ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast – July 26, 2025

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast – July 26, 2025

Tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. More than 80 million Americans on alert for dangerous heat. President Trump in Scotland trying to turn the page on the Jeffrey Epstein saga and the urgent search for an inmate released from jail by mistake. First, millions of Americans facing days of sweltering heat from Texas to Minnesota to the Northeast with feelslike temperatures in the triple digits. New York City reporting nearly 150 heat related ER visits in the past couple weeks. Our weather team tracking it all. President Trump overseas in Scotland with the August 1st trade deadline less than a week away. But increasingly frustrated over questions surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein files and what we’re learning about that meeting between DOJ officials and Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator. Our Rachel Scott is traveling with the president. Sources telling ABC News Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering firing members of an influential task force that offers guidance about preventative health services, what it could mean for insurance coverage, a setback for the Trump administration’s war on sanctuary cities, the ruling from a federal judge, and why the Venezuelan Little League baseball team was denied entry into the US. The urgent search for an inmate released by mistake from the same jail where 10 others escaped earlier this year. A popular dating app touted as a space for women to share information about potential male partners has been hacked. What users need to know. The very conscious coupling between Gwennneth Paltro and the company at the center of the Coldplay Kiss Cam scandal. The rookie Major League Baseball player homering his way into the record books. And America Strong tonight. The hearing impaired mother of six charting a new course and breaking barriers. From ABC News World Headquarters in New York, this is World News Tonight. Good evening. Thanks for joining us on this Saturday. I’m Whit Johnson. We begin tonight with more than 80 million Americans suffering under dangerous heat. The brutal stretch from coast to coast. An extreme heat warning is in effect for the Carolinas this weekend. The heat index, what it feels like outside, could reach up to 115 degrees today and tomorrow. New York City reporting nearly 150 heat related ER visits in the past couple of weeks and smoke from the Canadian wildfires is bringing unhealthy air quality to parts of the Northeast including New York City and Boston. Our weather team is standing by with the forecast. But first, ABC’s Morgan Norwood leads us off tonight. An unforgiving and agonizing heat wave baking 80 million from coast to coast. The current epicenter of the heat, the Carolas, where the feels like temperature is up to 115 degrees. Along the Carolina coast, shorelines packed, the waters full of swimmers. Concert goers at Sweetgrass Festival in Mount Pleasant trying to stay cool. It is scorching. We uh really want people to just kind of stay hydrated. In Nashville, fans braving searing temperatures to watch the Titans preseason football practice. Days of temps in the upper 80s and 90s causing this road to buckle in Madison County, Mississippi, forcing the closure of part of Highway 49 until crews could make repairs. Energy providers also say they’re monitoring the heat and are upping the output. And with temperatures climbing, emergency rooms filling up. So far in New York City in just the past couple of weeks, close to 150 heat related ER visits nationwide. On average, more than 67,000 each year. First responders warned the most dangerous signs can be easy to miss. What doesn’t the public realize about heat illness? Well, I I think most people get caught up in your daily life and you don’t realize like uh what he how heat can affect you and and most people there’s no symptoms of it really until it hits you where you feel like you’re dizzy. You’re going to pass out. A brutal reality for Jersey City firefighters battling flames in 70 lbs of gear under extreme heat. We had multiple firefighters actually go down for heat exhaustion, smoke inhilation, and um six of them were sent to the hospital for heat related injuries. And with it’s far from over next week, extreme heat taking aim at the southeast once again. We’re talking about a rare and dangerous heat wave that’s expected to last for days with little relief even at night. Width Morgan Norwood, thanks so much. Let’s get right to meteorologist Danny Becker from our New York station WABC. And Danny, we just heard right there. That dangerous heat, it’s not going anywhere for a while. That’s right, Whit. And the long duration is a major factor in the danger. A single day of temperatures this intense can induce heat related illness. And we have several days of it ahead. Heat alerts for the majority of the eastern half of the country today. All for feels like temps over a hundred. And that holds tomorrow with heat index values in the triple digits from Waco to Witchah over to Washington DC. The heat index will be over 110 in places like Omaha, Savannah, and Wilmington. For the southeast, these numbers don’t