ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - September 1, 2025

Tonight, breaking news as we come on the. air. Dangerous rip currents threaten. swimmers on both coasts as millions. flock to the beach for the last moments. of summer. The race against time to. rescue survivors after a devastating. earthquake. And the dramatic showdown. between two former US Open champs. First, danger on the West Coast on this. holiday weekend. Much of Southern. California is at high risk for rip. currents. Lifeguards performing hundreds. of rescues. In the east, similar.

warnings in six states. And at Newark. airport, some flights brought to a. standstill because of staffing issues. that are expected to last into the. night. What it means for travelers. And. our weather team timing out the. forecast. The last minute legal. maneuvering. Hundreds of unaccompanied. Guatemalan miners in US custody now in. limbo. Dozens of children loaded onto. planes. One jet even taking off before. it was forced to turn back. Lawyers. battling it out in a hastily convened.

federal court hearing. What happens now? Selena Wang from the White House. The. chaos at the CDC and the growing. confusion over health policy. Why former. CDC directors are accusing HHS Secretary. RFK Jr. of endangering the health of. millions. Faith Abubet from Atlanta. A. child shot in the back in Houston after. an apparent prank turns deadly. The. urgent investigation now underway. The. images of utter devastation just coming.

in from Afghanistan. Desperate survivors. using their hands to dig through the. rubble of a deadly earthquake. The. leaders of China, India, and Russia hand. in hand. Their solidarity sending. President Trump a message. Ian panel. reporting. Rudy Giuliani is badly hurt. in a car crash in New Hampshire. Aaron. Kurski with late reporting. The urgent. investigation. An attendee is found dead. at Nevada's Burning Man Festival. The. dramatic showdown at the US Open. Two.

former champs battle to advance. Tonight. is the night. The Powerball jackpot. surpassing a billion dollars with the. drawing just hours away. And America. strong tonight. The quickthinking West. Point cadet and why he's being hailed a. hero. >> From ABC News world headquarters in New. York. This is World News Tonight with. David Mure. >> Good evening. It's great to have you. with us on this Labor Day. I'm Mary.

Bruce in for David. We begin tonight. with dangerous rip current threats on. both coasts with millions at the beach. this holiday weekend. Much of Southern. California at high risk for rip currents. and hazardous conditions. It's keeping. lifeguards busy with hundreds of rescues. over the weekend. Beachgoers on the east. and Gulf Coast also facing treacherous. conditions across six states from. Alabama to Virginia. And as millions. head home from the long holiday weekend, ongoing staffing shortages at Newark.

airport are creating headaches for. travelers. Flyers warned to expect. ground stops and delays for much of the. day. Our weather team is standing by. with the forecast. But first, ABC's. Melissa Adon leads us off from Manhattan. Beach, California. >> tonight. Treacherous rip currents on. both coasts as crowds flock to the beach. for the long holiday weekend. Much of. Southern California's coast at high risk. for rip currents. Los Angeles County. fire lifeguards say they've conducted. more than 500 rescues since Friday,

mainly due to those dangerous. conditions. >> Lifeguards are out here in force down. basically Santa Monica up into Malibu. You have thousands of people at the. beach right now. >> LA County Fire telling me beaches are. fully staffed. their lifeguards closely. monitoring the potential danger. >> Those hazardous conditions um are are. definitely out there. As we have this. surf fill in, uh we're going to see. those rip currents intensify in their. strength. >> Meanwhile, in the east, millions of. beachgoers also on alert. A high risk of.

rip currents spanning parts of six. states, running along both the Atlantic. and Gulf Coast. And as families face. that rip current threat, in Texas, heavy. rain triggering flash flooding in parts. of the state for much of the holiday. weekend. More than 500 flights canled at. Dallas Fort Worth International since. Friday. While at New Jerseys Newark. Liberty International, plagued by delays. last week, officials warning travelers. to expect intermittent ground stops. until late tonight where many incoming.

flights get halted for a time. This due. to staffing issues. A source telling ABC. News that only three controllers are. scheduled to work tonight at the. Philadelphia facility that directs. Newark's air traffic. Mary, here in Southern California, the. temperatures have been in the 90s. leading to these crowds at the beach. And look, lifeguards telling me if you. do happen to get caught in a rip current. to remain calm and to swim parallel to. shore. Mary, >> those rip currents, a dangerous threat. Melissa, thank you. So, let's get right.

to meteorologist Jeff Smith of our New. York station, WABC. Hey, Jeff. >> Yeah, Mary. Not a big surprise that. people are flocking to the beach in. Southern California. We have heat. advisories in effect from LA all the way. up to Sacramento, LA. Temperatures in. the middle to upper 90s during the day. today. How about an extreme heat warning. northeastern parts of Oregon into. southeastern Washington? Why, you ask? How about Spokane getting up to the. century mark, near the century mark the. next couple of days. The heat will wayne. a little bit, will subside in Southern.

