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Disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s political comeback appears to be doomed

June 25, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — New York City’s municipal races have brought disgraced politicians back into the limelight, as multiple candidates seeking a political comeback raised the question of whether voters will give them a second — or third — chance.

Among the slate is Anthony Weiner, the disgraced former congressman whose downfall came after a slew of sexting scandals that culminated in a 21-month federal prison sentence, who is vying for one of Manhattan’s City Council seats.

But Weiner’s attempt at a third political comeback appears futile.

Though no candidate has reached the 50% threshold, as of the current vote count, needed to be declared the outright winner in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, election results from the New York City Board of Elections (BOE) show Weiner facing a fourth place finish in the five-person race as of Wednesday morning.

Assemblymember Harvey Epstein maintains a steady lead, while nonprofit leader Sarah Batchu and Manhattan Community Board Chair Andrea Gordillo battle for second place. Community advocate Allie Ryan trails behind Weiner.

Because of ranked-choice voting in New York City, more comprehensive results won’t be reported until a week later on July 1, when the NYC BOE runs ranked-choice tabulations. Results are expected to be certified on July 15.

Weiner’s scandalous past comes as New York City’s mayoral race faces its share of controversy as well, with former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo continuing to deny the sexual harassment allegations that led to his resignation nearly four years ago.

Cuomo, however, conceded Tuesday night in the Democratic primary after Zohran Mamdani held a healthy lead, but his campaign added that he was “looking toward November,” indicating he was not ruling out an independent run.

And though the federal investigation into incumbent Mayor Eric Adams over fraud and bribery was dismissed earlier this year, he continues to take heat as the first sitting mayor to be indicted as he attempts to court voters running as an independent.

Yet Weiner, 60, attempted to differentiate himself from the other candidates with checkered pasts by emphasizing accountability for his wrongdoings.

“All of that happened, and I accept responsibility for it,” he told ABC’s “The View” in May. “You won’t hear me do what some other people in public life have done — Donald Trump or Andrew Cuomo or Eric Adams: ‘I’m a victim, they persecuted me for no reason.’ I was dealing with very serious problems. I was dealing with what I now understand to be addiction.”

“I am saying ‘Yes, I did these things. I got into recovery. I tried to make my life better,'” he said. “And now I can be of service. And I’m a damn good politician.”

In 2011, Weiner resigned from his congressional seat after a sexually explicit photo was posted on his social media page — which he initially said was a hack, but later admitted was his own doing — in addition to revelations of more sexting content with various women online.

He attempted a comeback two years later in an unsuccessful New York City mayoral run. Despite his initial lead, his campaign was plagued by controversy as more sexually explicit messages and images became public, with Weiner operating under the alias “Carlos Danger.”

In 2016, new sexting allegations came to light which prompted his wife Huma Abedin to announce the couple’s split.

In 2017, Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison after one of his sexting scandals was found to involve a 15-year-old girl. Following his release, he was also designated a Level 1 registered sexual offender, classified as a low-risk to reoffend.

During his appearance on “The View,” Weiner emphasized that he was still in recovery for sex addiction.

He also recognized that he would receive blowback during his campaign, but he did not think his past should hold him back. He cited a need for change among Democratic candidates as his reason for getting back into politics.

“When I woke up in November of ’24 and saw the election results — but more than who won, I looked around New York City and saw how many fewer Democrats even turned out to vote. And I started to say to myself ‘something is seriously wrong here,'” he said. “We’re hardcore anti-Trump territory and Trump did better.”

Weiner presented a more moderate platform than some of his Democratic counterparts. According to his campaign website, some of his goals include increasing police presence, protecting undocumented immigrants but deporting violent criminals, taxing the rich, and eliminating waste.

20 people injured in lightning strike while swimming at South Carolina beach

June 25, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C.) — Twenty people were injured by a reported lightning strike while swimming at a beach in South Carolina, officials said.

The incident occurred at approximately 5 p.m. on Tuesday, when multiple agencies responded to a “reported electrocution” due to lightning at Dominion Beach Park near the Lake Murray Dam in Lexington County, South Carolina, officials said in a press release.