move much heading into the work week. The combination of intense heat and stifling humidity keeping the dangerous conditions in play through Wednesday. These numbers go above typical summertime heat, even for those acclimated with the heat risk a level four out of four on Monday in the Mid-Atlantic down to Florida. Little relief is expected during the overnight hours, making the long duration that much more difficult and dangerous. Whit. Okay, we’ll brace for it. Danny Beckram, thank you as always. Next tonight, President Trump is overseas in Scotland, focusing on trade talks, but looming over it all is the Jeffrey Epstein saga. The president is looking to turn the page as some of his own supporters are demanding the administration release the files. ABC’s senior political correspondent Rachel Scott is in Scotland tonight. Tonight, President Trump overseas playing 18 holes at the Trump Turnberry Golf Resort in Scotland earlier today, looking to move past the controversy surrounding the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Trump, can you escape the Jeffrey Epstein crisis? The political firestorm consuming some of his own supporters who have called for the administration to release more files related to Epstein, who died by suicide in jail while awaiting trial. The DOJ and FBI released a joint memo in July saying their review of the case revealed no incriminating client list and they would not disclose any further information. Following the intense backlash, Trump’s deputy attorney general and former personal attorney, Todd Blanch, met with Epstein’s former companion and co-conspirator, Galain Maxwell, for a second straight day. Maxwell is now serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex trafficking to facilitate Epstein serial abuse of underage girls. Sources tell ABC News she requested the meeting with the DOJ and was granted a limited form of immunity so she could answer questions without fearing it could be used against her. She was asked m maybe about a hundred different people. She answered questions about everybody. Um and she didn’t hold anything back. Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly told Trump in May that his name appeared in the Justice Department’s Epstein files multiple times along with other high-profile figures. The president now denies that ever happened. On your name appearing in the Epstein files ever? No, I was never never being named in the Epstein files is not any evidence of wrongdoing, but it could be politically problematic for the president who is eager to move on from this scandal. While here in Scotland, the president will be attending a ribbon cutting ceremony for his family’s new golf course. He will also be meeting one-on-one with the British Prime Minister Kier Starmer to fine-tune the details of a trade deal reached with the United Kingdom. The president’s deadline for other countries to reach a trade deal is August 1st with Rachel Scott. Thank you. And tune in to this week tomorrow morning. Jonathan Carl has a joint interview with Congressman Ro Kana and Thomas Massie about their bipartisan push for releasing more Epstein case documents. Health Secretary RFK Jr. is considering firing members of an influential task force for being too woke. A source tells ABC News the task force offers guidance about preventative health services like cancer screenings and what insurance companies should cover. Tonight, why some are sounding the alarm. Here’s ABC’s senior White House correspondent, Selena Wei. Tonight, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to fire every member of an influential task force that decides what health services, including cancer screening and HIV prevention, must be covered by insurance at no cost to patients, a source tells ABC News. Kennedy, the source, says, plans to oust all 16 members for being too woke. Created in 1984, the task force is a scientifically independent volunteer panel of national experts that determines what screenings, counseling, and preventive treatments insurers must cover. More than 100 million Americans may lose critical preventive services. Ultimately, this is going to create a lot of confusion and erode trust in our systems to be able to provide the care that patients need. A spokesperson for Health and Human Services says no final decision has been made. Last month, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the task force, but ruled the health secretary has the power to remove its members at any time soon after the panel’s July meeting was abruptly cancelled, alarming some Democrats and public health leaders. The task force has come under fire from some conservative activists. A recent essay in the American Conservative calling for it to be dismantled, accusing it of promoting left-wing ideological orthodoxy, including urging doctors to take into account systemic racism. We’re going to use evidence-based science, gold standard science. This comes after Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, removed every member of the Centers for Disease Control’s immunization advisory committee. The new panel handpicked by Kennedy is now made up of just seven members, including some vaccine skeptics. And what outside groups are trying to fill the gap and provide science-based recommendations, but