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Plains and the Midwest bracing for more severe weather, possible tornadoes

May 17, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Residents in parts of the Midwest and Great Plains are bracing for another day of severe weather threats, including possible tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail.

The severe weather, expected to extend into Monday and Tuesday, is forecast to be especially active from north-central Oklahoma up into Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

The greatest risk areas, a level 3 out of 5 “enhanced risk,” according to the National Weather Service, stretch from east-central Nebraska up to southwest Minnesota and include the cities of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Grand Island, Nebraska. Large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes are possible in the enhanced risk area.

The new severe weather threats come a day after storms across the central part of the country prompted reports of tornadoes in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, and hail the size of baseballs in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.

Thunderstorms near Concordia, Kansas, on Saturday produced estimated wind gusts of 90 mph, knocking down trees and power lines.

Hill City Airport in northwest Kansas reported wind gusts up to 82 mph. The strong winds also fueled dust storms in the area, which threatened driving conditions.

Thunderstorms on Saturday night prompted a flash flood emergency in central Grundy County, Missouri, including the city of Trenton, when six to eight inches of rain fell in a matter of hours.

The adverse weather conditions are expected to continue through the start of the workweek. On Monday, more than 30 million people from the central Plains to the Midwest are expected to be on alert for a potential outbreak of severe weather.

A level 4 out of 5 “moderate risk” advisory has been issued for parts of central and northeast Kansas into far southeast Nebraska, including the city of Topeka, Kansas. The risk for the area includes potentially strong tornadoes, hail larger than baseballs, and destructive winds.

A level 3 out of 5 enhanced risk advisory also extends from north-central Oklahoma into central Wisconsin, including the cities Wichita, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; and Des Moines, Iowa.

On Tuesday, a level 2 out of 5 “slight risk” advisory for severe weather is expected to stretch from northeast Texas to Michigan, and include potentially strong to severe thunderstorms.

Fire weather also impacting the Plains and Southwest
Parts of the Plains and Southeast are also expecting critical fire weather conditions to continue into this week amid widespread warm, dry and windy conditions.

Several wildfires broke out in parts of Minnesota on Saturday and rapidly grew. The largest Minnesota wildfire, the Flanders Fire in Crow Wing County, has burned more than 1,100 acres and was 0% contained on Sunday morning, prompting evacuation orders in the city of Crosslake.

The Minnesota fires prompted Gov. Tim Walz to declare a state of emergency Sunday morning, including mobilizing the state’s National Guard.

Dozens of wildfires also broke out over the weekend across the Great Plains from Montana to the Dakotas, as well as in Texas and New Mexico over the last week.

On Sunday, the greatest wildfire threats are in areas of northwest Texas, including Amarillo, and parts of New Mexico and Kansas.

Red-flag fire danger warnings have also been issued from Arizona to southern Nebraska, as well as in California’s Central San Joaquin Valley. Severe to extreme drought conditions exist in some of the red-flag warning areas, where expected wind gusts topping 55 mph threaten to rapidly spread wildfires.

The extreme fire weather danger will continue into Monday in parts of far eastern New Mexico, far southeast Colorado, far southwest Kansas, parts of Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle.

Summer-like temperatures expected in the East
Meanwhile, a big warm-up is expected for most of the East, where afternoon temperatures on Sunday and Monday are forecast to reach the 80s and 90s in many places.

The temperature in New York City is expected to reach the mid-80s on Monday and could hit the lower 90s in Washington, D.C.

It will be even hotter on Tuesday for a large swath of the I-95 corridor, with highs in the 90s from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia and New York City.

Watch RHCP’s Chad Smith play with Paul McCartney & pretend to be Will Ferrell on ‘SNL’

May 17, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith reprised his role as Will Ferrell’s doppelgänger during Saturday’s episode of Saturday Night Live.

Smith took the stage as soon as the show began with the announcer introducing Ferrell as the host. He pretended to be the Anchorman star and launched into the opening monologue before the real Ferrell appeared and demanded Smith leave.

The episode’s musical guest, Beatles icon Paul McCartney, then joined Ferrell onstage, but kept insisting that the real Ferrell was actually Smith, telling him, “Get back behind the drums where you belong.”

Smith did indeed get back behind the drums to play alongside McCartney for his performances of “Band on the Run” and the new song “Days We Left Behind.”

As many have pointed out, Smith and Ferrell do bear a striking resemblance to each other, which they previously played into when they competed in a drum battle on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon back in 2014.

(Videos contain uncensored profanity.)

