ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - Dec. 16, 2025

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 as we come on the air here late today, the Los Angeles County D.A. revealing Rob Reiner's son, Nick Reiner, will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of his parents, Rob and Michelle Reiner. For the first time here, images showing the moment Nick Reiner is arrested and what we've now learned tonight about what played out in the hours before the murders. Also breaking just in tonight, new surveillance of the person of interest, considered armed and dangerous and still on the run tonight after the mass shooting

at Brown University. What the FBI wants you to focus on here. Tonight, an MIT professor who taught nuclear science shot multiple times, found in his Boston area home, dying at the hospital. The search underway right now.

Tonight, the explosive interview from inside President Trump's inner circle. His chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who prefers staying in the background, gives nearly a dozen on-the-record interviews to Vanity Fair, revealing she was the child of an alcoholic and saying President Trump has, quote, an alcoholic's personality. What she says about Vice President J.D. Vance, what she says about Jeffrey Epstein, and the

attorney general's handling of the case. Tonight, President Trump responding to Suzy Wiles' comments about him, quote, having an alcoholic's personality. Dramatic new images tonight emerging of that horrific massacre on the first night of Hanukkah. Dash cam video now showing that heroic couple in their 60s, and what they try to do, you'll see it, going after the gunman here in the U. S. Tonight the flood emergency now turning deadly and a major change

coming for much of the country. Ginger Z is here. Police chasing a stolen car, the driver losing control, crashing and the explosion. The disappointing news tonight coming in on the rolling stones. We have it and nine days left until Christmas. Our great made in America Christmas on the hunt opening doors shaking hands tonight your new ideas from the chocolates to the secret sauce to the wooden board game celebrating your favorite team. It's a home run.

Made in America.

From abc News World headquarters in New York, this is World News Tonight with David Muir. Good evening. We begin tonight here with the breaking news. Late today, the Los Angeles County District Attorney revealing Rob Reiner's son, Nick Reiner, will face first-degree murder charges in the deaths of his parents, Rob and Michelle Reiner. And for the first time tonight, we're now seeing images showing police arresting Nick Reiner near USC, hours after the murders were first reported. Nick Reiner accused of fatally stabbing his parents

with a knife. He is currently being held without bail. Sources telling ABC News tonight, the bodies of Rob and Michelle Reiner were discovered by their daughter in their home in Brentwood.

And we're learning more tonight about the final hours leading up to those horrific murders. Sources say Rob Reiner and his son Nick got into an argument at a holiday party Saturday night, where some say Nick Reiner was seen acting strangely. For years, Nick Reiner has spoken openly about his battle with addiction, in one interview saying, quote, I'm lucky I have parents that care about me. ABC's Trevor Ault leading us off from Los Angeles tonight.

Tonight for the first time, we're seeing the moment Nick Reiner, the son of star director Rob Reiner, was taken into custody late Sunday, handcuffed, surrounded by LAPD and US Marshals just hours after his parents were found stabbed to death. Late today, the LA District Attorney

announcing the charges, two counts of first-degree murder.

Rob Reiner was a brilliant actor and director, an iconic force in our entertainment industry for decades. His wife, Michelle Singer Reiner, was an equally iconic photographer and producer. Their loss is beyond tragic. And we have we will commit ourselves to bringing

their murderer to justice.

The D.A. says Nick Reiner stabbed his parents to death with a knife. He's now awaiting medical clearance before his arraignment. The 32-year-old has hired high-profile criminal defense attorney Alan Jackson, who most recently defended Karen Reid as she was acquitted of murder.

Every single inmate goes through a medical clearance before they can be transported to court. Every one of them. And that's a process. It's just a procedural issue. And he has not yet been medically cleared. So he will be here hopefully tomorrow.

And we're learning more details about the hours leading up to those gruesome murders. Sources say Saturday night Rob Reiner and his son got into an argument at Conan O'Brien's holiday party and that Nick was seen acting strangely. The next afternoon, sources say Reiner's daughter found her parents' bodies inside their Brentwood home.

This case is heartbreaking and deeply personal, not only for the Reiner family and their loved ones but for our entire city.