When first responders arrived on the scene, 20 patients — eight adults and 12 juveniles — had been injured by the strike, officials said.

Eighteen of those individuals were treated at the scene, while 12 were sent to three local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Vanessa Diaz, the public information officer for Lexington County, told ABC News in a statement.

All of the patients are expected to recover, officials said.

When the strike occurred, it was a “bright and sunny day” at the lake, but then a bolt of lightning hit the water and “energized a metal cable with buoys on it that surrounds the swimming area,” the Irmo Fire District said in a statement.

“Lightning can strike far away from a cloud. It doesn’t seem logical but a few hundred of us are believers today,” the fire district said.

Several people had swam out to the buoys and were holding the cable when the lightning hit, with others nearby in the water, the fire district said.

“Everybody got quite a jolt, we’re so fortunate that injuries were not worse than they were,” the fire district said.

Dominion Beach Park is expected to reopen on Wednesday “following safety assessments and clearance from authorities,” Lexington County officials said.

This week is Lightning Safety Awareness Week, which began in 2001 “in order to call attention to lightning being an underrated killer,” according to the National Weather Service. So far this year, there have been four reported deaths from lightning strikes in the U.S., according to the National Lightning Safety Council.

Trump escalates pushback on early Pentagon analysis of Iran nuke sites damage

June 25, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday again claimed “total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear program during the NATO summit in the Netherlands, escalating his pushback on an early Pentagon intelligence report suggesting joint U.S.-Israeli strikes may have set back Iran’s nuclear program back by only a matter of months.

“I believe it was total obliteration,” Trump told reporters speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in The Hague, Netherlands.

A preliminary analysis of the strikes by the Defense Intelligence Agency and U.S. Central Command prompted questions as the efficacy of the operation. Two people familiar with the report told ABC News it suggested the strikes did limited damage and that Iran was able to relocate highly enriched uranium stocks before the strikes occurred.

Later on Wednesday, during a solo news conference, Trump continued to push back on that analysis and claimed American pilots who carried out the strikes were being demeaned by news reports about the Pentagon’s preliminary assessment.

“Since then, we’ve collected additional intelligence,” he said. “We’ve also spoken to people who have seen the site, and the site is obliterated, and we think everything nuclear is down there. They didn’t take it out.”

“They presented something that wasn’t finished,” Trump said of U.S. intelligence reports on the impact of the U.S. strikes. Over the course of the news conference, Trump highlighted Israeli and Iranian reports of the damage caused by the strike.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Wednesday that the country’s nuclear facilities had been “badly damaged,” as quoted by the Associated Press — which Trump repeated.

On Iran, Trump told reporters he’s not interested in restarting negotiations and didn’t view it as “necessary.” Though he also said that the U.S. would be talking with Iran “next week” and “we may sign an agreement. I don’t know.

“I don’t see them being back involved in the nuclear business anymore,” Trump said of Tehran.

Trump earlier Wednesday insisted Iran’s nuclear program had been set back “basically decades,” adding, “It’s gone for years.”

“I believe they didn’t have a chance to get anything out, because we acted fast,” Trump said. “If it would have taken two weeks, maybe. But it’s very hard to remove that kind of material, very hard and very dangerous. Plus, they knew we were coming, and if they know we’re coming, they’re not going to be down there.”

Asked if they could rebuild and whether the U.S. would strike again, Trump said that would be someone else’s problem.

“I’m not going to have to worry about that,” he said. “It’s gone for years, years, very tough to rebuild, because the whole thing is collapsed. In other words, inside, it’s all collapsed. Nobody can get in to see it, because it’s collapsed.”

Asked if he trusted U.S. intelligence, the president said the initial report was “very inconclusive. The intelligence says we don’t know, it could have been very severe, that’s what the intelligence says. So I guess that’s correct, but I think we can take the ‘we don’t know.’ It was very severe. It was obliteration.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke in support of the president’s position, having accompanied Trump to The Hague.

Like Trump, Hegseth (whom the president described as the “secretary of war”) claimed what he called “fake news” about the Pentagon assessment as demeaning the B-2 pilots who carried out the strikes.