California by say later on in the week, but it keeps going strong in the Pacific. Northwest. Speaking of temperatures. subsiding, check out what happens in the. Midwest. Seasonably warm tomorrow, but. we're talking about feeling like. midocctober by Thursday. Minneapolis and. Chicago. Meanwhile, in the Northeast, quiet and seasonable for everyone headed. back to work and school this week. Mary, >> certainly feels like summer is over. Jeff, thank you. Now to President. Trump's immigration crackdown facing yet. another legal challenge. A federal judge. ordering the administration for now to.

halt the deportation of a group of. Guatemalan children. Dozens were already. on planes as the drama unfolded. Here's. ABC's senior White House correspondent. Selena Wang. Tonight, a group of. Guatemalan children caught an illegal. battle over President Trump's sweeping. immigration crackdown. The. administration putting 76 children who. crossed the border into the US alone. onto three planes in Texas during the. early hours of Sunday morning. A federal. judge blocking their deportation. A. government official saying one flight.

may have briefly taken off before. turning back around. Those children. waiting hours to learn the outcome of an. emergency hearing. Imagine the the. position of of the children inside those. planes not knowing what's going to. happen or why or where they are going or. when they're going to be let go is is. just horrendous what the government is. doing to these children. >> Tonight, Guatemala's government. announcing it will work with the Trump. administration to reunite some of those. children with their families, but only. after they've received their right to.

due process. White House Deputy Chief of. Staff Steven Miller, the architect of. the infamous family separation policy in. Trump's first administration, accusing. the Biden appointed judge of refusing to. let them reunify with their parents. But. the children's attorney says some of the. children put on the planes did not want. to go back to Guatemala. If these were. as the government presented them, benign. repatriations that were lawful and you.

know normal course of business, why pick. up the kids at 2:00 in the morning, 3:00. in the morning, why in under cover of. darkness? If what you're doing is above. the table and legal, you do not need to. hide. and Mary, the attorney for the. children tells us some of them could be. in danger if they return to Guatemala, but for now they are safely back in US. facilities and they wait for the legal. system to decide their fate. Mary, their. futures uncertain. Selena, thank you.

Now to the turmoil rocking the CDC. Nine. former directors of the agency tonight. sounding the alarm, blasting Health and. Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accusing him of quote. endangering every American's health. Here's ABC's Faith Abubet. >> In an unprecedented rebuke tonight, nine. former directors of the Centers for. Disease Control sounding the alarm, accusing the Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of jeopardizing the health. of millions of Americans.

>> The reason we put this out is that we. have grave concerns that the Secretary. of Health is endangering the health of. people across our nation by not letting. the agency do its job, not following the. science. The former CDC directors who. served Republican and Democratic. administrations from Carter to Trump, writing in a New York Times oped that. Kennedy has quote severely weakened. programs designed to protect Americans. from cancer, heart attack, strokes, lead. poisoning, injury, violence, and more.

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, they argue, has focused on unproven. treatments while downplaying vaccines. amid the biggest measles outbreak in a. generation. And as COVID cases rise, the. FDA has scaled back vaccine approval to. only seniors and younger people with. high-risisk conditions. Somearmacies are. already limiting access to the shots in. at least 16 states. >> Raise your right hand. >> Last week, when the new CDC director, Susan Marez, would not get on board with. Kennedy's changes, he ousted her, even.

after previously praising her expertise. Susan is a expert in public health, >> but lawyers from Monara say she was. fired after she refused to rubber stamp. unscientific, reckless directives and. fire dedicated health experts. Four top. public health officials also resigning. in protest. >> This is purely politics and ideology by. Secretary Kennedy. He brought in a. director for the CDC who is a gifted. scientist. As soon as she started to.