Paul McCartney shows off his musical and comedic chops on ‘Saturday Night Live’

May 17, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Paul McCartney was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live where he performed a new song, two classics and even got to show off his comedy chops.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer gave fans a preview of his upcoming album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, dropping May 29, by performing the album’s first single, “Days We Left Behind.” He then broke out the classic Wings track “Band on the Run” for his second performance. He returned for a third song, performing “Coming Up” over the closing credits, with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith backing him on the drum kit for all three songs.

Smith, who many people think looks awfully similar to the night’s host Will Ferrell, also played a part in McCartney’s first comedic moment. He came out to start the monologue pretending to be Ferrell, before Ferrell kicked him off the stage. The real host then took questions from the audience, going right to McCartney who asked Ferrell, “What do you think you’re doing, Chad?”

Ferrell then called McCartney up to the stage where he listed all the great songs he has written, all the while the former Beatle continued to think he was Smith, at one point telling him, “Get back behind the drums where you belong,” an obvious nod to The Beatles song “Get Back.”

McCartney later returned for another sketch, Mechanics, which poked fun at how it feels to talk to a mechanic. McCartney played the chief mechanic alongside Ferrell and Marcello Hernandez, who all badly explain to a couple what’s wrong with their car and how much it costs.

(Videos includes uncensored profanity.)

He wants to dance with all his friends: What Harry Styles played at Together, Together tour kickoff

May 16, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Harry Styles launched his Together, Together tour Saturday night in Amsterdam and thrilled fans with a setlist that was heavy on material from his latest album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, but still included his biggest hits.

According to Setlist.fm, the show’s intro music was Elvis Presley’s version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” — the original version of that track inspired “Carla’s Song” on the new album. Variety reports the audience was next shown a video of Harry walking through a garden and receiving a phone call: a woman asking him, “Harry, are you coming out tonight?”

The show began with a track from the new album — “Are You Listening Yet?” — before a run of older favorites: “Golden,” “Adore You,” “Watermelon Sugar” and “Music for a Sushi Restaurant.”

Next up were two more new songs — “Taste Back” and “Coming Up Roses,” the latter performed with a string section. As per Variety, Harry ended what he called “act one of the show” with “Fine Line,” and promised that in act two, “We’ll be dancing.”

Act two opened with an instrumental called “Italian Girls,” as per USA Today, followed by “American Girls” and “Keep Driving.” He then played a series of songs from the new album, with “Treat People with Kindness” thrown in. The main show ended with a medley of “Carla’s Song” and “Satellite,” followed by “Aperture.”

The encore included “Matilda,” “Sign of the Times” and “As It Was.”

Here’s the set list, according to Setlist.fm:

“Are You Listening Yet?”
“Golden”
“Adore You”
“Watermelon Sugar”
“Music for a Sushi Restaurant”
“Taste Back”
“Coming Up Roses”
“Fine Line”
“Italian Girls” (instrumental)
“American Girls”
“Keep Driving”
“Ready Steady Go”
“Dance No More”
“Treat People with Kindness”
“Pop”
“Season 2 Weight Loss”
“Carla’s Song/Satellite”
“Aperture”
“Matilda”
“Sign of the Times”
“As It Was”

GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy faces Trump-backed challenger Julia Letlow in closely watched Louisiana primary

May 16, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump’s grip on the GOP and the potential political fallout for his perceived enemies will face another test on Saturday in Louisiana’s Republican primary.

Incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy is competing against Trump-backed U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow (LA-5) and John Fleming, the state Treasurer and a former House Freedom Caucus Freedom member who served in multiple posts in the first Trump administration.

It’s expected the threeway split could cause the race to go to a runoff next month if no candidate wins an outright majority in Saturday’s primary.

Trump upended the race in late January when he encouraged Letlow to enter in hopes of defeating Cassidy, who in 2021 voted to convict the president in his second impeachment trial. She launched her campaign just days later.

Cassidy, asked by CNN on Friday why Trump wants him replaced, said, “I can’t understand the president’s mind.”

He continued, “I’m not claiming the president loves me, no, but you can work with people even if you don’t love each other if you got a common goal. And my goal is to make my country and my state and everybody who lives here better off.”

Throughout the campaign, Cassidy has argued his record proves he delivers for Louisianans. The two-term senator has touted his work helping pass the HALT Fentanyl Act, negotiating the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and championing healthcare.

In 2024, Trump won the deep-red state with 60% of the vote, and if his preferred candidate wins, it would mark another victory for the president in his efforts to oust those he views as disloyal. Trump-backed candidates recently defeated several Indiana state senators who opposed his redistricting plans.

