Trump makes $5,000 pledge if GOP wins: ABC World News Tonight with David Muir - Sept. 10, 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, President Trump's. $5,000 pledge to voters. The president now promising $5,000 to every American adult. if Republicans win both the House and the Senate. in the midterms. Tonight Democrats calling this a desperate stunt.

And can the president do this? What members of his own party are saying tonight. Tonight Iran targeting US bases reports multiple American. warplanes have been damaged. What the president is now saying about this. Martha Raddatz is here. This evening, the scare on board two separate Delta. flights, both reporting sudden drops in pressurization. Pilots descending 20,000 feet in a matter of minutes. Communications with air traffic control revealing one passenger. was bleeding from their ears. Tonight, news coming in of a remarkable rescue of 15-year-old.

boy clinging to a capsized boat for three days. Two others not surviving, a brother and a cousin. Tonight, the Coast Guard pilot who spotted him. This evening, the chilling surveillance video in. the trial of a lawyer accused of attempting. to kill his ex-wife right in the middle of a packed restaurant. What happened to that gun in that moment? And then a waiter jumping in. Tonight the breaking headline in the Lindsay Clancy trial, what her attorney has now asked the judge to do, as we hear.

from a juror who describes the loan holdout and what he did. in front of the other jurors. Tonight the warning about AI after a researcher quit. Tonight we now hear from him, and now Anthropic revealing an. alarming finding of their own. They say someone outside this country was trying to use. AI to potentially develop a ...and a bioweapon, what we. know. Tonight, the high school football mom and the FBI. suddenly moving in for the arrest, what she's accused of. Tonight, the harrowing close call, a speeding car missing.

a young boy by just inches at the bus stop. In New York City, the dangerous stunt. across the George Washington Bridge, you'll see it, a man. now under arrest. The big news involving Celine Dion. And as we mark 25 years, the moving. 9/11 tribute. And our special, right here tomorrow night. (upbeat music). - 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. on a very busy Thursday night. We begin tonight with President Trump's $5,000 promise, a check for every American adult if Republicans win. the midterm elections. Tonight, Democrats calling it a desperate stunt, accusing him of trying to bribe voters. And Fox News asking the president, Why not just give out the checks now? ABC's Mary Bruce leading us off tonight. Tonight Democrats warning voters don't be fooled, calling. President Trump's new pledge to give every American adult. $5,000 if Republicans win the midterms nothing but a stunt.

If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000. He did not say how he would come up with the roughly $1.3. trillion he'd need to pay every American or how that would even. work. And no mention of how it would balloon the record-high. national debt, which just hit a historic $40 trillion. Democrats blunt. California Senator Alex Padilla saying our tax.

dollars aren't a campaign slush fund and bribing Americans. for their vote is illegal. Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia noting time and time. again Trump has told Americans to expect dividend. checks that never came. He says this offer is no different. The dividend is not happening. He promised a dividend on the tariffs. That didn't happen. He promised a dividend on Doge. That didn't happen. There's no one in the country that thinks somehow this new. dividend is actually going to happen.

And as Democrats accuse Trump of trying to bribe voters by. promising free money they'll never get, Fox News asking. why he doesn't just give out the money now. Why not just give the money now? If you have the money, why not give it now? Because they can't, I'll tell you what, because. the Democrats can't do it. But it's Republicans who now control the House and Senate. And today, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, sounding. skeptical, the president's plan will go anywhere. Would you have enough votes to pass a $5,000. dividend to every American?

Well, that's a good question, Dana, and we'll cross that. bridge when we come to it. And David, President Trump is set to speak here again. tonight. In the meantime, One Republican senator who is. in the political fight of her life is coming out against his. proposed $5,000 checks. Susan Collins of Maine calling the idea extraordinarily. costly, adding, quote, "Tax and spending decisions. should not appear to be tied to election results.". Mary Bruce leading us off from Dallas tonight. Mary, thank you. Tonight, the war in Iran. Iranian forces targeting U.S.

bases. there are new reports that. multiple American warplanes have been damaged, including F-15s. What the president is now saying about this, and Martha Raddatz. tonight with what she's learned. Tonight, sources familiar with the attack telling. ABC News that the recent barrage of Iranian strikes. targeting US bases in the Middle East, left nine US warplanes. damaged at a base in Jordan, including an A-10 attack. aircraft that lost a wing.