A former security guard tells ABC Nick Reiner had been staying on the Reiner's property. Nick has been open about struggling with drug addiction since he was a teenager. In a 2018 podcast, he described how he once destroyed his parents' guest house while high on meth.

I was up for days on end and I started punching out different things in my guest house. I think I started with the TV and then I went over to the lamp and then progressive I just everything in the guest house got wrecked. They told me I

had to go. A decade before the murders when Nick and his father were promoting

their film inspired by Nick struggles he said he was grateful for his parents

patience. I think I'm lucky in the sense that I have parents that care about me and because of that when I would go out and do you know things like drugs and and

stuff like that I'd feel a tremendous amount of guilt. As the son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner said he understood the pressures his own son faced growing up in a famous family.

They don't know what he's gone through. They don't know why he's done what he does. And, you know, and it's pretty dumb, pretty ignorant of people to say just because you're, you know, you're born and you have money and that doesn't mean anything.

And overnight, former first lady Michelle Obama revealing to Jimmy Kimmel that she and the former president had plans to see the Reiners the night they were found dead.

We've known them for many, many years and we were supposed to be seeing them that night, last night, and we got the news.

And after President Trump made the jarring claim that Rob Reiner was killed because he was anti-Trump, Michelle Obama passionately defended her friend.

Unlike some people, Rob and Michelle Reiner are some of the most decent, courageous people you ever wanna know.

And tonight the Reiners are being remembered. Jane Fonda saying, I saw them night before last looking healthy and happy. I am reeling with grief. All in the family co-star Sally Struthers saying there are no words, this is beyond devastating.

And Jamie Lee Curtis saying our only focus and care right now is for their children and immediate families. And David, the DA did not reveal what potential sentence they would wish to pursue, but if convicted of these first degree murder charges, Nick Reiner could possibly face life in prison without parole or potentially even the death penalty.

David. Just an awful tragedy. Trevor Ruhl leading us off again tonight. Trevor, thank you. And tonight, the ABC News special right here, The Rob Reiner Story, a Hollywood tragedy. It's 10 p.m. Eastern on ABC tonight, then streaming on Disney Plus and Hulu. Also just in tonight here the FBI and Providence police late today releasing new surveillance of the person of interest considered armed and

dangerous and still on the run tonight after that deadly mass shooting at Brown University. Here's Whit Johnson with the images tonight. Tonight authorities releasing a trove of new images in the intense manhunt to locate the shooter who killed two students and injured others at Brown University. And for the first time, police saying a person of interest may have been near the scene at

10.30 that morning.

We believe that he was actually casing out this area to commit the crime.

The latest enhanced surveillance video showing that person of interest wearing a mask, dark clothing and a two-toned coat idling on a street corner. This video capturing him from the front. In some clips, the man has a small bag slung across his chest, and others, that bag, nowhere in sight.

You want to focus on the body movements, the way the person moved their arms, the body posture, the way they carried their weight. I think those are important movement patterns that may help you identify this individual.

The FBI describing him as a male, approximately 5'8", with a stocky build. Investigators piecing together a timeline of his movements before and after the shooting. Nearly two hours before the attack, at 2.18pm, the man seen walking past this home. Then, minutes later, running down the street and turning the corner. At 2.53pm, the man crossing the street with a distinctive walk. Authorities say the shooting occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Soon after, the man appearing to walk away from

the building as a police car pulls up. At 4.06 p.m., the man seen not far from the location of the attack. And David, police are again asking the public to take a close look at these new surveillance images, hoping someone will recognize this person of interest. And tonight we're also learning that seven of the nine students injured remain in the hospital. One is still in critical

condition. David with Johnson with us again tonight with thank you. We turned out of the explosive interview from inside President Trump's inner circle, his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who has preferred to stay in the background, giving nearly a dozen on the record interviews to Vanity Fair, revealing she was the child of an alcoholic and saying President Trump has quote an alcoholic's personality tonight.

President Trump responding to Susie Wiles comments as for Wiles, she says the story is a hit piece. Mary Bruce at the White House.

