The briefing for Sunday, April 5.

A U.S. military search and rescue operation is underway in southwestern Iran after an F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down Friday, with one crew member rescued and a second still missing. According to the Associated Press, Iran has called on local residents to find the "enemy pilot" and Iranian forces have launched their own search in the mountainous Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province. The rescue operation came under fire, with one helicopter hit by small arms though it landed safely.

President Trump issued a 48-hour deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and reach a deal, threatening "all Hell will reign down on them" if the Monday deadline passes. Iran's military responded that "the doors of hell will be opened" if its infrastructure is attacked. The war, now in its sixth week, has killed thousands and disrupted global shipping routes. Both sides have struck civilian targets, raising war crime concerns.

The conflict shows no signs of slowing despite diplomatic efforts by Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt to broker talks. Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility was struck for the fourth time, killing a security guard and prompting Russia to evacuate 198 workers. Israel also hit a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr, killing five people and injuring 170. Iranian officials warned that attacks on nuclear facilities could "end life" in Gulf states, comparing the strikes to international outrage over Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant.

The U.S. service member who went missing after Iran shot down an F-15 fighter jet on Friday has been rescued, according to the Associated Press. The airman had been the subject of an intensive search operation in southwestern Iran involving multiple aircraft and special operations forces. Iran had offered rewards to locals for capturing the crew member alive and deployed troops to search the mountainous region.

The successful rescue resolves a high-stakes situation that threatened to further complicate the ongoing conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. Military experts had described the combat search and rescue mission as among the most dangerous operations, conducted by highly trained Air Force special operations personnel in hostile territory. The rescue came after one crew member from the downed F-15E Strike Eagle had already been recovered following the Friday incident.

NASA's Artemis II astronauts reached the halfway point between Earth and the Moon on Saturday, sitting 142,000 miles from Earth as they head toward a Monday lunar flyby. The crew captured high-resolution images of Earth, including one titled "Hello, World" showing the Atlantic Ocean, western Sahara, and South America with green auroras visible at the poles. Commander Reid Wiseman took the photos from Orion's windows after the spacecraft completed a critical engine burn that set their trajectory toward the Moon.

The mission marks the first time humans have traveled beyond Earth's orbit since 1972's Apollo 17. The four-person crew—Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen—are on track to set a distance record, traveling more than 252,000 miles from Earth before looping around the Moon's far side. Koch is the first woman and Glover the first Black astronaut to travel to the Moon, while Hansen is the first non-U.S. citizen on a lunar mission.

The Canadian Space Agency celebrated the milestone, with agency president Lisa Campbell calling it historic for Canada. The crew is scheduled to photograph the Moon's mysterious far side on April 6 before returning to Earth for a Pacific Ocean splashdown on April 10. The nearly 10-day mission represents the first step in NASA's plan to establish a sustainable Moon base, with a lunar landing targeted for 2028.

President Trump's go-it-alone approach to the Iran war is colliding with resistance from traditional U.S. allies who refuse to support a conflict they weren't consulted about. French President Emmanuel Macron stated bluntly that the U.S. "can hardly complain afterward that they are not being supported in an operation they chose to undertake alone." British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused to be drawn into the war despite fierce criticism from Trump, while France and the UK are leading efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz only after fighting ends.

The war, which Trump undertook alongside Israel without consulting allies or Congress, is testing the limits of his "America First" foreign policy. Trump claimed Wednesday that the U.S. has "beaten and completely decimated Iran" and that Iranian radar is "100% annihilated." However, Friday's downing of two U.S. warplanes contradicted his assertion that Iran has "no anti-aircraft equipment," exposing the gap between Trump's triumphal rhetoric and battlefield realities.

At home, even some Republicans are pushing back on Trump's unilateral approach. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said there aren't enough votes to support Trump's threat to withdraw from NATO, noting "you need allies" in today's world. Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton called it a "serious mistake" not to build a coalition before the war, warning that "if you don't build your coalition before the war, it's pretty hard to do it after."

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration's requirement that colleges prove they aren't considering race in admissions, ruling the data collection was implemented in a "rushed and chaotic" manner. U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston granted a preliminary injunction Friday in response to a lawsuit filed by 17 Democratic state attorneys general. The ruling applies only to public universities in plaintiff states.

The Trump administration ordered the data collection in August, requiring colleges to provide information on race, sex, grades, and test scores for applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students going back seven years. Education Secretary Linda McMahon threatened to cut federal funding for institutions that failed to comply with the March 18 deadline. The policy echoed settlement agreements the government reached with Brown and Columbia universities, which agreed to provide similar data and submit to government audits.

Judge Saylor acknowledged the federal government likely has authority to collect such data but found the 120-day implementation deadline led to failure "to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process." The states argued the effort risks invading student privacy and could lead to baseless investigations. A lawyer for the plaintiffs said the data collection "will create problems for universities" and appears designed to uncover unlawful practices rather than ensure compliance.

A 3-year-old immigrant girl suffered alleged sexual abuse during five months in federal custody after being separated from her mother at the border, according to a lawsuit filed by her family. The girl was placed in foster care in Harlingen, Texas, after her mother was charged with making false statements when they crossed the border near El Paso in September. Court documents state the girl was abused multiple times by an older child in the foster home, causing bleeding.

The father, a legal permanent U.S. resident, spent months trying to secure his daughter's release but faced delays as the government repeatedly told him it couldn't schedule an appointment to take his fingerprints. Officials only informed him there had been an "accident" requiring examination, without disclosing the sexual abuse allegations. The girl underwent a forensic exam and interview, and the accused older child was removed from the foster program. The abuse was reported to local law enforcement.

The case highlights concerns about extended detention times under Trump administration policies that began targeting immigrant children last year. Average custody times for children in Office of Refugee Resettlement care jumped from 37 days when Trump took office in January 2025 to almost 200 days this February. The administration has imposed stricter documentation requirements for sponsors, pressured unaccompanied children to self-deport, and begun arresting some sponsors during the release process. The girl's lawyer said "children deserve safety and they belong with their parents."