Christa Pike “critical” amid failed execution: ABC World News Tonight with David Muir - Oct. 1, 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, the breaking news, the botched execution, seven needles, the death row inmate surviving, and in New York City, the deadly knife attack on the subway, the stunning images coming in. First, the disturbing execution gone wrong. Witnesses now describing the scene in the execution chamber.

Krista Pike, the only woman on Tennessee's death row, her. lawyers say they used at least seven needles on her. What the inmate then asked during all of this. Tonight, that state now halting all executions for now. In New York City, chilling images tonight of a deadly. stabbing attack on the subway. Then bystanders chasing the suspect through the subway, down. the stairs, onto the street. And what authorities are now saying tonight. This evening, the new and disturbing video right here, the moments right after a pilot of a passenger plane is stabbed.

by that copilot mid-flight. the suspect and putting the plane into a nosedive and. what the video now reveals. Tonight, the outrage at Cornell, the hearing right. now, and ABC News now obtaining documents showing. how a former Cornell University student described the. alleged gang rape by multiple fraternity members to. the school, saying she was pressured to snort ketamine, that she felt like bait.

>> Good evening, everyone. I'm Brian Teta. I'm Lisa Haines. Tonight, the three-year-old bringing a loaded. gun to preschool and what's now happened.

Actor Chad Lowe and his wife mourning the loss of their. 13-year-old daughter, Fiona, and their message tonight. to other families. This evening, Jason Kelsey's wife, Kylie Kelsey, and her. apology to Princess Catherine. And look at this tonight, the 28-year-old. trapped under a boulder. can see his feet and what he did to save his own life. From ABC News World Headquarters in New York, this is World.

News Tonight with David Muir. Good evening, and it's great to have you with us here in. a very busy Thursday night. We begin tonight with the breaking news, the botched. execution of a death row inmate in Tennessee. Tonight her lawyers say they used at least seven needles. on her, but that she survived. In the middle of it all, what she began asking. And tonight they have now called off all executions. in that state for now. ABC's Wade Johnson leading us off. Tonight death row inmate Krista Pike alive, but in critical. condition after Tennessee authorities failed to.

execute her following multiple lethal injections. A lawyer saying today at least seven needles were used. I counted at least seven needles used in her left arm alone. We do know that she is alive right now and receiving. life-saving medical care. Media witnesses to the execution attempt. describing what they saw. Nothing about today was normal, typical at all. Just before 7.30 p.m., the curtains to the. execution chamber going up. convicted killer strapped to a gurney with an IV in.

her arm, giving her last words as she received the. first dose of the sedative pentobarbital. She kept them about herself. She mentioned her haters or people. who don't like her and mentioned that she was. looking forward to being free. But minutes later, Pike asking about her arm. At one point at 734 she said. my arm feels like it's about to burst open. Then she smiles really big. Then she starts talking about that one. spot on her arm. Does this happen like that?

The one spot after nearly 20 minutes, the. curtains closing, witnesses hearing moaning and snoring. before the curtains reopen. I heard them say, bring the clergy. back in, which I've never seen before. But that meant they're going to try again. So we watched that happen. And then they closed the curtain for the. second time. At 805. The curtain.

>> Reporter>> The police say they were able to get a hold. of the victim's body, but they her. >> Reporter>> The police say they were able to get a hold. of the victim's body, but they >> Reporter>> The police say. they were able to get a hold of the victim's body, but they. couldn't find her. >> Reporter>> The police say they were able to get a hold. of the victim's body, but they couldn't find her. >> Reporter>> The police say they were able to get a hold. of the victim's body, but they. >> The victim's mother has said Pike never apologized and.

deserves to be executed. It's Tennessee's second botched execution this year. In May, convicted killer Tony Caruthers was given a one-year. reprieve after authorities could not find a vein. Tonight, Tennessee's governor pausing all remaining. >> Tonight, Tennessee's governor pausing all remaining. executions and ordering a review of what happened to Pike. >> It's a tragedy, and it's deeply disturbing to me that. that has happened in this state. The people deserve better than that, and we're going.

to make sure that happens. >> And David, Tennessee has one other execution. scheduled for this year, but that's now postponed.

authorities are now saying tonight. Here's Matt Rivers. Tonight, a horrifying and deadly stabbing attack on the New York. City subway system. A masked man in all black and without. shoes repeatedly stabbing at another passenger with a kitchen. knife at a station in Queens on Wednesday. The two men grappling, the victim. falling as he tries fighting back before his. The attacker flees down the platform. Some bystanders giving chase as terrified onlookers. run from the scene.

