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Today is Friday, April 3rd. What to know about President Trump firing Attorney General Pam Bondi, including what she'll reportedly do next and who is replacing her. And she wasn't the only top official fired yesterday. And even more firings could be coming. We'll explain. Also the impact of rising oil prices beyond the gas pump from airlines to Amazon. Plus a warning about certain frozen chicken nuggets, a big development in a lawsuit that pits two Hollywood stars against each other, and an introduction to the special stuffed passenger on NASA's mission to the moon. Those stories and even more news coming up. Welcome to the Newsworthy all the Days News in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica. Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this. The nation's top law enforcement official and one of President Trump's most loyal allies has now been fired. The president ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi yesterday in a social media post. Trump did not seem to have any hard feelings toward her, saying, quote, we love Pam and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector. But reports say privately he has had some frustrations, specifically with how she handled the Epstein files. Plus, Trump has reportedly been pushing her to prosecute his perceived political enemies, but she hasn't been able to secure any major successful indictments. That said, Bondi has done a lot to reshape the Justice Department in her time at the helm. Thousands of DOJ employees have left, both through resignations and firings. The agency also started focusing less on investigating public corruption as well as corporate and environmental crime, and instead focused more on illegal immigration and violent crime. Bondi promised to support the transition for her deputy, Todd Blanche, to take over for her on an interim basis. Before this, Blanche was Trump's personal lawyer, defending him in cases related to the 2020 election, his handling of classified documents, and alleged hush money payments. He can serve in the acting role for more than 200 days while the Senate considers whoever Trump ends up nominating to be the next confirmed attorney general. Of course, Bondi is the second top official to lose her job in recent weeks, the first being Kristi Noem, who was removed as Homeland Security secretary. And now, as the Atlantic reports, other Cabinet secretaries and senior administration officials could be next. The U.S. army's top uniformed officer was also forced out of his job this week. Several news outlets cite military officials who say Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked the army chief of staff to step down. And yesterday it was confirmed he would be retiring from his position effective immediately. With that, Hegseth has now remade nearly the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, replacing five out of the seven. Several other military officers have also been fired. In fact, two other army generals were also reportedly removed yesterday. As of this morning, Hexseth has not given an explanation, but these are considered extraordinary moves considering the timing. With thousands of army troops now deployed to the Middle east, the US has now attacked major civilian infrastructure in Iran for the first time. It struck what President Trump says was the biggest bridge in Iran, which some analysts see as a first step toward attacks on energy, water, and other critical infrastructure. Trump has been threatening such attacks if the Iranian regime refused to cut a deal with, and so far it has. In the case of the bridge, the US Military said it was a legitimate target since Iran had been planning to use it to move weapons. A leading public health institution was also destroyed in Iran yesterday, though it's not clear who was responsible for that attack. Meanwhile, Iran kept up its own attacks on Israel and other countries in the Persian Gulf, and Iranian officials called on America's allies to condemn America's actions. At this point, most haven't denounced the war outright, but France, Spain, Switzerland, and Austria have all closed their airspace to US Military aircraft involved in the Iran conflict. By the way, military planners from around the world will meet next week to talk about how to make the Strait of Hormuz accessible and safe for shipping traffic. And NATO's secretary general plans to travel to the US to meet with President Trump. Oil prices surged again yesterday. In fact, oil futures notched their biggest daily gain since they were recovering from the COVID crash in 2020. And now benchmark oil futures are up 66% since the US and Israel began bombing Iran at the end of February. Of course, actual barrels of crude have also become more expensive, and gas prices are rising along with them. Plus, jet fuel prices have surged by more than 100%. And with that, big companies have started passing costs along to customers. For example, this week, JetBlue raised checked bag fees in an effort to offset higher fuel costs. Also yesterday, Amazon told sellers it would start adding a 3.5% surcharge to most orders to offset fuel prices. And last week, we told you the US Postal Service announced its first fuel surcharge in history. Shipping carriers like UPS