NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (April 3)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story tonight, search and rescue efforts are underway after an American fighter jet was downed over Iran. That's as President Trump issues a stark warning to the regime about its bridges and power plants. Meanwhile, March job numbers nearly tripling expectations as the president floats ideas for a financial venture a bit further from home. Mario Azzu at the White House. And as the war continues, Israel and Iran continuing to trade strikes and talks to end the war appear to be faltering as the fighting shows no signs of slowing down. Jason Perry with the update. President Trump suggesting the possibility the U.S. could take over the Strait of Hormuz. Ariane Pozdar has more on the nations that depend on the waterway but appear reluctant to help reopen it. And the president proposing a significant spending increase in his fiscal year 2027 budget proposal. Arlene Richards reviews some of the key takeaways. This is NTD Evening News, live from our global headquarters in New York City. Here's Tiffany Meyer. Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight. One crew member has been rescued after an American fighter jet was shot down over Iranian airspace. This coming as President Trump says that the U.S. hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran. We now go live to NTD's White House correspondent Mario Tsu at the North Lawn. Mari, good evening. What is the latest message from President Trump to the Iranian regime? Hey Tiff, good evening. That's right. And President Trump is saying to the Iranian regime that their bridges and electric power plants are next. He's also saying that the new regime leadership, which he's characterized as, quote, far less radicalized than its predecessor, knows what has to be done and fast. And Tiff, as you said, this is coming as the White House says that President Trump has been briefed on that U.S. fighter jet that was downed over in Iranian airspace with the U.S. forces today launching a search and rescue operation for it and placing a bounty on the crew there. Epoch magazine Israel has confirmed that one of the crew members has been rescued while another is still missing. And the president had no public appearances today, but he told NBC in a phone interview that this incident won't affect peace negotiations with the Iranian regime. He said repeatedly, quote, we're in a war. And Tiff, this is also coming after the president's primetime address on Wednesday when he updated progress on Operation Epic Theory and urged Americans to keep this conflict in perspective, saying then that the Vietnam War lasted over 19 years and the Iraq War over eight years, while this one has lasted just over a month, while also vowing not to back down from his objectives. Take a look. We have a rise on key targets. If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously. We have not hit their oil, but we could hit it and it would be gone. And there's not a thing they could do about it. The president's threat coming as Central Command announces over 12,300 targets struck inside Iran and over 13,000 combat flights flown since the operation's start. And as the U.S. destroys the tallest bridge in the Middle East. Over the next two to three weeks, we're going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong. President Trump also musing that the U.S. could seize oil supplies from the Hormuz Strait and profit from distributing them globally, quote, with a little more time, we can easily open the Hormuz Strait, take the oil and make a fortune. It would be a gusher for the world. And again, floating keep the oil, anyone? Some of President Trump's most explicit remarks yet that Washington could directly intervene to control energy flows through the critical waterway, which handles around a fifth of the world's oil shipments. As crude prices have spiked, the president declares that successfully completing the operation's objectives is more important for America's long-term national security than any temporary rise in fuel costs. When this conflict is over, the strait will open up naturally. It will resume the flowing and the gas prices will rapidly come back down. The market will be concerned until it's over. But I think it's very important. It's much more important that this be successfully completed than what the market does. Meanwhile, the White House touting the March jobs report as far exceeding expectations, adding 178,000 new jobs, nearly triple what economists predicted. This is an absolute blockbuster number. It's one of the best numbers that you've seen in a long time. Over 26,000 jobs were added in construction. Private sector weekly earnings are up 3.9 percent over the past year. And the federal workforce has been reduced to its smallest level since 1966, boosting private sector growth. White House spokesman Kush Desai says the March jobs report blew out expectations with strong construction job growth and a surge in manufacturing job creation as trillions of dollars in investments began to materialize. And what it shows is that all of the cumulative policies that President Trump has pushed, the no tax on tips, no tax on overtimes, making the old Trump tax cuts permanent, deregulation, $18 trillion in new investments in the U.S. through our trade deals. All of that stuff, plus a big reduction in the trade deficit, has created an enormous amount of momentum for the U.S. economy. And so that momentum cannot be upended by a temporary Middle East scurvy. Meanwhile, if President Trump is proposing a historic Pentagon budget for the fiscal year 2027, which