“Horrifying” midair emergency: ABC World News Tonight with David Muir - June 24, 2026

David Muir, ABC's [music] World News. Tonight, America's most watched. newscast, now streaming [music] same day. with all the breaking news of the day on. Disney Plus. Most watched, [music] most. trusted, now on Disney Plus every night. >> Tonight we have breaking news, the pilot. on a passenger plane suffering a violent. seizure in midair. The passenger plane. out of Newark, passengers [music] say at. least five people had to hold that pilot. down, the seizure lasting up to 40. minutes in the air. The co-pilot forced. [music] to land the plane in Boston.

Also breaking, there has been a strong. earthquake in California tonight. The. earthquake rattling homes, [music] items. thrown from shelves, multiple injuries. and aftershocks now reported. And what. scientists are saying about this. Also. breaking as we come on the air in the. West, news of a major earthquake in. Venezuela. The images coming in right. now. This evening, the severe storms. we're watching right now as we come on. the air, and a tornado watch just issued. across several states tonight. Also, the. fires and the extreme heat on the move. headed to the East. And across Europe.

tonight, the deadly heatwave there. James Longman in Paris, where people are. jumping into a canal, and Lee Goldberg. back here in the US with the forecast. right here at home. Tonight, the. shouting match, President Trump meeting. behind closed doors with Republicans. when the meeting erupts in chaos. What. was behind it? In New York City tonight, a woman seen at the Knicks championship. parade appearing to want to keep a. Knicks painted trash can. Dumping the. trash onto a city street and taking the. garbage can. >> [music]. >> Tonight, that woman identified and.

losing her job. JP Morgan says she no. longer works there. Tonight, a. 12-year-old boy from the US has been. attacked [music] in a shark attack. Also. tonight, singer Daryl Hall from Hall &. Oates revealing [music] he has just. undergone a transplant. We have news on. his condition. Tonight, there's an. urgent search for a missing giraffe in. the US. How [music] she disappeared and. why they're so concerned tonight for her. safety. The frenzy over the World Cup in. the US, the fans from Scotland loving. the US. From Boston to Miami, their.

famous bagpipes. And it's not just the. Scottish fans. So many international. visitors. And what's the fascination. with ranch dressing? >> From ABC News World Headquarters in New. York, this is World News Tonight. >> [music]. >> with David Muir. >> Good evening. We have several breaking. stories as we come on the air tonight. There's been a strong earthquake in. California rattling homes, multiple. injuries. The images coming in now. Also. severe storms across the country. A.

tornado watch just issued multiple. states. But we do begin tonight with the. scare in the cockpit. A pilot on a. passenger plane out of Newark suffering. a violent seizure while in midair. Multiple passengers had to hold the. pilot down during the flight. That. seizure lasting up to 40 minutes. They. say the plane suddenly jolting. That's. when they knew the pilot was in trouble. The co-pilot forced to land the plane. The emergency landing in Boston with. emergency teams waiting. Gio Benitez. leads us off. >> Tonight, a harrowing scene on board a.

packed passenger plane forced to land at. Boston's Logan Airport after one of the. pilots suffered a medical emergency. mid-flight. >> Pilot is incapacitated. Aircraft is. being flown by the co-pilot. >> Rodney McDonald among 61 passengers on. the Air Canada flight today from Newark. International to Halifax, Nova Scotia. making that emergency landing in Boston. >> The plane started swerving violently. Within a few moments, one of the flight. attendants entered the cockpit. frantically. And a few moments later,

um, he was dragging the one of the. pilots out of the cockpit. >> McDonald says the pilot appeared to have. a seizure. He and other passengers. jumping in to help the crew. >> Yeah, it was really horrifying. Myself. and about four others. uh worked to get him under control. It. was a fairly strenuous. 40 minutes of keeping him down. >> The co-pilot taking over, diverting the. plane to Boston, where the plane landed. safely. Passengers exiting the plane. Video from our affiliate WCVB showing.

first responders removing the pilot from. the aircraft. Authorities say he was. transported to the hospital where he is. receiving medical treatment. >> Every thought goes through your your. mind. You start praying. My boys. instantly started praying. So, I'm told. I was I was at the front of the plane, but I was just grateful grateful for how. it all ended. >> And David, this is exactly why planes. have two pilots on the flight deck, so. that one pilot can take over if there's. an issue like this. And of course, the. airline is now trying to get those. passengers to their destinations.

tonight. >> David. >> Well, thank goodness for that co-pilot. staying so calm. And of course, those. passengers too, and we wish the pilot. well. Geo, thanks. Tonight, there are. also reports of a major earthquake in. Venezuela, a magnitude 7.1. Reports of. heavy damage coming in. And we have just. learned of a major quake off northern. Japan as well. Here's ABC's Melissa Don. with the images coming in tonight. >> Tonight, late breaking word of. back-to-back major earthquakes jolting. the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. The. first one measuring 7.2, the second 7.5.

