Full Episode: Wednesday, April 22, 2026

World News Tonight with David Muir delivers a high-stakes, breaking-news-packed episode on April 22, 2026, covering multiple global and domestic crises. The broadcast opens with devastating wildfires spreading across Florida and Georgia, fueled by extreme drought and threatening over 50 homes, while also disrupting rail travel and incinerating thousands of acres in the Everglades. Simultaneously, the war in Iran escalates as Iranian forces seize multiple cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz, defying a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, prompting international concern and fuel shortages. Domestically, a deadly chemical leak at a West Virginia plant kills two workers and hospitalizes over 30, while Texas sees two back-to-back home explosions linked to natural gas buildup, injuring several, including a child. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces intense scrutiny over the nation’s measles outbreak and the Pentagon’s decision to drop the flu vaccine mandate for military personnel. In a somber moment, the passing of longtime Georgia Congressman David Scott is mourned, and a shocking case emerges involving singer David Burke, charged with the murder of a 14-year-old. The episode closes on a hopeful note with the debut of Lin Mai, a rare endangered Asian elephant born at the Smithsonian National Zoo, marking a milestone for conservation on Earth Day.