would surge defense spending to one point five trillion dollars and includes a five to seven percent pay raise for military personnel. It also includes robust funding for the president's Golden Dome missile defense system and funding for shipbuilding, including investments in a new so-called Golden Fleet that will include what the president has been calling Trump class battleships. Back to you. All right, Mari, thanks for those updates. And the Middle East, Israel, which has been fighting alongside the U.S., reported more strikes against the Iranian regime. And at the same time, Iran continues launching strikes against Israel as talks to end the war appear to be faltering. NTD's Jason Perry has the war update. A newly released video shows black smoke rising near an airport in Iran. An Iranian news agency said a fire broke out at a fuel tank near the airport after strikes on Thursday. And the next day, Israeli forces said they had struck more than 70 targets in Iran in a 24-hour period, targeting attack drones and ballistic missile launch sites. And on Friday, residents in Iran were seen responding to the aftermath of a newly constructed bridge that was hit by airstrikes. President Trump posted video of the strike, saying there would be, quote, much more to follow. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying this on Friday. Together with our American friends, we continue to crush the terrorist regime in Iran. In recent days, the Air Force has destroyed 70 percent of Iran's steel production capacity. This is a tremendous achievement that deprives the Revolutionary Guards of both financial resources and the ability to produce many weapons. And footage was also released of the commander-in-chief of Iran's army. Iran's state-run media saying he told troops to be prepared to counter any attacks. An early Friday morning, debris from an intercepted Iranian missile damaged this house in central Israel. And debris from another intercepted Iranian missile damaged this factory in the Tel Aviv area. The fighting shows no signs of slowing down, and talks to end the war appear to be faltering. Senior officials in Jerusalem told Epoch magazine Israel that negotiations between the United States and Iran through Pakistan's army chief have not produced any meaningful progress. This as Israeli forces on Friday say they've killed over 1,000 terrorists in Lebanon, as Israel vows to take over parts of southern Lebanon to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians. We have an opportunity here to fundamentally change the situation, and we are taking it. Citizens of Israel, the Israeli forces, continue to operate at all times, including over the weekend and the upcoming holidays. And at the same time, a group of Christians in southern Lebanon were seen carrying a cross in observance of Good Friday. And in Jerusalem's Old City, the site where Jesus was said to have carried the cross is normally filled with Christians commemorating the holiday, but this year it was mostly empty due to the war. Jason Perry, NTD News. Is meaningful regime change in Iran possible? Has the U.S. operation set up the Iranian people to go in a new direction? Your analysis tonight on Capitol Report with Steve Lance at 7 p.m. Eastern time. President Trump suggesting the possibility that the U.S. could take over the Strait of Hormuz. This as some nations who depend on the strategic waterway appear reluctant to help reopen it. NTD's international correspondent Ariane Posdar has the latest on the passage in the Middle East. President Trump taking to social media on Friday, saying, with a little more time, we can easily open the Hormuz Strait, take the oil, and make a fortune. It would be a gusher for the world. This comes as some nations, who are more dependent on the waterway than the U.S. is, don't seem to be willing to open it back up. Trump said this earlier this week. The countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage. Go to the Strait and just take it. Tracking data shows that a container ship belonging to a French shipping group managed to pass through the Strait on Thursday. Three Omani-operated tankers and a Japanese-owned gas carrier have crossed the Strait as well. India meanwhile, saying its navy is ensuring the security of commercial ships at critical maritime choke points. Six Indian ships have exited Hormuz so far, but 18 more remain in the Persian Gulf. That's despite the fact that India is among the countries friendly to Iran and thus theoretically allowed to use the passage. Russia is among those nations too. Just on Thursday, a Kremlin aide said the channel is open for Russia to pass through. And an Iranian diplomat is claiming that the country is drafting a proposal to, quote, monitor the Strait of Hormuz together with the country of Oman. It is unclear what the proposal would entail. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this while speaking with Al Jazeera. To close these international waterways and create a toll road where basically you have to ask for their permission in order to use them and get your products in or out of market, that's unacceptable. It's unacceptable to us, but it should be unacceptable to the world. Rubio is calling on international forces to reject such a proposal if it comes up. And Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visiting Saudi Arabia on Friday. She's also scheduled to travel to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Officials say the two-day visit is aimed at protecting Italy's energy supplies, partly by showing support for Gulf nations facing Iranian attacks. And French President Emmanuel Macron is in South Korea, the country's president also placing importance on global shipping. We reaffirmed our commitment to strengthening energy security by expanding cooperation in the fields of nuclear power and offshore wind energy, as well as to work together to ensure safe shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Macron agrees, saying it's crucial to ensure safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Ariane Pasdar, NTD News. The White House releasing a 92-page budget request today with some of the administration's top priorities across the executive branch. NTD's Arlene Richards highlights some of the key takeaways. President Trump submitting a budget proposal on Friday to increase defense spending to $1.5 trillion in fiscal year 2027, a 44 percent increase over the historic $1 trillion top line the president requested for fiscal year 2026. And it comes as the White House is preparing to ask Congress for a supplemental spending package of $200 billion for the Iran war. The National Economic Council director, who coordinates and implements the president's economic policy, told Fox News about the defense spending proposal. But we also have an increasing eye on the importance of national defense and the potential budgetary costs of that. So it's fiscally responsible and increasing spending on defense because of all the things that we're seeing in the world. In a top line fact sheet, the White House says the president wants to offset the defense increase with a reduction in non-defense spending. Savings are achieved by reducing or eliminating woke, weaponized and wasteful programs and by returning state and local responsibilities to their respective governments, it says. We have to take care of one thing, military protection. We have to guard the country. The president is also focused on targeting violent crime. He's asking for more than $19 billion in federal law enforcement funding, a 15 percent increase over current levels. The additional funds would go toward more agents working to capture illegal immigrants, transnational criminals and illegal firearms traffickers. Another budget aim is to end the weaponization of the federal government. The White House proposes eliminating several grants the administration says are duplicative, fail to reduce crime or are weaponized against the American people. For example, eliminating $15 billion allocated for the Green New Deal, which was created to address climate change. Today we're taking one more step to kill the Green New Scam. And cutting what the White House calls woke programs. In a separate fact sheet, the White House says President Trump is committed to eliminating radical gender and racial ideologies that poison the minds of Americans, such as the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Justice Program, which distributed $600 million to programs that advance critical race theory and incentivize mass migration. The president's 2027 budget is the starting point for negotiations with Congress over annual spending bills. Lawmakers are expected to finalize annual spending later in the year. Arlene Richards, NTD News. President Trump saying Vice President J.D. Vance will focus on investigating fraud in Democrat-run states in his new role as Fraud Czar. The president signed an executive order last month, launching a national task force led by Vance. Its mission is to look into fraud allegations across the country. In a Truth Social post this morning, the president writing it is massive and pervasive and the job he will be doing in conjunction with many great people within the Trump administration will be a major factor in how great the future of our country will be. The president also saying Vance's focus will be everywhere, but primarily in blue states like California, Illinois, Minnesota, Maine, and New York. President Trump says they've had a free-for-all in the theft of taxpayer money. The president adding the numbers are so large that if successful, we could literally be able to balance our American budget. Trump ended his post saying the raids have already started in Los Angeles. The DHS shut down now nearing 50 days, Republican leadership reaching an agreement to end it, but the House has not taken the vote yet. President Trump says he will soon sign an executive order to pay all employees at the Department of Homeland Security. NTD's Melina Weisskopf has the updates. President Trump says he'll soon sign an executive order to pay all DHS employees. He wrote their families have suffered far too long at the hands of Democrats. The move skirts congressional approval. House lawmakers have not yet returned to vote on a bill to end the shutdown. President Trump and Republican leaders have united around a two-track approach to fund the DHS and delay ICE and Customs and Border Protection funding until later this summer. What everybody realizes that, you know, we have to do this now without Democrat votes. The Democrats, after we negotiated with them for 40 days on reforms, made it very clear they didn't really want reforms. While House Republican leadership agreed to the deal, some rank-and-file Republicans are sounding off. Congressman Scott Perry immediately reacting to the deal, writing, let's make this simple, Caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund law enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again. If that's the vote, I'm a no. Congressman Randy Fine told The Hill, there's no desire to pass the Senate Open Borders bill and then hope we get the reconciliation bill that would close the border. They've got to come together. If several House Republicans oppose the deal, House Speaker Mike Johnson will have to rely on Democrat votes to reopen the DHS. It's unclear when the House will return, the Speaker vowing action in the coming days. