ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - Sept. 20, 2026

David Mure, ABC's [music]. World News Tonight. America's most. watched newscast, now streaming same day. with [music] all the breaking news of. the day on Disney Plus. Most watched, most trusted, now on Disney Plus every. [music] night. >> As we come on the air tonight, dangerous. new tensions in the Middle East and the. breaking news just coming in. An ICE. involved shooting in Austin. Iranianbacked Houthi militants launching. strikes on Saudi Arabia's capital for. the first time, including the airport. President Trump says he's in a deciding.

mode about Iran and whether to quote. blow the entire nation up. While back at. home, gas [music] prices are still. rising and diesel is at an all-time. high. Ukraine [music] launching its. largest attack yet on Moscow. Hundreds. of drones targeting the capital as. Russians go to the polls. The White. House denying access to [music] three. news organizations. Journalist for CNN, MS Now, and Politico forced to turn in. their credentials. Singer [music] Ed. Sheeran's emotional return after the. controversy that upended his tour. What.

he said to fans from the stage. New. measles alert after fears of exposure at. a Philadelphia Children's [music]. Hospital. Tonight, warnings of possible. exposure at the airport as well. Google. is the latest tech giant to reveal its. AI model hacked websites [music] during. a test. President Trump insists fears of. AI are a hoax. Princess Diana's brother. standing firm after [music] Buckingham. Palace pushed back on what he wrote in. his book, telling our Maggie Roelly, "It's not every day you're gas [music]. lit by a king." A jarring moment above.

the LSU Old Miss game. A drone camera. shooting the [music] stadium when a. helicopter speeds right through the. frame. And the college freshman kicking. the best field goal ever, competing for. a giant jackpot. And the heartwarming. choice he made about the milliondoll. prize. From ABC News World Headquarters in New. York, this is World [music] News. Tonight. >> Good evening everyone. Thanks so much. for joining us on this Sunday. I'm. Lindseay Davis. We begin tonight with a.

region on edge and a conflict that is. now reaching farther and hitting closer. to home. For the first time, Iranianbacked Houthi rebels have struck. Saudi Arabia's capital, bringing the war. to the heart of one of the world's most. important energy hubs. Massive plumes of. black smoke were seen rising from fuel. tanks near the city's airport. The. rebels also hit energy sites with drones. and ballistic missiles. The assault. comes as Americans are already feeling. it at the pump. Gas prices are surging. Diesel has reached an all-time high. And. across the Atlantic, Europe is feeling.

the pressure, too. With Saudi Arabia. telling customers that crude oil. deliveries scheduled for next month are. now cancelled. And Iran is warning its. neighbors against aligning with the US. This is President Trump says he must. decide whether to quote blow the entire. nation up. The State Department is. warning Americans to reconsider. traveling to the Middle East. ABC's. Steven Portoy leads us off. >> Tonight, new signs of tension in the. Middle East. Ballistic missiles and. drones launched by Iranianbacked Houthi. rebels striking Saudi Arabia's capital.

of Riad. Thick smoke seen rising near. the airport. The Houthis targeting oil. facilities in a key port along the. coast, further disrupting Saudi oil. production. The attacks on fuel sites. come as Americans back home grapple with. skyrocketing gas prices. Diesel at an. all-time high, a gallon of gas now. averaging 448 according to AAA, up 17. cents the past week. >> You have to make a decision on. gas, food, you know, the basics. The.

president now telling Fox News he's in a. deciding mode about Iran, saying quote, "My question is if and when do I blow. the entire nation up, adding, they. better behave." With 44 days until the. midterms and some Americans already. voting, the president shifting focus to. this, his triumphal arch. Trump. announcing he'll turn the planned. 25story structure at the foot of. Arlington Cemetery into a toprade. military complex. On its roof, a base. for drones and snipers. The FAA says. what would be the world's tallest.

triumphal arch needs to have an eternal. flame on top to warn nearby pilots. The. arch, the latest construction project. around DC that Trump is personally. involved with. From his White House. ballroom to the trouble-plaked. reflecting pool to the planned. renovation of the Kennedy Center. Hundreds demonstrating outside that. iconic arts facility Friday on fears the. president might demolish it if he loses. a court battle over putting his name on. its side. A month and a half before the. midterms, a Reuters Ipsos poll shows 19%.

of voters say the renovation of DC. monuments should be a high priority for. the president. With all that's weighing. on their minds and their wallets, twothirds in the poll say the project. should be a low priority for Trump or. not a priority at all. Lindsay. >> Stephen, thank you. Next tonight, Ukrainian forces fired more than a. thousand drones and eight long range. cruise missiles at Russia overnight. Hundreds of drones were aimed at Moscow. on the final day of the first wartime. parliamentary elections. One of those. drones struck a high-rise building near. a major oil refinery. Moscow's mayor.

