Internet erupts over ‘disqualifying’ leaked audio from Democrat in key Senate race discussing Khamenei’s death

2026-03-30T12:41:40-04:00 / Fox News

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed refused to address death of Iranian general: ‘A lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today’

By Andrew Mark Miller , Paul Steinhauser Fox News

Published March 30, 2026 12:41pm EDT

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., assesses the Trump administration’s decisive actions against Iran’s Islamic regime on ‘Hannity.’

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A Michigan Democrat running for U.S. Senate is facing backlash after a report on leaked audio showing him explaining why he shouldn’t take a public position on the death of former Iran Supreme Leader Khamenei because of people in Dearborn, Michigan, who are “sad.”

Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, according to a report from the Washington Free Beacon, was recorded in a staff meeting strategizing about how to address the Iranian leader’s death after he was killed during U.S. and Israel’s military action in the country.

“I’m just gonna go straight to pedophilia, frankly,” El-Sayed is heard saying about his response if pressed by a reporter. “I’ll just be like, ‘Pedophile president decides that he doesn’t like the front page news, so he decides to take us into another war.’”

El-Sayed also told his team, in reference to the significant Muslim population in Dearborn, “I also want to remind you guys that there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today. So, like, I just don’t want to comment on Khamenei at all. Like, I don’t think it’s worth even touching that.”

SANDERS-ENDORSED SENATE CANDIDATE KNOCKED FOR ALLEGED FLIP-FLOP TO ‘HAVE IT BOTH WAYS’ ON KEY ISSUE

Abdul El- Sayed attends the Detroit Association of Black Organizations (DABO) Christmas Party 2025 at the Bridge Center on Dec. 16, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan.(Photo by Monica Morgan/Getty Images)

The report sparked immediate backlash from Republicans and conservatives on social media, as well as from Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, who told Fox News Digital, “Abdul continues to expose how extreme the Democrat party has become.”

“Rather than empathize with the 140 kids whose lives were threatened in the Michigan synagogue attack, the thousands of Americans murdered by Iran, or the victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism around the world, he instead, chooses to empathize with the terrorists who committed these vile acts,” Rogers said. “And now, to campaign with a known antisemite who claimed “America deserved 9/11. Each time you think the Democrats can’t get lower, they pick up the shovel and keep digging.”

“Speaks volumes about the level of extremism within the El-Sayed coalition here,” Fox News radio political analyst Josh Kraushaar posted on X.

“Democrats have an abundance of riches to choose from when selecting which one of their Senate candidates is the craziest, most radical, and most anti-American,” GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno posted on X.

“Beyond parody,” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X.

“Well this is insane,” GOP adviser Nathan Brand posted on X.

TLAIB-BACKED SENATE CANDIDATE IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER DELETING ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, has been endorsed by Bernie Sanders and embraced comparisons between him and Zohran Mamdani. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

“Anyone who is sad that the Ayatollah is dead should be deported,” Heritage Foundation Senior Research Fellow Jason Bedrick posted on X.

“Disgraceful,” the Republican Jewish Coalition posted on X.

In a post on X, former Biden-Harris surrogate Kevin Walling called the news “disqualifying.”

Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for comment.

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In a statement to the Washington Free Beacon, campaign lawyers at the Sandler Reiff law firm said the recording was “obtained without the campaign’s permission” and “without knowledge that individuals were being recorded.”

“The campaign is considering its legal options against the individual in question,” the statement added.

El-Sayed, who is Muslim, recently faced controversy for agreeing to team up with Hasan Piker, a far-left streamer who once said “America deserved 9/11.”

Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary will be held on Aug 4 as El-Sayed squares off against Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens to replace outgoing Sen. Gary Peters.

The Cook Political report ranks the race as a “toss up” heading into November’s consequential midterms.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

Air Canada CEO to step down after backlash over his English-only crash message

March 30, 2026 / 12:07 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau said he will retire later this year, days after drawing criticism for an English-only condolence message following this month’s deadly crash in New York.

Canada’s largest airline, based in French-speaking Quebec, said Rousseau, who is 68, told the board he will leave by the end of September. Air Canada, which is required by law to offer flight service in both English and French, said it will search for a new CEO who has “the ability to communicate in French.”

The crash occurred on March 22, when an Air Canada Jazz flight from Montreal arrived at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and collided with a fire-and-rescue vehicle on a runway. The plane’s two pilots were killed in the crash. They were Antoine Forest, a French-speaking Quebecer, and Mackenzie Gunther, a graduate of Toronto’s Seneca Polytechnic.