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Melina Weiskopf, NTD News. Coming up, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is calling out the Chinese regime for economic bullying. That says China detains dozens of Panama-linked ships after losing control of key ports at the Panama Canal. Jack Bradley with the details. A new poll is offering a closer look at the Los Angeles mayor's race. While Mayor Karen Bass is in the lead, a significant number of undecided voters could shape the outcome. Christina Corona reports. And the Artemis 2 space crew is on track to reach the moon on Monday. Jason Blair has more from the crew's first three days in space. Next. I'm Jonathan Lawson. If you're 50 to 85, please listen closely. The lock I want to talk to you about isn't the one on your door. It's a rate lock for your life insurance that guarantees that once you're insured, your rate can never go up at any time for any reason. Many policies you see don't have one, but you can get a lifetime rate lock from Colonial Pen. This plan was designed for people on a fixed income with coverage options that start at $9.95 a month. That's less than 35 cents a day. Your rate is locked in for life. Coverage can never be canceled, and your acceptance is guaranteed. You cannot be turned down because of your health. See for yourself. Call for an information kit and gift. Both are free, no obligation. Call 1-800-624-6556 for your free information and your free gift. That's 1-800-624-6556. 1-800-624-6556. Call now. 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And for the first time ever on TV, MyPillow Mattresses and MyPillow Mattress Stoppers, as low as $99.98. And you save 50% on our Luxe Pure 6-Piece Towel Sets, regular $69.98, now only $39.98. And our best-selling standard, MyPillows, regular $49.98, on sale for $17.98. Wait on it, mega sale, only $14.98. So go to mypillow.com or call the number on your screen. Use this promo code to take advantage of our second annual mega sale. But wait, there's more. To make the mega sale even more special, when you order right now, your order's gonna ship absolutely free. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. The U.S. is accusing the Chinese Communist Party of economic coercion by detaining an unprecedented number of Panama flag ships. Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls it retaliation after China lost control of key ports at the Panama Canal. NTD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has more. The Trump administration's ramping up pressure on Beijing after China detained dozens of Panama flag ships at Chinese ports. Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls it economic bullying, retaliation by the Chinese Communist Party against Panama for removing CCP-linked control of Panama Canal ports. Rubio posted on X, China's decision to detain or otherwise impede Panama flagged vessels engaged in lawful trade destabilizes supply chains, raises costs, and erodes confidence in the global trading system. The U.S. stands with Panama against any retaliatory actions against its sovereignty, and will always support our partners in the face of bullying. Once the ships are detained, it could take over a week for them to move forward, raising fuel costs and delaying shipping. Authorities say that nearly 75 percent of ships detained in China last month were Panama flagged. That's 92 out of 124 vessels. Laura DiBella, chair of the Federal Maritime Commission, last week said that this is unprecedented, far exceeding historical norms and meant to punish Panama, and adding that this could hurt U.S. shipping given our reliance on Panama flagged vessels. Now, this all follows Panama's top court ruling that a Hong Kong company's longstanding control over ports at both ends of the Panama Canal was unconstitutional, allowing Panama to reclaim the critical infrastructure. Now, that Hong Kong company had operated the Panama Canal ports for decades, effectively placing them under the Chinese Communist Party influence due to the Chinese national security laws that require companies, including those in Hong Kong, to support state intelligence work. We will not allow hostile foreign influence to gain a foothold in this hemisphere. That includes the Panama Canal. President Trump has repeatedly warned that China's footprint near the canal threatens U.S. national security. We didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back. As the CCP continues detaining Panama flagged ships, the stakes for global supply chains and American consumers are rising fast. For NTD News Washington, I'm Jack Bradley. The Los Angeles mayoral race is shaping up as the June primary approaches. While Mayor Karen Bass is ahead, the large number of undecided voters could make this contest highly competitive. NTD's Cristina Corona has the latest. With the June 2nd primary election quickly approaching, a new UCLA-Luskin poll shows an unpredictable race for Los Angeles mayor. Nearly 40% of voters remain undecided. The poll surveyed 813 likely voters between March 15th and March 29th. Mayor Karen Bass currently leads the field with 25% support. Her closest challengers are reality TV star Spencer Pratt at 11% and council member Nithya Raman at 9%. Activist Ray Huang and tech entrepreneur Adam Miller each received about 3%, and 9% of voters said they'd support a different candidate. A total of 14 candidates are running, adding to a crowded field. That 40% of undecided voters could ultimately decide who makes it to a November runoff. Last month, Spencer