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Artemis II crew talks to ABC News from space: Their journey so far and what’s ahead

April 3, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Artemis II mission launched on Wednesday, taking four astronauts on a historic, 10-day mission around the moon and giving them views of a lifetime along the way.

A day after lift-off, ABC News’ Gio Benitez spoke with astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen from their Orion spacecraft about the journey so far, and what they are anticipating for the days ahead.

“I don’t know what we all expected to see … but you could see the entire globe, from pole to pole,” Commander Wiseman said of the crew’s view of Earth from space Thursday.

“You could see Africa, Europe, and if you looked really close, you could see the northern lights. It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks,” he added.

This mission marks the first time humans have flown beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission that landed on the moon in 1972.

The crew is going on a 685,000-mile journey around the moon, also known as a lunar fly-by.

The launch on Wednesday was seen around the world, as the crew successfully lifted off at 6:35 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Hansen, mission specialist and part of the Canadian Space Agency, said that even though they were all expecting it, when the rocket boosters actually lit up and they left the launch pad, “there’s just a moment of disbelief.”

“The fact that we launched — it just totally takes you by surprise, even though you’re expecting it, at least for me anyway, and just had a huge smile across my face,” he said.

Koch, a mission specialist who holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days, addressed the toilet issue onboard the spacecraft, which was reported after launch.

‘”I’m proud to call myself the space plumber,” Koch said. “I like to say that it is probably the most important piece of equipment on board.”

Crew members said at the time that the Orion capsule’s toilet, dubbed the Universal Waste Management System, had a blinking fault light while they tested it, but it had been resolved since.

“So we were all breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out to be just fine,” Koch said.

Glover, the mission pilot who will make history as the first person of color to go to the moon, said from high Earth orbit, the divisions of Earth are far out of view.

“Trust us, you look amazing, you look beautiful,” he said of Earth. “You also look like one thing. Homo sapiens is all of us, no matter where you’re from or what you look like. We’re all one people.”

“We call amazing things that humans do ‘moonshots’ for a reason, because this brought us together and showed us what we can do when we not just put our differences aside, when we bring our differences together and use all the strengths to accomplish something great,” Glover said.

Before speaking with ABC News on Thursday, the Artemis II crew successfully completed a critical milestone in the mission, the translunar injection burn that boosted the Orion spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit onto a trajectory toward the moon.

During a press conference after the maneuver, Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator at NASA, said that the critical translunar injection burn was “flawless.”

“From this point forward, the laws of orbital mechanics are going to carry our crew to the moon, around the far side and back to Earth,” Glaze said.

Stocks close mixed after Trump vows to hit Iran ‘extremely hard’ in coming weeks

April 2, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Stocks closed mixed in volatile trading on Thursday after President Donald Trump delivered a televised address vowing to hit Iran “extremely hard” over the coming weeks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 60 points, or 0.1%, after opening down by 600 points, while the S&P 500 ticked up 0.1. The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 0.1%.

Each of the major indexes tumbled more than 1% in early trading, but they quickly recovered most or all of those losses.

The rollercoaster trading followed losses across Asian and European markets. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slipped 2.3% and the pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.6%.

Oil prices, meanwhile, surged as traders feared a persistent supply shortage amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. U.S. oil prices climbed more than 10% on Thursday, registering about $111 a barrel.

Gasoline prices in the U.S. ticked up to $4.08 on average per gallon, marking a leap of $1.09 over the past month, AAA data showed.

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Trump voiced mixed messages about his plans for the Middle East conflict. He said Iran is no longer a threat to the U.S. and the war in Iran is “nearing completion.” However, he added, the U.S. plans to continue striking Iran over the next two or three weeks.

“We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong,” Trump said.

The trading volatility on Thursday interrupted an upswing for markets earlier in the week. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 1,100 points, adding another 220 points on Wednesday as traders anticipated Trump may signal an off-ramp from the war in his evening remarks.

Since the war with Iran began on Feb. 28, Trump has issued conflicting signals about the expected duration of the war. On several occasions, stocks have climbed or fallen as markets weighed the implications of Trump’s comments.

The war prompted Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime trading route that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global oil supply.

The vast majority of fuel delivered through the strait is bound for Asia, placing the heaviest pressure on energy supply in that continent. Since oil and gas are sold on a global market, however, the shortage has sent prices rising for just about everyone.

On Wednesday night, Trump urged other countries to take responsibility for reopening the strait.

“The countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Straight must take care of that passage,” Trump said. “We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on.”