But President Trump telling News Nation that there was. no damage to aircraft in this most recent attack, saying, quote, "None whatsoever. No damage. No nothing.". In July, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan. during an Iranian attack. Isabella Gonzalez, Tyler James Fienn, and Angel Rampersad. The president is eager for the war to end, but there are no. clear signs that is happening.

And with the midterms looming and gas prices soaring 14 cents. in just the last week, averaging $4.28 per gallon, the president. now saying the war will end right after the election. I think the war will end immediately after the election, because they can't hold out any longer. But David, with nine warplanes damaged in Jordan. and attacks on US bases and warships in the region, the Iranians are clearly not done fighting.

David? Martha Raddatz reporting. tonight. Martha, thank you. Just in tonight, the scare on board. two separate Delta flights, both reporting sudden. drops in pressurization. Pilots descending 20,000 feet in just minutes and. communications with air traffic control, revealing. that one passenger was bleeding from their ears. Here's Morgan Norwood. Tonight, an investigation underway after two delta. flights suffered a loss of pressurization. This was the scene on board a flight to Salt. Lake City forced to land in Las Vegas. You can see passengers wearing oxygen.

masks. We have a hundred eighty one souls on. board. We're currently looking at 13,200 pounds of fuel. and we'd like a fire truck to meet us outside. Pilots descending about 20,000 feet. in a matter of minutes. Delta 791. Everyone's on oxygen. Everyone on oxygen. Copy. And today a second midair emergency. A delta flight heading to Phoenix today, turning back to. JFK when pilots reported they lost pressurization about 20. minutes into the flight. Delta 91.

We do have one passenger that's bleeding from the ears. Does that require attention? Rescue 101 to Delta, do you see if a passenger is bleeding yet? An ambulance waiting at the gate. And David, both of those flights landing safely. Delta is saying its crew followed. training and procedures, David. Morgan Orwood tonight. Morgan, thank you. We are learning more this evening about a. remarkable rescue at sea. A 15-year-old boy clinging to a capsized boat for three days. Two others not surviving, his brother and a cousin. And tonight, the Coast Guard pilot right here who.

spotted him off Alaska. Here's Trevor Ault. Tonight, the incredible survival story in Alaska, a boy shivering alone on a capsized skiff. rescued after three days lost in the Bering Sea. That 15 year old had set out Friday with his brother. and their cousin departing from the Alaskan village. of Savunga, about 40 miles from Russia. Officials say their boat overturned Saturday. in 50 degree water.

The boy's older brother and their cousin both drowned. in their days adrift. It wasn't until Sunday night when they missed their scheduled. arrival that local officials called in the Coast Guard. This is somebody sitting on a boat and it looks. like it's overturned. So we delivered the life-saving equipment to him. We dumped everything that we had in that plane at that kid. They alerted a research team on a nearby boat. about 40 miles away. The Northwest Explorer and that crew pulled the boy to. safety, hoisting him on board. People don't survive in those scenarios.

We are beyond excited and beyond grateful that we found him. David, that boy's brother and cousin did not survive. He suffered mild hypothermia, but is otherwise okay. that pilot told me this is the most improbable survival story. he has ever been a part of. Just incredible that he survived this. Trevor, thank you. Tonight, the chilling surveillance video right here. from the trial of a lawyer accused of attempting to kill. his ex-wife right in the middle of a packed restaurant in Ohio. What happened to that gun in that moment?

And then a hero waiter jumps in. Here's Witt Johnson tonight. No! No! Tonight, you're looking at a woman's terrifying cell. phone video shown in court. The moment her ex-husband storms a packed restaurant, points a gun at her, and tries to pull the trigger. The gun's safety still on, likely saving her life. Watch from this angle. You see a waiter rushing in from behind, grabbing the gunman. Multiple patrons helping to tackle him to the ground. Tonight that waiter says he feared for his life.