and FedEx have also imposed similar fees since the start of the Iran war. Today, President Trump is expected to send his official 2027 budget request to Congress, but already he's given a preview of where his priorities lie. Yesterday, Trump said it's now not possible for the federal government to fund Medicare Medicaid and child care costs, and he argued it should be up to the states to take care of social programs while the federal government spends money on one big the military. The president explained that states would have to raise their taxes to pay for childcare costs, and the federal government could potentially lower the taxes it collects from states to make up for it. Right now, the federal government spends about $30 billion a year on childcare, whereas the Pentagon recently asked Congress for another $200 billion for the war in Iran. Already, by some estimates, the war is costing the US as much as a billion dollars a day, but the Trump administration has said the short term economic costs are worth it to guarantee security in the Middle East. The president made his latest comments at a private Easter lunch, and the White House posted the remarks on its YouTube page. But then after some backlash, the speech was deleted and the White House tried to clarify the president's statement, saying his track record proves he will always protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The White House also focused on a part of Trump's speech where he talked about rooting out potential fraud. Today kicks off an important weekend for Christians all over the world. It's Good Friday, which is usually observed as a day of sorrow and atonement. Then Easter comes this Sunday, a time for celebration, church services and processions. And of course, it can be a lot of fun for kids with baskets full of candy, egg hunts and visits from the Easter Bunny. Whether you celebrate or not, keep in mind these holidays do mean a lot of places will be closed today for Good Friday. That includes the U.S. stock market. Then on Easter Sunday, several national stores will be closed, like Target, Costco and Sam's Club. But plenty more will stay open, like Walmart, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, seven Eleven and Starbucks. More news is still coming up, but first I want to take a moment to talk about our sponsor. I'm sure we've all felt the impact of sleep, or lack thereof, since sleep restores and repairs our body, strengthens memory and learning, and regulates our mental health and emotions. And the mattress we sleep on can make a big difference. That's why I'm thrilled to now have a birch natural mattress. It's super comfortable, it gives me the support I need, and it's even breathable. Not only does it help me have a great night's sleep and feel comfortable, but it's also crafted with responsibly sourced materials. This part is just as important to me as the comfort, since we spend so much time in our beds. Birch sources only the finest quality materials like organic fair trade cotton, organic wool and natural latex. And get this, Birch offers a 120 night risk free trial to see how your body adjusts. I want all my listeners to be able to enjoy a deep, restful night's sleep with a new mattress from Birch. Go to birchliving.comnewworthy for 20% off sitewide. That's birchliving.comnewworthy. and get 20% off sitewide you can birchliving.comnewworthy okay, now back to the news. Several states in the middle of the country are now facing another round of severe weather threats. Today the forecast shows heavy rain, large hail, strong winds and possible flash flooding in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. Some isolated tornadoes are also possible, especially in the area from Oklahoma to Illinois. It comes after several tornadoes were confirmed in Iowa last night. Other parts of the Midwest, including Chicago and Milwaukee, also saw some severe thunderstorms, complete with heavy downpours and damaging wind gusts. More than 45 million people were impacted. Storms could linger into tomorrow, too, though after tonight, they're not expected to be quite as severe. Of course, it's pretty typical for severe weather to start picking up in April. The government is taking new steps toward addressing the tiny fragments of plastic, plastic that have been found in nearly every organ in the human body. We're talking about microplastics. And for the first time, the EPA added them to a list of water contaminants it's considering for future regulation, as well as certain drugs like antibiotics, antidepressants and hormones. Once that list is finalized, the EPA will decide whether to set new national limits on what's allowed in public drinking water. But the EPA says just being included on this list is now a big step, since it could give local regulators a tool to evaluate risks on their own. Early research has already shown exposure to microplastics might increase the risk of some serious health issues. So this week, the federal health department also announced a new $144 million program to measure microplastics exposure, understand the health risks and find ways to remove them. Some environmental advocates applauded these moves as steps in the right direction. Others called them performative, considering the EPA has already rolled back drinking water and