00:01President Trump says the war in Iran is not slowing down.
00:05This morning, the question, how long does this go?
00:08Plus, nearly three dozen countries scrambling to reopen a critical oil route.
00:12The U.S. sitting it out after Trump tells allies it's their problem.
00:17And we have liftoff.
00:19Artemis II is up and already on its way toward the moon.
00:22This morning, the first check on how that mission is holding up.
00:28The stories that matter, clear and credible from across the country to around the world.
00:34These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:40Good morning. I'm Craig DeGrelly.
00:42We begin this morning with President Donald Trump saying the war with Iran could end soon,
00:47but offering no clear timeline.
00:49In a primetime address Wednesday, Trump said the United States is on track to complete
00:54its military objectives shortly, but did not give a specific end date.
00:59He also repeated that negotiations are underway.
01:02Iran continues to deny that.
01:04An Iranian military spokesman responded Thursday,
01:07warning of stronger, wider and more destructive attacks against the U.S. and Israel.
01:13State media now reports Iran's military says the war will continue until it forces what it calls
01:19surrender and permanent regret.
01:22And while Trump says the conflict could wrap up in two or three weeks,
01:26he also made clear more strikes are coming.
01:29Thanks to the progress we've made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete
01:34all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly.
01:39We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.
01:43We're going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong.
01:48Yet, if during this period of time no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets.
01:54If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very
02:00hard and probably simultaneously.
02:02We have not hit their oil, even though that's the easiest target of all,
02:07because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding.
02:13But we could hit it and it would be gone and there's not a thing they could do about it.
02:19The White House is also warning of new threats in the region.
02:22The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is urging all Americans to leave immediately, citing intelligence that Iran-aligned militias
02:29could launch attacks in the next 24 to 48 hours.
02:32And U.S. allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, report fresh Iranian attacks overnight.
02:40In a related topic, leaders from more than three dozen countries are meeting today to try to reopen the Strait
02:46of Hormuz
02:47after Iran blocked one of the world's most critical oil routes.
02:51The meeting comes as oil prices jump more than 6% and Asian markets slide after President Trump said the
02:58U.S. will continue to hit Iran hard.
03:01Iran has restricted passage through the Strait since the fighting began on February 28th,
03:06disrupting a key shipping lane that carries a major share of the world's oil.
03:11Prices have stayed above $100 a barrel for much of the past month.
03:15Thirty-five countries are taking part, including the U.K., which is hosting the talks,
03:20along with France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.
03:25The U.S. is not attending.
03:27Trump says securing the waterway is not America's responsibility, telling allies to, quote,
03:32go get your own oil.
03:34So far, no country has stepped forward to reopen the Strait by force,
03:38though the UAE has offered to help the U.S. do so.
03:41U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer says military planners are working on options to protect shipping once the fighting ends.
03:49In Washington, Republicans now say they have a plan to reopen Homeland Security,
03:54while pushing a separate path to fund immigration enforcement without Democrats.
04:00The deal would restart funding for parts of the Department of Homeland Security through September after weeks of disruption.
04:06That includes agencies like the TSA, where long lines and staffing issues have already hit airports and caused major backups.
04:14But immigration enforcement is being split off.
04:17Republicans say ICE and Border Patrol would continue operating using existing funds while they work on a new funding bill.
04:24President Trump is pushing the plan, calling for a GOP-only bill that bypasses the Senate filibuster.
04:31He's setting a deadline of June 1st to get the legislation to his desk.
04:36Senate Majority Leader John Thune is backing the approach after the Senate already passed a version of the funding plan.
04:42House Speaker Mike Johnson had rejected that plan late Friday night, but he's now on board with this two-track
04:48strategy.
04:48Democrats say they're open to restarting DHS funding, but continue to oppose funding immigration enforcement without new limits on how
04:57agents operate,
04:58such as no masks and judicial warrants before entering a person's home.
05:03The Senate could take up the plan as early as this morning.
05:06It is still unclear when the House will move or if Republicans can stay unified long enough to get it
05:12passed.
05:12The Trump administration is lifting sanctions on Venezuela's acting president, opening the door to closer ties and new business with
05:21the United States.
05:22Treasury officials removed Delce Rodriguez from the U.S. sanctions list, reversing restrictions that had been in place since 2018.
05:31That move allows her to access certain blocked assets and work with American companies and investors.
05:37A notice from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control shows her name deleted from the specially designated nationals
05:46list.