called it the largest ever attack on the. capital city. At least three people were. killed and that oil refinery was. damaged. Now to President Trump's ban on. three news organizations. Over the. weekend, journalists from CNN, MS Now, and Politico were all denied access to. the White House and their passes. revoked. Let's bring in ABC's Olivia. Rubin. Olivia, what happens now? Lindsay, tonight, a legal battle is. likely on the horizon after President. Trump barred those three news outlets. from the White House over coverage he.

didn't like. Over the weekend, journalists from CNN, Politico, and MS. Now turned away from the White House. grounds as they reported for work. Some. of their badges taken. Trump announced. he was banning the outlets because what. he claimed was unfair coverage. It's a. stark escalation against members of the. press that many experts say is likely. unconstitutional. For decades, judges. have ruled the White House can't boot. journalists arbitrarily. In fact, just. last year, one Trump appointed judge. writing clearly they cannot exclude. journalists based on viewpoint from.

rooms that are open to all press like. the briefing room, but could block them. from other restricted spaces such as the. Oval Office. And tonight, CNN is calling. this ban illegal, and MS Now is saying. they will take any and all steps. necessary to defend their First. Amendment right. Lindsay, all three. outlets now echoing that sentiment. Olivia, thank you. Now to breaking news. Officials say an ICE agent shot and. injured an unarmed man in Austin, Texas. That man is in serious but stable.

condition. Crowds of protesters have. been gathering at the scene. ABC's. Jacqueline Lee joins us now. Hi, Jacqueline. Lindsay, that's right. An. Austin city councilman saying an ICE. officer rammed that man's vehicle, then. got out of his own federal vehicle and. fired at least five times. that man. taken to the hospital. And this is video. of the scene. Lawmakers are calling for. transparency as this investigation. unfolds. And Lindsay, I have to tell. you, we did reach out to the Department. of Homeland Security for comment, which. oversees ICE. We did not receive comment.

in time for this broadcast. Lindsay, >> Jacqueline, thank you. Now to Ed Sheeran. resuming his tour in Philadelphia. Saturday night. The emotional singer. apologized to his fans and admitted to. making mistakes. This was his first. concert since rapper Mackmore was. removed from the tour for making pro. Palestinian statements on stage. Here's. ABC's Morgan Norwood. >> Tonight, protests outside Ed Sheeran's. concert in Philadelphia as the tearful. superstar for the first time addresses. on stage the controversy that's upended.

his tour. >> I've had to take uh and make difficult. decisions and I am making mistakes and. I'm so so sorry. The firestorm ignited. after rapper McLemore was dropped as an. opening act. >> I said free Palestine. >> following comments denouncing the. violence against Palestinians in Gaza. >> To all of my Jewish brothers and. sisters, criticism of Israel, criticism. of apartheid being against genocide in.

no way is a criticism of you. The. fallout quickly escalating when New. England Patriots and Gillette Stadium. owner Robert Craft said McLemore. performing there would cross the line. Alleged McLemore has a broader history. of anti-semitic rhetoric and imagery. Mclemore denying accusations of. anti-semitism. In a statement to Rolling. Stone, Msina touring group Sharan's US. tour promoter claimed other venues. banned McLemore from the lineup. Sharan, who previously said he's tried to stay. apolitical and that the decision wasn't.

his own, then addressing the war. directly. What happened in Israel and at. the Nova Music Festival on October 7th. was horrific. What is happening in Gaza. is a catastrophic and unjustifiable. >> And Lindsay Shearan also saying he's. deeply worried about concert venues. pre-approving the speech and content of. performers. Lindsay. >> Morgan, thank you. Now to the urgent. race to contain a deadly measles. outbreak in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia. health officials are now warning of a. possible measles exposure in the city's. airport and children's hospital. ABC's.