After the crash, Rousseau delivered his condolence video message in English, with French subtitles.

Canada is an officially bilingual nation, and Prime Minister Mark Carney had said the English-only message showed a lack of compassion and judgment. Quebec’s premier and others called on the airline executive to resign, while the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages has received hundreds of complaints.

Steven MacKinnon, Canada’s transport minister, thanked Rousseau in a social media post and said the government will continue to work closely with Air Canada to ensure it “provides safe, reliable, affordable and bilingual service to all Canadians.”

Quebec Premier François Legault noted that when Rousseau was appointed president of the airline in February 2021, he promised to learn French. Before serving as Air Canada’s CEO, Rousseau had worked as the airline’s deputy CEO and chief financial officer.

Quebec’s identity has been contentious since the 1760s, when the British completed their takeover of what was then called New France. Quebec is about 80% French-speaking.

Judge upholds US government approval of ioneer’s Nevada lithium mine

2026-03-30T19:35:18.029Z / Reuters

By Ernest Scheyder and Nate Raymond

March 30, 2026 7:35 PM UTC Updated 8 mins ago

节点运行失败

[1/2]Lithium carbonate is seen in this illustration. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Court rules federal regulators properly approved mine
Rhyolite Ridge slated to be major US source of lithium
Environmental group deeply disappointed by ruling
Shares of ioneer surge after ruling in Las Vegas

March 30 (Reuters) – A federal judge rejected claims by environmentalists that the U.S. ​government in 2024 improperly approved Australia-based ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge lithium and boron mine project in Nevada in a ruling ‌on Monday that boosts efforts to increase U.S. critical minerals production.

U.S. District Judge Cristina Silva ruled in Las Vegas that U.S. Interior Department regulators during Democratic former President Joe Biden’s administration sufficiently analyzed how the planned Rhyolite Ridge mine could affect Tiehm’s buckwheat, a rare wildflower that ioneer has vowed to protect.

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Shares of ioneer ​gained about 24% in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company is still seeking a financial partner ​for the project after Sibanye Stillwater pulled out last year.

The mine is slated to become one of North ⁠America’s largest sources of lithium, a metal important for batteries, and a key supplier to automaker Ford and others.

The Center for Biological ​Diversity environmental group, which filed suit in a bid to halt the project, had argued that the mine could drive the flower to extinction ​and harm groundwater, air quality, cultural resources and wildlife habitats.

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The group challenged the legality of the government’s approval of the project. The lawsuit said the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management approved the mine without ensuring that it would not jeopardize the wildflower or unduly impact the environment in violation of the National Environmental ​Policy Act, the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Silva, appointed to the bench by Biden, wrote in a 14-page ​ruling that federal officials imposed mitigation measures for the flower that “are sufficiently detailed and reasonable” and had correctly analyzed the project’s effect on groundwater and ‌other ecological ⁠concerns.

An ioneer spokesperson welcomed the ruling, calling it a significant milestone for the U.S. government’s critical minerals plans.

“Rhyolite Ridge will create hundreds of new American jobs, reduce reliance on foreign materials and processing and provide a domestic source of two critical minerals,” said spokesperson Chad Yeftich.

The Center for Biological Diversity said it was deeply disappointed by the ruling, and called the government’s plan to save the wildflower “a house of cards.”

“We’re ​exploring our next steps but ​we’re more determined than ever to ⁠continue fighting to save Tiehm’s buckwheat,” said Patrick Donnelly, a regional director for the group.

The Interior Department declined to comment. The department said when it approved the mine that it had taken numerous steps ​to protect the ecosystem near the mine site, roughly 225 miles (362 km) north of Las Vegas.

NEXT FUNDING ​STEPS

Days before leaving ⁠office last year, Biden finalized a $996 million loan for the project from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a bid to cement his green energy legacy. Biden issued the project’s final permit in 2024.

The company had been set to develop the project with Sibanye Stillwater but that company pulled ⁠out not ​long after Biden issued the loan due to its own financial issues. Executives at ​ioneer then launched an effort to find a new financial partner for the project, which would be key to fund its $1.67 billion capital cost. The company said this month ​it is in “active discussions with a number of parties.”

Reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Amid tough job market for young Americans, Fed Chair Powell tells students not to despair

March 30, 2026 / 3:01 PM EDT / CBS News

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has a message for young Americans looking for work in a tough job market: Don’t be deterred, even as job creation remains weak and the threat of artificial intelligence looms.

The Fed chair, who made the comments on Monday to an undergraduate economics class at Harvard University, covered a lot of ground during his hour-long appearance, including the financial system’s capacity to weather future crises. He also touched on inflation amid the war in Iran, saying that longer-term expectations remain in check.

Powell is set to step down from his role as chair in May, when he will be replaced by Kevin Warsh, a former Fed official whom President Trump nominated to the post in January. In the meantime, the Fed is wrangling with economic data showing that the inflation rate remains above the central bank’s 2% annual goal, while surging oil prices are pushing up costs at the gas pump and may ripple through the economy.

“Great opportunities”

Perhaps his most resonant message was for the young people in the room, who could soon find themselves on the hunt for a job in a market marred by slow growth. With a stalled labor market, young Americans in particular are struggling to find work.

“There’s no denying it’s a challenging time to enter the labor market, but it may take some patience and all that, but in the longer term, this economy is going to give you great opportunities,” Powell said Monday.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell shared his outlook on the job market while speaking to a Principles of Economics class at Harvard University on March 30, 2026, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sophie Park / Getty Images

The unemployment rate for 20 to 24-year-olds stands at 7.4%, after topping 9% last fall, Labor Department data shows. That’s higher than the overall unemployment rate, which ticked up to 4.4% in February. Hiring has also been lackluster, with employers adding just 181,000 jobs last year.

Powell acknowledged these challenges but struck a sanguine tone, telling the students in the room that they are part of a historically robust economy that will generate opportunities for them over the long-term.

“The U.S. economy, compared to other major big, market-based economies around the world, is just incredibly dynamic and productive,” he said.

Inflation expectations

Powell also touched on inflation amid the war in Iran, saying that longer-term expectations remain in check.

“The tendency is to look through any kind of a supply shock,” he said, adding, “But a critical, essential aspect of that is you have to carefully monitor inflation expectations, because you can have a series of these supply shocks.”

Powell added that there wasn’t a lot Fed policymakers could do since energy shocks “tend to come and go pretty quickly” and monetary maneuvers work over the longer-term. But a series of energy shocks, nevertheless, could be concerning.

“You have to carefully monitor inflation expectations because you could have a series of big supply shocks and that can lead, you know, the public generally, businesses, price setters, households … to start expecting higher inflation over time. Why wouldn’t it?” Powell said.

Some economists have flagged that soaring oil prices could reignite inflation by causing higher prices for transportation, fertilizer and other goods and services that depend on fossil fuels.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose to $115 a barrel on Monday before retreating to $107.95, according to data from Oilprice.com and FactSet. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rose 2% to $101.70. Before the Iran war, both were trading at about $70 a barrel.

Impact of artificial intelligence

Powell also had a positive outlook on artificial intelligence, which is poised to reshape the workforce. Last year, Dario Amodei, CEO of AI company Anthropic, said he thinks the technology could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs.

Powell recognized that companies are looking for ways to automate jobs as they seek to cut costs. But he said he also believes large language models will make workers more efficient, pointing to past examples of how other technologies, like the loom, revolutionized manufacturing and ultimately boosted worker productivity.

“In all cases, it is wound up raising productive living standards as long as the society keeps producing people who have the skills and aptitudes to benefit from that technology,” Powell said.

Young workers are poised to benefit if they embrace the technology, he added.

“I think you’re in a situation where you need to invest the time to really master the use of these new technologies, and that should stand you in good stead,” he said.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

What to know about the Supreme Court’s blockbuster birthright citizenship case

2026-03-30T13:50:09-04:00 / Fox News

Arguments begin this week on Trump’s executive order challenging a constitutional guarantee upheld for over a century

By Kerri Kupec Urbahn Fox News

Published March 30, 2026 1:50pm EDT

Supreme Court to hear arguments in major birthright citizenship case

Constitutional attorney Mark Smith discusses the Supreme Court’s upcoming birthright citizenship case and its potential impact on President Donald Trump’s presidency on ‘Fox Report.’

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This week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in what could be one of the most significant cases of the 21st century: birthright citizenship.

Before the Court is whether the Trump executive order that ends birthright citizenship complies with the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, after multiple judges blocked the order from taking effect as it was litigated.