“These pilots these refuels these fighters, these air defenders, the skill and the courage took to go into enemy territory flying 36 hours on behalf of the American people in the world to take out a nuclear program is beyond what anyone in this audience can fathom,” Hegseth said, speaking next to Trump at his news conference.

The defense secretary also rejected the early Pentagon analysis of the damage done by the military operation.

“Given the 30,000 pounds of explosives and capability of those munitions, it was devastation underneath Fordo,” Hegseth said.

“Any assessment that tells you it was something otherwise is speculating with other motives,” Hegseth continued. “And we know that because when you actually look at the report, by the way, it was a top secret report, it was preliminary, it was low confidence.”

Hegseth suggested the leak of the report had “a political motive,” adding, “We’re doing a leak investigation with the FBI right now because this information is for internal purposes.”

Rubio also claimed that the leak of the preliminary report was politically motivated, saying that the attacks led to “complete and total obliteration.”

“But all this leaker stuff, these leakers are professional stabbers,” he said. “They go out and they read this stuff, and then they tell you what it says against the law, but they characterize it for you in a way that’s absolutely false.”

The report prompted further consternation among Trump’s opponents in Washington. Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Coons told ABC News at the NATO summit it is too soon to determine the success of U.S. strikes, adding that the recent round of fighting could have been avoided if Trump had not withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal in his first term.

“The American public needs answers for what what’s really going on,” Shaheen, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said. “If what we see is Iran’s nuclear program has not been obliterated, then we need to try and get Iran back to the negotiating table,” she added.

Shaheen said further nuclear tensions are also possible, as Tehran may “be convinced their race to get a nuclear weapon is even more important — given North Korea’s example — and they will do everything possible to get there as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile, Trump said the ceasefire is “going very well” despite Tuesday’s continued exchanges, which prompted him to lambast both Israel and Iran and to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn him off further attacks.

“Israel came back yesterday,” he said. “I was so proud of them, because they came back, you know, they went out because they felt it was a violation. And technically they were right, but it just wouldn’t have worked out very well. And they brought the planes back.”

“They’re not going to be fighting each other,” he added of Israel and Iran. “They’ve had it. They’ve had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard. You know, they fight like hell. You can’t stop them. Let them fight for about two, three minutes. Then it’s easier to stop them.”

Trump said the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities on Saturday proved decisive. “That hit ended the war,” he said, likening the U.S. atomic bomb attacks on Japan at the end of World War II.

“I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing that ended that war,” Trump said. “If we didn’t take that out, they would have been, they’d be fighting right now,” he continued.

The president expressed optimism about the future of U.S. and Iranian relations.

“I think we’ll end up having somewhat of a relationship with Iran,” he said. “I’ve had a relationship over the last four days. They agreed to the ceasefire, and it was a very equal agreement. They both said, that’s enough. They both said it.”

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Luis Martinez, Anne Flaherty and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.

Emil Bove, Trump’s former lawyer-turned-DOJ official faces confirmation for judgeship

June 25, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Emil Bove, President Donald Trump’s former defense attorney who took aggressive steps to enforce Trump’s political agenda at the Justice Department in the early months of his presidency, told the Senate Judiciary Committee, “I’m not anybody’s henchman” at a confirmation hearing Wednesday to consider him for a federal judgeship.

Trump last month tapped Bove, who has been helping lead the Justice Department, for a judgeship on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In his opening statement Wednesday, Bove vigorously disputed what he described as “a wildly inaccurate caricature” of himself generated by the “mainstream media” which has cast him as a “henchman” of President Trump.

“I am someone who tries to stand up for what I believe is right, I’m not afraid to make difficult decisions — I understand that some of those decisions have generated controversy,” Bove said. “I respect this process, and I’m here today to address some of your questions about those decisions, but I want to be clear about one thing up front: There is a wildly inaccurate caricature of me in the mainstream media. I’m not anybody’s henchman. I’m not an enforcer.”

The hearing comes one day after a former top DOJ career official issued an explosive whistleblower complaint accusing Bove of allegedly suggesting the Trump administration should defy judicial orders that sought to restrict their aggressive efforts to deport undocumented immigrants earlier this year.