experts say this creates confusion about which group to listen to, warning that ultimately these changes will negatively impact patients. Whit Selena Wang, thank you. Now to a setback for the Trump administration’s war on sanctuary cities. A federal judge dismissing the lawsuit challenging those policies in Chicago. And it comes a day after the administration filed a similar lawsuit against New York City. Here’s ABC’s Melissa Adon. Tonight, Chicago’s mayor and Illinois’s governor supporting a federal judge’s decision to dismiss the Trump administration’s sanctuary city lawsuit. The suit trying to punish cities and states with sanctuary policies, accusing the Windy City along with Cook County and the state of Illinois of illegally hampering immigration enforcement efforts. A federal judge ruling the individual defendants are dismissed because the United States lacks standing to sue them with respect to the sanctuary policies. This comes a day after the Trump administration sued New York City over similar sanctuary city policies. Across the coast in Southern California, immigration enforcement activity continues. Part of the deportation crackdown at multiple workplaces from produce fields to restaurants. And now a leading provider of homeless services reporting fear from their clients seeking aid. This as the ACLU alleges that some people detained in the so-called Alligator Alcatra facility are being held without any criminal or immigration charges. This is also where Florida’s Governor Ronda Santis says hundreds of detainees have departed the first deportation flights from. ABC News speaking to Venezuelan detainees now released from the notorious El Salvador mega prison, alleging physical and psychological abuse. Two months of struggle because those two months were full of beatings. Beatings. They punished us. They mistreated us. In a statement to ABC News, DHS did not address the abuse claims. As concerns over international travel into the US rise, this Venezuelan Little League team had their visas denied, barring them from playing in the Senior Baseball World Series. President Trump banning at least a dozen countries from traveling to the US, citing national security concerns. Whit a senior state department official tells us they are reviewing the Venezuelan little league team’s case to ensure that proper procedures were followed. Whit. All right, Melissa Don, thank you. Overseas now to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel now saying it will allow aid drops amid growing outrage over malnutrition and starvation, especially among children. The urgent call for a ceasefire as talks collapse. And we want to warn you, these images are disturbing. Here’s ABC’s Anes Decater. Tonight, the frantic search for food in Gaza. Hungry mobs swarming the few aid trucks getting in and thousands walking for miles, desperate for a single meal. I have come all this way, risking my life for my children, says this woman. My children have not eaten for a week. As the media is banned from entering Gaza, tens of thousands on the brink of starvation as Israel continues to block aid from getting in. Inside this pediatric ward, deeply disturbing scenes. Children crying out in pain. Their shrinking bodies too weak to move. An additional five people dying from starvation in just the last 24 hours, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, bringing the total to 127. among them, five-month-old baby Zanab. “I have been in the hospital for three months to no avail,” says her mother. “No one listens.” Meanwhile, dozens killed overnight trying to reach that desperately needed aid after Israeli forces allegedly opened fire on civilians in two separate incidents, according to local officials. Facing mounting international pressure tonight, the IDF resuming aid airdrops in Gaza and announcing changes in its procedures, saying humanitarian corridors will be established to facilitate the movement of UN aid convoys, adding it is ready to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas. Aid agencies warn airrops are the most inefficient way to get aid in. And Israel now saying it will implement a short humanitarian pause on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations are deadlocked. Both the US and Israel have pulled out of those talks. President Trump telling Israel to quote, “Finish the job and get rid of Hamas.” Whit and Nezda Catera, our thanks to you tonight. Back here in the US, the intense search for an inmate mistakenly released from a New Orleans jail. It’s the same facility where 10 men escaped back in May, triggering a massive manhunt. The new details coming in tonight and why investigators have not ruled out charges against the deputies involved. Here’s ABC’s Alex Brchet. Tonight, an urgent manhunt is underway in Louisiana after authorities say they mistakenly released the wrong inmate. Khil Bryan has been accused of violent crimes, according to the New Orleans Police Department, including aggravated assault with a firearm and aggravated burglary. But on Friday, the 30-year-old was released from the Orleans Justice Center due to a human error. The Orleans Parish Sheriff says staff confused his last name with that of another inmate. The mistaken release of Khalil Bryant was a serious error, and as sheriff, I take full