00:01Senators finally passed a Homeland Security funding bill in the wee hours of the morning
00:05before heading home for Easter break.
00:08How the measure ices out ice, but without Democrats getting the reforms they had hoped for.
00:13Plus, President Trump extends the deadline for Iran to open the key oil shipping passageway, the Strait of Hormuz.
00:20How much longer he's giving the Iranians to comply with U.S. demands.
00:24And an alleged serial killer accused of terrorizing women on Long Island dating back to 1993 might be ready to
00:33admit it.
00:36The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world.
00:41These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:47Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli. We begin with breaking news this morning.
00:51The U.S. Senate early Friday passed a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security and end the partial
00:58government shutdown.
00:59Senators worked late into the night, finally coming to an agreement after 2 this morning Eastern time.
01:05The vote seemingly ends the standoff that led to massive lines and long wait times at airports across the country
01:12as TSA employees have been working without pay for 40 days and faced missing their second paycheck in a row
01:19today.
01:20In that time, nearly 500 TSA employees have quit and thousands have called out sick, leading to those long lines
01:28at the airports.
01:29The Senate bill would fund all of DHS except ice enforcement and removal operations,
01:34and parts of Customs and Border Protection, which have been sticking points for Democrats
01:39in the wake of the deadly ice shootings of two American citizens in Minneapolis in January.
01:45However, Democrats did not get the ice restrictions they were seeking on such things as ice agents wearing masks
01:51and judicial warrants before entering a home.
01:54Since the White House and Republicans refused Democrats' demands,
01:57senators agreed to strip out ice funding from the measure completely and pursue that in a separate bill.
02:04The House is expected to take up this bill when it meets today, ahead of a two-week recess.
02:10Even if they don't pass it, President Trump has said he will have newly sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary Mark
02:17Wayne Mullen,
02:17quote, immediately pay our TSA agents in order to address this emergency situation.
02:23President Trump has once again delayed his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
02:29It had been today, but has now pushed back into early April.
02:34The President announced Thursday he's giving Iran more time to reopen the crucial global oil shipping lane
02:40or face massive attacks to the country's critical infrastructure.
02:44Trump wrote on Truth Social,
02:46As per Iranian government request,
02:49I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction by 10 days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 p
02:57.m. Eastern Time.
02:58Talks are ongoing, and despite erroneous statements to the contrary, they are going well.
03:03During a cabinet meeting Thursday, Trump stated that Iran allowed several oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as a
03:10show of good faith.
03:10Oil prices edged slightly higher early this morning following Trump's announcement,
03:16with Brent crude, the global benchmark, up more than 1%, to about $109 a barrel at one point.
03:23The U.S. benchmark is also up more than 1%, sitting at around $95 per barrel this morning.
03:29Meanwhile, the Israeli military continues its attacks on Iran,
03:34saying this morning it struck ballistic missile and aerial defense system production sites across the country overnight,
03:40including in the capital of Tehran.
03:43The Israel Defense Forces also says it hit a key sea mine production facility.
03:47A federal judge in San Francisco temporarily blocked two Trump administration actions against Anthropic.
03:54The Pentagon's move to label the AI company a supply chain risk and President Donald Trump's directive
04:01telling federal agencies to stop using Anthropic's technology, including the chatbot Claude.
04:07U.S. District Judge Rita Lynn issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday, pausing those measures while the case proceeds.
04:15In her order, Lynn wrote that the government's actions appeared arbitrary and capricious,
04:20and said the authority had typically been used against foreign adversaries, not American companies.
04:26The case centers on how the military could use Anthropic's AI tools.
04:31NPR and AP reported that Anthropic said it would not allow Claude to be used for autonomous weapons or to
04:38surveil American citizens,
04:40while the Pentagon argued the military should decide how to use tools it buys from contractors.
04:46Lynn wrote that if the concern were the chain of command,
04:48the Pentagon could simply stop using Claude.
04:51Instead, she wrote, the measures appeared intended to punish Anthropic.
04:56A victory for the Trump administration and the federal government
04:59when it comes to its raid and seizure of ballots and boxes of election materials in Georgia
05:05pertaining to the 2020 presidential election.
05:07The federal judge has ruled the FBI agent who oversaw the operation in Fulton County earlier this year
05:14will not have to testify at a hearing in the case later today.
05:18Fulton County officials are seeking the return of the ballots seized in that raid.
05:23They subpoenaed Hugh Raymond Evans to testify, claiming he misstated and omitted key facts in obtaining the search warrant for
05:31the election site.
05:31However, a U.S. district judge ruled in favor of the federal government on Thursday and quashed the subpoena.
05:38The FBI took more than 700 boxes of ballots and documentation from the Fulton County Elections Hub at Operations Center
05:45in late January.
05:46President Trump has long claimed there was voter fraud in the 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.
05:53However, audits and numerous court cases have legally rejected his allegations and efforts to challenge the results.
05:59A man accused of preying on women on Long Island, New York for nearly two decades is reportedly ready to
06:06admit that he's a serial killer.
06:07Multiple news outlets are reporting that Rex Heuerman will change his plea from not guilty to guilty next month to
06:15killing seven women.
06:16Heuerman is a former architect accused of carrying out the so-called Gilgo Beach murders decades ago, some involving prostitutes.
06:24The families of the victims reportedly have been notified.
06:28Prosecutors say they have DNA evidence and cell phone records from Heuerman's Long Island home tying him to the killings.
06:34Searchers blew the case wide open in 2010 when they found human remains along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach.
06:41Police later discovered other victims near the shore and in remote areas.
06:45It took more than a decade for investigators to pinpoint Heuerman as a suspect and make the arrest in 2023.
06:53Investigators reportedly have cell phone records indicating the alleged killer had been in touch with the victims
06:58and a search of his computer supposedly turned up a checklist described as a blueprint of how to commit the
07:04murders and destroy evidence.
07:06He is expected to plead guilty at his next court appearance on April 8th.
07:10Finally this morning, President Trump is bucking tradition and soon to become the first sitting president whose signature will be
07:18featured on paper currency.
07:19The U.S. Treasury Department made the announcement Thursday saying it's part of Trump's broader celebration of the United States'
07:27250th anniversary.
07:28His name will appear alongside that of Treasury Secretary Scott Besant on the $100 bill starting in June, with other
07:36bills to be printed in the following months.
07:38The U.S. Treasurer's name, which has been printed on money for more than 165 years, will be taken off.
07:44This marks the latest move to put Trump on money.
07:47Just last week, a federal arts panel unanimously approved a commemorative gold coin featuring Donald Trump's image,
07:55part of a series of coins the U.S. Mint will produce as part of America's 250th birthday celebrations.
08:01It will be the first time a sitting or living president will be featured on a coin.
08:06Federal law bars living people from appearing on coins,
08:10but the Trump administration claims the Treasury Department has the authority in this case.
08:16All right, before we head out, here's what we're tracking today.
08:18At 9 a.m. Eastern, a federal judge will begin hearing arguments over whether the FBI should have to return
08:24ballots
08:25and other materials seized in Fulton County, Georgia, as part of the Trump administration's investigation into the 2020 election.
08:32Also at 9, the U.S. House of Representatives will meet, expected to vote on the Senate's bill to fund
08:37the DHS,
08:39likely ending the partial government shutdown that's caused massive lines and wait times at airports nationwide.
08:45At 5.30 this evening, President Trump will headline Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative Priority Summit in Miami.
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09:03Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Friday.
09:05We'll see you back here on Monday.
09:06For all of us at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
09:09Have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend.
09:11We'll see you on Monday.
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