The assailant eventually climbing onto this rooftop. where he was taken into custody. Police later identifying him as 25-year-old Jarell Thomas, who. they say started an argument with 59-year-old Macias Lojano. inside the train, following him from one end of the car. to the other before attacking as they neared the station, that victim later dying at a >> The suspect was found. dead in a nearby hospital. Bismarck was one of the bystanders who chased the. suspect to that rooftop. >> He put his hand like this and he was saying, oh, I'm. sorry, I didn't mean to do it. I don't know if he got tired or I don't know if he gave.

up, but he just was standing. >> David, police say this was a random attack and. described the attacker as emotionally disturbed. He is now charged with murder. This is the sixth murder on the New York City subway system. this year, up from four in 2025. David. Matt Rivers here in. New York tonight. Thanks, Matt. Tonight, there is new and disturbing video showing the. moments right after that pilot of a passenger plane was stabbed. by his co-pilot while flying to Tel Aviv, the suspect then. putting that plane into a nosedive.

And what the video now reveals tonight. Tom Soufi-Burrige in Tel Aviv. Tonight you're looking at harrowing new video just moments. after authorities say a co-pilot stabbed the captain mid-air. and put the plane in a nosedive, attempting to crash the plane. You can hear a call for help. Panicked passengers asking, do we have a pilot?

The crew ordering passengers to stay seated. Sit down! After a terrifying 14,000 foot nosedive, [Screaming]. heroic passengers and crew pulling the attacker out of the. cockpit, stabilizing the plane, treating the wounded. captain, who despite being stabbed, fought back, managing to unlock the cockpit door, allowing those heroes to. storm in, preventing a disaster. That flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv carrying 174 passengers.

and 8 crew landing in Saudi Arabia. Tonight, the urgent investigation into the. co-pilot who hasn't been publicly identified, Israel now saying the suspect is from Oman and was. radicalised and suicidal. We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination. A senior Israeli official tonight telling ABC News. the attacker discussed killing Jews on social media, but didn't elaborate on those claims.

And tonight, we spoke to one of the heroic passengers. seen in that chaotic new video who. answered that call for a doctor. You heard a shout, didn't you? Shota Musaev, a dentist, describing the terrifying scene. You understand we are five, ten seconds from dying. You thought you were five or ten seconds from death? Yes. Shota tending to the injured. captain as he says the suspect told them he wanted to die.

He said to me and he said to Yaniv, kill me please. He told you that he wanted to die? He wanted you to kill him? And David, after we saw that harrowing new video showing. the chaos on board the plane, President Trump asked. today if the suspect may be linked to Iran. The president saying, quote, based on what I'm hearing, yes, but we're working on it. David. Tom Soufi-Burridge, that. was a moving interview with that dentist, Tom. Thank you. Now to the growing anger back here in the U.S.

at Cornell. The public hearing still going on at this hour. You will hear from the furious students. And tonight, ABC News now obtaining documents. showing how a former Cornell University student. described the alleged gang rape by multiple frat. members to the school. Here's Aaron Katursky. Tonight documents obtained by ABC News show how a former. Cornell University student now known as Jane Doe described her. traumatic night in this frat house surrounded by multiple. men. I felt like bait. I felt like lions around me. It just was a totally debilitating place to be in.

Her description of what she now alleges was a gang rape was. given to campus investigators, who also found someone at that. same fraternity house had overdosed on ketamine the night. before Jane Doe alleged she was pressured to snort the drug. She said it left her feeling like, "Lights are. on, but nobody's home. Your brain is not functioning at its proper level.". Tonight, growing outrage about the case spilling. into this public hearing about sexual violence. on campus. For some, this issue is deeply personal.

