Show notes
For review:
1. A U.S. F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iran on Friday, and one crew member from the plane was later rescued by American forces, U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News.
The F-15E is flown by a two-member crew, and the search for the second crew member, a weapons system officer, is continuing, two U.S. officials said.
An A-10 Warthog was part of the search and rescue mission when it took fire and was damaged. The Warthog pilot ejected over the Persian Gulf and was successfully recovered, according to the officials.
2. Current mediation efforts led by regional countries, including Pakistan, to broker a ceasefire between the United States and Iran have reportedly reached a dead end.
Iran has officially told mediators that it is unwilling to meet US officials in Islamabad in the coming days and considers US demands unacceptable.
3. US President Donald Trump on Friday claimed that the United States can “easily” open the Strait of Hormuz with “a little more time,” and suggested that Iran’s power plants were next on his target list, as the US military shifted to striking civilian infrastructure.
4. A senior Israeli military official said Friday that while the Israel Defense Forces aims to significantly weaken Hezbollah and remove the threat the terror group poses to residents of northern Israel, the prospect of fully disarming the group was unrealistic and not a “required goal” of the army’s ongoing ground offensive.
The Israeli military later clarified in a statement that it was still committed to a “long-term objective” of disarming the terror group.
5. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday accused Russia of escalating its attacks on Ukraine days before Easter as he spoke by phone with Pope Leo XIV during the latest aerial barrage by Moscow.
"At the very moment of our conversation, the Russians attacked Ukraine yet again," Zelensky said, adding that "the Russians have only intensified their strikes, turning what should have been silence in the skies into an Easter escalation."
Ukraine's President Zelensky had said earlier that Kyiv was ready for a truce over the Easter holidays, but the Kremlin said it had not received any proposals.
6. In the coming weeks, the Pentagon is expected to release in-depth FY27 budget justification documents detailing how it wants to funnel $1.5 trillion to specific programs next year.
The Department of the Navy, comprising the Navy and Marine Corps, gets the largest share of the planned spending in FY27, with $150 billion — $126 billion in the budget request and another $24 billion planned in reconciliation.
The Department of the Air Force, which includes both the Air and Space Forces, gets $101.2 billion, with $83.4 billion in the budget request and $17.6 billion in reconciliation.
And the Army brings up the rear, sitting at $60.5 billion total, of which $36 billion is from the budget request and $24 billion is from reconciliation.
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