The 27-page complaint, provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Justice Department’s top watchdog and obtained by ABC News, alleges that Bove and other top DOJ officials strategized how they could mislead courts regarding the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts and potentially ignore judges’ rulings outright.

Addressing the complaint, Bove denied the allegations outright.

“No, I have never advised the Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order,” Bove said. “Even if that account is taken at face value, the whistleblower acknowledges that he left the meeting on March 14 of this year with the understanding that, of course, the department would advise clients to abide by court orders.”

Bove also suggested the issuance of the complaint by Erez Reuveni, a longtime career official who was promoted under the first Trump Administration for his immigration legal work, was an example of the “unelected bureaucracy” seeking to thwart “the unitary executive” and “the people that elected the president.”

“What I mean by that is, throughout this complaint, there’s a suggestion that a line attorney, not even the head of the Office of immigration litigation, was in a position or considered himself to be, to bind the department’s leadership and other Cabinet officials,” Bove said. “I don’t abide that line thinking in my management style, and I’m not apologetic of that.”

Bove also rejected allegations that there was any “quid pro quo” deal with New York Mayor Eric Adams in the DOJ’s decision to drop federal corruption charges against him in exchange for his support on immigration enforcement.

“That’s simply false and it’s refuted by — refuted by the record,” Bove said.

Multiple career prosecutors resigned in protest over the move and described the arrangement as a clear ‘quid pro quo.’ A federal judge ultimately rejected the department’s request to drop the case ‘without prejudice’ — which would have left the prospect they could seek charges against Adams again if he did not continue supporting the administration. In his ruling dismissing the charges, Judge Dale Ho was deeply skeptical of the government’s motives, writing, “Everything here smacks of a bargain.”

Adams has denied the allegations and has pushed back on accusations of a quid quo pro.

Ranking Democratic Senate Judiciary member Sen. Dick Durbin, in his opening remarks at Wednesday’s hearing, said, “The former personal defense attorney of President Trump, Mr. Bove has led the effort to weaponize the Department of Justice against the president’s enemies. Having earned his stripes as a loyalist to this President, he’s been rewarded with this lifetime nomination.”

Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley cast Bove as a victim of an “intense opposition campaign” by Democrats and the media.

“I think that this committee owes this nominee a fair shake and respect at this hearing,” Grassley said. “This is hardly the first time this Congress that we’ve come into a nomination hearing against a backdrop of breathless claims that one of President Trump’s nominees is uniquely unqualified or unfit.”

Grassley argued that lawmakers should instead look to Bove’s resume as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and his time as a judicial clerk on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, prior to serving as Trump’s personal attorney.

“This high stakes worked demands sharp legal judgment and steady resolve,” Grassley said. “Day in and day out, he was in the trenches putting terrorists and drug traffickers behind bars … Put very simply, Mr. Bove checks every box — academic distinction, federal courtships, complex trial and appellate litigation, senior Justice Department leadership. His experience isn’t just sufficient, it is very exceptional.”

Dangerous heat blankets East Coast: When relief is coming

June 25, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The first major heat wave of the summer will bring another day of dangerously high temperatures to the East Coast on Wednesday before relief moves in.

The oppressive heat shattered records across the Northeast on Tuesday. New York City and Philadelphia hit 99 degrees, breaking the city’s daily record highs. Baltimore and Newark, New Jersey, soared to 104 degrees and 101 degrees, respectively, also setting new daily records.

On Wednesday, more than 120 million Americans from Louisiana to New Hampshire remain under heat alerts.

Excessive heat warnings are in effect for a number of cities, including Washington, D.C.; Pittsburgh; Philadelphia; Richmond, Virginia; Charleston, West Virginia; and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Overall, the heat won’t be as extreme as Monday and Tuesday, but Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia could still break records with highs close to 100 degrees.

The heat index — what temperature it feels like with humidity — is forecast to reach 99 degrees in New York City, 105 in Philadelphia, 108 in D.C. and Wilmington, 104 in Charleston, South Carolina, and 106 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Relief from the oppressive heat will arrive on Thursday.