Cornell's investigation into Jane Doe's. case is confidential, but tonight the district attorney. tells us he will subpoena transcripts from the school as. he reopens her case. If there is more, we will uncover it. and we will help Jane Doe to testify to that additional. evidence before the grand jury. David, the district attorney told us he never. saw Cornell's internal report, including interviews.

with dozens of witnesses. But he now plans to make all of it part of his. reopened investigation. David? Aaron Katursky on this. case again tonight. Aaron, thanks. Tonight at this hour, we are tracking powerful storms and. life-threatening flash flooding. The rescue is underway. Tonight, more than 30 million Americans under alerts for. dangerous flooding and damaging winds. Lee Goldberg standing by with the forecast and Alex. Prez tonight from Dallas. Tonight 30 million from Texas to the Midwest are under the. gun as powerful storms wreak havoc.

In Fort Worth, cars, trucks and even a city bus got swallowed. by floods near Arlington Heights High School. just as students were arriving this morning. One woman seen being carried from her car by a firefighter, others guided to higher >> The storm chasers are. background. In Abilene, Texas, rescuers. helped a woman clinging to her car swim out from under a. flooded overpass. The system moving east now, covering hundreds of miles from. Texas to the midwest. Watch this terrifying moment on interstate 80 in Omaha when a.

semi jackknifed right in front of Tyler cross. He caught it on his dash cam. It's a miracle he was able to stop in time. That same system spawning multiple tornadoes in the. plains, storm chasers storm chasers documenting. the destruction as this twister touched down. northwest of Wichita. Structures are getting hit. Thankfully, no one was hurt. And David, some spots got an entire autumn's worth. of rain in just one day. There are still some flooded areas like this. park here in Dallas, and now many of the same.

places are bracing for even more rain overnight. Yeah, incredible scene there behind you tonight, Alex. Let's go right to senior meteorologist Lee Goldberg. back with us tonight. David, we're tracking this border to border. band of heavy rainfall. It goes from South Texas all the way to the Great Lakes. We had flash flood emergencies today in Kansas and more than a. half foot of rain across parts of the Midwest. Flood watches from Austin to Chicago tonight. But the most serious flood threat, that's a level three. out of four, that's for East Central Texas. San Antonio to Tyler, the worst is over in Dallas, but. in the heavy rains, two inches per hour and heavy rain.

tonight in the Midwest too from Kansas City to Chicago. Thankfully that flood threat, it finally goes down tomorrow, but Texas to the Carolinas still wet into the weekend. David? Lee Goldberg with us tonight. with the latest forecast. Thank you, Lee. Now to California tonight, and to the deadly crash of a medical. helicopter right into the Pacific. At least two dead, two survivors. The patient is still missing. Here's Trevor Ault. Tonight a medevac patient is missing after the chopper. airlifting her to the hospital crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

This is a helicopter crash by water. Authorities say Wednesday night that medical helicopter operated. by Reach Air Medical Services slammed into the water shortly. after taking off from Catalina Island, south of Los Angeles. Two people were pulled out of the water alive. One later seen wheeled off a rescue chopper. at UCLA Medical Center. Dive teams, boats and Coast Guard choppers searching for. the one person missing through the night. She was just a loving and caring mother. Maria Tomaya says the chopper was airlifting her aunt to. the hospital after she had an allergic reaction.

Her son was accompanying her on the flight. It was an emergency. She was going to get airlifted for a food allergy. And they were just trying to transfer her over to make sure. her oxygen levels were good. Five people were on board, including that mother. and her son, who survived. David, it's not clear what caused this medical. chopper to go down. The NTSB is now investigating. David. Trevor Ault reporting. tonight, Trevor, thank you. This evening, the midterm election, of course, now 33 days. away, and President Trump amid some of his lowest poll.

numbers on record and deep concern over inflation. The president now traveling to five deep red states. Here's Rachel Scott tonight. Tonight President Trump in Texas, one of the. fiercest Senate races could decide control. of Congress. He arrived with a new poll showing his national. approval rating at 31%, a record low. The president won Texas handily, but now polls in the. Senate race show the Democrat, James Tallarico, leading. Republican Ken Paxton. After the president held his midterm convention.

And in Dallas, the New York Times obtained audio. of Paxton complaining it hurt his campaign. Today in Texas, Trump praising Paxton. Ken Paxton was at my side more than anybody. And I have to always remember that because he could be a. pain in the ass sometimes, I'll Other Republicans keeping the.

president at arm's length. Still, President Trump today giving himself a grade, A+. I give us an A+ on the government, on economics, on everything. Look at inflation. I inherited the worst inflation in. history under Biden. Worst in history, and now it's great. But the reality is inflation has jumped since Trump took. office from 2.8% to 3.4%. Eighty percent of Americans disapprove of. how he's handling it. And today Vice President J.D.