Cassidy could now be staring down the end of a long political career as part of a shrinking class of GOP lawmakers to have broken with the president. He is one of three remaining senators in the upper chamber to have voted to convict Trump.

Letlow has been anything but shy about Trump’s endorsement, casting Cassidy as disloyal and Fleming as out of touch with the president. Her campaign messaging has focused in part on defending parental rights and securing the border.

The first Republican woman from Louisiana to be elected to Congress, Letlow romped to victory in 2021. She ran in a special election for the House after her husband, who was elected to the office, died from COVID-19-related complications before he could take office.

Cassidy’s campaign has labeled her “Liberal Letlow” and unleashed a wave of attacks portraying her as a champion of DEI over comments she made in 2020 while working at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

In a recent debate against Fleming, Letlow defended her position at the time, arguing “the left completely hijacked” DEI and she has “spent the last five years in Congress working against it.”

Meanwhile Fleming, who argues he is the most conservative candidate, told ABC News some pressured him to drop his campaign.

Fleming said he was eventually able to reach Trump by phone and the president called him “fantastic.”

However Trump’s public endorsement of Letlow has not changed.

Despite their fraught relationship, Cassidy has, at times, supported Trump’s agenda. Cassidy, a physician and longtime proponent of vaccines, grilled Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a vaccine skeptic — during his confirmation hearing but cast the deciding vote to confirm his nomination out of committee.

Most recently, Trump blamed Cassidy, chairman of the Senate health committee, for the stalling of his surgeon general pick, Make America Healthy Again-aligned Casey Means.

The shift from open, nonpartisan primaries to a closed system also complicates Cassidy’s road to victory. Registered and unaffiliated, or “No Party” voters, choose between the two parties. If no candidate receives a majority, the race will head to a runoff on June 27.

In Louisiana, Democrats slightly outnumber Republicans with roughly 1 million registered voters in each party, according to the Secretary of State office. There are more than 813,000 “No Party” voters.

Adding to the fire is Landry’s move to postpone the House primaries in the nationwide redistricting battle — even as absentee ballots had been returned — while keeping the Senate race on May 16. Lawsuits have been filed in response and some, including Cassidy and Fleming, warn the move is leaving voters confused.

Fleming hedged on whether he would endorse an opponent should he lose the race, adding he takes issue with what he calls dishonest ads, particularly from those backing Letlow.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” he said.

Business owner Mark Spencer is also running in the GOP primary.

In the Democratic primary, Nick Albares, Gary Crockett and Jamie Davis are vying for the nomination to unseat Cassidy. The Cook Political Report rates the race as solid Republican in the Pelican State.

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT on May 16.

Trump administration to create $1.776B ‘Truth and Justice Commission’ to compensate allies: Sources

May 16, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Trump administration to create .776B ‘Truth and Justice Commission’ to compensate allies: Sources

Trump administration to create $1.776B ‘Truth and Justice Commission’ to compensate allies: Sources — U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he prepares to board Air Force One at Beijing Capital International Airport on May 15, 2026 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — The Department of Justice is finalizing a deal to launch a so-called “Truth and Justice Commission” and establish a compensation fund of $1,776,000,000 to pay claims made by alleged victims of government “weaponization” in exchange for President Donald Trump dropping his ongoing lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, sources told ABC News.

Sources told ABC News that the proposed deal — which is likely to face legal hurdles and has already been criticized by Democrats as a “slush fund” for Trump’s allies — arose after months of deliberations between the White House and DOJ officials who originally attempted to craft a legal justification for the settlement to compensate Trump directly.

Internally, DOJ lawers believed they could ignore the conflict of interest outright, privately arguing that Trump has both the right to sue as a private citizen and the power to command the executive branch as president, according to sources familiar with their discussions.

Advocating a centuries-old legal principle known as the “rule of necessity,” DOJ lawyers have argued that no alternative existed other than letting the lawsuit proceed with Trump acting as the plaintiff while being directly in charge of the defendants — the IRS and Treasury — according to sources.

Sources said that plan was ultimately scuttled in favor of the $1.776 billion compensation fund — with the figure being a nod to the nation’s founding — as the judge overseeing Trump’s IRS lawsuit began to raise issues with Trump suing the very government he leads. In an order last month, U.S. District Judge Katheen Williams ordered Trump’s lawyers in the case and the Department of Justice to submit court filings by next week to justify whether both sides of the case were sufficiently adverse for the matter to proceed.

Terms of the proposed compensation arrangement could change before the deal is finalized, sources said.

Judge Williams also appointed a group of prominent attorneys — including a former solicitor general as well as a federal judge — to weigh in on the case.