>> An earthquake. just. shook the entire building minutes ago. It's the heaviest quake I have felt in. Venezuela. >> Authorities reporting multiple people. injured. Emergency crews descending on. this mountain of rubble to search for. survivors. The airport now closed and. all flights suspended after suffering. serious damage. And tonight, halfway. around the world in Japan, yet another. quake. This one measuring 6.9 off the.

northern coast in an area where there. have been recent strong quakes. Officials say there is no danger of a. tsunami. David, back to that earthquake. in Venezuela tonight, tsunami warnings. are up along the coast for southern. Caribbean islands. David. >> All right, Melissa Don on the breaking. news tonight. Melissa, thanks so much. Also breaking tonight, a strong. earthquake rocking northern California. The magnitude 5.6 quake rattling homes. and businesses there. Power knocked out. tonight for thousands. That quake. centered near Redwood Valley,

California, well north of San Francisco. Tonight, reports of multiple injuries. and aftershocks now being reported and. what scientists are now saying about. this. Trevor Allt from California. >> This is the moment a 5.6 magnitude. earthquake rocked rural northern. California. [music]. Causing injuries and sending groceries. and bottles off shelves, smashing onto. the floor. >> I started hearing like glass clicking. together and I'm like, what is that? >> Renee Everroad heard the earthquake. alert on her phone inside the store just.

before the shaking started. >> I was like shaking from head to toe. My. hands were shaking. I was watching wine bottles drop and. just break and every and the wine go. everywhere. It felt like it lasted for. 20 minutes. >> The quake was captured on home security. cameras like this one miles from the. epicenter near the town of Willits. >> Is everyone okay? >> Rattled residents then surveying the. damage. Power knocked out for thousands. >> I've never been in an earthquake this. big and I've been in a lot of.

earthquakes. This was bad. >> The shaking lasted a full 30 seconds. >> I got tape. >> And was felt as far away as San Jose, 180 miles to the south. And the. epicenter is not along a major fault. line. >> This is somewhat inland from it, but. it's still part of the San Andreas. system. In that region, this is the. strongest earthquake that they've seen. in at least the last 100 years. >> And David, California's governor says. more than a million people got those. earthquake alerts on their phone before. the shaking even began. Officials are.

now surveying the damage. >> David, it is always alarming. Trevor. Allt tonight. Trevor, thank you. Tonight, we're also tracking severe. storms as we're on the air here. There's. now a new tornado watch across several. states at this hour. Torrential rain, flash flood alerts across those states. Denver bracing for yet another round of. storms. Also tonight, the extreme heat. headed to the east next. And across. Europe this evening, the deadly heatwave. there. Here's our senior meteorologist. Lee Goldberg with the images tonight and. the forecast right here at home. >> Tonight, millions again in the path of.

life-threatening storms. Torrential downpours and wind gusts up. to 80 mph. Drivers battling blinding rain on. Highway 287 in Childress County, Texas. In Colorado Springs, large hail. pummeling cars. Extreme heat fueling more than 30. wildfires in the west. The Cottonwood. fire exploding in Utah, nearly doubling. in size in just 24 hours. Scorching more than 59,000 acres and at. 0% contained.

A home security camera capturing the. flames closing in on a family's cabin. before burning it down. Extreme heat fueling those fires. Amid. >> all-time record heat overseas, much of. Europe in the grips of a brutal heatwave. where many homes and businesses have no. air conditioning. France reporting its. hottest day on record. Paris hitting. 105°. Hundreds escaping the heat in local. waterways. >> [cheering]. >> Our James Longman is there. >> It looks like fun, but it is dangerous,

too. These waterways are unsupervised. and across France at least 40 people. have died drowning trying to cool off in. rivers and lakes. >> That punishing heat dome also causing. power outages, disrupting train service, and shutting down schools across Europe. >> Those pictures along the Seine and those. canals really stunning. The crowds. gathered there with James Longman. Uh in. the meantime, back here at home, Lee. back with us tonight tracking the. forecast right here at home. Hi, Lee. >> Hey, David. And brand new tornado. warnings now across northeastern.

Colorado. That's northeast of Denver and. also across Wisconsin, not far from. Oshkosh. As tornado watches are out for. parts of. and Nebraska and in the Colorado this is. the fifth day in a row for severe. weather for the front range of the. Rockies. Severe thunderstorm watches New. Mexico all the way to Wisconsin. Big. hail, damaging winds the concern in the. middle you have flood watches from. Kansas Louisiana. These places have seen. a half foot of rain. And then you. [music] have the flooding and severe. storms continuing in these same areas to. tomorrow. Denver to Tulsa to Missouri. strong storms and heavy downpours into. tomorrow night maybe into Friday as.

well. In the west we also have the fire. danger. The watches are out from Friday. to Saturday extreme heat warnings in. Arizona. That comes to the east next. week. David. >> It's been unsettled all week. Lee. Goldberg with us tonight. Lee, thanks so. much. We turn now to the closed door. meeting erupting into chaos. President. Trump meeting with Republicans on. Capitol Hill suddenly erupting into a. shouting match. The president had. suddenly refused to sign a bill. supported by Republicans and Democrats. that would have helped Americans with. housing and affordability. Rachel Scott. at the Capitol tonight.