A potential U.S. exit from the war without ensuring that the strait is open could cast uncertainty over the path to a resumption of normal tanker traffic and a remedy for the current global oil shortage.

Trump slaps 100% tariff on some pharmaceutical drugs via executive order

April 2, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday slapped 100% tariffs on some pharmaceutical products, ramping up his effort to boost U.S. drug manufacturing.

The move, in the form of an executive order, targets patented drugs that lack a “most favored nations” pricing agreement with the U.S. Under such agreements, companies ensure the U.S. will pay the same amount that other wealthy countries pay for similar medications.

Companies face a reduced levy if they agree to bring production to the U.S. or enter into pricing deals with the administration, the executive order says.

If companies commit to bring their manufacturing to America, then the tariff on their products will drop to 20%, the order notes.

In the event such companies also enter into a most-favored-nation agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, then they can avert tariffs entirely while in the process of building a U.S.-based plant, according to the executive order.

Large companies, the executive order says, will receive a 120-day phase-in period before the tariffs take effect.

The fresh round of tariffs will exclude drugs made in some countries that previously entered into trade agreements with the U.S., including Switzerland, Japan, South Korea and the 27-member European Union, according to the order.

Pharmaceutical products from those countries will face a 15% tariff based on the terms of trade agreements reached with the U.S, the order notes.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.

Mortgage rates hit highest level since September as Iran war rattles financial markets

April 2, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Mortgage rates have climbed to their highest level since September as fallout from the Iran war ripples through financial markets, Freddie Mac data on Thursday showed.

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 6.46%, continuing a weeks-long surge since the war began on Feb. 28, during which time mortgage rates have increased nearly half a percentage point.

Mortgage rates remain slightly lower than this time a year ago, when the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stood at 6.64%.

The recent spike in borrowing costs risks further strain on U.S. households as they weather elevated gasoline prices.

The rise in mortgage rates owes to a jump in U.S. Treasury yields as investors fear a bout of inflation in response to the Middle East conflict.

High bond yields make borrowing more expensive for average Americans, since 10-year Treasury rates influence the rates offered for a variety of loans, including mortgages and credit cards.

Since bonds pay a given investor a fixed amount each year, the specter of inflation risks higher consumer prices that would eat away at those annual payouts. In turn, bonds often become less attractive in response to economic turmoil. When demand falls, bond yields rise.

The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond, meaning the amount paid to a bondholder annually, stands at about 4.31%, about 0.35 percentage points higher than pre-war levels.

“Mortgage rates have risen as bond market yields have sought to price in the risk of higher inflation in the future,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, previously told ABC News.

Last week, bond yields soared close to levels reached in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025, when the 10-year Treasury yield peaked at around 4.5%.

Bond yields eased in recent days as Trump signaled a possible off-ramp from the war with Iran.

‘Leave Iraq now’: Americans in Baghdad warned of potential Iran-aligned militia terrorist attacks

April 2, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — U.S. officials have issued a new warning to Americans still in Iraq, advising them to leave the country immediately as Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may “intend to conduct attacks” in central Baghdad.

“U.S. citizens should leave Iraq now,” said the alert issued on Thursday by the United States Embassy and Consulate in Iraq, which has previously issued warnings for Americans to leave the country due to security risks.

The new alert comes as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has entered its second month.

The security alert also came just days after an American journalist, Shelly Kittleson, was kidnapped in broad daylight on a busy street in Baghdad, allegedly by an Iran-linked militia group.

“Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours,” the U.S. Embassy’s alert said.

The embassy’s statement added that Iran and Iran-aligned terrorist militias have already conducted “widespread attacks against U.S. citizens and targets associated with the United States throughout Iraq, including the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.”

The alert cautioned Americans to be aware that militia groups “may claim to be associated with the Iraqi government.”

“Terrorists may carry identification denoting their status as Iraqi government employees,” according to the alert.

In addition to U.S. citizens, terrorist militias might also target businesses, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports and “other locations perceived to be associated with the United States,” according to the alert.

While telling U.S. citizens to leave the country immediately, U.S. officials also said the only escape routes out of Iraq are overland to Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey because the airspace is closed, preventing commercial airlines from flying out of Iraq.

“Local ground transportation options are functioning. Americans should depart now via one of these overland routes,” according to the alert.

For the time being, the U.S. Mission in Iraq remains open. But the alert advised Americans not to go there.

“Do not attempt to come to the Embassy in Baghdad or the Consulate General in Erbil in light of significant security risks,” the alert said.

The search for Kittleson, 49, a freelance journalist originally from Wisconsin, continued on Thursday, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior.