Danz with a very different message from the president, urging Republicans to not quote, ignore people's concerns. Listen to people who are upset with the state of the economy. If we don't listen to people, we will turn into. the very thing that we hate. This is the president's first major midterm campaign swing. He'll be here in Oklahoma tonight. Then over the next few days, we'll see him in Alabama, Ohio, and Nebraska, all states he has won before as he tries. to energize his core supporters to turn out to the polls.

David. Rachel Scott live. with us tonight. Rachel, thanks. When we come back here, the three-year-old bringing a loaded. gun to preschool and what's We're going to talk about. what just now happened. There's also news coming in on Sean Diddy Combs in prison. What we've learned here tonight. Actor Chad Lowe and his wife now mourning the loss of. their 13-year-old daughter and their message tonight. to other families watching. And then look at this here. The 28-year-old who was fishing suddenly trapped. under a boulder that gave way. You can see his feet right there in the rescue efforts. What he did that tonight they're saying saved his own life. We'll be right back.

Tonight, the parents of a three-year-old boy. are facing charges after officials say that boy. brought a loaded gun to preschool. in Canton Township, Michigan. Both parents right there in court today. Authorities say the gun belongs to his mother, who's a nurse. She's charged with unsafe storage. The father, a Detroit police officer, also charged. Tonight, sources say Sean Diddy Combs. is expected to be heading back to isolation. at a New Jersey federal prison. The move comes amid reports of his alleged lavish. life behind bars serving a 50 month sentence.

Sources say his release date has also been moved. up to January of 2028. When we come back here tonight, actor Chad Lowe and. his wife mourning the loss of their 13 year old daughter. and their message tonight to other families watching. And tonight, Jason Kelsey's wife, Kylie. Kelsey, and her apology now to Princess Catherine. In a moment. To the index, actor Chad Lowe and his. wife, director and producer Kim Painter, mourning. the loss of their 13 year old daughter, Fiona, remembering her as a loving young girl, smart, creative, and loved to dance.

The family saying they are devastated. and they urge anyone struggling with mental health. to please reach out to the 988-SUICIDE-IN-CRISIS lifeline. Tonight, podcaster Kylie Kelsey, Jason Kelsey's wife, is now apologizing to Princess Catherine. Kylie Kelsey saying she didn't address her properly. in her first invitation to appear on her podcast, calling her Princess Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. Her title is Princess of Wales and it is proper to address. her as Princess Catherine. Tommy Kelsey offering an invite again. When we come back here tonight, the young man fishing suddenly. trapped under a boulder.

You're gonna see the moment the drone spots his feet. and what he did to save his own life. Finally tonight, America Strong, the young fisherman. suddenly trapped and what he did saved his life. Tonight, the urgent race to save a young fisherman. trapped under a large boulder. Authorities say his own quick thinking saved his life. You're looking at a police drone above Hammond Marina. in Astoria, Oregon, northwest of Portland. First responders scouring the rocks, urgently looking for a 28-year-old fisherman.

He was alone on a fishing trip when one of the. large boulders there gave way and rolled. on top of him. With that drone camera, suddenly they see. movement in the rocks. Right under the boulder there on the left, You can see his feet moving. They push in. You can see his face and hand. They located him. I've located him. The team's then carefully making their way. down to the fishermen. Police say that trapped man, Joe Little, was unable to.

reach his cell phone, but then realized he was still wearing. his Bluetooth earbuds and asked Siri to call 911. The Warrant and Fire Department and local medics working. to free him, the Coast Guard and their rescuer lowering down. to reach the injured fisherman and then lifting him up. and left just to get him over the water. Roger, clear left. Nice and slow. Rescuers taking him to a Portland hospital. where tonight his family tells us he will undergo. surgery this evening, but that he will be OK. They are grateful to those rescue teams,

and they believe their son's quick thinking saved his life. Wow. We're glad he's going to be OK, and I'll see. you back here tomorrow. Good night. Da vid 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.