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Trump and Zelenskyy set to meet at NATO summit in Turkey

July 8, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(ANKARA, Turkey) — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to make a direct appeal to President Donald Trump during a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit, asking for help replenishing depleted stocks of American-made ammunition vital to the country’s defense.

“We need to find a way to get as quick as possible, as much as possible, missiles for Patriot systems. This is the most important thing,” Zelenskyy said at a defense industry forum at the alliance’s annual summit on Tuesday.

The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in Ankara comes as expenditures of U.S. Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles in Ukraine and the Middle East have dramatically outpaced current production capabilities, resulting in a critical global shortage as the Russia-Ukraine war drags on.

Russia has sought to exploit this shortfall by launching concentrated bombardments of ballistic missiles and drone swarms at Ukrainian targets, overwhelming the country’s defenses and resulting in scores of civilian deaths.

Russia’s ‘last major advantage’

In an address to members of the NATO alliance on Tuesday, Zelenskyy stressed the critical nature of the shortage and argued it was time for Europe to produce its own systems to counter Russian ballistic missiles, calling the rocket-powered missiles Moscow’s “last major advantage.”

“We all value the Patriot system. It’s an excellent system,” he said. “But today’s wars have shown current Patriot production is not enough to meet the growing demand for protection against ballistic missiles. That is a fact.”

For his part, Trump presented a rosier outlook — asserting that an end to the conflict in Ukraine, which is now in its fifth year, could be on the horizon.

“I think we’re getting much closer than people realize, and President Putin wants it to end,” Trump said on Monday. “And President Zelenskyy actually wants it to end now.”

Trump also downplayed the impact of the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, saying “it doesn’t affect us” and depicting the conflict as a European issue. Trump had promised to end the war on Day 1 in office — a pledge he later said was hyperbolic.

Trump’s comments come amid Russian escalation in recent days. On Monday, Russian strikes targeted Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and energy infrastructure in and around Kyiv, according to Russia’s defense ministry.

Zelenskyy has been warning the Trump administration about the crucial depletion of interceptor missiles for several weeks. He is also pressing the U.S. to expedite a license that would allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot batteries and interceptors domestically.

A strained relationship

The bilateral meeting will test the strength of Trump and Zelenskyy’s sometimes-rocky relationship at a time when Ukraine is facing new vulnerabilities on the battlefield and diplomacy with Russia has largely stalled.

The leader’s first meeting of Trump’s second term — a February 2025 conversation in the Oval Office — devolved into a shouting match after Trump expressed skepticism about Ukraine’s position in the conflict and called for more gratitude from Zelenskyy for U.S. support.

But Trump appeared to grow more sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause over the past year as repeated efforts to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table fell flat.

A watershed moment came last July when, after repeatedly pausing military aid to Ukraine, Trump agreed to supply weapons to Ukraine if they were purchased from the U.S. by NATO allies.

And there have been signs over the past month that Trump is reengaging in efforts to bring peace to Ukraine and once again eager to coordinate a deal between Zelenskyy and Putin.

Most recently, Trump held calls with Zelenskyy and Putin over the weekend, as both leaders congratulated the president on the 250th anniversary of the United States’ independence.

It’s unclear how substantive the conversations were, though a Kremlin aide said that Trump spoke to Putin for 90 minutes and again offered to help end the war. Zelenskyy said he had “a very good call” with Trump and conveyed there was a “real prospect” for peace.

Trump last met with Zelenskyy at the G7 summit in June, where he, at times, appeared friendly to Ukraine’s cause — describing Russia as the “offensive” party in the conflict and saying he was “going to do whatever” he could to strike a deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron — the host of the G7 summit — said after the meeting that he was optimistic about Trump’s support for Ukraine, claiming he observed “a real change in comparison to recent months” in his attitude.

Do heat waves damage the economy? Experts explain

July 8, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A heat wave blanketed a vast swathe of the United States over the 4th of July weekend, threatening the health of tens of millions of people and the power supply for thousands of homes.

A lesser-known risk of extreme heat, meanwhile, may hammer pocketbooks.

Heat waves threaten an array of costs for the economy, sapping the productivity of outdoor workers, shutting some shoppers inside their homes and driving up utility payments, some analysts told ABC News. All in all, they added, those effects could shrink output and hike some costs in areas impacted by heat waves.

“Extreme heat has economic consequences,” Justin Mankin, a professor of geography at Dartmouth University, told ABC News. “The consequences seem to be negative just about everywhere.”