Click here for what you need to know to stay safe in the heat.

Woman who says she saw Bryan Kohberger near murder scene repeated claim at least four times

June 25, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The woman who said she will offer key eyewitness testimony in Bryan Kohberger’s upcoming capital murder trial repeated that claim at least four times, to three different officers, after she was pulled over last year, according to police footage obtained by ABC News.

The body camera and dashcam footage, along with a police report from the unrelated September 2024 incident were released last weekend by police in Pullman, Washington, in response to a public records request.

In the videos, the woman explained to police that among her many life stressors, she was due to take the stand in the high-profile trial of the man charged with killing four University of Idaho students in 2022. She had been pulled over on Sept. 4, 2024, first for driving with expired registration, then was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence, the police report said.

After the woman was placed under arrest, she told officers that she was the DoorDash driver who, in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, dropped off food for Xana Kernodle, one of the four killed that night. Police believe Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death by a masked intruder in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, just minutes after the DoorDash driver pulled away.

Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary for the four Idaho college students’ stabbing deaths. He could face the death penalty if convicted. His lawyers insist that he is innocent, and that he was driving around alone on the night when the killings occurred.
The woman, in talking to police while in custody, reiterated that she would be testifying “against Bryan” four times, to three different officers.

“I’ve gotta testify against Bryan next year. I’ve got enough crap going on,” she told one officer through sobs, handcuffed in the back of the police vehicle.

As she was driven to the Pullman Police holding facility, the woman again repeated that claim.

“I’m supposed to testify against Bryan next year,” she said, “The guy that killed all the freakin’, all the girls over in Moscow.”

“Well, this won’t change any of that,” the officer said.

“Yea well, I got a DUI on my record? That’s gonna look like crap,” the woman said.

“I think maybe be more concerned about the drug use than the DUI,” Pullman Police Officer Breauna Carpenter said.

The woman responded, “Yeah.”

The woman’s DUI charge was later amended to first-degree negligent driving and she pleaded guilty.

While being questioned at the Pullman Police holding facility ,the driver once again said, to a third officer, “Now I have to testify in that big murder case here, ’cause I’m the Door Dash driver.”

When asked, she clarified the “murder case with the college girls … I’m the DoorDash driver, I saw Bryan there. I parked next to him.”

The driver has not responded to a request for comment from ABC News.

Prosecutors have already signaled they will want to use Kernodle’s DoorDash order in their case against Kohberger. They have told the court the driver’s presence at the crime scene would help them establish a “timeline of events” for Kernodle before the killings, and to corroborate their witnesses’ testimony, according to court records.

The case against Kohberger is largely circumstantial. As of now, the DoorDash driver could well be one of only two people still alive who could put the intruder in the vicinity of the crime scene on the night the students were killed.

Also expected to testify — the girls’ surviving roommate who told police she saw a masked, male intruder with “bushy eyebrows” in the home right around the time the killings occurred. That descriptor was given to investigators early on, and has been a hallmark of the case since the start.

Jury selection is scheduled to start Aug. 4 in Boise, Idaho. Opening arguments are set for Aug. 11.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia set to appear in court in Tennessee after judge orders his release

June 25, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is back in the U.S. after being mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador, is set to appear in court in Tennessee on Wednesday for a hearing to address the conditions of his release after a magistrate judge ordered that he should not be detained while he awaits a federal trial on human smuggling charges.

However, he is not expected to go free because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will likely take him into custody.

On Sunday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes acknowledged that determining whether Abrego Garcia should be released is “little more than an academic exercise” because ICE will likely detain him due to an immigration detainer the government has on him.

Yet the judge said the government failed to prove there is a “serious risk” that Abrego Garcia will flee or that he will obstruct justice in his criminal case.

Abrego Garcia has been the subject of a prolonged legal battle since he was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed the undocumented immigrant was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.

The Trump administration, after arguing for nearly two months that it was unable to bring him back, returned him to the U.S. earlier this month to face charges of allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S. while he was living in Maryland. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In her 51-page ruling, Judge Holmes raised questions about some of the evidence the government presented during a June 13 hearing — much of which she said consisted of “general statements, all double hearsay from two cooperating witnesses.”