In plain speak, the Court will look at whether someone born on U.S. soil automatically becomes a citizen irrespective of their parents’ status.

ALITO BLASTS LAWYER’S WORD-SALAD BLURRING ASYLUM LAW

Demonstrators holds up an anti-Trump sign outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2025.(ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Given that courts have routinely upheld birthright citizenship for over a century now, the Trump administration faces an uphill battle.

However, the current Court has not shied away from overturning high-profile decisions: think Dobbs overturning Roe(abortion), and Loper overturning Chevron(the administrative state). The mere fact the Court decided to take up this issue at all is very interesting.As always, the devil will be in the details in terms of how broadly, or narrowly, they decide the case – or if they find some way to punt it altogether.

How did we get here?

The Fourteenth Amendment,Section 1of the Constitution states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

[SUPREME COURT PREPARES TO REVIEW TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP]

President Donald Trump walks to speak to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 23, 2026.(SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

Its history: The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868 in response to 1) the end of the Civil War and 2) the 1857 Dred Scott decision, which concluded that enslaved people (and their children) were not American citizens and thus had no rights and couldn’t sue in federal court, among other things. Notably, Michigan Senator Jacob Howard wrote the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” clause and said in speeches at the time that the clause did not include “persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to families of ambassadors or foreign ministers.”

Why this matters: In the upcoming arguments, expect a lot of discussion about what “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means, especially because the subsequent Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 mirrors the language of the 14th Amendment – that a citizen is someone who is born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.

[DC COURT RULINGS STALL TRUMP AGENDA ACROSS IMMIGRATION, POLICING, FED — RAISING STAKES ON EXECUTIVE POWER]

People demonstrate outside the Supreme Court of the United States on May 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C.(Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Wong Kim Ark: The 1898 U.S. Supreme Court decision that gave us birthright citizenship as we know it today.The case involved the U.S.-born adult child of Chinese nationals – who had been permanently domiciled in the U.S. – who was denied reentry into the U.S. after returning from a trip to China. At the time, it was generally difficult for Chinese nationals to become citizens.

In its decision, the Supreme Court held that children born on U.S. soil are automatically granted citizenship with very few exceptions, such as children of diplomats. It interpreted the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” to mean subject to the laws of the U.S.

The Court reasoned that citizens and non-citizens alike are subject to the laws of the nation they are in. The Court emphasized that Ark’s parents were “permanently domiciled” in the U.S. This decision was controversial at the time because it ignored previous Supreme Court language that had found children born to alien parents were not citizens. However, in Wong Kim Ark, the Court dismissed that argument in its opinion, finding that previous language was mere “dicta,” i.e., language that was not necessary to those decisions, and thus, did not create binding precedent.

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The bottom line:This is the blockbuster case of this Supreme Court term. A decision is expected late June.

Kerri Kupec Urbahn is Legal editor and VP for Fox News. Prior to her work in media, Kerri served as the Director of Public Affairs for the Department of Justice under Attorney General William P. Barr. She also served as Communications Director for Alliance Defending Freedom, and clerked for Court of Appeals of Virginia Judge William G. Petty.

Online sports bettors may risk more than just their wagers. Here’s what’s at stake.

March 30, 2026 / 4:00 PM EDT / CBS News

It’s well known that online sports betting can be a risky endeavor. But a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows the practice may also be linked to higher delinquency rates, delivering another potential blow to Americans’ financial health.

Online sports betting, now legal in more than 30 U.S. states, allows users to make bets on everything from which team will win a game to how many rebounds a certain player might get. Popular platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel present a quick way to wager money without having to go to a physical location like a casino, which some states require.

The practice has grown in popularity, with a 2025 survey by S&P Global Market Intelligence estimating that 15% of U.S. adults placed a bet on an online sportsbook within the last year. Of those, more than two-thirds were men.

As demand for these platforms has grown, so too has the amount of money Americans funnel toward online sports betting. Quarterly data from the New York Fed study shows average deposits — the initial amount a bettor puts down when they place a wager — have jumped since 2020. Bettors deposited an average of $1,250 per quarter in 2025, compared to around $500 just five years ago.

A gamble for your credit?

The New York Fed studied the impact online sports betting could have on Americans’ financial health — particularly delinquency rates — by comparing betting activity and consumer credit outcomes in states that legalized it with those that have not.