05:47The decision follows a major shift in Venezuela.
05:50U.S. forces captured former leader Nicolas Maduro earlier this year and brought him to New York to face drug
05:56trafficking charges.
05:57He has pleaded not guilty.
05:59Rodriguez, once Maduro's deputy, is now leading the country and working directly with the Trump administration.
06:04The U.S. formally recognized her as Venezuela's leader last month and has begun steps to reopen its embassy in
06:12Caracas.
06:13The administration is also easing restrictions on Venezuela's oil sector, allowing U.S. companies to invest and operate there.
06:21After more than 50 years without a clear answer, a Utah teen's killing is now definitively tied to one of
06:28America's most notorious serial killers.
06:3117-year-old Laura Ann Amy disappeared on Halloween night in 1974 after leaving a party alone.
06:39Searchers found her body about a month later.
06:41Investigators had long suspected Ted Bundy, but until now they could not prove it.
06:46A jury convicted Bundy of multiple murders in Florida in 1979 and the state executed him in 1989.
06:54Before his death, he confessed to killing 30 women, though investigators believe the number could be far higher.
07:01Although Bundy did claim that he committed the murder of Laura, the confession he gave was deemed to be not
07:07enough evidence to close the case.
07:08We can now say, without a doubt, that Theodore Ted Bundy did in fact murder Laura Ann Amy in the
07:15fall of 1974.
07:16And that law enforcement now has DNA testing results that are compatible with the latest DNA testing standards.
07:23This will make any future DNA test comparison easier for those law enforcement agencies who still have open cases involving
07:31Bundy.
07:32Ted Bundy has been linked to killings across a bunch of states, including Utah, Florida, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, California, Vermont,
07:41and Pennsylvania, with crimes dating back to at least 1969.
07:46Finally this morning, a big moment for the U.S. space program.
07:50I hope you saw it.
07:52Artemis II lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center last night, and the Orion capsule is now in orbit around
07:58Earth, preparing to head toward the moon.
08:01RS-25 engines lit.
08:04Four, three, two, one.
08:08Booster ignition and liftoff.
08:11The crew of Artemis II now bound for the moon.
08:14Humanity's next great voyage begins.
08:18That was awesome.
08:20The launch went off without a hitch, with crowds watching along Florida's space coast.
08:24The spacecraft now begins a four-day journey traveling roughly 248,000 miles to the moon.
08:30The crew will not land.
08:32Instead, they'll circle the moon and head back.
08:34A full test run for NASA's plan to return astronauts to the lunar surface as early as next year.
08:40Longer term, the program is designed to push human exploration toward Mars.
08:45Artemis II is the first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years.
08:50Wow.
08:50With four astronauts on board.
08:52Today, the crew is running system checks, testing communications, navigation, and propulsion to make sure the spacecraft is ready for
08:59the 10-day mission.
09:00And on Monday, they hit a key milestone, entering the moon's sphere of influence, where lunar gravity takes over and
09:08Orion begins its pass around the moon.
09:10I am so glad I saw it.
09:12It was like watching history.
09:13And I said it was fantastic.
09:15All right, before we head out, a special shout-out this morning to Mr. Patrick Yauch and his Washington, D
09:21.C. seminar class at Milton High School in Wisconsin.
09:24I held a Zoom call with the class yesterday and fielded questions on a variety of topics, many of them
09:30current events.
09:31I talked about how we, as journalists and the media, handle those topics in terms of coverage, fairness, balance, and
09:38how to remain unbiased.
09:39Good questions from the students, and I hope some valuable lessons were learned.
09:43All right, now here's what we're tracking today.
09:45New jobless claims are out this morning, a fresh read on the labor market as layoffs tick up.
09:50Then at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV marks Holy Thursday, leading the Mass of the Lord's Last Supper and the
09:57traditional foot washing.
09:59That won a final vote from the National Capital Planning Commission on President Trump's plan to add a ballroom to
10:04the White House.
10:05Later today in Colorado, an appeals court rules on Tina Peters, the former county clerk serving jail time in an
10:13election system breach case.
10:14No noise, no spin, just the story.
10:17News Guard gives us a perfect score for reliability.
10:20All sides gives us a center rating with balance certification.
10:24We give you the news straight.
10:26Those are your unbiased updates for this Thursday.
10:28We'll see you back here tomorrow, Friday.
10:30We love that.
10:30For all of us here at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DeCrowley.
10:33Have a great day.
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