exert her authority as a scientist, he. had her removed. That is unacceptable. >> And Mary, we've asked the White House. for a comment on that oped. So far, no. response, but Secretary Kennedy is. expected to testify on Capitol Hill this. week where he'll likely face questions. about his leadership and that shakeup. here at the CDC. Mary, >> and that hearing will be closely. watched. Faith, thank you. Next here. tonight, a doorbell prank in Texas turns. deadly. An 11year-old boy shot and.

killed following a game of ding-dong. ditch. A suspect now potentially facing. a murder charge. Here's ABC's Alex. Stone. >> Tonight, a man in custody suspected of. shooting a young boy in the back after. an apparently innocent doornocking prank. turned fatal. >> Shooting just occurred for a little boy. that was shot. >> Investigators in Houston say it unfolded. around 11:00 Saturday night. the boy. ringing doorbells of homes in the area. and then running away until someone. emerged from one of those houses with a.

gun. >> A witness said someone ran out of that. house and was shooting at the kids. running down the street. And. unfortunately and sadly enough, the one. of the boys who was 11 years old was. shot in the back. >> That boy pronounced dead at a hospital. on Sunday. His name withheld pending an. autopsy. The suspect described by police. as a middle-aged man has been detained. and questioned but not yet formally. charged. >> To shoot the way they say he did, you. got to be charged for something because. of an innocent life forsaken.

>> And Mary, tonight, police are telling us. they do not believe that this was. self-defense. Murder charges could be. filed this week. Mary. >> Okay, Alex. Thank you. Overseas now to. the tragedy in Afghanistan after that. devastating earthquake. Rescuers using. their hands to search the rubble for. survivors. More than 800 people killed. and thousands injured in the disaster. and fears tonight that the death toll. will certainly climb. Taliban officials. now pleading to the world for help.

Here's ABC's Marcus Moore. >> Tonight, the desperate search for. survivors after a devastating earthquake. in northeastern Afghanistan. The death. toll staggering. At least 800 people. killed and more than 2500 injured. People scouring through the rubble with. their bare hands. >> Villagers pleading for assistance, saying, "We need people to help pull out. those buried beneath the debris." The. 6.0 magnitude earthquake striking the. province of Kunar overnight, rocking.

buildings from the capital of Kabell to. Islamabad, Pakistan, nearly 200 miles. away. >> This man saying, "It shook us all. violently, even broke our house. God had. mercy and we managed to escape. Several strong earthquakes have hit. Afghanistan in recent years. In June of. 2022, more than a,000 people were killed. in the southeast. And in October of. 2023, more than 1,500 people died when a. 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the. western province of Hera.

Today, the Taliban Health Ministry. pleading with the international. community for more help. Mary, this earthquake happened in a very. mountainous part of the region and that. has made the response even more. difficult. And Taliban officials warned. that the casualty numbers could increase. as searchers reach more areas impacted. by the quake. Mary, >> those images just devastating. Marcus, thanks. Now to the stunning show of. force at China's security summit. Russian President Putin and Indian Prime. Minister Modi walking hand in hand and. later sharing a car ride. Today's.

display of unity sending a strong. message to President Trump. Here's ABC's. chief foreign correspondent Ian Panel. The leaders of China, India, and Russia. tonight, hand in hand, shouldertosh. shoulder, all smiles, laughter, and a clear message to President Trump. The warm words are an effort to show a. stable and alternative world order. President Xi Jinping rolling out the red. carpet, hosting the Shanghai Cooperation. Organization Summit, an alliance of some.

of the world's most powerful nations not. allied to the US. A challenge and a. response to President Trump and Europe. over sanctions and tariffs. Vladimir. Putin promoting a system that would. replace the obsolete Euroentric and. Euroatlantic models. In another apparent. dig at the US, India's prime minister. who's locked in a battle with the US. over sweeping tariffs, pledging warage. with China, aiming to be partners. >> Modi telling the United States he's not.

happy about tariffs are cozing up to. Pakistan. Putin saying that he has a big. friend, strong friend in China and Xi. saying that we will continue to. challenge US leadership around the. world. >> This summit is further sign that despite. their many differences, those who've. been targeted by Trump are now looking. elsewhere for friendship, alliances, and. trade. Mary, >> the Trump administration no doubt. watching this closely. Ian, thank you. Next here tonight, former New York Mayor. Rudy Giuliani was seriously injured in a.