Pratt told Inside California Politics he plans a tougher approach to crime and homelessness. I'm going to enforce the law. No more encampments on the sidewalks. It's illegal. No more doing drugs on the sidewalks. It's illegal. There's no more revolving door. When I'm mayor, homelessness is not a business. Mental crisis is not a business. Drug addiction is not a business. We're going to fix these with solutions that work and get results. In the first mayoral debate of the year, some candidates took the stage to discuss homelessness and housing. Raman focused heavily on the city's housing crisis. We say we're in a housing crisis here in Los Angeles, and then the city makes it impossible to build in L.A. My plan would change that. I would reduce bureaucracy and red tape at City Hall by creating a shot clock by which all housing projects would have to be approved. The primary election is June 2nd. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two will head to a runoff in November. Christina Corona, NTD News. The Artemis 2 is on day three of its mission and is on course to reach the moon on Monday. The crew is also on track to set a new record for the furthest manned flight from Earth. NTD correspondent Jason Blair has more. For the first time since 1972, during Apollo 17, human beings have left Earth orbit. For the first time in over 50 years, astronauts are traveling to the moon. Four astronauts launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday evening. They are on track to reach the moon on Monday. One of the biggest surprises was how smooth riding those solids was. On Friday, NASA said this trip is the start of a campaign to get back to the moon. We're going back to the moon. We're going to stay there, right? And so this is the first step towards that. We're building a transportation system. And to have a reliable and robust transportation system, you need to test flight. The ride has been fairly seamless, minus a toilet issue shortly after takeoff. I like to say that it is probably the most important piece of equipment on board. Fortunately, the problem was solved a few hours later. We were all breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out to be just fine. This trip is set to be a new record as the furthest manned trip from Earth. That milestone is scheduled to happen on Monday. President Trump expressed his support. We'll be traveling further than any manned rocket has ever flown and will very substantially pass the moon. God bless them. These are brave people. New photos of Earth were shared from the operation. After circling around the moon, the Artemis crew is expected to land in the Pacific Ocean on April 10th. Jason Blair, NTD News. And what do everyday Americans make of NASA's Artemis 2 mission around the moon? NTD's Sam Wong was out on the National Mall in D.C. to hear from the people. Artemis 2 going around the moon, what do you think? I think it's great. I think the kids are excited about it. It's a whole new world for them. I think the next step they ought to take is landing on the moon. And then Mars. And then Elon, he's going to help us go to Mars. I like it. I like how we are exploring the moon and just doing what we need to do to find out new stuff. Yeah, I think it's absolutely awesome. I'm really excited to hear what's to be said about everything they're doing. I hope it's the start of a new space race. I remember the space shuttle launches in the 80s and the 90s and every single one of them was on television. It was exciting to see that we're kind of back to that. My grandparents and millions and millions of Americans, I think something like 80% of Americans, watched the original moon landing on TV. So to be able to have that moment for our generation feels really significant as well. It's kind of a mark of the times and how much we've advanced since the first initial moon landing. What do you think about the possibility of extraterrestrial sightings out there? I feel like there's at least something out there. I don't know if it's like what we need to believe as humans. I definitely think there's stuff that we don't know that's out there. I don't think they look like humans at all, but I think there's probably some microscopic little aliens out there roaming the planet. There's people out there somewhere. They're not like us, but they're out there. And everybody's keeping it a secret. The government's keeping it a big secret. I think it's really funny how much people care about extraterrestrials. I think it's kind of a red herring because, you know, you only have one planet. So I think we should focus on issues on our own planet rather than worrying about aliens. I don't think there's a reason to think that there's not. I mean, they've already found water out there. So certainly you could have energy. And why not? I don't know. I mean, never say never. Space is a big place. But, you know, I don't know that we have I don't know that I have a strong opinion either way. I wouldn't be surprised either way, to be honest. Do you think space is a really important vantage point for us to have a leverage over adversaries such as China? We have to have everything over China and definitely space, but everything else. We can't let them buy any more land in America. There's got to be rules. They got to stop doing that. We live down in South Carolina and there's a lot of golf courses down there and they're buying them up. Yeah, I mean, I absolutely believe that. I think as goofed on as it was, the Space Force is a valid branch of the military. I think we should put a lot of our military resources towards satellite defense. I think, I mean, that's what won us