Heat waves are becoming more frequent, more intense and longer lasting due to human-amplified climate change, according to the federal government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment. The average number of heat waves in major U.S. cities each year has doubled since the 1980s, that report said.

Extreme heat is considered the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S., according to the National Weather Service. About 2,000 Americans die each year on average from extreme heat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted.

A body of research indicates that heat waves also risk damage for the economy.

A study issued last year by researchers at the University of Florida, the European Stability Mechanism and the International Monetary Fund — which examined 203 countries over a 40-year period — found that an increased frequency of high temperatures and harsh droughts resulted in a 0.2% decline in gross domestic product (GDP).

Another report found total heat-related economic losses in the trillions of dollars. Taken together, economic damage from human-caused extreme heat likely cost as much as $50 trillion worldwide over a recent 30-year period, according to a 2022 study from Dartmouth University researchers.

“These things are costly and they’re getting worse because of climate change,” said Mankin, a co-author of the study.

The reasons for the economic impact range from diminished employee productivity to heightened utility costs to lost agricultural output, some analysts said.

Berkay Akyapi, a professor of business at the University of Florida and a co-author of the study on lost GDP, pointed to the crop damage caused by a heightened number of heat waves.

Nighttime temperature spikes are especially damaging, Akyapi said, since they deny crops a respite during a time period typically reserved for cooler temperatures. Fewer crops, in turn, threaten to elevate prices as the same number of dollars chase after a smaller supply of goods, he added.

A decline in domestic crop output can also force a given country to increase imports, putting further upward pressure on prices, Akyapi noted.

“If you can’t produce something, you have to import it and that of course raises prices,” he said.

Heat waves also cause higher prices for utilities as demand grows for air conditioning and other power-driven solutions, some analysts said.

The budget woes, in turn, cause a chain reaction, squeezing funds left over for other products and sapping consumer-driven economic activity. Steven Brown, a director of insights and evidence at the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, told ABC News.

“It results in higher bills for households that are already financially tight or strained,” Brown said. “It causes a spillover in their ability to pay for other things like groceries or rent.”

In 2023, a report issued by a U.S. Senate committee found the negative economic effects from extreme heat are most pronounced in heat-exposed sectors such as agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing and transportation. The risk owes primarily to lost productivity among workers in such industries, the report said.

“Together, the loss of productivity caused by heat is emerging as one of the biggest economic costs of climate change,” the report added.

To be sure, analysts noted that some cold-weather locations may benefit from heat waves, since higher-than-normal temperatures could improve agricultural output or allow for increased time spent outdoors.

“When you look around the world at places like Canada, Sweden or Norway — they can benefit. Heat waves are kind of good weather there,” Akyapi said.

Adaptive efforts, such as installation of air conditioning, can mitigate some of the negative economic effects, some analysts noted. Some governments are also exploring administrative solutions meant to help fight extreme heat.

Arizona appointed Eugene Livar as its first chief heat officer in 2024, tasking him with oversight of the state’s extreme heat preparedness plan. Democratic lawmakers in Arizona and Nevada introduced a bill in Congress last year that would add extreme heat to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s list of major disaster qualifying events, unlocking access to federal support.

“Government interventions probably reduce some of the costs associated with these events, despite being costly interventions themselves,” Akyapi said.

Dartmouth’s Mankin said he expects heat waves to remain a feature of everyday life for the foreseeable future as human-caused climate change continues.

“These kinds of heat events are just going to be more commonplace. You’ll just have more days of the year that look like this, particularly when each subsequent year is hotter than the last,” Mankin said.

ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.

Judge quashes DOJ subpoena seeking Fulton County election worker info

July 7, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Tuesday quashed a DOJ subpoena seeking the names and personal information of Fulton County’s 2020 election workers as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing election probe.

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

Defense objects to video appearing to show Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer at shooting scene

July 7, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(PROVO, Utah) — A video compilation that prosecutors say shows conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer’s movements on the campus of Utah Valley University before and after the shooting played in court on Tuesday over the vigorous objections of defense attorneys.

Attorneys for the defendant, Tyler James Robinson, 23, argued that the video footage Judge Tony Graf allowed prosecutors to play publicly at Robinson’s preliminary hearing will likely taint a potential jury pool.

“We think this video is going to play a big role in the trial,” Robinson’s lead attorney, Kathryn Nester, told Graf during the second day of the multi-day hearing.

Defense attorney Michael Burt argued that making the video compilation public will likely prevent Robinson from getting a fair trial.