car crash in New Hampshire. The. 81-year-old suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured vertebrae. So, let's bring in ABC's chief investigative. correspondent, Aaron Kurski. And Aaron, what more are you learning tonight? Well, we're told, Mary, that Rudy. Giuliani is now out of the hospital, but. still recovering tonight from that. fractured vertebra. He was riding in a. car that his aid was driving around 1000. p.m. Saturday night along Interstate 93. in Manchester when it was struck by a. Honda with a teenager behind the wheel. Giuliani, his aid Ted Goodman, and the.

driver of the other car, 19-year-old. Lauren Kemp, were all taken to the. hospital, though police said all three. would be okay. Before the crash, Giuliani had been spotted at a minor. league baseball game in Manchester. And. tonight, Mary, President Trump. announcing Giuliani would receive the. Presidential Medal of Freedom. Trump. calling Giuliani, who supported his. false claims about the 2020 election, the greatest mayor in the history of New. York City. Mary. >> Aaron Kurski with the latest details.

Aaron, thank you. And now to the. showdown at the US Open. Former. champions Koko Goff and Naomi Osaka. battling for a spot in the. quarterfinals. ABC's Stephanie Ramos has. more. >> That's it. >> Tonight, a dominant and overwhelming. performance from the two-time US Open. champion, eliminating golf in straight. sets. Golf at times visibly upset. Osaka. moving on to the quarterfinals. I'm a. little sensitive. I don't want to cry, but um honestly, I just had so much fun.

out here. >> Goff's loss now leaves only three. Americans left in the singles. tournament. Fourth seated Jessica. Pagoula rolled into her second straight. US Open quarterfinal. >> Taylor is through. >> On the men's side, all hope falls on. Taylor Fritz, who is gearing up for a. dramatic showdown against 24time Grand. Slam champion Novak Djokovic. Mary Fritz. was the runner up in this tournament a. year ago and he's faced off with. Djokovic 10 times before, but Djokovic.

hasn't lost any of those matches. Mary, so much riding on that match, Stephanie. Thank you. And when we come back, authorities question concert goers at. Nevada's Burning Man Festival after a. man is found dead. And the Powerball. jackpot keeps growing ahead of tonight's. billion dollar drawing. Next tonight, an urgent investigation is. underway in Nevada after a man was found. dead at the Burning Man Festival. Authorities say they were called to the. scene on Saturday night just as the. towering bonfire was lit. Law.

enforcement interviewing several people. who were in the area. The identity of. the man is currently unknown. And when. we come back, the Powerball jackpot. grows ahead of tonight's big drawing. What would you do with 1.1 billion? to the index now. And it's not too late. for the chance to be a billionaire. Tonight's Powerball jackpot jumping to. $1.1 billion dollar. No one has matched. five numbers plus the Powerball since. May. Now, if you take the cash option, that's more than $498 million. So, go.

get that ticket. And when we come back, the West Point cadet and high school. football star who's now being hailed a. hero. Finally tonight, the right place, the. right time, and the right man. America. strong. Cadet Larry Picket Jr., a sophomore at. West Point, was on his way home after. playing in his very first college. football game this weekend. >> His whole family and girlfriend riding. together when they saw a car that had.

just crashed into a utility pole. The. power lines down and sparking. >> My father and I, we both hopped out of. our car to go run towards the car that. crashed. We saw that that there was a. gentleman in there that needed our help. Without thinking, we just reacted. The. driver still inside but disoriented. The. car starting to smoke. Larry and his dad. had to act quickly. >> Come on, get him out. >> We got him out of the car, got him to. safety, and everything went down in just. uh a couple minutes. >> Moments later, the car catching fire,

but the driver safely out of harm's way. >> Yeah, it's a BMW. >> You got to be kidding me. >> I'm just grateful that that that we got. him out, honest, cuz that could have. gone totally different for him. As first. responders put the fire out, Larry and. his dad in disbelief. >> Thank you guys. I appreciate you. >> You're a hero, sir. >> His coach at West Point and even the. Secretary of the Army agreeing. All. praising Larry's heroic actions. And. tonight, the West Point cadet with this. message. >> Help others when you can. Being in the. right mindset and and being ready to.

help when you can is a is a great thing. >> And we are grateful Larry was ready to. help. Thank you for watching. I'm Mary. Bruce. Have a good night. >> David Mure, the most watched newscast in. America. And now ABC's World News. Tonight has won the Emmy for best live. news program for the third year in a. row.