She is president Trump's most powerful and trusted aid more comfortable behind the scenes than in the spotlight.

Suzy like to say sort of in the back.

The ice.

But tonight White House chief of staff Suzy Wiles pulling back the curtain in an extraordinary series of interviews with Vanity Fair. Wiles, who says her father was an alcoholic, describes her boss, the president, as having an alcoholic's personality, noting that Trump, who does not drink, operates with the view that there's nothing he can't do. Nothing.

Zero. Nothing. Wiles also has choice words for Vice President J. D. Vance discussing the push to release the FBI files into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Wiles says Vance has been a conspiracy theorist for a decade. Vance today responding. Sometimes I am a conspiracy

theorist, but I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true.

Wiles also points a finger at Attorney General Pam Bondi, saying Bondi completely whiffed her handling of demands to release the files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients?

Will that really happen?

It's sitting on my desk right now to review.

Wiles telling Vanity Fair there is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn't on bondi's desk. She does acknowledge the president himself is in the Epstein files but not doing anything awful. She says the 2 men were sort of young single playboys together. Trump has fought efforts to release the Epstein files instead ordering bondi to investigate Epstein's relationship with Democrats like former president Bill Clinton. But Wiles tells Vanity Fair the files include no incriminating evidence about Clinton,

saying the president was wrong about that. She also says this claim about Clinton is not true.

I never went to the island, and Bill Clinton went there supposedly 28 times.

Wiles telling Vanity Fair there is no evidence Clinton ever visited Epstein's private island. The president tonight standing behind Wiles, telling the New York Post she's fantastic. As for his chief of staff's claim he has an alcoholic's personality, Trump saying, I don't drink alcohol. So everybody knows that. But I've often said that if I did, I'd have a very good chance of being an alcoholic.

I've said that many times about myself. I do. It's a very possessive personality. And David Wiles also acknowledges that the president has sought retribution against some of his enemies, saying, quote,

"'When there's an opportunity, he will go for it.'" Tonight, Wiles calls the article a disingenuously framed hit piece, though she doesn't deny saying these things.

David. Mary Bruce, live at the White House. Mary, thank you. Overseas tonight, dramatic new images emerging of the horrific massacre on Bondi Beach, Australia. Dash cam video showing a heroic couple in their 60s trying to stop one of the gunmen by grabbing his rifle, hitting him with the weapon.

Boris and Sophia Gurman were the first two people killed in the assault. He then opened fire on them. Authorities say the father and son who carried out that terror attack had an ISIS flag on their car, and that they visited the southern part of the Philippines just last month, where ISIS is very active.

Back in the U.S. tonight, the flood emergency has turned deadly now in Washington State. state authorities say the driver of a car on a flooded roadway sinking in about six feet of water. That driver did not survive. Multiple levees breaking over the last 24 hours. Hundreds of residents in several communities now forced to evacuate. And for the rest of the country tonight a major change coming as well. So let's get right to chief meteorologist Ginger Zee back with us

tonight. And Ginger what is seen unfolding in the northwest? It's awful David and the heaviest rain hasn't even fallen yet it will tonight and again on Thursday you can see right there on all of the alerts this is also a very windy storm. So you've got in the Olympics and in the Cascades blizzard warnings but those high wind warnings for gusts up to 90 through the northern Rockies like Montana into the plains South and North Dakota to let's time it out it's tonight with the just Eureka all the way up through the Cascades

that is just heavy, heavy rain, 2 to 4 inches widespread. And then you get another surge of it after the break tomorrow. The totals look like that, 4 to 6 inches in total by the end of the week. And real quick, David, I have to note that we are looking much warmer

for Christmas week for almost the entire nation. Ginger Zee, back with us tonight. We'll see you first thing in the morning on GMA. Thank you, Ginger. There is yet another developing story as we're on the air here. Here's Melissa Adan.

David, we have breaking news to report out of the White House, a dramatic escalation of President Trump's actions towards Venezuela. The president announcing a blockade of all oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela, designating the Maduro regime a foreign terrorist organization.

It comes as the administration has launched a barrage of deadly attacks on alleged drug boats from Venezuela. The president has warned of land strikes to come.

