlash, artists dropping out of Ed Sheeran's U.S. tour, what Macklemore is now. doing tonight and what he's challenging Patriots. owner Robert Kraft to do. And America Strong, the baby giraffe just. born at six feet tall. What her mother is trying to get her to do. And you'll see the moment it happens right here tonight.

From ABC News World Headquarters in New York, this is World News Tonight with David Muir. Good evening, it is great to have you with us here at a. very busy Wednesday night. We do begin tonight with the horrific and deadly. helicopter crash in Los Angeles. A television news chopper, a veteran reporter and pilot both. killed, along with a person on the ground. The KNBC team was in the air over the scene of. a fatal bus crash when something went horribly. wrong. The chopper suddenly falling. out of the sky, crashing to the ground, bursting into flames.

Several vehicles had gulfed, dozens of firefighters. racing to the scene. First responders were right nearby the scene. of another accident, an SUV that had slammed. Tonight the NTSB now investigating and what we've. learned about the final moments inside that chopper. And of course the tributes tonight to beloved. members of the KNBC team. Trevor Ault leading us off. Tonight the tragic investigation underway. The NTSB combing through the charred wreckage in. Los Angeles after a news chopper fell from the sky,

killing the pilot and reporter on board and a. pedestrian on the ground. Helicopters from several local TV stations were. reporting live Tuesday over this deadly rush hour. crash between an SUV and a bus. And KNBC's chopper suddenly dropped, exploding on impact. in this industrial complex. Back off! Back off! The pilots of the other helicopters scrambling. to report what they saw. It's a helicopter and right now we're thinking it's a TB4. ABC News is not showing the video of the final moments of.

the KNBC chopper broadcast, but it shows the. helicopter shaking as alarms begin to sound. They start to fall. A voice asks, "You can't pull. up," and contact is lost. That video is probably the most important evidence that. we have discovered so far. We can very clearly hear the engine fail. and begin to wind down. So the NTSB wants to know why did this engine fail? Was it material failure? Was it properly maintained?

We've just received the confirmation that in fact. NewsChopper 4 went down just before 7 o'clock tonight. Longtime KNBC anchor Colleen Williams breaking the. news of the death of their colleagues as they were. learning it themselves. Here is a photo of our dear colleagues tonight. News Chapter four reporter Eliana Moreno and her. pilot, George Marcinow, both killed in the helicopter. crash tonight in Chatsworth. And the third victim, a bystander on the ground, now. identified as 29 year old Eddie Gutierrez Mejia.

This is a heartbreaking night for our city. Reporter 1 - We are a breaking news helicopter for the most. part. Reporter 2 - Eliana Moreno and George Marcenu were known. as the team in the sky for NBC4 and Telemundo. Moreno often posting videos of her view from. the cockpit. She was engaged to be married, went to Chapman. University, and her dream was to report the news. Reporter 3 - We talked on Sunday.

Reporter 2 - Fellow pilot Esteban Jimenez. says Marcenu taught him how to fly. And after the crash, he sent this text to the air force. David was a beautiful, wonderful lady, so full of life, and. that's what really bothers me, that the way she went out. They were not doing what they loved. The NTSB says their investigators will be. here through the night surveying the wreckage and.

they'll have a preliminary report within 30 days. As you heard, they say that video from inside the chopper. as it went down, that's going to be crucial in determining. what went wrong here. David? We are thinking of the. entire team at KNBC tonight. These newsrooms are families, and we know this has been. a very tough 24 hours. Trevor, thank you. Also breaking tonight, the Federal Reserve. hiking interest rates for the first time since 2023, affecting mortgages, car loans, credit cards. The chair of the Federal Reserve pointing to the war in Iran. and to inflation here in the US. Tonight, Elizabeth Schulze asking the new Fed chair,

how will this help consumers, And what is his message. to the president? With the war in Iran driving up prices, today the Federal. Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time in three years. President Trump's new hand-picked Fed chairman. Kevin Warsh defying the president's calls to cut rates, saying instead the Fed needed to raise rates now. to tame stubborn inflation. The plain fact is that inflation is too high and. has been for too long.