To be sure, delinquency rates have been climbing for years and are now at their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis. The rise can be attributed to a number of factors, with some research pointing to a drop-off in stimulus funds after COVID-19 as one of the catalysts.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, however, found that online betting could also be one factor at play when it comes to consumer credit outcomes. Since online betting became legal, the increase in delinquencies in states that legalized has outpaced those in states that didn’t, the organization found.

The New York Fed used in-house data from its Consumer Credit Panel, which consists of anonymized credit reports from the credit reporting agency Equifax, and consumer spending data to gauge average online sportsbook deposits. They defined delinquency rates as 90 days past due on any credit product.

After sports betting was legalized, delinquencies rose 0.3 percentage points for the total population.

While that is a relatively small increase, when the New York Fed looked solely at the population that newly took up sports betting after legalization (roughly 3% of the population), its estimates show delinquencies rose by 10 percentage points. That illustrates that betting activity could increase the risk of falling behind on debt.

That calculation shows how online betting can have an “economically meaningful effect with potentially lasting consequences for borrowers’ credit profiles,” the researchers wrote.

The next generation of online sports betting

The study did not take into account betting on prediction markets, which have become popular venues to place sports bets. On Kalshi, a platform that has approximately 4 million active users, 90% of the current trade volume is driven by sports.

However, recent legal challenges could put these platforms’ ability to host sports betting contracts to the test. Arizona’s attorney general recently sued Kalshi earlier this month, alleging that it engaged in illegal gambling practices by allowing users to bet on sporting contests and individual player performance.

Lawmakers have also stepped up efforts to regulate sports betting. A bill introduced earlier this month would ban prediction markets from hosting wagers that resemble a sports bet or casino-style game.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

Leavitt calls on Congress to end Easter recess to work on DHS shutdown

2026-03-30T14:47:01-04:00 / Fox News

Leavitt shares White House offer to host Easter dinner

By Eric Mack, Fox News

Published March 30, 2026 1:58pm EDT | Updated March 30, 2026 2:47pm EDT

White House calls on Congress to return from Easter recess now

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt ended Monday’s press briefing, repeating President Donald Trump’s offer to host an Easter dinner if Congress returns from recess to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security.

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The White House is calling on Congress to return from Easter recess to pass funding to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, arguing the standoff has disrupted TSA operations and airport travel nationwide.

“Nothing will be truly normal again until Democrats do the right thing to fund this agency fully again,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Monday’s daily press briefing. “The president has stepped in – in the meantime to do what’s right to end this crisis that we’ve had at air travel, at airports across the country in the meantime.

“But again, Congress needs to come back. Democrats need to fund the Department of Homeland Security so we can formally and fully get these great employees paid long into the future.”

TOM COTTON SLAMS DEMOCRATS’ ‘TEMPER TANTRUM’ FOR FUELING TSA CHAOS AMID FUNDING FIGHT

White House press secretary shared President Donald Trump’s offer to host an Easter dinner at the White House if the Senate returns from recess to restore DHS funding on hold due to the government shutdown.(Alex Wong)

The funding impasse has stretched beyond six weeks, with reports of major TSA staffing shortages, long security lines, and the deployment of ICE personnel to assist at some airports.

Congress left Washington without a final deal after negotiations over DHS funding and immigration provisions stalled. Both parties have traded blame as travel disruptions and pressure from unions and aviation officials continue to grow.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6392155628112

AIRPORTS BEG FLIGHT PASSENGERS TO CHANGE THEIR TRAVEL HABITS AFTER DHS SHUTDOWN JAMS LINES

President Donald Trump has “said it repeatedly” that the Senate cannot justify being on vacation while DHS is left unfunded through Easter.

“I think you recall, he said that he’ll host a big Easter dinner here at the White House if Congress will come back and fight the Democrats on this issue, which we should do, because, again, the Democrat Party is in the wrong here,” Leavitt concluded at the end briefing. “They have voted seven times against funding the Department of Homeland Security, which is completely egregious with everything we have going on in the world – and these brave men and women who serve DHS deserve to get their paychecks.

Travelers experienced extensive wait times Sunday, March 22, 2026, at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (left, middle) and Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (right) due to the partial government shutdown.(WVUE)

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“The president wants to see that happen, and he wants Congress to come back to get it done.”

Eric Mack is a writer for Fox News Digital covering breaking news.

Gen Z is disillusioned. Is there a politician who can change that?

1:19 PM EDT, Mon March 30, 2026 / CNN

By Manu Raju, CNN

Gen Z is disillusioned. Is there a politician who can change that?