responsibility. This is the same jail that 10 inmates escaped from back in May. One of those individuals, Derek Groves, is still on the run. At the time of Brian’s mistaken release, he was being held on a $100,000 bench warrant and an additional $25,000 bond linked to new felony charges. The sheriff says her office is in the process of reaching out to all the victims and witnesses involved in Brian’s prosecution. The New Orleans Police Department’s violent offender warrant squad is actively searching for Brian and our department is responding with urgency. Well, in wet tonight, the Orleans Parish District Attorney tells ABC News that he has not ruled out possible charges against the deputies involved in Brian’s release, saying that we will follow the leads. Wait, Alex Brchet, thank you. Still ahead on World News Tonight this Saturday, hackers break into a dating app designed for women. Thousands of online images compromised. And in baseball, a rookie homers his way into the record books. Stay with us. Next tonight, a popular app which touts itself as allowing women to anonymously share information about men has been hacked. Officials with TE saying the breach affects more than 72,000 images, including user photo IDs. The company insisting no phone numbers or email addresses were accessed. When we come back, details on a night at the plate one big league rookie called pretty remarkable to the index now. Tech company Astronomer is not hiding from the Coldplay jumbotron incident. The firm enlisting actress Gwennneth Paltro as a temporary spokesperson in a PR video. Paltro, the former wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, giving information about the company while not addressing the Kiss Cam controversy itself. Now to baseball and a rookie historic performance. The athletics Nick Curts slamming four home runs in last night’s 15-3 win over Houston. Curts the first rookie to reach that mark in a single game. The 22-year-old calling it pretty remarkable. It sure was. When we come back, technology helps a Texas mom achieve a longtime dream. Finally tonight, the sound of success. Nicole Everett is a proud mother of six from Fort Worth, Texas. Diagnosed with severe hearing loss in both ears when she was five. But that never stopped her from living life to the fullest. And 3 weeks ago, Nicole started on a new journey, beginning medical school at age 36, inspired in part by a doctor on TV. I had been watching ER reruns and there are a couple episodes where there is a deaf physician that Dr. Benton is working with. The door opened. A dream now made possible thanks to new technology. I was just a mom and I was just a kid with hearing loss. I’m trying to walk back that kind of vocabulary, right? Because I’m in fact a medical student at a special ceremony this week. Good afternoon everyone. Nicole received a personalized Bluetooth enabled stethoscope that links to her hearing aids. I’m excited. And with her family right there beside her, listening to her son’s beating heart clearly for the first time. You want to check it out? Nicole’s perseverance inspiring others as she redefineses what can and can’t be done. You can do anything that you put your mind to. And it doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s timeline. Thanks for watching. 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.

Morgan Norwood reports from New York, more than 80 million Americans are under extreme heat alerts with the heat index reaching as high as 115; Rachel Scott reports from Edinburgh, Scotland, where President Trump is getting ready to meet with world leaders on trade ahead of the August 1st tariff deadline; Melissa Adan reports from Los Angeles, cities react to a federal judge’s decision to dismiss the Trump Administration’s lawsuit against sanctuary cities and more on tonight’s broadcast of World News Tonight with David Muir.

00:00 Intro
01:56 more than 80 million Americans are under extreme heat alerts with the heat index reaching as high as 115
05:19 President Trump is getting ready to meet with world leaders on trade ahead of the August 1st tariff deadline
07:49 HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy, Junior plans to fire all of the members of an influential task force that decides what health services must be covered by insurance at no cost to patients, sources say
10:11 cities react to a federal judge’s decision to dismiss the Trump Administration’s lawsuit against sanctuary cities
12:26 the IDF says it has resumed air drops to Gaza amid an urgent humanitarian crisis
14:34 an urgent search is under way for a New Orleans inmate who was mistakenly released from jail
16:25 the popular Tea app which allows women to anonymously share information about men has been hacked
16:52 Astronomer, the company at the center of the Cold Play kisscam scandal, has hired Chris Martin’s ex-wife Gweneth Paltrow as its “temporary spokesperson”
17:13 Athletics’ Nick Kurtz becomes the first rookie to hit 4 home runs in a game
17:38 the inspiring story of a woman with severe hearing loss who has now entered medical school

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir delivers the news that matters most. Watch to get the latest news stories and headlines from around the world.

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