the Vietnam War is, you know, outspending Russia in space infrastructure based on technologies that we never even created. Whoever can establish a permanent base there, or at least a temporary base there, will have a strategic advantage in both science, but probably also, unfortunately, in defense as well. Coming up after a U.S. fighter jet was downed over Iran, the pilot has been rescued while the search is reportedly underway for a second crew member. Rebecca Grant from the Lexington Institute joins us to discuss what's next in the Iran conflict. I'm Amy Grant, and I want to talk to you from my heart about the heart. I would have been the last person on the list to say, this woman has a problem with her heart. So, no, there was nothing about my life that said, you have a ticking time bomb in your chest. But I did. I wound up in the office of a cardiologist because I was there with my husband. And at the tail end of that, the cardiologist looked at me and said, I want to see you. No one was more surprised than I was to learn I was living with a rare heart condition. He said, Amy, this condition, you'll be fine, fine, fine, and then catastrophic. A few months later, I had an open heart surgery that saved my life. And I owe it to the research and life-saving medical breakthroughs developed by the American Heart Association. That's why I'm asking you to join me and become a monthly donor to the American Heart Association. Please call now or go to helpheart.org. For only $19 a month, just 63 cents a day, you can help fund the next medical breakthrough, get the next person trained in CPR, and get the next hospital certified in high-quality cardiovascular care. If this could happen to me, it could happen to anybody. Heart disease is America's number one killer. But your support can save your life or the life of someone you love. Give $19 a month with your credit card and we'll send you this special T-shirt you can wear to show you're part of a community of monthly donors working to help save more lives like mine. I'm grateful for the American Heart Association. Their research gave me more time to do the things I love with the people I love. So listen to your heart. I'm here today because I did. Please call the number on your screen or go to helpheart.org now to become a monthly donor and help save even more lives. Thank you. Hey, boss. You okay? Yeah, I'm good. You sure? I said I'm fine. Since I was little, it was only like me and my parents. You think you created a family out of characters? Yeah. As far as when to take that and make it into a song. We need to be trusted Superman But he wasn't on it And we lost it M.I.A. M.I.A. M.I.A. Where you at? Where you at? On the way out M.I.A. M.I.A. M.I.A. Jason. Hey, Pop. It's been really, really hard for me. Welcome back. Tiffany Meyers, senior Israeli security officials, confirmed to Epic Magazine Israel that an American search and rescue effort is underway for the second crew member of a U.S. fighter jet down over Iran. One member already rescued. Joining us now is Rebecca Grant, vice president of the Lexington Institute and national security analyst. Rebecca, thank you so much for joining us. Always great to see you. Now, any event like this highlights the risks Americans face in this conflict, but you've said this incident doesn't signal a turnaround for the Iranian regime in this war. CENTCOM putting out the following numbers this week. Over 12,000 Iranian targets struck, 13,000 combat flights, and over 155 Iranian vessels damaged or destroyed. What could have happened to the U.S. jet flying over Iran? Yes, and you know, this is no victory for Iran. Look at the numbers that you just presented and Operation Epic Fury will continue. We do still have air dominance over that country. You know, we have to wait and see with more information about this, but a possibility is that this F-15E is equipped, among other things, for low-altitude work. It could have been working a little bit below some of the airspace there, and when you have air dominance, there always is a potential certainly below a certain altitude threshold that you've got manned portable air defenses, heat-seeking missiles, even good old-fashioned AAA and an aircraft fire that can take down a jet, and that may be what has happened in this case. And of course, terrific to have one of the aircrew rescues. We've got a pilot up front with a system operator, a wizard in the back, and they're still searching for one downed airman at this point. Great that we had so many assets nearby and able to come into this combat search-and-rescue mission. Digging into the search-and-rescue part, is there anything we can gather from the fact that one has been rescued? How separated could the crew members be? You know, and the number one thing you need in combat search-and-rescue is the location of the downed airman. If one is rescued, it may be a case of continuing to search for the location of that other aircrew member. When they eject, they'll go out together, but depending on the altitude of the jet, winds, factors on the ground, you're going to hope that they end up fairly close to one another, but it's possible that they do end up separated. We don't know exactly where this is. This province of Iran has marshy areas, mountainous areas, very, very hard to say where they're working, but we have seen U.S. airmen many, many years ago in the conflicts in Bosnia and Serbia. We had one, Scott O'Grady, who was on the ground for six days and was recovered. Another, Major Dave Goldstein, who later became the head of the Air Force, he was down for several hours and then picked up. So I know that Central Command is concentrating