In a court filing this week, the attorneys identified serious issues with the lawsuit, arguing that Trump has “extraordinary” control over the defendants in the case and that the “circumstances raise the specter that Defendants and their attorneys may instead be operating at the President’s direction.”

“Additionally, since taking office, President Trump has significantly expanded the President’s oversight and control over the Attorney General and DOJ, including in ways that blur the line between fidelity to the President’s policy priorities and fidelity to the President himself,” the filing said.

Trump sued the IRS after a government contractor pleaded guilty in 2023 to stealing the tax information of Trump and other wealthy Americans and leaking it to media outlets in 2019 and 2020.

With Judge Williams scrutinizing the case, sources said that DOJ officials formulated the proposal to create a compensation fund on the condition that Trump drops the lawsuit as well as two civil claims for $230 million related to the Russia collusion investigation he faced during his first term in office and the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump himself would not be eligible for payment from the fund for those three dropped claims, though entities associated with the president are not barred from filing claims, the sources said.

Sources said the “President Donald J. Trump Truth and Justice Commission” would include five commissioners — four of whom are appointed by the attorney general — that Trump would have the right to remove without cause. The commission would also be under no obligation to disclose the process for awarding the nearly $2 billion.

It is unclear how Judge Williams might respond to the proposed settlement — which has yet been disclosed to the court — though DOJ lawyers believe the settlement would not require any approval from the court.

Democratic lawmakers have already raised concerns about the reported settlement and called on Congress to pass legislation to restrict the use of taxpayer dollars for the proposed compensation fund.

“It’s outright corruption. What we’re seeing here is outright corruption,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Friday. “We’re looking at a billion dollars for a ballroom; $1.7 billion for a slush fund for the president’s friends.”

Across the aisle, Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick suggested the matter could end up before the Supreme Court.

“I don’t even know how that’s allowable to happen,” Fitzpatrick told ABC News regarding the compensation fund. “It sounds like a question our colleagues across the street are going to have to resolve pretty quickly.”

Report: Madonna’s new album includes a song about her late brother

May 15, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Madonna’s upcoming album, Confessions II is a dance album, but one track was inspired by the tragic death of her brother, Christopher Ciccone. According to the U.K. paper The Sun, producer Stuart Price discussed the song, called “Fragile,” during a playback session for the album.

“Madonna’s gone on record to say she lost her brother during the making of the record,” said Price, as per The Sun. Ciccone, Madonna’s youngest brother, died of cancer in October 2024 at age 63.

“It was a process of grieving. Madonna was really just being at the height of her expression, and her vulnerable side, which appears on this record, I think is really great to hear,” Price continued. “Personally, my observation is that her greatest successes as an artist are where she’s documenting who she is, where she’s at, what she’s seeing. Sometimes it’s not comfortable, sometimes it’s not obvious.”

Price also shared details about Madonna’s Sabrina Carpenter duet, “Bring Your Love,” revealing the pair recorded the song together in the same New York City studio. “Their physical chemistry from the second they got together in the studio was really immediate. They were funny together,” he revealed.

In addition, Price said that he and Madonna recorded Confessions II using the same microphone they used on her 2005 album, Confessions on a Dance Floor.

“The through line on this record is absolutely just the telling of life,” he noted.

Confessions II arrives on July 3.

Jack Johnson announces theatrical premiere of ‘SURFILMUSIC’ documentary

May 15, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Jack Johnson has announced the theatrical premiere of his documentary, SURFILMUSIC.

The doc will screen in cinemas across the U.S. starting on June 5. For the full list of theaters and all ticket info, visit SURFILMUSIC.JackJohnsonMusic.com.

SURFILMUSIC, which previously premiered at the 2026 South by Southwest festival, “traces how Johnson’s early years making surf films with close friends became a foundation for a much broader creative life, capturing moments in and out of the water that later surfaced in his songwriting,” a press release says.

The SURFILMUSIC soundtrack is out now. Johnson will launch a U.S. tour in June.

Documentary on late ex-Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno to be released in North America in June

May 15, 2026 by WDNY Radio

A North American release has been announced for a new documentary about late former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno.

The film, titled Di’Anno: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer, will be available on DVD/Blu-ray and digital VOD on June 9.

That same day, the doc will screen at the Lumiere Music Hall Theater in Beverly Hills, California, and will be followed by a Q&A with director Wes Orshoski.

Di’Anno sang on Maiden’s first two albums, 1980’s self-titled debut and 1981’s Killers, before parting ways with the band and being replaced by current-day Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson.

The documentary will feature appearance by Maiden bassist Steve Harris, Metallica’s James Hetfield and KISS’ Gene Simmons.