“We have no answer or explanation,” the interior ministry said in a statement on Thursday about Kittleson’s abduction.

In a security camera recording verified by ABC News and confirmed by Iraq’s interior ministry to show the moment Kittleson was kidnapped on Tuesday, the journalist is seen standing on a sidewalk as a silver car approaches before she is pushed towards the car, which then quickly speeds away.

One suspect alleged to be involved in the kidnapping was arrested when one of the cars fleeing the scene crashed and overturned, according to Iraq’s interior ministry. Kittleson had been forced into another car that got away.

Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs for the State Department, said in a statement on Wednesday that the suspect has ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hezbollah.

Trump replacing Pam Bondi as attorney general, Todd Blanche to step in

April 2, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Pam Bondi was being ousted as his attorney general in a post on his social media platform, saying she’ll move to a role working in the private sector.

“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future,” Trump said in the post.

Trump’s deputy attorney general and former personal attorney Todd Blanche will serve as acting Attorney General, the president said.

“And our Deputy Attorney General, and a very talented and respected Legal Mind, Todd Blanche, will step in to serve as Acting Attorney General,” Trump wrote.

Trump had raised potentially removing Bondi as attorney general in recent discussions with senior administration officials, sources told ABC News on Wednesday, amid months of mounting frustration that the Justice Department isn’t doing enough to target his political opponents for prosecution.

Blanche previously served as Trump’s defense attorney in the cases brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and former special counsel Jack Smith.

He has served as the nation’s No. 2 law enforcement official since being confirmed by the Senate in March of last year, and previously served in the Justice Department as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.

Like Bondi, he has been vocal about his personal loyalties to President Trump and just last week appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he cheered the purge of prosecutors who previously worked on investigations into Trump and defended the DOJ from criticism by the MAGA base.

“So when people say, ‘Why aren’t you doing more?’ I welcome that criticism,” Blanche said. “Keep on putting pressure on us. Do you think it makes me upset when you go on X and say, ‘Come on, Blanche, why aren’t we doing more?’ You don’t know me. That’s what motivates me.”

The shakeup comes as Democrats and voting rights groups have expressed alarm that the White House may seek to use the DOJ and FBI to intervene in the midterm elections in November.

The president’s announcement brings an end to a rocky tenure for Bondi as the nation’s top law enforcement official, during which she aggressively sought to reshape the Justice Department as an enforcer of Trump’s agenda — repeatedly breaking with institutional norms implemented after the Watergate era that had encouraged independence from the political demands of the White House.

From her first days in office, Bondi emphasized her personal loyalty to Trump and echoed his longstanding grievances with the DOJ and FBI that the president and his allies have long accused of being “weaponized” against him.

During Trump’s first term in office he faced resistance from top officials at the DOJ and FBI against using the vast powers of their agencies to punish the president’s perceived enemies, but Bondi publicly embraced Trump’s demands to launch prosecutions against specific targets — to mixed effect.

The department’s attempts to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James fell apart after a federal judge ruled that the Trump-appointed prosecutor who indicted them was appointed unlawfully. Attempts to revive the case against James were twice rejected by a grand jury, sources previously told ABC News.

A separate effort by the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, to indict six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video urging military service members to refuse to follow unlawful orders was also rejected by a grand jury — despite Trump’s accusation the group was guilty of “treason.”

Pirro and the department are separately appealing an order from the chief judge in Washington, D.C., that has put on hold their attempt to launch a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, another frequent target of Trump’s ire.

In recent months, Trump has repeatedly vented frustration to aides regarding both the pace and the effectiveness of the Justice Department’s ability to target his foes — concerns he had also conveyed directly to Bondi — according to sources familiar with the matter.

Trump and other senior White House officials have also criticized Bondi’s handling of the DOJ’s files from its investigations into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which has consumed months of media attention and led to widespread backlash from some of Trump’s most devoted supporters.

Bondi’s appearance in front of the House Judiciary Committee in February, in which she repeatedly yelled at lawmakers and sidestepped questions about the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files and other sensitive matters, was also a subject of some criticism at the White House, sources say. Trump posted afterward on social media that Bondi was “fantastic” at the hearing.

Weeks later, a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Oversight committee voted to subpoena Bondi with a demand that she sit for a deposition on the Epstein files in mid-April.

ABC News’ Isabella Murray contributed to this report.

Suspect arrested in killing of 7-month-old baby shot in stroller, police say

April 2, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A 21-year-old will be placed under arrest in his hospital bed on charges he murdered a baby in Brooklyn by a stray bullet, the New York City Police Department said Thursday.