But prosecutors prevailed in their argument that the public had the right to see the video to get a clear understanding of the evidence Graf had reviewed in private.

The video compilation not only appears to put Robinson at the scene of the crime, but it also appears to track nearly every movement he allegedly made on campus, including climbing on and jumping off the roof where the fatal shot was fired, according to prosecutors.

Graf will decide if prosecutors have established probable cause to warrant a trial for Robinson. Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty if Robinson goes to trial and is convicted in the September 2025 killing of Kirk during an open-air rally on the Orem, Utah, campus.

The compilation of raw video footage was taken from security cameras on the university campus, Sgt. David Hull of the Utah Department of Public Safety testified on Tuesday.

Graf also ruled that an enhanced version of the same video compilation featuring zoomed-in portions allegedly showing Robinson lying in a prone position on the roof of the UVU Losee Center, where the shot was fired, would not be made public at the preliminary hearing.

Utah prosecutors said the video is part of a mountain of evidence against Robinson

Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of the conservative youth movement Turning Point USA and a strong ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot on Sept. 10, 2025, while holding the first stop of his “The American Comeback Tour.”

Kirk was at an amphitheater on the UVU campus taking a question about gun violence in America when a single shot rang out from a distance away, hitting him in the left side of his neck.

For the second day in a row, Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, and his parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, attended the hearing, along with President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., who was friends with Kirk.

During his testimony on Tuesday, Sgt. Hull said that on the day of the shooting, Robinson was seen on video making at least three visits to the campus in a car and on foot.

Hull testified that the campus officer, using what he described as “cop intuition,” took down the license plate number of Robinson’s car, which he said later helped investigators identify Robinson as the suspect in the shooting.

Hull testified that the campus officer, using what he described as “cop intuition,” took down the license plate number of Robinson’s car, which later helped investigators identify Robinson as the suspect in the shooting.

One of the videos in the compilation allegedly showed Robinson walking into a wooded area near the campus and reemerging on campus, apparently after changing his clothes, Hull testified. Police later said they discovered the rifle used in the shooting, a Mauser .30-06, in the same wooded area where Robinson was seen going to and from.

Another video apparently captured Robinson walking with a limp up a staircase leading to the roof of the Losee Center. Investigators have previously alleged that Robinson had concealed the weapon in his pant leg as he headed to where he allegedly shot Kirk.

Robinson surrendered to authorities on the night of Sept. 11, 2025, after his father contacted law enforcement officials and told them he recognized his son in photographs of the suspect released by authorities, officials said.

The defendant has been charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.

Robinson has yet to enter a plea to the charges, and his attorneys have not issued any statements on his guilt or innocence.

Senate Republican leaders say they’ve spoken to Mitch McConnell as he remains hospitalized

July 7, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell has had phone conversations with several Republican leaders as he remains hospitalized, spokespeople for the lawmakers told ABC News on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for McConnell first confirmed the senator had been hospitalized on June 14 for an unknown condition. His office has not provided many updates, though they said McConnell is continuing his recovery in the hospital.

“Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” a McConnell spokesperson said in a statement first issued last week that ABC News was told continues to stand Tuesday. “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso have both spoken to McConnell recently, according to their respective spokespeople.

Thune had a phone conversation with McConnell on Monday, his spokesperson confirmed.

“They had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security,” a Thune spokesperson said.

Barrasso spokesperson Kate Noyes said the two discussed a number of topics, including recent sexual assault allegations against Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner (allegations Platner has denied) and national defense spending, during a 20-minute phone conversation on Tuesday afternoon.

“They caught up about the latest news impacting Senate races, the Graham Platner scandal, and the recent Supreme Court ruling on coordinated spending limits. They also discussed the Senate’s July work period, including the need to pass the NDAA and confirm President Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence,” Noyes said. “Senator McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate.”

A McConnell spokesperson also pointed ABC News to a statement from conservative political commentator Scott Jennings, who posted online that he had a nearly 20-minute conversation with McConnell on Tuesday morning on several matters.

“I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky. He’s still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 20 minutes … about IRAN, UKRAINE, the unfolding situation in MAINE, my visit to the TR Presidential Library, and even a little bit of Senate history. I told him we want to see him back at work as soon as possible,” Jennings posted on X.

These conversations come almost three weeks after McConnell was first admitted to the hospital, according to his spokesperson.

McConnell’s team has not provided any information about his diagnosis, or a timeline for his return.