>> Tonight chaos in the Capitol. A closed. door meeting between President Trump and. Senate Republicans descending into a. shouting match. It came after President. Trump abruptly canceled plans to sign a. major housing bill. A rare moment of. cooperation between Republicans and. Democrats on a key issue of. affordability. >> We just passed something that we're all. proud of. 85 votes in the Senate, 385. votes in in the house to make housing. more available to Americans. We all need. that in red states and blue states.

Trump blew it up. >> The stage was set for the bill signing. when President Trump fired off a post. dismissing the legislation as a matter. of minor importance saying he would not. sign it until the Senate passed his own. top priority. Tough new voting. restrictions. Republicans blindsided. >> What did you think of that? >> Uh yeah, I was disappointed because I. thought that uh this had become a. priority. >> Soon after the president arriving to. meet Senate Republicans. >> Are you going to sign the housing bill, sir? >> Behind closed doors sources tell us.

President Trump unloaded on another. topic, Iran, lashing out at several. Republicans who had voted to limit his. war powers. One of them, Senator Bill Cassidy of. Louisiana, firing right back. >> He asked, "Why would anybody vote for. the War Powers Act?". As he continued, I said, "Is that a. rhetorical question? Or would you like to really". He said, "I'd like to know." I stood and. said, "You have not told the American. people what's going on.". >> Cassidy acknowledges he lost his temper.

>> Voices were raised. >> Any regrets on anything you said? >> No. I'm not going to be bullied when I'm. trying to get answers for the American. people. And right now, there's just. like, it seems like we're being told different. things by different people. >> Publicly, the president brushing it off. >> I think we had a really great meeting. And we're very proud of the party. We like our leader. We like everybody. really in the room. I don't like a few. people, but that's okay.

>> And David, late today the president was. adamant that he is not signing that. housing bill. He is holding firm on his. demands. This is something that. Democrats and Republicans spent months. working on. They know that this issue is. important to voters and that. affordability will be front and center. in the midterm elections, David. >> Rachel Scott live up on Capitol Hill. tonight for us. Rachel, thank you. In. New York City tonight, a woman seen at. the Knicks championship parade appearing. to want to keep a Knicks painted trash. can. They were all over New York. Dumping the trash onto a city street and. taking the garbage can. Well, tonight. that woman identified and her employer,

JP Morgan Chase, says she no longer. works there. Here's Aaron Katersky. >> It was during the euphoria over the. Knicks NBA championship. New York City. even painted the trash cans blue and. orange. This woman decided she wanted. one for a souvenir. On the day of the. Knicks parade, the woman unceremoniously. dumped an overflowing public waste. basket onto the sidewalk, grabbed both. ends, and walked off. And tonight, her. employer, JP Morgan Chase, says she's no. longer with the company. The bank did.

not say what her job was, but added she. was not attending the parade in an. official capacity. The Sanitation. Department issued her two summonses, 75. [screaming] bucks for littering and $100. for impeding operations. The woman. returned the trash can, and City. Sanitation posted a photo of it with the. caption, "Home sweet home.". David, there are now replicas of this. Knicks-themed garbage can for sale. online for less than $200. Because one. man's trash is another's treasure. David. >> Aaron Katersky. >> Aaron, thanks.

>> Tonight, the top U.S. Army commander in. Europe and Africa suddenly stepping. down. General Christopher Donahue was. the last American soldier to leave. Afghanistan in 2021. His four-star. command is going to be downgraded to a. three-star command. Nearly two dozen. senior military leaders have been. removed or sidelined by Secretary Pete. Hegseth. Tonight in Texas, Camp Mystic, the girls camp at the center of that. horrific tragedy in Hill Country, is now. filing for bankruptcy. Court records. show the camp is more than $10 million. in debt. 25 girls and two counselors. were killed when deadly flood waters.

swept through the camp last 4th of July. In April, the camp announced plans to. reopen this summer. Families of the. victims called on the state to block. Camp Mystic's license. When we come back here tonight, a. frightening crash landing. Take a look, the passenger posting on [music] YouTube. the harrowing moments from inside the. plane as it was coming down. A. 12-year-old boy from the U.S. has been. attacked by a shark, rushed to the. hospital. News on his condition. Also, after news of his arrest, what former. Olympic ski champion Bode Miller is now. saying tonight. And there's an urgent.