The only thing I was thinking was I'm going to die. The whole time I thought we were all going to be shot. Describing the split second decision. Thank God he forgot to take the safety off and looked down. at the gun, giving me enough time to actually tackle him. Police body camera video showing officers arriving at. the scene last year, arresting 43-year-old Matthew Exton, who was an attorney at the time. A jury now convicting him on multiple charges,

including attempted murder. And David, that former lawyer is expected to be sentenced. later this month. David? Whit Johnson reporting. Whit, good to have you tonight. Now to the breaking headline in the Lindsay Clancy case. tonight, what her attorney has now asked the judge. to do after that mistrial, as we now hear from a juror. who describes the loan holdout juror and what he did in. front of the other jurors. Here's Aaron Katersky again tonight. Nearly a week after Lindsay Clancy's trial ended with this, I'm going to declare a mistrial. Her attorney tonight is asking the judge to step in and do what.

the deadlocked jury could not, find the Massachusetts mother. not guilty of murdering her children by reason of insanity. That's what juror number 10 told us all but one. juror had hoped to do. It was definitely frustrating. Nick Dargy said the lone holdout, one of three men on the. jury, had doubts about Clancy's guilt but refused to join. the others and acquit her. He explicitly said, you know, I don't know if the prosecution. or the defense proved their case.

At one point Dargy told us the holdout juror grabbed one of the. bands Clancy used to strangle her children. He took the exercise band out of the bag, grabbed an empty. water bottle, and tied the band around the water. bottle and pulled it. Did he explain why he did that? No. He might have. I'm not entirely... I think I was just so shocked that he did that. Is that a mimic of how she killed the children?

Yeah, I assume so, yeah. That's a band that was used to strangle a child. It's disgusting. Dargie is 25. He served in the Army, but he said nothing prepared. him for this trial. What about injuries? When you saw Lindsay Clancy break down, saying that she. couldn't do this anymore. That was hard to listen to. What do you think of her?

I think what happened is tragic. She called a suicide hotline, not once but twice, and got basically sent away because she didn't have. a plan to commit suicide. And to me, that's like--if someone's depressed like. that, that's heartbreaking. Like, that's horrible. And then when you looked at the pictures of the three kids? I think about them every day. Clancy's attorney is collecting accounts from jurors like. this one, David, as he prepares to file a motion.

to dismiss her murder case. Our chief investigative correspondent, Aaron. Katersky. Thanks, Aaron. Now to that disturbing warning about artificial. intelligence and the fallout after a researcher quit. and that warning that A.I. could kill all humans in a decade. Tonight, we hear from him and now Anthropic revealing. an alarming finding of their own that someone. outside this country was trying to use their A.I. to potentially develop a bioweapon. Here's Matt Rivers. Tonight, after one of its own former employees warned.

And AI could kill all of humanity in a matter of years. Anthropic now publishing an alarming new report. saying it blocked several possible attempts. to use its AI models to help develop biological weapons. The tech giant behind Claude detailing dozens. of incidents since the end of last year, where. the company says it disrupted potentially malicious use. of its AI, including several examples of "biological misuse.". In one such instance, Anthropic says a lab outside the U.S. gained access to CLAWD from an unsupported region, using.

the model to help research a highly pathogenic bird flu. variant and its potential transmission to humans. Anthropic says in each instance it banned the associated. user accounts, adding that But they do not know if the. users intended harm or were performing legitimate scientific. work. The report comes after a. former anthropic and open AI researcher issued a dire warning. about the possible dangers of AI. They could cause extreme havoc, for example, hacking critical. infrastructure, building.

extinction level bioweapons. David, a growing number of lawmakers on Capitol Hill are. calling for increased government oversight of AI development, including a proposed AI kill switch bill. to halt models if they pose a catastrophic risk. Of course, we're going to stay on this issue so important and. critical, Matt Rivers, thank you. Tonight for a second time, the Supreme Court. is blocking a redrawn Republican-backed congressional. map in Missouri. Republicans had hoped the new map would help them pick up an.