Di’Anno died in 2024 at age 66. He’ll be posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Maiden as part of its 2026 class.

Meanwhile, a documentary about Iron Maiden called Burning Ambition is currently in theaters.

Hantavirus doesn’t linger, requires close contact: Officials

May 15, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Health experts tell ABC News that the current science behind the hantavirus that circulated throughout the MV Hondius does not show the same levels of transmission as with COVID-19, while acknowledging that the scenario may seem similar to the beginning of the 2020 pandemic.

“Our current understanding is that person-to-person transmission of Andes virus is relatively rare and generally associated with prolonged close contact,” the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention public health assessment said. “There is also no documented evidence of presymptomatic transmission.”

Officials around the globe have taken major steps to prevent the spread of the hantavirus, and an American doctor who was onboard noted how conditions on the cruise ship may have helped the virus propagate.

In the U.S., the boat’s 18 American passengers have been put in quarantine in Nebraska, while more than 40 people with exposure to the sick are being monitored to see if they develop the illness.

“In the vast majority of cases it happens when people breathe in mouse secretions,” Dr. Emily Abdoler, a clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, who specializes in infectious diseases, told ABC News.

“The Andes strain found in Chile and Argentina has the possibility of human-to-human transmission, but that’s really more really close contact. It’s not sharing the same household,” she added. “It’s more like sharing the same bed.”

Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, an American oncologist who became the ship’s de facto doctor after the Hondius’ physician contracted the virus, initially received inconclusive results with samples taken from the ship but later tested negative.

Speaking to ABC News from his quarantine on Thursday, Kornfeld noted that conditions on the ship — including ventilation and the size of rooms — could have created a “complicated” situation for transmission while observing some social casual contact.

“If you do have casual contact, you’re doing it repetitively,” he said. “There were three rooms that we would gather in many times a day, often for an hour or an hour and a half, for lectures and discussions and meals. And I can just envision lots of frequent casual contacts, and perhaps over time that adds up to something more than just a single casual contact.”

Abdoler, who helped diagnose a case of hantavirus in Michigan in 2021 — the type we have in the U.S. that does not spread between people –said the benefit that medical professionals and agencies, such as the World Health Organization, have now is that the hantavirus has been researched for over 30 years. It is not a new virus.

While the data around the Andes strain believed to have been on the boat is still limited given the rare number of cases outside of South America, Abdoler said there does not appear to be any indication that the transmission methods have changed for the Andes strain.

ABC News medical contributor and epidemiologist Dr. John Brownstein concurred, saying that previous research suggests the hantavirus is a respiratory illness. That means germs can be coughed up, he noted, but it is not an aerosol-based virus.

“It’s not like COVID or measles where it could linger in the air for some time,” he said.

Brownstein added that the incubation period for the virus is long, and despite the lower risk for person-to-person transmission, it is critical that health officials stick to their policies to isolate and monitor anyone connected to the Hondius. Isolation can then be initiated if they become a positive case.

“Incubation can be anywhere from one to eight weeks,” he noted.

During a news briefing Friday, WHO officials stressed that said there is no evidence so far that the virus has changed to become more transmissible or more severe.

Officials said transmission is believed to be based on several factors, including how infectious the patient is, the environment and whether protection and PPE was used.

On Friday, acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Jay Bhattacharya told reporters no cases of hantavirus have been reported in the U.S.

There are now at least 10 cases that have been linked to the ship’s outbreak. Two passengers died from the virus and a third death has been deemed probable by WHO.

Sixteen Hondius passengers, including Kornfeld, initially were flown to the quarantine center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and had not shown any symptoms as of early Friday. Kornfeld had been placed in a biocontainment unit at the facility.

Two other American passengers were flown to Atlanta for “assessment and care,” according to officials. They were later transferred to the quarantine unit in Nebraska on Friday.

The remainder of the passengers are in quarantine at home and are being monitored.

WHO warned more positive cases could still appear during quarantine because the virus’ incubation period is long, but said that would not necessarily mean the outbreak is growing.

Abdoler noted that the fact that there have not been as many positive cases from the ship and their contacts shows that the data about the Andes transmission is holding up and there are no signs that the virus can spread as easily as other pathogens.

She noted that he is glad that the risk is being taken seriously and that those that have been exposed are being monitored.

“My sense is that there is no really need to panic, but [WHO] is taking a very conservative approach to the outbreak and asking everyone to isolate during the intubation period,” she said.

“I think it is good they are taking a conservative approach because there are unknowns, but I am not personally altering my personal practices of travel or how I go out,” she added.

– ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic contributed to this report.

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