Even after the announcement, the president doubling down. The interest rates are too high. We should be paying the lowest interest rate. anywhere in the world. Today's rate hike means the cost of credit cards, car. loans, and mortgages will go up. A 30-year fixed mortgage is already over 7%. It's frustrating. That's leaving first-time homebuyers like David Sekula. in Virginia priced out of the market. It can be difficult to start the next chapter of your. life where you're limited.

Since the start of the war, the typical household has spent. an extra $930 in energy costs. Gas is now $4.42 a gallon and diesel at a. record $6.30 a gallon. The lifeblood of the economy, diesel is used to transport. just about everything, pushing up the price of groceries, clothes and packages. This is my combine. Illinois farmer John Bartman has seen the cost of diesel soar. We use 300 gallons of diesel a day, so now we're.

talking $1,800 a day. Last year that was about $1,000 to fill up my machine. We asked the Fed Chair how today's rate hike. will bring relief. What will this move today actually do for. American consumers? And I have to ask, what is your message here to President. Trump, who has repeatedly called to cut interest. rates, not raise them? I've got nothing for you on a discussion with the president. Some months ago I said we will deliver stable prices. Today's action is consistent with that. David, the Dow dropped more than 600 points after the Fed's.

decision, but the Fed chair making it clear that this. rate hike is necessary to slow inflation. David? Elizabeth Schulze. reporting tonight. Elizabeth, thank you. Tonight, the shocking video here in an Ohio courthouse, an inmate breaking out of his handcuffs and then punching a. deputy and trying to escape. Tonight, shocking new video of a violent. courthouse attack in Ohio. Authorities say that's Timothy Riegel, being. escorted to a holding cell after he was sentenced. for an assault Monday, suddenly breaking free.

from his handcuffs, viciously punching a deputy. in the throat, knocking him to the ground, before making. a desperate dash for freedom. That suspect plowing into another officer, tripping down. a flight of stairs, deputies right on his tail, fighting his. way past another officer and bolting towards the front door. A deputy then deploying a taser as the suspect ran. past the metal detector, authorities tackling. him to the ground just moments before he could escape. At least two deputies suffering non-life threatening injuries.

David, that suspect seen attacking court officers. as he tried to escape tonight, now facing. multiple new charges, including felony assault. Matt Rivers reporting tonight. Matt, thank you. Tonight, there's also new video emerging of a chilling. attack at a hospital emergency This was in Miami, multiple. staff members attacked. Here's Victor Oquendo. Tonight disturbing surveillance video from inside a Miami. emergency room, a raging patient violently attacking. hospital employees. Multiple angles capturing the incident at Jackson.

Memorial Hospital last May. That patient suddenly becoming physical, striking. an employee before stalking behind the nurse's. station, shoving another worker, then turning on ER nurse. Yanira Aguilar when she attempts to intervene, forcefully. hitting her multiple times before she falls to the floor. Several hospital employees then rushing in to subdue the man, later identified as 44-year-old Wenyu Rubin. He punched me a total of three times. They took me to have CTs of my brain, my neck, my spine.

Agalior has since filed a $5 million lawsuit against the. hospital, accusing her employer of failing to keep her safe. David, it's unclear what sparked the incident. The hospital says they have four public safety specialists and. two sheriff's deputies assigned to the facility at all times, including the day this happened. Victor Oquendo with us. Victor, thanks. Tonight, ABC News obtaining images of the damage to US bases. and to US military aircraft from Iranian strikes.

Here's Rachel Scott. Tonight, ABC News obtaining these images, American military. assets in the Middle East destroyed by Iranian airstrikes. A rare glimpse into the war's toll on U.S. military power. The pictures sent to us by active service members, who we are not naming. A destroyed Air Force jet hit by Iranian fire on March 27th. at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Buildings ripped apart at that same base.