other regulations. Either way, if it turns out public water systems actually do have to make changes, they could take years to take effect. There's a new alert about some frozen food marketed to children that could be contaminated with lead. We're talking about dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets sold at Walmart stores around the country. Regulators now say the Great Value brand nuggets could contain lead levels up to five times higher than the FDA's reference level for kids. So far, no known illnesses have been linked to the Dino nuggets and the products have already been taken out of stores. But people could still have bags in their freezers. So if you have any at home, the advice is to throw them away or return them. You know that sexual harassment lawsuit movie star Blake Lively filed against her former co star and director on the movie It Ends With Us? Well, now a federal judge has dismissed most of her claims. To recap, Lively has been saying Justin Baldoni sexually harassed her during filming and then unleashed a smear campaign against her as they promoted the movie in case her allegations became public. Well, the judge's ruling this week basically means the sexual harassment part of the suit is being thrown out since the claims didn't meet some key legal requirements. He also wrote that Baldoni's conduct while filming appeared to be directed toward Lively's character rather than Lively herself. Either way, the legal battle continues since the part about the smear campaign stands. The claims will be sorted out at a trial set to begin in May. Both Lively and Baldoni are expected to testify this weekend. The NCAA's March Madness moves on to the Final Four. That means we're down to the best four college basketball teams in the country vying for a national championship. On the men's side, Illinois will play UConn and Arizona will play Michigan. The winners of those two games will go on to the final on Monday. Arizona and Michigan are the number one seeds, but really, there's no single clear runaway favorite. So these could be some close, exciting games. You can catch them tomorrow on tbs. But first, the women's Final Four is tonight. It's South Carolina versus UConn and Texas versus UCLA. That makes this the first time since 2018 that all four number one seeds have reached the final four. The UConn women are still seen as favorites to win it all since the Huskies have dominated all season. But of course, this is March Madness and anything can happen. You can catch the women's Final Four games this evening on ESPN and then the championship game on ABC on Sunday. That's it for the main news today. So now it's time for Feel Good Friday when we bring you one extra Feel Good or positive news story before the weekend. But first, this episode is brought to you by Gainbridge. We spend a lot of time thinking about what's happening right now in the news. But but when it comes to money. One of the most powerful things you can do is think a little further ahead, and that's where Gainbridge can help. Gainbridge is a digital platform designed to make savings simpler and more predictable. Instead of guessing what the market might do, Gainbridge offers financial products with a guaranteed rate for a term you choose so you know exactly what you're getting from the start. No hidden fees, no commissions, just a straightforward way to grow your money over time. There are options designed for different goals so you can save for something like a home, travel or another big milestone or plan ahead for retirement. In fact, if you choose Gainbridge Save Retirement, you can roll over Your Roth or 401k penalty free. You choose how much to deposit and for how long and from there it's a set it and forget it approach. If you're looking for a simpler, more transparent way to think about long term savings, you can learn more@gainbridge.com gainbridge let your money work for you. Okay, now back to Feel Good Friday There's a special passenger aboard NASA's Artemis 2 mission, created by eight year old Lucas Yee. The second grader won an international competition to design the toy, and it already did what it was meant to. It let astronauts know when they reached weightlessness as soon as it started to float in the rocket. But besides being a zero gravity indicator, Rise is also considered a mission mascot. The design was selected from about 2,600 entries across more than 50 countries. And it wasn't just kids. The competition was open to people of all ages, but Lucas toy stood out. It features a round, squishy moon wearing a baseball cap with planet Earth on top and stars and galaxies on the brim. The back of the cap has Neil Armstrong's footprint from the Apollo 11 mission, and those are just a few elements from his thoughtful design. Lucas and his family were invited to witness Wednesday's launch of Artemis 2. It's an experience he described as really cool. Lucas says he'd like to become an engineer so he can design something as big as a space station around Mars. Thank you so much for listening today. We'll be back tomorrow with our special edition Saturday episode where we'll be talking more about this week's historic launch and the future impact of the ongoing journey around the moon. Then we'll be back on Monday with the latest news. For now, have a great weekend.