Statements from the two witnesses about Abrego Garcia’s alleged MS-13 membership contradicted each other, Holmes said. One cooperating witness, according to the special agent who testified during the hearing, said that the Salvadoran “may belong to MS-13.” But a second witness, according to the special agent, said that in ten years of acquaintance with Abrego Garcia, there were no signs or markings, including tattoos, indicating that he is a member of MS-13.

“Even without discounting the weight of the testimony of the first and second male cooperators for the multiple layers of hearsay, their testimony and statements defy common sense,” Holmes said.

“The government alleges that Abrego is a longtime, well-known member of MS-13, which the Court would expect to be reflected in a criminal history, perhaps even of the kind of violent crimes and other criminal activity the government describes as typically associated with MS-13 gang membership,” Holmes said. “But Abrego has no reported criminal history of any kind.”

Statements from the cooperating witnesses introduced during the June 13 hearing accused Abrego Garcia of trafficking drugs and firearms and of abusing women and minors that he allegedly transported.

Axiom Space launches 4 private astronauts to ISS, moves forward space station plans

June 25, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(Merritt Island, Fla.) — After several postponed launches, Axiom Space’s four private astronauts are finally on their way to the International Space Station (ISS).

The multinational crew lifted off successfully aboard a SpaceX Dragon launched by a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida early Wednesday at 2:31 a.m. EDT. The Dragon will dock with the ISS at approximately 7 a.m. EDT on Thursday.

In the final minutes before lift-off, SpaceX mission control wished the crew well, telling them to “Enjoy the ride and science the heck out of all your experiments.”

After the launch, it took about nine minutes for the spacecraft to reach orbit and begin its more than 28-hour journey to the ISS. SpaceX successfully returned the first-stage booster to Earth a little over seven minutes into the mission, with it landing nine miles from the launch site. The company plans to reuse the booster on a future mission.

For a time, the launch was in danger of being scrubbed when mission control had an issue with uploading wind conditions to the Dragon’s launch escape system. The data is crucial, as it enables the computer to accurately target an offshore splashdown location if the capsule needs to unexpectedly separate from the rocket in the event of an emergency.

The mission was delayed several times due to mechanical issues with the Falcon 9 booster and the ISS itself. NASA postponed the launch temporarily so it could evaluate repair work made to the Russian-built and maintained Zvezda Service Module.

For years, Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, has been attempting to seal air leaks in the module. In the days leading up to the Axiom launch, a “new pressure signature” was detected in an area with a long-standing leak. NASA said that the agency and Roscosmos have agreed on a technical solution to make the Axiom mission possible.

“NASA and Roscosmos have a long history of cooperation and collaboration on the International Space Station. This professional working relationship has allowed the agencies to arrive at a shared technical approach and now Axiom Mission 4 launch and docking will proceed,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro in a statement.

The AX-4 mission marks another milestone for Axiom as it advances plans to build the world’s first commercial space station, Axiom Station, before NASA retires the ISS in 2030. Wednesday’s mission is the fourth team to visit the ISS since Axiom began partnering with NASA in 2022. The astronauts use their time aboard the station to conduct research, undergo training and participate in various scientific activities.

“The AX-4 crew represents the very best of international collaboration, dedication, and human potential. Over the past 10 months, these astronauts have trained with focus and determination, each of them exceeding the required thresholds to ensure mission safety, scientific rigor and operational excellence,” said Allen Flynt, Axiom Space’s chief of mission services, during a pre-launch press conference.

The four-person crew is traveling to the ISS aboard a newly built SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX says this is the second time the Falcon 9 booster has been used and the maiden flight of a new Dragon capsule—named Grace—that includes multiple design upgrades.

“This is the first flight for this Dragon capsule, and it’s carrying an international crew—a perfect debut. We’ve upgraded storage, propulsion components and the seat lash design for improved reliability and reuse,” said William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president of build and flight reliability.

Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and now director of human spaceflight at Axiom, is commanding the mission. Whitson, who has already spent 665 days in space across three long-duration NASA missions, also commanded Axiom’s AX-2 mission in 2023, adding another 10 days in orbit. She now holds the record for the most cumulative time spent in space by a woman.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Peggy Whitson back. This will be her fifth trip to space—three with NASA and now two with Axiom,” Dana Weigel, NASA’s manager of the International Space Station Program, said. “She’s made substantial contributions to ISS and now helps lay the foundation for future commercial missions.”

Joining Whitson on the AX-4 mission are astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary. This will be the first time that nationally-sponsored astronauts from those countries have visited the ISS. It has also been more than 40 years since those three countries sent someone into space.

Indian Air Force pilot and astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, the mission’s pilot, will be the second person from India to go to space and the first since 1984. Polish engineer Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewsk, a mission specialist and a European Space Agency project astronaut, will be the second person from his country to head to space and the first since 1978. And Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer and mission specialist, will be the second Hungarian astronaut to rocket into space. That country’s last space mission was 45 years ago.

“For India, Poland, and Hungary, this mission marks a return to human spaceflight after more than 40 years, and their first missions to the ISS. It’s a powerful reminder of what we can achieve when we work together across borders, disciplines, and cultures,” Flynt said.

The AX-4 mission will last up to 14 days, during which the crew will conduct about 60 scientific studies and experiments. The company said 31 countries have contributed to the research plan, and the projects will focus on biological, life and material sciences, as well as Earth observation. Axiom said that the work done at the station will help the company advance its goal of building Axiom Station, which would be the world’s first commercial space station.

To lay the foundation for its space station, Axiom plans to attach several of its commercial modules to the ISS while it’s still operational. When the ISS is decommissioned, those modules will detach from the station and become part of the privately run Axiom Station.

Unlike space tourism, which is operated independently of NASA and government support, the Axiom mission is part of NASA’s private astronaut mission program. This private-public partnership provides selected commercial space companies with access to the ISS and technical and logistical support from NASA.

“NASA’s framework for private astronaut missions gives industry responsibility for launch, free flight, and landing,” Weigel said.

“It’s an incredible time for spaceflight. These missions help train teams, build partnerships and shape the future of low Earth orbit,” she added.

SpaceX’s Dragon program has completed 52 launches and 17 human spaceflight missions while safely transporting 66 crew members from 17 countries. It has facilitated over 1,000 research experiments in microgravity and delivered 300,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS.

New York City Democratic mayoral primary: Mamdani declares victory, Cuomo concedes before ranked choice votes are counted

June 25, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — In the closely watched New York City Democratic mayoral primary, no candidate reached the 50% threshold needed to be declared the winner outright. But after a strong showing in the first round, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani declared victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who conceded earlier, in what was shaping up to be a remarkable upset.

The New York City Board of Elections reported as of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday that Mamdani was leading among the candidates voters ranked first on their ballot, with 44% of the vote. Cuomo was second with about 36%. City comptroller Brad Lander followed with about 11%.

The early results amounted to a strong showing for Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, who had gained momentum in polling and fundraising in the closing weeks of the campaign and capitalized on social media virality and enthusiasm among younger voters.

In an impassioned speech to supporters shortly after midnight, Mamdani declared, “Tonight, we made history,” adding, “I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City.”

To his cheering supporters, Mamdani said, “We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford, a city where they can do more than just struggle, one where those who toil in the night can enjoy the fruits of their labor in the day.”
Cuomo addressed his supporters earlier Tuesday.

“Tonight was not our night; tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night, and he put together a great campaign and he touched young people and inspired them and moved them and got them to come out and vote,” Cuomo said at an event Tuesday night. He added, “Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won. We’re going to take a look and make some decisions.”

Shortly after his remarks, in a surprise announcement, Cuomo’s campaign said he was conceding the primary and “looking toward November,” indicating he was not ruling out an independent run.

Earlier this spring, Cuomo’s campaign said he would consider running on a “Fight and Deliver” ballot line in the general election that he says is meant for voters disillusioned with the Democratic Party.

Cuomo’s run for mayor was to mark his political comeback nearly four years after he resigned the governorship after several women accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct. Cuomo has consistently denied the allegations.