ABC News has reported that emergency medical personnel were dispatched to McConnell’s Washington home to attend to an unconscious person who appeared to be in cardiac arrest on June 14, the same day that McConnell was hospitalized.

ABC News independently reviewed the audio, which does not directly name McConnell. A spokesperson for McConnell declined to comment on the audio.

The day after McConnell was hospitalized, Thune and Barrasso told reporters at the Capitol that they had spoken with the former party leader. On June 22, a McConnell spokesperson said in a separate statement that he was “working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery” but that he would not be attending votes that week.

McConnell was last seen on Capitol Hill on June 11. The Senate recessed on June 24, and lawmakers won’t return to Washington until July 13.

This is the latest in a string of medical incidents that the seven-term senator and longtime Republican leader has faced in recent years. McConnell, 84, stepped down from leadership in 2024 and is set to retire at the end of his term in January.

How Democrats could replace Graham Platner in Maine Senate race and who might take his place

July 7, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(MAINE) — Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner has said he is considering his options in the wake of a sexual assault allegation that he denies. But Democrats in Maine and nationally are calling on him to withdraw from the race against Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.

How his replacement could be chosen if he does withdraw and who might run in his place has become a firestorm among Democrats.

How could Maine Democrats select another candidate?

The Maine Democratic Party has called on Platner to leave the race. If he does by July 13 at 5 p.m. ET, the party has until July 27 to nominate a replacement. The state of Maine itself would not hold new primaries.

But the party has a lot of flexibility as to how it chooses any replacement. One source familiar with Maine politics told ABC News that the party’s state committee would vote on who would become the replacement candidate.

The state Democratic party has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.

Another source who is working in Maine politics told ABC News that it’s possible the party could convene delegates to vote for a new candidate — similar to how the party used to nominate candidates at state party conventions. The source added that it is unclear if the event would be in-person or virtual, or how the delegate vote would be taken, such as by a majority vote or ranked-choice voting.

The prospect of the party selecting a candidate also raises the possibility of a backlash if Maine voters feel either that the candidate does not represent the ideals they voted for or that party insiders are choosing for them.

“My hope is that the process is transparent and fair,” Ryan Fecteau, speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, told ABC News on Tuesday.

Who might try to replace Platner?

There were two other candidates on the Senate primary ballot with Platner in the June 9 primary, although Maine Democrats are largely not promoting them as alternatives to Platner.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign before the primary, is largely not being floated as a viable replacement candidate. ABC News has reached out to Mills’ office.

Former Maryland state official David Costello placed third in the primary. In a brief post on Facebook on Tuesday, Costello confirmed that he’d try for the seat if he can: “I’m back in, if Graham Platner withdraws.”

Other major Maine Democrats who ran for other offices are indicating they might consider trying for the Senate seat.

Troy Jackson, a logger and former candidate in Maine’s Democratic gubernatorial primary and a progressive, has been floated as a candidate who could appeal to Platner’s voters. He is a former state senator and was the Senate president from 2018 to 2024.

A source confirmed that Jackson has been receiving immense outreach about the possibility of replacing Platner and that he is interested. The source added that it makes sense for him to carry the “progressive torch,” and that Jackson is coming from a primary where he had an infrastructure in place and would be ready to jump in.

A campaign committee called the Troy Jackson Senate Exploratory Committee filed a statement of organization with the Federal Elections Commission on Tuesday. The Bangor Daily News was first to report about the filing.

Shenna Bellows is Maine’s first female Secretary of State and was also a candidate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. A source close to Bellows told ABC News that she has gotten calls about possibly running for the Senate seat.

Nirav Shah, who confirmed he’s considering a bid, was in the running to be Maine’s governor and led in the polls prior to the Democratic runoff. Shah confirmed on his X account that he would consider a Senate bid and that he’s been receiving immense outreach to run if Platner withdraws. He told ABC News by phone on Tuesday that he has not declared his candidacy but has an infrastructure in place to run a campaign if he does enter the race.

Shah is an attorney and healthcare executive and oversaw the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another potential candidate, Dan Kleban, founder of the Maine Beer Company, was an early candidate in the Democratic Senate primary but ultimately suspended his campaign and endorsed Mills.

A source close to Kleban told ABC News on Tuesday that he has been getting calls and is being encouraged to run, and added Kleban also never endorsed Platner and kept his distance from him, meaning he would not appear tied to Platner.