Faith Abubet has the latest details. >> tonight. New measles concerns as health. officials warn air travelers of a. possible exposure at Philadelphia. International Airport. Authorities say. the individual carrying the extremely. contagious virus spent hours in multiple. terminals last Sunday night. Health. officials are also monitoring a separate. possible exposure at Philadelphia. Children's Hospital, including the NICU. The incidents come amid a rapidly.

growing and deadly measles outbreak in. Pennsylvania. The state's health. authority reporting at least four. measles associated deaths and 767 cases. The state asking the CDC for emergency. help while the Trump administration and. Governor Shapiro are locked in a growing. dispute. >> They've got a bad governor in. Pennsylvania. People just don't know it. He's very he's close to incompetent. Governor Shapiro firing back on social. media, writing, quote, "Incompetence is. letting me, a disease that was declared.

eliminated in 2000, reemerge." According. to CDC data, nationwide, there are more. than 3,400 confirmed measles cases this. year, the highest the US has seen in. more than three decades. And Lindsay, the virus is spreading. Cases have been. confirmed in at least 45 states in DC. Health authorities are urging anyone who. is not vaccinated to quickly get the. shots. Lindsay, >> we keep hearing that, Faith. Thank you. And we're learning new details tonight. about yet another AI model going row.

Google revealed that its Gemini model. hacked three other companies during. testing back in May. Let's get right to. ABC's Perry Russ. Perry, what more are. you learning tonight? >> Well, Google says its AI system, Gemini, hacked into three companies on its own. This happened back in May, but we are. just hearing about this right now. Gemini broke out of its testing. environment. A spokesperson for the. company says it found public information. online and then guest credentials to. access websites that it thought were. part of the test, but they were real. companies. Google says in all three.

cases, its model did stop. Just this. week, OpenAI revealed a series of. disturbing incidents where its AI models. went rogue. In one case, a model told. itself to ignore all developer messages. Tech CEOs are calling for government. oversight to help them slow down the. development of this technology. President Trump has been defending AI, see any any fears about it are a hoax. The White House has said right now the. US is in this AI arms race with China. Lindsay. >> Harry, thank you. And AI is sure to be. on the agenda of that high stakes.

meeting between President Trump and. China's President Xi later this week. The meeting is also putting fentinel and. China's efforts to block the flow of the. drug into the US back in the spotlight. Here's ABC's Brick Lennet. >> Tonight, Treasury Secretary Scott. Bessant meeting with China's Vice. Premier Hurong ahead of the high stakes. talks between President Trump and she. Iran, trade, and AI expected to top the. agenda. >> We're leading China in AI. >> Bessant making fresh accusations aimed. at China's AI research. One of the ways. we can push back against China because.

the Chinese models uh you know they. distill from the US models which is a. polite scientific word for steel. >> China calls the claims unfounded. >> The Trump C meeting also putting a fresh. spotlight on Washington's demand that. Beijing do more to stop the supply chain. of chemicals used to make the fatal. synthetic opioid fentinyl. China. providing ABC News with this. never-before-seen video showing a. massive raid at a facility in Wuhan. Chinese authorities acting on US.

intelligence. And in an exclusive. interview with China's deputy head of. drug control, Shanya Hua acknowledges. more cooperation and trust is needed. from both sides to combat the crisis. >> We had done a lot and we need to do. more. >> You're admitting that more should be. done. >> Yeah. Yeah. More should be done. I mean, both China and the US. >> And on Iran, China vowing to protect its. energy interests there. China buying 80%. of Iran's oil. Lindsay. >> Britt, thank you. Now to a growing royal.

skirmish over King Charles alleged. reaction to Princess Diana's death. nearly 30 years ago. During an interview. with ABC's Maggie Roelly, Diana's. brother, Charles Spencer, accuses the. king of gaslighting. This comes after. Spencer's bombshell claims in a new book. prompting a rare response from. Buckingham Palace. Here are more. excerpts from that interview. >> Tonight, Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's. brother, is not backing down. Standing. by his claim that during a heated phone. argument in the days before Diana's. funeral, a then Prince Charles said to.

him, "Rest assured we'll forget her soon. enough." That passage triggering the. palace to issue a rare response. >> This is the entrance hall. >> We spoke with the Earl at his family's. ancestral home, Althorp. >> Famously, the palace doesn't respond to. books, yet they responded to this one. So, what do you make of that? the fact. that they broke protocol to issue a. response to your book and and what do. you make of the response? The uh. response of fraternal grief can cloud.

reason and color memory. >> Well, it's not every day you're gas lit. by a king, but um I was really upset. with that because I thought it was very. not only condescending but not straight. What I said is straight and true. And. what did they come back with that? It. doesn't say he didn't say it either. That's what I found interesting. I I I was really shocked actually. Um. and actually with a sort of PR hat on, I. thought that's a strange move, but as a.

as a brother speaking the truth. It's. not my truth, it's the truth. I was. offended. And um that's why I'm I will. always stick by the truth. And uh I. think it was a mistake for them to say. that. The Earl's new book, Swan Song, Diana, My Sister, also leading some to. draw parallels between Princess Diana, and her son, his nephew, Prince Harry, and Megan. >> If you look at an article in a tabloid. about.