And this picture, a U.S. Army base in Kuwait. Extensive damage from an Iranian strike. The date is unclear. At another base in Kuwait, these containerized. housing units shredded. Since the early days of the war, Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth. has downplayed Iran's attacks. We have incredible air defenders. Every once in a while you might have one, unfortunately we. call it a squirter that makes. But tonight, an American service member who served in this. war, telling me, quote, "The American people are unaware.

of the extent of the damage that American bases are taking. in. It's being kept a. secret, and we're acting like it's no big deal. But you know, there are drone strikes and ballistic missile. strikes actively landing on bases every day.". David, we asked the Pentagon about those. images, the damage to U.S. assets in the region, and And they declined. to comment, David. All right, Rachel, while we have you here tonight, there's. also a breaking headline from Capitol Hill tonight. House Republicans ending the session early with the. midterms fast approaching?

Yes, David, in a surprising move, House Speaker Mike. Johnson has canceled votes, sending lawmakers. home early. The House was expected to vote tomorrow on a resolution to. impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. That would have put Republicans in a tough spot. This is a deeply unpopular war. That vote now punted until after the midterm election, David. -Rachel Scott, live at the White House tonight. Rachel, thank you. The new video here tonight of the FBI and Coast Guard forces. boarding US-bound tankers that were hit with cyberattacks.

Was Iran behind this? And here's Pierre Thomas. -Tonight, newly released video showing the moment highly. specialized Coast Guard forces and the FBI. climb aboard one of two US-bound oil tankers. that had been hit by massive cyber attacks, fueling concerns. about a potentially dangerous new front and the. ongoing war with Iran. The ship itself could be a giant flow torpedo. Sources telling ABC News, federal authorities. took the extraordinary step of heading out. to sea off the US coast in the Gulf, boarding the first vessel.

on August 21st to determine the scale of the hack. That ship losing communications for more than 30 hours. Just three days later, specialized teams. boarding a second tanker. Its computer networks also compromised. If a foreign entity or any entity could take over a ship, they could cause major damage to a port. They could cause deaths. They could cause a serious ecological, environmental disaster. David, the US now urgently investigating whether Iran.

or another malicious actor looking to exploit the war. is behind those hacks. And while those tankers appear. to be functioning properly, they're still being closely. monitored by U.S. officials. Our Chief Justice. Correspondent, Pierre Thomas, tonight, Pierre, thanks. Tonight, authorities say Travis Kelce and others falling. victim to a Ponzi scheme, duping investors out of millions. Here's Aaron Katersky. Tonight, the multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme that ensnared. Kansas City chief star and Taylor Swift's new husband,

Travis Kelce, led by this man. I took a plea deal. We focus on getting a pardon. because there was a lot of gross violations of the law. Sid Jawahar defrauded Kelce and other investors, including. professional athletes, out of more than $30 million. Through his investment company, Swift Dark Capital, federal. prosecutors in Missouri said Chawahar embarked on a. calculated, years-long effort to enrich himself. at the expense of his investors. They said he spent millions of his victims' dollars on a. lifestyle that almost no one in this district could afford, staying at five-star hotels, flying across the country.

on private jets, and dining at the finest restaurants. He pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and was. sentenced to 11 years in prison. We reached out to Travis Kelce tonight, David, and did not hear. back. Maybe he just couldn't help investing in something. called Swift Arc. David? Aaron Katersky, thanks so. much, Aaron. We're tracking dangerous flash flooding. tonight, oppressive heat as well, so let's get right. to senior meteorologist Lee Goldberg back with us tonight. Hi, Lee. Hey David, you know the Southwest has a pipeline. into the Pacific, a low in the Gulf of California.

It's monsoon driven rains as well. That's why we have flood warnings in Arizona and Mexico. and Utah and the highest flood threat right in Phoenix. It's pouring north of the city right now and that goes. to Tucson and Flagstaff. There's also some flooding in the Midwest from Iowa. into the Ohio Valley. Flood Watch is there tonight. One to three inches of additional rain and. then the endless extreme heat in the Mid-South. Record highs through the weekend from Oklahoma City. to Memphis to Evansville. TEMPERATURES APPROACHING 100 DEGREES. WE'LL FINALLY SEE SOME RELIEF AS WE GO INTO TUESDAY AND. WEDNESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. IT'S A LONG WAIT. IT IS A LONG WAIT INDEED. LEE GOLDBERG WITH US. LEE, THANKS.