In the mayoral race, Cuomo has campaigned on a message of being the most experienced in the race and being the candidate who has already taken on President Donald Trump during his time as governor. Mamdani has focused on a progressive, economy-focused platform that included a rent freeze for rent-stabilized apartments and eliminating fares for New York City buses.

Mamdani, who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest mayor in a century if elected, faced skepticism over the feasibility of some of his proposals and backlash over some of his comments on Israel.

Even with Cuomo’s announcement, the race is set to proceed to a ranked-choice count since no candidate of the 11 on the ballot got more than 50%.

Tuesday’s results do not yet reflect any ranked-choice tabulation. More comprehensive results won’t be reported until July 1, when the board of elections plans to run the ranked-choice tabulations. Under the city’s ranked choice voting system, if no candidate breaks 50%, the candidate with the least amount of votes is eliminated, and the vote tabulation continues in rounds. In the second round, voters whose first-choice candidate got eliminated get their second-choice vote counted. That keeps going until only two candidates remain, and the candidate in the lead at that point wins the primary.

A spokesperson for the city’s board of elections, Vincent Ignizio, told ABC News that the week-long wait for comprehensive results is due, in part, to the time it takes to retrieve voting machine data.

The Board of Elections plans to finish counting votes over the next few weeks and will certify the results on July 15.

Nearly 1 million New Yorkers voted early or on the day of the primary, per the Board.

During the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary, which was the first time New York City used ranked-choice voting, a total of 942,031 votes were cast in the mayoral race, according to data from the New York City Board of Elections.

In heavily Democratic New York, it’s likely the Democratic primary winner in the mayoral race has the advantage in the general election in November.

Potentially complicating matters however, is the fact that incumbent Democratic Mayor Eric Adams is running as an independent in the fall.

ABC News’ Jack Moore contributed to this report.

Alleged accomplice in California fertility clinic bombing dies in federal custody

June 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(PALM SPRINGS, Calif.) — The man charged earlier this month with conspiring to assist the suspected California fertility clinic bomber has died in federal custody, according to a statement from the Bureau of Prisons.

Daniel Park was found unresponsive on Tuesday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, the federal law enforcement agency said.

“Responding employees initiated life-saving measures. Emergency medical services (EMS) were requested while life-saving efforts continued,” the statement said. “Mr. Park was transported by EMS to a local hospital and subsequently pronounced deceased by hospital personnel.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Marshals Service were notified, the Bureau of Prisons said.

Park, a 32-year-old Washington state native, was charged with conspiracy to manufacture an unregistered device and terrorism in the car bombing at a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.
The explosion occurred on May 17 at about 11 a.m. local time, rocking nearby buildings and leading to a fire and the collapse of a building, according to authorities. The debris field covered over 250 yards.

Four people were transported to the hospital for injuries sustained in the blast but were released the following day, officials said at the time.

The clinic, the American Reproductive Center of Palm Springs, said no members of its staff were harmed, and its lab — including all eggs, embryos and reproductive materials — were undamaged in the attack.

The primary suspect in the case, 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus, was found dead next to the detonated vehicle, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s LA field office said last month.

Park was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York earlier this month after being detained in Poland on May 30, officials said at the time. Park allegedly fled to Europe four days after the bombing, officials said.

Park allegedly shipped approximately 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate, an explosive precursor commonly used to construct homemade bombs, from Seattle to Bartkus in California as part of a plot related to the pair’s nihilist beliefs, according to officials. Park also allegedly paid for an additional 90 pounds of the substance in the days leading up to the Palm Springs attack, officials said.

Federal investigators allege the materials were used in the car bombing. Park also allegedly spent two weeks visiting the main suspect’s home in late January and early February of this year, the officials said. The two are believed to have been conducting experiments together in the main suspect’s garage.

Park and Bartkus followed a “pro-mortalism, anti-natalism, and anti-pro-life ideology,” officials said in a press conference after his arrest, adding the pair believed people should not be born without their consent and “nonexistence is best.”

Park and Bartkus appeared to have found each other in chat forums online as like-minded individuals, according to officials.

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