very hard on the search for that downed airman. We haven't gotten an official statement from the Pentagon or the President about this incident yet. What might need to be considered before making a decision like that? Well, they are going to focus on the mission and getting all that done. Neither has Central Command put out any official information. You know, that kind of indicates to me that this is still very much an active search and rescue operation, and of course, no one officially wants to say anything that could get in the way of that. Remember, when you do search and rescue, you've got suddenly a lot of other aircraft in the mix, everything from the airborne control aircraft and tankers down to the special operations, HC-130s and helicopters, fighters flying cover a lot of moving pieces to this. We won't see any official information, I think, until everyone involved in that mission is in a safe place. And CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper giving an update on the operation on Tuesday. Let's listen to a bit of that now. Our naval forces have launched waves upon waves of cruise missiles and fighter aircraft from the sea. U.S. Air Forces have extended our reach with refueling tankers while executing a high volume of airstrikes into Iran with fighters and bombers. And our Space Force has given us the ultimate high ground delivering space superiority which has been a critical enabler to this fight. On that last part about Space Force, we don't hear a whole lot being said about this branch, the newest in the conflict. Now, the Space Force General recently said they're, quote, inside the threat zone. What are the Guardians bringing to this fight? Oh gosh, couldn't do this fight without U.S. Space Force. They've been a separate branch of the military for six years now. They take care of missile warning. So you have Guardians that are literally watching every flare coming out of Iran to give missile warning to our forces and to allies. GPS is guidance system for a lot of our precision weapons. That's a satellite constellation that the Guardians keep in tip-top shape. Part of their job also is to make sure that Iran or anybody else can't interfere with space-based communications precision and navigation and timing. So their role is very much behind the scenes to us, but it's front and center for Central Command. There will, in fact, be Space Force Guardians with Admiral Cooper and his staff making sure that all this works appropriately. Cannot fight without space superiority. Well, Rebecca Grant, as always, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Coming up in the NBA, Lakers star Luka Doncic left last night's game with a hamstring injury. What's his status going forward? Dave Martin joins us with the details, next. They're just young people. Hungry, homeless, and vulnerable. Abused youth often feel safer on the street. Now, more than ever, that's the most dangerous place of all. Covenant House is helping young adults facing homelessness. We're providing safe shelter to thousands, but the need is overwhelming and no young person has ever turned away. Please call or go online now with your gift of $19 a month to help a young person. You'll provide safe shelter, hot meals, and medical care. Your gift will show them they're loved. Homeless young people are afraid and alone with nowhere else to turn. You want to know that there's somewhere you can go that's safe. So the Covenant House did that for us. Please call now with your gift of $19 a month. We'll send you this blanket as a reminder of the comfort your gift provides a young person tonight. Please don't wait. Your gift is the lifeline a young person needs now. Call the number on your screen or go online to safeplacetosleep.org. Thank you for saving precious lives. There is a road laid out for me. Boxes everywhere and this is going to be Addie's room. I think you're really going to like it. I hope so. I know this road is there for me. First night here but Amy seems cool. I got this. And now for your sports news, we're joined by NTV's Dave Martin. Dave, we've got some golf, baseball, and college basketball news, but let's start in the NBA as Lakers star Luka Doncic left last night's game against the Thunder with a hamstring injury. What is his status going forward? Yeah, this just came out. ESPN is reporting Doncic is out indefinitely with that hamstring injury. He's going to miss at least the rest of the regular season, which is just about less than two weeks left. And then his status beyond that is uncertain. That's potentially a huge loss for the Lakers. Doncic and LA were really on quite a tear. Doncic was named the NBA's Western Conference Player of the Month for March, averaging nearly 38 points a game, going on with 8 rebounds, 7.5 assists. Meanwhile, the team went 15-2 during the month and clinched a playoff berth. Now overall, he leads the NBA in scoring at 33.5 points a game. He's also third in assists and more than 8 assists a game, even 20 second rebounds. And he was at least probably going to be in the top three, I would say, in the MVP voting, so a big loss for the Lakers. Lakers just five games left in the regular season before the playoff start. I would certainly think he'll try to return as soon as possible, but this is an injury that forced him to miss several games just a couple months ago in February, leading up to the All-Star game there. So we'll wait and see on his playoff status. Hopefully a speedy recovery. Hopefully. Moving to golf news though, three-times Masters champion Phil Mickelson says he'll miss next week's Masters event due to a personal health matter. Yeah, this wasn't a total