David.

Melissa, thanks. When we come back tonight, disappointing news coming in on the Rolling Stones, what we've learned. Also tonight, an MIT professor who taught nuclear science has been shot multiple times found in his Boston area home dying at

the hospital. There is a search right now. What we've learned also police chasing a stolen car, the driver losing control right here, the crash and the explosion and later tonight, nine days left are made in America. Christmas on the hunt, opening doors, shaking all those hands, small businesses across the country. Tonight your new ideas, chocolates, the secret sauce you told us about, and the wooden game

board celebrating your favorite team. We love those three words. Stay tuned here. Tonight outside Boston, police are investigating the deadly shooting of an MIT professor found in his home in Brookline. Authorities say Nuno Lerero, who taught nuclear science, was found shot multiple times at his home.

He was rushed to the hospital, dying hours later. No word tonight on a motive or any possible suspects. Tonight, dramatic images here. The suspect had a stolen Ferrari crashing into a utility pole in Miami. A police cruiser trying to stop that Ferrari, then the crash causing explosion, knocking out power in the area. That suspect attempted to flee on foot now under arrest. When we come back tonight, that news coming in on the Rolling Stones here and our made in America Christmas, your new ideas

tonight. Three really good ones with nine days left. Next of other news tonight, a new addition to the endangered orca population in Washington state's Puget Sound. A newborn calf, about other news tonight, a new addition to the endangered orca population in Washington State's Puget Sound. A newborn calf about a week old spotted swimming with a group of adult whales. Tonight researchers cautiously optimistic for the calf in the endangered pod. This is their first calf there in three years.

Tonight the Rolling Stones calling off plans for a 2026 stadium tour of the UK and Europe according to Variety. Keith Richards, who will be 82 on Thursday, didn't want to make a four month commitment. But happy birthday, Keith. When we come back tonight,

a little more than a week left until Christmas, three great ideas you sent our way, delicious, smart, and the game meant to get you back around the kitchen table in a moment. Finally tonight here, our great Made in America Christmas, celebrating small businesses across this country, hoping to create some American jobs with what you put under the tree.

Tonight, our great made it America Christmas nine days to go.

Hi, David.

World News Tonight viewer David Neff from Philadelphia telling us about Asher's Chocolate Company.

My favorite gift for this holiday season is the Asher's assortment of white and dark chocolate.

The snow on the ground outside their shop in Southern Pennsylvania just north of Philly. The chocolate inside. Customers lining up.

I gave it this is the best chocolate in America behind the

counter I did it Mel was koski with Asher's for 43 years.

These 2 guests of our in our candy case.

Family owned since 1892.

chocolate covered pretzels almond bark to dark chocolate caramel marshmallows, the list goes on and on. Wrapping the chocolates, adding their label.

Hey, America!

In Bowie, Maryland, tonight, outside Washington, D.C., the company Capital City and their signature mumbo sauce. Hey, David! Co-founder and and CEO Arsha Jones welcome to our warehouse since 2011 their secret sauce they say perfect and just about anything sweet tangy tomato based 100,000 bottles a month. They're hiring for us made in America isn't

just a label in the supporting local jobs made in America.

And in Saint, Missouri tonight, the family-owned, handcrafted wooden games company across the board.

Hi, David.

Owner Kim McDaniel, and just listen to who they're teaming up with.

We're honored to be officially licensed by MLB, PGA Tour, NHL, Kentucky Derby, NCAA, just to name a few.

The Colorado Rockies baseball field, the Houston Astros, the finishing touches on the Atlanta Braves field. Your team is next. 25 workers in all, they've now made more than 1 million games. Kim and her late husband Ryan started this

with one goal in mind. To get families back around the kitchen table and away from their screens.

We think their idea is a home run in time for Christmas.

Made in America!

We love those three words, Made in America, we'll keep it going. And a reminder, the Rob Reiner special tonight, 10 p.m. Eastern, right here on ABC. I'm David Muir, I'll see you right back here tomorrow night, goodnight.

David Muir, the most watched newscast in America. David Muir, 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.