THE BREAKING HEADLINE OUT OF PHILADELPHIA AT THIS HOUR. THE FBI TONIGHT NOW EXPANDING ITS INVESTIGATION INTO A FATHER. AND SON WHOSE PHILADELPHIA HOME THEY BELIEVE COULD BE. LINKED TO THE DISAPPEARANCE OF AS MANY AS FIVE WOMEN. Eugene Horsch was arrested in June and. indicted on gun charges. Authorities searching his home say they discovered. drugs, chemicals and guns. They also say they found more than one million. images and videos that appear to show Horsch's late. father strangling women. When we come back here tonight, there's an urgent search right. now for a missing father of two, last seen on his paddleboard. and what's just been discovered tonight.

Also, the backlash, artists dropping out. of Ed Sheeran's U.S. tour what Macklemore is now doing tonight and what he's. challenging Patriots owner Robert Kraft to do. And then look at this tonight. The baby giraffe just born six feet tall. What her mother is trying to get her to do right here. So 32 minutes after being born the. moment she does it and you'll see it right after the break. Tonight, the desperate search underway in Florida to find a. father of two, Matt Pawlowski. The 48-year-old was last seen Monday off Jupiter Beach on a. green and yellow paddleboard.

The Coast Guard tonight saying a Good Samaritan. located a paddleboard matching the description. Crews taking part in this search that does continue include. the Coast Guard air station at Miami. Tonight, rapper Macklemore saying he's donating. the $1 million he earned supporting Ed Sheeran's. tour to organizations helping Palestinians. He also challenged billionaire Robert. Kraft to match it. Kraft now says he's pledging $2 million. for humanitarian aid in Gaza, but his representatives. say it's a match of Sharon's donation. and not Macklemore's. When we come back here tonight, we remember.

the very first person to win The Voice back in 2011. He's died. And the concern tonight over certain hand soaps. There is an important recall we want to share with you. Could there be bacteria in the soap in a moment? To the index of other news tonight, Peter Max, the artist whose trippy Dayglo posters captured the. spirit of the 1960s, has died. His colorful flowers, butterflies, rainbows, stars and planets sold by the millions of course. Peter Max died Monday here in Manhattan. He was 88 years old. Tonight Ben Saunders, the first ever winner of The.

Voice, has died at 43. Saunders won the inaugural season of The Voice of. Holland in 2011. His win, the popularity of that show, helped then launch it globally. His body was found in a lake in the Netherlands. have ruled out foul play. Back here tonight a major recall this evening of. hand soap products, a concern over possible bacteria. in the soap. The soaps were distributed in 16. states. Brands affected by the recall include Laura Lin. and Intercon. Of course we'll have more on our website. for you. In the meantime when we come back here. tonight, a mother giraffe just giving birth, her baby six.

Tonight, America Strong, the baby giraffe just. born, that newborn, 6 feet tall, and what her mother. was helping her to do. Tonight in Melbourne, Florida, a mother giraffe trying to get. her baby daughter just born to stand up for the first time.

This is Baby Gail, the newest member of the Brevard Zoo, the zoo calling the 119 pound giraffe calf a six. foot tall bundle of joy. Morning, Monday morning around 9 a.m. This is mom and baby just about 30 minutes. after baby Gail was born. Mom trying to help her stand up. Animal care teams say giraffes can stand and walk within. the first hour of being born. Then 9.32 a.m. and look at baby Gail with mom Kumi right. over her, that newborn giraffe suddenly on her.

feet and walking. The proud mom watching her baby's first steps and tonight. the proud zoo saying these are Masai giraffes, and. they are in danger. The first to be born at the zoo in six years. And right here tonight. Hi, David. Andrea Hill from the Brevard Zoo. Mom and baby are doing great, and we're looking. forward to the next few weeks where they'll be able to come. out on Habitat and our guests will be able to meet her. Tonight here, a baby giraffe's first steps about.

32 minutes after being born. You should have heard the awe here in the studio. when they showed that first picture. 32 minutes in "Up and Walking.". Congrats to mom and the Brevard Zoo. I'll see you tomorrow, good night. - David Muir, the most trusted, 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.