additional House seat in the midterms. The court's decision was unsigned. Missouri's Republican Secretary of State says election officials. will now use the state's previous 2022 map for the. midterms, likely ending weeks of legal battles. In New York City tonight, dozens of first responders are on. the scene of a deadly petroleum barge explosion. Take a look. Thick black smoke could be seen, firefighters searching. through the smoldering ruins. At least one person has been killed, two firefighters hurt. crews working to drain the remaining fuel from the. barge in Staten Island. When we come back tonight, look at this, the high school.

football mom and the FBI moving in very early this. morning for the arrest, what she's now accused of. And to New York City, the dangerous stunt right across. the George Washington Bridge. A man under arrest tonight. And I'll be right back. Tonight, the high school football mom arrested by the. FBI, the former treasurer of a Southern California high. school football booster club, was arrested early this morning. The FBI moving in, charging her with stealing $400,000. Prosecutors now say she used that money to pay her mortgage.

and her credit card bills. If convicted, she could face decades in prison. Tonight the tragedy narrowly averted in Bedford, Michigan. Authorities say a driver ignored the flashing lights of a stop. school bus, nearly hitting a student as he tried. to cross the road there. Authorities say they are pursuing reckless. driving charges against the 19-year-old driver. and reminding everyone that school is back in session and. to watch out for those buses. When we come back tonight, the big news involving Celine Dion. and the dangerous stunt on the George Washington Bridge. right here in New York. You'll see it. A man under arrest tonight.

To the index of other news tonight, the stunt on the George. Washington Bridge and now a New Jersey man is facing charges. tonight riding across the bridge on the back of a flatbed. truck. A scene dancing on the back of that truck. as it traveled across the bridge's upper level. Police are arresting the man, charging him with. assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He was taken to a hospital for. further evaluation. Anticipation is building for the return of Celine Dion, the legendary artist preparing for the start of. her 26 night Paris residency on Saturday. The five time Grammy winner. diagnosed with stiff person syndrome back in 2022.

The neurological disorder hindering her ability to sing, but she's battled her way back. Saturday marks her first return to the stage in six years. A passing the note tonight, Barry Melrose, a beloved ESPN analyst, former hockey player. and coach has died, playing in 300 NHL games, leading the LA Kings to the Stanley Cup finals. in 1992 as coach. He of course was a hockey analyst with ESPN. for more than 25 years. Barry battled Parkinson's and retired from ESPN in 2023.

He was 70 and he'll be missed. Tonight, nearly 25 years after the September 11th attacks, a drone tribute to those who were lost. 2,977 lights over New York Harbor illuminating Manhattan, forming the images of the towers near the twin beams of the. annual Tribute in Light. The beams will be visible again tomorrow night. as they have been on September 11th since 2002. And ABC News will have a special Tomorrow Night Live here. be on the air with Robin Roberts and Diane Sawyer. for 9/11 Tribute in Light live from Lower Manhattan.

That's tomorrow beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern right here on ABC. We'll see you tomorrow night. In the meantime we continue here. tonight when we come back the NFL season of course. kicking off and what one officer did for a young. fan on the sidelines. You have to see it to believe. ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, sponsored. by the Farmers Dog. Finally tonight here, America Strong, the NFL is back. and so are the young fans. And tonight, what one officer did for a fan right. there on the sidelines.

They shared a few signs and we loved it. Tonight with football season now here, already the. extraordinary surprise at the Indianapolis Colts preseason. game right on the sidelines. Look at that young fan there, nine-year-old Mark. Braster. Mark is deaf and has a rare brain disorder. And this is the moment an officer sees Mark in the. stands. The officer asking his name. Mark, he signs. Then the officer signs, "Nice to meet you. My name is Anthony.". And just look at that young fan's face.

The smile, the moment of connection, meaning so much. -Oh, he's a cop. Yes, he's a cop. [laughs]. Look. Oh, my name? O-N-I-C-A. -Mom signing Veronica. The fist bump from the officer. And right here tonight -- -Hi! David, Mom Veronica and Mark signing hi to your name is what? Mark Mark signing his name just like he did for that.

officer. Just a smile on his face that he's able to. communicate with more people. Inclusion matters. It's. 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.