surprise. Mickelson already missed four live golf events earlier this season. He was able to play a live event in South Africa just a couple weeks ago, finishing 48 there. But Mickelson's announcement says his family is continuing to navigate a personal health matter. So now between him and Tiger Woods missing this event, this will be the first time that neither one plays the Masters since all the way back in 1994. And while Woods has won the Masters five times, that's the second most, only to Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus is not far behind with his three wins there. And even as few as just, you know, even though he's 55 years old, just three years ago he finished runner-up to John Rahm in this event. In any case, we wish him and his family a speedy recovery for this as well. And we'll see if there's more ratings or lower, more people tuning in. You know, I would think without Tiger Woods to begin with, there's probably going to be lesser eyes on this event. I mean, first of all, he's Tiger Woods, you know, there's that. And he didn't play last year at all during the season. We saw him a little bit in that TGL event, you know, which is the virtual golf league where you hit into a net or something like that and project some. We did see a little bit of Tiger Woods, but other than that video of him last week at an unfortunate time for him, that's pretty much all we've seen of him in the last year and a half. So I would figure less eyes will be on this event, unfortunately. But I guess we'll be younger players, you know. Both those guys are 50 and older, you know. Some new blood in the game. Alright, well, speaking of ratings, let's look at college basketball because March Madness is down to the final four for both the women's and men's tournaments. Now, the women play tonight. Who's the favorite to win? Yeah, UConn women are definitely the hands-down favorite on the women's side. Huskies are the defending champions. They're 38-0. They play South Carolina tonight. Now, that's the first game. Starts at 7 p.m. Eastern time, so really just in a few minutes here. Huskies listed as 6.5-point favorites. Gamecocks are certainly no pushovers themselves, though. 35-3 record this year. They lost the Huskies in last year's national championship game. Then we've got the second game. UCLA versus Texas. Now, these two met earlier this season. Longhorns won that game by 11 points. Winners of tonight's games then will play Sunday. Men's final four then is tomorrow. UConn's in this one, too. They play Illinois in the first game. Illini are actually slight 1.5-point favorites. The Huskies won titles in both 2023 and 2024. That game starts at precisely 6.09 Eastern time. Remember that one, Tiff? That's an unusual one. Not 6.08, 6.09. Anyway, second matchup, Arizona-Michigan. This is going to be the heavyweight battle, really. These two have been ranked in the top three or four pretty much all season. They score a lot of points, so it should be a lot of up and down, a lot of points going in. Whoever wins that one will surely be favored to win in Monday night's game for the national title. So, yeah, we've got a lot of basketball still to look forward to. Be sure to time your clocks for that. You don't want to miss that 6.09 start. That's for sure. Not 6.08, not 6.10, 6.09. Just enough time for a pre-snack maybe. That's one thing I still have not figured out. The 6.09 start seems like it's every year. I've never actually figured out why they need nine minutes after 6 o'clock exactly to start the game. One of these times, Tiff, I'm going to come back to you with the answer. All right. For now, it's an enduring mystery. Shifting gears to baseball, though, Aaron Judge. Homer today in the Yankees' home opener against the Marlins. Yeah, Judge went 2-3 with that home run you mentioned, his third of the season. Yankees also got a home run from Bennett Rice. They won 8-2. They are now 6-1 on this young season. Marlins now 5-2. Now, with the 2-2, Judge still only hitting just 185 of the season, though it's very early as he looks for his fourth MVP award in the last five seasons. Now, speaking of MVPs, Shohei Ohtani also homered today. His first of the season for the Dodgers. Dodgers beat the Nationals this afternoon 13-6. Ohtani's coming off to a similarly slow start, hitting just 217 of the season. Dodgers also got a home run from Kyle Tucker, the guy they're paying $60 million a year with his new team, the Dodgers. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts also homered for the Dodgers. Dodgers now 5-2 as they look to win their third straight World Series. Nationals fall to 3-4. Meanwhile, Connor Griffin, the 19-year-old for the Pirates, doubled in his first at-bat with Pittsburgh today. He drove and run and later scored. Those are just three of the 15 games that are on today, so every team is playing. We've got five games on tonight, including Royals versus the Twins. Now, not many people really care about that game, but as a Royals fan, I actually do. A lot of sports going on right now here, Tiff. I'm sure you're going to be watching some of these events, right? There's a lot to choose from. There's so many to choose from. It's probably an impossible choice, I'm guessing, right? Well, definitely stay tuned for your updates, though. They are always out there. My updates are always coming, whether you guys want to hear them or not, really. Alright, well, on that note, Dave, as always, thanks for joining us. Thank you, Tiff. And that's all for today's news. For around-the-clock coverage, visit us at ntd.com slash live or download our NTD app. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Good night.