Diana or the couple that you're. mentioning, Harry and Megan, you know, it's it's they they can be really really. unpleasant. And I think it would be. really beholden on people to learn from. Diana's example. Earl Spencer also. telling us that Harry and Megan didn't. mention their move back to the UK when. they stayed with him over the summer. And Lindsay, we also asked him if his. nephews, Prince William and Prince. Harry, had read the book. He told us no, saying that he wanted the sole. responsibility of his words to rest only.

on his shoulders. So Lindsay, that means. right now those two are learning about. the book in the excerpts just like the. rest of us. Lindsay, >> interesting comments. Maggie, thank you. More from Maggie's interview tomorrow. morning on GMA. And there's still much. more ahead on World News Tonight this. Sunday. The Menendez brothers granted a. new parole hearing more than 37 years. after they murder their [music] parents. And the close call above the LSU Miss. Stadium. A drone shooting the game when. a helicopter zooms by.

Fireworks after a NASCAR race at Bristol. Motor Speedway in Tennessee caused by. this moment on the track. Carson. Hosavvar in the yellow car chasing Ryan. Blay in the blue car. Blay spinning out. His number 12 car was done for the. night. After the race, Blaney greets. Hosavvar with a shove. Hosavvar punching. back. The two going at it for a while. until their crews pull them apart. The. Menendez brothers have been granted new. dates for their next parole hearing. More than 37 years after murdering their.

parents, Lyall will make his case to be. freed on February 23rd, Eric on February. 24th. At their first hearing a year ago, the board found that they still pose. risks to public safety and had broken. prison rules. The LA district attorney. says he will argue against their. release. When we come back, the. star-studded celebration of the opening. of George Lucas's new museum of. narrative art in Los Angeles, where. Hollywood [music] turned out. A jarring moment during the broadcast of. the LSU Old Miss game yesterday. A drone.

camera showing a high wide shot of the. stadium when a helicopter zooms through. the shot. An uncomfortably close. encounter with that drone. The. Mississippi Department of Public Safety. confirming it was one of their. helicopters, crediting their pilots. experience for avoiding a collision. Now. to the star-studded museum debut in Los. Angeles. Legendary Star Wars director. George Lucas and his wife Melody Hobson. holding a gala for the opening of their. new museum of narrative art. An amazing. gathering of celebrities from Hollywood.

to Washington there to celebrate with. them. Striking futuristic new museum. opens to the public on Tuesday. And a. rare site in California, humpback whales. spotted far inland on the Sacramento. River in Rio Vista, roughly 60 miles. from the Pacific coast. Experts at. California's Marine Mammal Center say. that the whale is an adult they've seen. many times before off the coasts of. California and Mexico. When we come. back, the stunning moment a college. freshman nails a field goal competition. and what [music] he did with a giant.

prize. Finally, an extraordinary kick from an. ordinary kid who may have just learned. that sometimes the greatest prize is the. good you give away. >> At last weekend's matchup between the. University of Texas Austin, and Ohio. State, one of the most thrilling moments. didn't happen during the game. >> Longhorn Nation, good morning. >> [cheering]. >> When UT freshman Connor Cassina Merrill. got the chance of a lifetime, the. opportunity to win a cash prize totaling.

1.1 million at ESPN's College Game Day. kicking his easy contest. >> Connor, good luck, brother. >> But before Connor took his shot, he had. something else on his mind. >> In Indianapolis, there's this nonprofit. called Building Tomorrow. And if I make this kick, hopefully I. want to give half of those proceeds to. building tomorrow. >> One kick, 33 yards, and a chance to. change A LIFE. >> $1 MILLION KICK. CONNOR,

>> OH MY GOD. [cheering]. >> The electrical engineering and business. student who played soccer growing up in. Indiana had missed that kick, but the. crowd and the contest sponsors gave him. a second chance. We will do one more. kick. [cheering]. >> This will be a $1.2 million kick. 600,000 to charity. 600,000 to you. >> Holy.

[cheering]. >> But the biggest moment may have come. after the kicks were over. >> I had worked a little bit with Building. Tomorrow before. They work to improve. literacy rates in East Africa. To then. have the opportunity to help them out. again and work with them again. It's It. was a no-brainer for me. >> Maybe a no-brainer, but certainly a lot. of heart. David back here tomorrow. I'm. Lindseay Davis. Have a great night.

>> David Mure, the most trusted, most. watched newscast in America. And now. ABC's World News [music] Tonight has won. the Emmy for best live news program for. the fourth year in a row.