In a similar boat: Jordan Wood, who was a losing candidate in the Democratic primary for Maine’s 2nd District after originally beginning a run for Senate. Wood wrote on X on Tuesday that he was open to a bid for Senate if Platner withdrew.

A potential wildcard candidate who has not confirmed if he would consider a bid is Rep. Jared Golden, a veteran who has represented Maine’s 2nd District since 2019. In November, Golden announced that he would not seek re-election, citing concerns over the safety of his family. ABC News has reached out to Golden’s office.

State Rep. Valli Geiger, a strong ally of Platner, told ABC News she is in conversations about being considered as a replacement, but hopes that the state party will hold an “open” and “robust” process.

Geiger, who hopes the candidate would embody a progressive agenda, added that she thinks it’s “hard to see a way forward” if Platner stays in the race and thinks he’s “struggling to figure out if there’s a path”

“I’m just so sad about how things have turned out, and there are no winners here. We have lost an incredible voice that I think had a real chance to beat Susan Collins, and one cannot outrun one’s past,” Geiger said.

Nurses, home care clinicians plan large-scale strike in Boston

July 7, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(BOSTON) — More than 4,000 nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and 450 Mass General Brigham home care clinicians are scheduling a strike Wednesday morning, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

The strike would be the largest nurse and healthcare professional strike in Massachusetts history, according to a Massachusetts Nurses Association press release.

“At both bargaining tables, the nurses and clinicians made significant efforts to compromise and offered to continue negotiating to avoid a strike,” the association wrote in a statement. “MGB refused to improve its proposals and declined opportunities to continue bargaining.”

The nurses’ strike, expected to begin at 7 a.m. Wednesday, is scheduled to last one day and be followed by a four-day lockout imposed by Mass General Brigham, the association said. Mass General Brigham home care clinicians plan to strike for seven days beginning at 8 a.m. on the same day, according to the union.

The union said it is seeking more competitive wage increases that keep pace with the rising cost of living, among other demands. It cited data from the MassINC Policy Center, which said the income needed to maintain a middle-class standard of living for a family of four in Massachusetts jumped 50% from 2020 to 2024.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital said in a statement that Brigham nurses are “among the highest compensated in the market.”

The hospital said it plans to continue providing high-quality patient care throughout the work stoppage.

Scott Sperling, Mass General Brigham board chair and co-CEO of a private equity firm, wrote to the association in an email on Sunday night, stating that s “substantial effort” has been made to find common ground, according to the association’s press release.

On Tuesday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey released a joint statement encouraging both sides to resume negotiations.

“A strike and lockout of this scale would cause serious disruption across the Greater Boston region, and the possibility that patient care could be impacted through diversions, delays, or other emergency measures is deeply concerning to the communities we represent,” the statement said.

Trump says he’ll consider giving Turkey F-35 jets, adds that US will lift sanctions

July 7, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, during the first day of the NATO Summit in Ankara on Tuesday, said he will consider allowing Turkey to buy American F-35 fighter jets — despite possessing Russian-made air defense systems, which his first administration sanctioned the country for six years ago.

“It’s a decision we’re going to make,” Trump said as he met Turkish President Recep Erdogan at Erdogan’s presidential compound.

“We have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey’s been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal,” Trump said. “So, it’s something, certainly, we would consider. It’s a great plane, it’s the best, currently the best plane by far, and it’s certainly something we will consider.”

Turkey seeks to join a U.S. F-35 program but is prohibited from doing so under U.S. law as long as it possesses Russian-made air defenses.

In a 2020 release, Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said those systems “would endanger the security of U.S. military technology and personnel and provide substantial funds to Russia’s defense sector, as well as Russian access to the Turkish armed forces and defense industry.”

Vice President JD Vance, during an Oval Office meeting with Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last week, said Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Defense Department were reviewing the Turkish purchase of American F-35 fighters, and Trump during that meeting teased a “gift” for Turkey, suggesting the sale.

Trump later said the U.S. had an “obligation” to maintain the engines of planes Turkey has bought because Turkey, he said, has been “more helpful” on Iran than other NATO countries.

Trump again lashed out at other NATO allies for their reluctance to join U.S. military operations in reopening and patrolling of the critical Strait of Hormuz.

“I was very disappointed with NATO,” Trump said. “And frankly, if it weren’t held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended.”

Trump again questioned the alliance as he singled out nations he said declined to assist the U.S. on Iran, saying he was “testing people.”

“Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down and France turned us down. And it’s OK, but why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they’re not there for us? We’ve always been there for them,” the president said.