Inside Politics

Gen Z researcher Rachel Janfaza joined CNN’s Manu Raju on Inside Politics to explain how the youngest generation of voters is looking at politicians, and if anyone ‘gets it’. “They are looking for leaders who are going to offer a post-Trump vision, who are going to talk about what the next phase of politics should look like,” Janfaza said.

5:43 • Source: CNN

Michigan synagogue attack was act of terrorism inspired by Hezbollah, federal officials say

2026-03-30 15:15 EDT / CBS News

By Jonah Kaplan

Jonah Kaplan Investigative Reporter

Jonah Kaplan is an award-winning journalist who has built a strong reputation for his balanced reporting, thoughtful interviews, and deeply researched coverage of high-impact issues affecting the community. His work appears on all of WCCO’s newscasts and is often featured on CBS News’ programs and platforms, including the CBS Evening News, CBS Mornings and CBS 24/7.

Read Full Bio

Jonah Kaplan

March 30, 2026 / 3:15 PM EDT / CBS News

Federal officials on Monday for the first time labeled the March 12 attack at a Michigan synagogue as an act of terrorism inspired by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997.

Ayman Ghazali, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Lebanon, rammed an explosive-laden truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, near Detroit. According to investigators, Ghazali was also armed with a rifle and killed himself after exchanging gunfire with the synagogue’s security guards.

“He committed the terrorism crime of providing material support to Hezbollah,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Eastern Michigan Jerome Gorgon told CBS News, explaining that the attack itself was the support for Hezbollah under federal law.

Ghazali lived in nearby Dearborn, Michigan, and worked at a local restaurant. He became a naturalized citizen in 2017. His two brothers stayed behind in Lebanon and were members of Hezbollah’s rocket unit, which was first reported by CBS News, according to sources in southern Lebanon. The brothers and other family members were killed in a March 5 drone attack by the Israel Defense Forces targeting Hezbollah outposts, sources told CBS News.

Following the drone strike that killed his relatives, Ghazali had been recording videos of himself and sending them to family in Lebanon, talking about becoming a martyr.

CBS News previously obtained a photo of Ghazali holding the same AR-style rifle he used in the synagogue attack. Arabic text was edited onto the photo, including a verse from the Quran and some language about “revenge.”

Officials have been calling the attack a “targeted attack on the Jewish community.” Gorgon said the new designation as an act of terrorism is important to accurately describe the event and threat facing Jewish communities.

The Passover holiday begins April 1, and police around the county are already planning an increased physical presence of police at synagogues, Jewish community centers and other sites to act as a deterrent to potential targeted attacks and acts of terrorism.

Officials said Ghazali had waited in the parking lot and recorded videos of himself detailing his upcoming “operation,” specifically intended to “kill Jews and burn their world.”

Ghazali’s phone was recovered at the scene of the attack, investigators told CBS News, who credited the synagogue’s sprinkler system for mitigating a larger fire. The building was significantly damaged by fire.

On the cellphone recovered at the scene, investigators found an extensive search and browsing history dating back to January that included what Gorgon described as “pro-Hezbollah news, shootout videos, live coverage of Naim Qassem, and news coverage of an Iranian fatwa for jihad against the U.S. military.”

Naim Qassem has been serving as Hezbollah’s secretary-general since 2024, the fourth person to hold the position. He participated in the founding of Hezbollah in 1982, and previously served as the first deputy secretary-general from 1991 to 2024.

Temple Israel is Michigan’s largest synagogue and one of the largest synagogues in the country. It is also home to an early childhood center where classes were in session at the time of the attack. None of the children, teachers or staff where injured during the attack.

A security guard was hospitalized after being struck by Ghazali’s vehicle, and multiple first responders were treated for smoke inhalation at a local hospital.

Anna Schecter contributed to this report.

NASA set for first crewed moon return in over half a century

2026-03-30 16:02:12 UTC / Reuters

By Joey Roulette

March 30, 2026 4:02 PM UTC Updated 14 mins ago

Four astronauts near mission for launch around the moon and back

• Artemis II mission the first crewed test before future landings, other tests
• NASA working with private companies, hoping for future lunar market
• One estimate forecasts lunar economy revenue at $127 billion by 2050

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, March 30 (Reuters) – NASA is preparing to launch the first crew of astronauts toward the moon in over 53 years with its second ​Artemis mission, a critical test flight in humanity’s broader lunar goals as the U.S. races to reassert leadership in space faced with growing competition from China.