Amare Green allegedly fired shots from the back of a moped into a crowd in Williamsburg that struck and killed 7-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore and grazed her 2-year-old brother as they sat in a stroller on Wednesday afternoon.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called it a “devastating shooting” and said, “My heart aches for the parents impacted,” at a press conference on Thursday.

Green is a known associate of a street gang operating out of a public housing project in Brooklyn, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said. Investigators are looking into whether the baby’s father may have been the intended target as part of a dispute with a rival gang.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said detectives have identified the moped driver, but she declined to release a name. The driver is at large.

Tisch mentioned the impending arrest in a crime that shocked the city as she touted a continued drop in crime.

The shooting was reported at about 1:20 p.m. on the corner of Humboldt and Moore streets in the East Williamsburg area, according to police.

Several adults, including two people with strollers, and several other children, were nearby when two males approached the intersection on a moped, Tisch said. The rear passenger on the moped pulled out a gun and fired at least two shots toward the corner, Tisch told reporters, citing surveillance video.

“Today our city suffered a horrifying, senseless tragedy: a 7-month-old child being pushed in a stroller along a busy Brooklyn sidewalk was shot and killed in broad daylight,” the police commissioner said.

The baby was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

After the shooting, the two suspects collided with an oncoming car about two blocks away, police said. Both men were thrown from the moped. The rear passenger, who fits the description of the shooter, was taken to the hospital and is in police custody, Tisch said.

The other passenger took off, but police later located the moped.

Mamdani called the shooting a “devastating reminder” of the work that remains to be done to combat gun violence.

“A life that had barely begun was taken in an instant,” Mamdani said. “There are no words that can mend the heartbreak this family is feeling now.”

Court overturns prison sentence of Colorado 2020 election denier Tina Peters

April 2, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(MESA COUNTY, Colo.) — A Colorado appeals court has overturned the prison sentence of Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk who was convicted in a scheme to breach voting systems in search of evidence of election fraud in 2020.

In its decision on Thursday, the appeals court upheld Peters’ conviction but ordered her case to be sent to a lower court for a judge to issue a new sentence.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

‘Bob’s Burgers’ star pulled from fiery crash by New Hampshire governor, her security: Police

April 2, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW HAMPSHIRE) — New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte and her security detail were among those who assisted in a fiery crash at a New Hampshire toll plaza on Tuesday — with a state trooper on her detail and two other bystanders helping pull the driver from the burning vehicle, according to state police.

The driver of the car was “Bob’s Burgers” star Eugene Mirman, 51, of Massachusetts.

“Eugene was in a very scary car accident. He wants to thank the bystanders, state police, first responders and hospital staff who saved him. He is grateful to be on the mend. At this time, we kindly ask for privacy for Eugene and his family as he focuses on recovering from his injuries,” Mirman’s agent, Jay Gassner, said in a statement.

The “dangerous” collision occurred at the Bedford Toll Plaza on the Everett Turnpike shortly before noon, according to New Hampshire State Police Director Col. Mark Hall.

The vehicle, a 2026 Lucid electric vehicle, “immediately became engulfed in flames,” Hall said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

The governor and her security detail came upon the accident just after the vehicle crashed into the toll plaza, Hall said. A New Hampshire state trooper assigned to her detail and two other bystanders helped Mirman — the lone occupant — out of the burning vehicle through the window, according to Hall.

Hall said he is not identifying the trooper due to the nature of the assignment.

“It is a veteran trooper, and certainly their actions were heroic in what they did — without hesitation, put themselves in danger to render aid to somebody that clearly was in need of it,” Hall said.

“I’m proud of the State Trooper and the bystanders who saved a life at the scene of yesterday’s crash in Bedford,” Ayotte said in a statement. “It’s an example of the great work first responders do each day to keep New Hampshire safe and how Granite Staters always step up to help someone in need.”

The governor and other witnesses also provided assistance at the scene, according to Hall.

“The governor did get out of the vehicle and tried to assist in any way that she could,” Hall said, adding he believed she tried to get a fire extinguisher from a vehicle to help put the fire out.

Mirman was transported to an area hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Photos released by police showed the burning vehicle and firefighters at the scene.

The crash remains under investigation.

Trump says he’ll sign order to pay all DHS employees as shutdown continues

April 2, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHNGTON) — President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to sign an order to pay “all” employees at the Department of Homeland Security amid the record-long agency shutdown.

“Help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country,” Trump wrote in a post to his social media platform.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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