“They’ve been extraordinary in many ways with respect to our relationship, including trying to end the war with Iran, or whatever you call it, it’s not even a war, it’s a military operation, it’s a denuclearization, that’s really what it is, of Iran, because I don’t think he wants to see them have a nuclear weapon either. I’m pretty sure that. In fact, I’m totally sure of that,” Trump said.

Trump suggested that he didn’t have a problem with the fact that Turkey was also using Russian air defense systems, telling reporters: “I have no concerns at all about anything.”

Trump told reporters that his administration is working to lift sanctions on Turkey, saying “it’s time.” Trump’s first administration sanctioned Turkey in 2020 for acquiring the Russian defense systems.

“I can tell you we’re going to take the sanctions off,” Trump said, answering a Turkish question that appeared to be directed at Erdogan. “I don’t want him to waste his time answering that question.”

Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Hegseth were working on it.

“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off. It’s time to do that, OK?” he said.

Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams found buckling at construction site: Police

July 7, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Several Midtown Manhattan blocks were evacuated Tuesday morning after construction workers discovered the structure of an office building being converted into residential housing was compromised on the 21^st floor, officials said.

New York City Fire Department and Department of Buildings crews went to 235 East 42nd Street, which is one block west of the United Nations headquarters, around 8:11 a.m. after workers “observed structural support beams beginning to buckle,” the NYPD said.

That caused the 21st through 26th floors of the building to start caving under the stress, officials said.

The FDNY said that they initially received calls of bricks falling from the building.

The 37-story commercial building is currently undergoing renovations to convert it into a residential building, according to the DOB. It is one of the largest office-to-apartment conversion projects in city history, officials said.

There were no reported injuries and all construction workers were safely evacuated, according to police.

Other buildings near 235 East 42nd Street were also evacuated, including a nearby Hampton Inn, according to officials.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday morning that among the evacuated locations was a school with 400 students.

As of 11:15, the FDNY said nine buildings were evacuated.

“Our top priority right now is the safety of those who live in this area and those who work in this area. And DOB inspectors and engineers are on site working quickly to secure the site as well as that surrounding area,” he said.

Several nearby streets were closed off as a precaution while building inspectors and FDNY personnel inspected the building.

Administration sharing info about asylum seekers with Iranian government, lawsuit claims

July 7, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging the Trump administration has been sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government.

According to the complaint filed in Washington, D.C., many Iranian asylum seekers are pro-democracy protesters, members of religious minorities, or members of the LGBTQ community who seek refuge in the U.S. “because of the grave dangers they face in Iran.”

“Disclosing their confidential information to the Iranian Government violates the asylum seekers’ confidentiality rights, puts those who are subject to removal to Iran, directly or through chain refoulement via third countries, at risk of persecution, torture, and death following their arrival in Iran, and endangers their family members and acquaintances who may still be residing in Iran,” the group said in the complaint.

More than 100 people have been deported to Iran during the Trump administration, according to the IALDF.

The group wrote in the complaint that while the U.S. government may coordinate logistics with receiving countries, federal regulations prohibit the sharing of information that would “reveal or infer that the individual to be removed had applied for asylum.”

“Disclosing their confidential information to the Iranian government violates federal regulations requiring confidentiality, endangers their family members and acquaintances who may still be residing in Iran, and puts those who are subject to removal to Iran at risk of persecution, torture, and death following their arrival in Iran,” said Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group that is representing the IALDF.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security and a representative of the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

The complaint alleges that the Trump administration has continued to share confidential information during the current war between the U.S. and Iran. The group claims the two governments held monthly meetings to share the immigration files of Iranians in ICE custody, including final orders of removal and applications for asylum.

While the monthly in-person meetings reportedly stopped before the war began on Feb. 28, the group alleges that ICE has “continued to mail or hand deliver document packages to the Iranian Interest Section.”

The complaint also alleges that Iranian officials have met with dozens of detainees at ICE facilities.

“Many of the Iranian detainees did not consent to meet with the Iranian Interest Section officials but were required to do so by ICE,” the filing says.

“According to Iranian detainees who met with an Iranian Interest Section official, the official had knowledge of their immigration cases, including the details of their asylum applications,” the suit said. “These nonconsensual meetings with the Interest Section official solidified the detainees’ belief that they had been identified to the very same repressive government that they had fled.”

The IALDF is asking a federal judge in Washington to block the government from providing confidential information to the Iranian government and to appoint a special master to review the files of Iranian detainees that have already been shared.

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