search for a missing giraffe in the U.S. where they're looking and how she. disappeared, and why they're so. concerned for her safety tonight. Lot. more news ahead here. We'll be right. back. Tonight, harrowing video here tonight of. a small plane crash landing in Alaska. A passenger posting this video on. YouTube of the landing, all 10 people. bracing for impact. The flight taking. off from Fairbanks and stopping in. Coldfoot to refuel. After taking off. again, the passengers said the plane. made a loud noise, the engine appeared. to be losing power, the pilot then.

announcing he was looking for a spot to. land before crashing right there in the. field. No one was hurt. A 12-year-old. boy from the US was attacked by a shark. in the Bahamas. Police say the attack. happened Tuesday while the boy and his. brother were swimming during a tour in. Exuma. The boy was rushed to the. hospital with injuries, no word on the. extent. We're told he's in stable. condition tonight. Tonight, an attorney. for former Olympic ski champion Bode. Miller saying the drug charges against. him are now being dropped. Miller's. lawyer telling ABC News no drugs were. found on Miller when he was arrested in. Idaho. Miller wrote on Instagram a.

friend riding in his car had a small. amount of cannabis and a pipe that he. did not know about. An affidavit. obtained by affiliate KIVI claims Miller. had a dispensary bag with 4 g of. psychedelic mushrooms. Miller pleaded. not guilty to two misdemeanor drug. charges. When we come back here tonight, singer. Daryl Hall from Hall & Oates revealing. he has just undergone a transplant. We. do have news on his condition. Plus that. urgent search for a missing giraffe. tonight. How she disappeared and why. they're so concerned about her safety. To the index of other news tonight, country music star Bailey Zimmerman is.

apologizing now after being accused of. trashing a hotel room. A restaurant. claims Zimmerman caused $16,000 in. damages at Sandia Resort in New Mexico. last month. A criminal complaint also. alleges Zimmerman shoved a band member, kicked instruments on stage, and spit. out water toward a security officer. In. a statement, Zimmerman tonight saying he. is deeply sorry for his actions and. takes quote full accountability. Tonight, singer Daryl Hall from Hall &. Oates revealing he recently had a kidney. transplant. Hall telling fans on social. media he underwent the transplant a few. weeks ago. He says the kidney came from.

a living donor and doctors described the. procedure as quote a complete success. He went on to write he is now recovering. and should be back to normal in a few. months. Well, tonight there's an active. search for a missing giraffe outside San. Antonio, Texas. Workers at the Cedar. Hollow Ranch say that Gracie the giraffe. wandered off the property last week. Authorities say she could be in danger. due to the rugged terrain as well as. mountain lions and coyotes in the area. A $5,000 reward is now being offered for. tips leading to Gracie's safe return.

When we come back here tonight, the. World Cup frenzy here in the US, what. Scottish fans are doing from Boston all. the way down to Miami, and the. international visitors who are obsessed. with our ranch dressing. Finally tonight here, World Cup fever in. the US, the Scottish kilts taking over. Miami, and what's with this fascination. with our ranch dressing? Here's Victor Oquendo. >> Tonight, the World Cup frenzy sweeping. across America. Here in Miami, thousands of Scotland. fans, many wearing tartan kilts,

marching through the streets. cheering on Scotland ahead of tonight's. clash against five-time World Cup. winners Brazil. >> The Tartan Army has taken over South. Beach. I have never seen Ocean Drive. look like this before. Brazil versus Scotland, who's going to. win? >> Scotland. >> Yes. They're enjoying Scotland's first. World Cup in 28 years, and their time. here in America. Last week, Boston's famous pubs sing. bands from Scotland. >> [screaming]. >> nearly drank their taps dry.

>> We're not going to come here, we're. going to drink your beer, and we're. going to have a right good time everyone. doing it. >> At Fenway Park, playing bagpipes [music]. as they march in for the Red Sox-Rangers. game. Inside the stadium, singing American. songs. >> [music]. >> In the pubs, singing The Star-Spangled. Banner. >> [music]. >> Mac and cheese, fries. >> So many international fans discovering.

things they love about the US, American. foods. >> I love it. >> Even ranch dressing. So popular, the TSA. joking on social media, "Please avoid. chugging your ranch outside security. The airlines will check it for you. And. there's something else new for them, too, here. The scorching Miami Heat. >> It's so hot. We're not used to that back. home, but this is an incredible place. What a party vibe. >> Tomorrow, the focus will shift to Los. Angeles, where the US men's team will. face Turkey in the final game of the. group stage. David?

>> All right, Victor Conde. Thanks so much. Ranch dressing. I'll see you right here. tomorrow. Good night. >> David Muir, the most trusted, most. watched [music] newscast in America. And. now, World News Tonight has won the Emmy. for best live news program for the. fourth year in a row.