Three U.S. and one Canadian astronaut ‌are due for liftoff aboard NASA’s Orion capsule and Space Launch System rocket on Wednesday for a 10-day test mission swinging around the moon and back, a winding journey taking them deeper into space than humans have ever gone before.

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The mission is the first crewed test flight in NASA’s Artemis program, the flagship U.S. effort to begin regular flights to the moon, at an estimated cost of at least $93 billion since 2012. Not since Apollo 17 in 1972 have humans touched down on the moon’s surface, a tricky ​feat NASA aims to repeat in 2028 at the rugged lunar south pole.

The U.S. is the only country to have put humans on another celestial body with its six lunar landings of the Apollo ​program, driven by competition with the former Soviet Union.

U.S. officials have more recently focused on China, a formidable technological rival that has made steady progress in its ⁠own moon program in recent years with a string of robotic lunar landings and a 2030 goal to put its own crew on the surface.

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ANSWERING ‘THE QUESTION OF OUR LIFETIME’

NASA astronaut Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, on ​Sunday said the moon is a “witness plate” to the solar system’s formation, and a stepping stone to Mars, “where we might have the most likelihood of finding evidence of past life.”

“Many, many countries have recognized the value that there is ​in exploring further into the solar system, to the moon and on to Mars,” she told reporters. “They recognize that not only can we gain all these extremely tangible benefits, but that we have the opportunity to answer the question that could be the question of our lifetime, which is, are we alone?”

“Answering that question starts at the moon,” she said. “The question is not should we go, but should we lead, or should we follow?”

Through a series of increasingly advanced Artemis missions extending into the next decade, ​the U.S. aims to set precedent for how others will operate and coexist on the moon’s surface, where someday countries and companies can exploit rocky lunar resources and practice for much more difficult missions to Mars.

The other crew ​members are NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen, who will be the first Canadian astronaut to reach the lunar vicinity.

[1/2]People photograph NASA’s next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, on Pad 39B ahead of the Artemis II mission launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., March 29, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Hansen’s participation was part of a 2020 agreement between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency. “It was the result ‌of decades of ⁠contribution and strategic investment on our part that led to this participation,” said Mathieu Caron, head of CSA’s astronaut office, citing Canadian robotics contributions on the International Space Station.

COMMERCIAL LUNAR MARKET

NASA is relying on an array of companies in its moon program, hoping to stimulate a commercial lunar market in the future, the value of which is hard to estimate, analysts say.

Boeing and Northrop Grumman lead SLS and Lockheed Martin builds Orion for NASA. SpaceX and Blue Origin are developing their own landers with NASA funding, but under contracts that allow them to offer the spacecraft to other customers.

A January PricewaterhouseCoopers report estimates $127 billion in revenues by 2050 from lunar surface activities, with investments potentially ​reaching $72 billion to $88 billion through the same period.

For now, and ​in the near future, governments will drive companies’ ⁠lunar strategies and revenue. It will be a long time before key infrastructure, such as energy and communications systems, develop to the point where commercial growth exists on the moon independently of government funding, said Akhil Rao, an economist at analysis firm Rational Futures who was a research economist at NASA.

Rao, who was among the group of ​NASA economists and space policy staff laid off last year during the Trump administration’s sweeping federal workforce cuts, said he does “not see a short-run economic value ​that companies would be able to ⁠derive that would allow NASA to be hands-off.”

The Artemis II mission will pose a greater test of NASA’s Orion capsule and SLS, which conducted a similar uncrewed mission in 2022. The astronauts on board will test critical life-support systems, crew interfaces, navigation and communications.

Liftoff is scheduled for April 1, though it could happen any day after until April 6, depending on weather conditions in Florida and any last-minute snags with the rocket. Thereafter, another launch window, determined largely by orbital ⁠mechanics between Earth ​and the moon, opens on April 30.

Artemis III, planned for 2027, will involve the Orion capsule docking in Earth’s orbit with NASA’s ​two lunar landers – the Blue Moon system from Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Starship from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The delicate tag-up will demonstrate how the landers will pick up astronauts before heading for the moon’s surface.

That mission was added to the program in February by NASA’s new administrator, ​Jared Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut who has more broadly shaken up the program with new objectives. His decision pushed the program’s first crewed lunar landing to Artemis IV.

Reporting by Joey Roulette at Cape Canaveral; Editing by Bill Berkrot

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