[CRAIG NIGRELLI]
PRESIDENT TRUMP… BACK IN WASHINGTON THIS MORNING
LEAVING THE G-7 EARLY AS THE WAR FLARES BETWEEN ISRAEL AND IRAN.
THE CONFLICT JUST TOO BIG TO BE OUT OF THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW… AND THE STARK WARNING HE’S GIVING TO TEHRAN
PLUS, A POLITICAL HIT LIST … AND A DEADLY SHOOTING SPREE
WHO INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE THE ALLEGED MINNESOTA GUNMAN WAS TARGETING.. AND THE NATIONAL NAMES IN HIS SIGHTS
AND THE BLACK BOXES NOW FOUND
WHAT THEY COULD REVEAL ABOUT THAT DEADLY DREAMLINER CRASH IN INDIA
… AND WHY IT WENT DOWN WITH MORE THAN 270 ON BOARD.
L3: TRUMP LEAVES G7 SUMMIT EARLY AS TENSIONS IN MIDDLE EAST ESCALATE
GOOD MORNING I’M CRAIG NIGRELLI, BIG THINGS HAPPENING ALREADY WHILE YOU SLEPT.
PRESIDENT TRUMP IS BACK IN THE U-S THIS MORNING AFTER LEAVING THE G-7 SUMMIT EARLY — AS TENSIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND IRAN ESCALATE.
MULTIPLE REPORTS SAY TRUMP ORDERED THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL TO BE READY IN THE SITUATION ROOM WHEN HE LANDED.
HE DIDN’T GIVE A SPECIFIC REASON FOR LEAVING FRANCE, BUT PUSHED BACK ON FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON’S SUGGESTION THAT HE WAS RUSHING HOME TO BROKER A CEASEFIRE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND IRAN.
TRUMP POSTED ON TRUTH SOCIAL THAT THE REASON WAS QUOTE “MUCH BIGGER THAN THAT”. HE THEN TOLD REPORTERS ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE : WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR A CEASEFIRE.
BEFORE DEPARTING, HE JOINED G-7 LEADERS IN A STATEMENT SAYING IRAN “CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON” AND CALLING FOR A CEASEFIRE IN GAZA.
OVERNIGHT, IRAN LAUNCHED additional MISSILE STRIKES ON ISRAEL, BUT ISRAELI OFFICIALS CALLED IT “THE LEAST IMPACTFUL” NIGHT OF THE ATTACKS SO FAR.
IN RESPONSE… ISRAEL STRUCK BACK, CLAIMING TO HIT DOZENS OF MISSILE AND DRONE STORAGE SITES INSIDE IRAN.
In what MIGHT BE A WARNING, TRUMP SAID ON TRUTH SOCIAL – “EVERYBODY SHOULD EVACUATE TEHRAN!”
L3 TRUMP CANCELS MEETING WITH UKRAINE PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S EARLY EXIT FROM THE G-7 MEANS A PLANNED MEETING WITH UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY IS CANCELED TODAY.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THEIR second FACE-TO-FACE SINCE THEIR CONTENTIOUS MEETING AT THE WHITE HOUSE BACK IN FEBRUARY.
THEY WERE ALSO BOTH AT THE FUNERAL FOR POPE FRANCIS IN ROME IN APRIL.
TODAY’S MEETING WAS EXPECTED TO FOCUS HEAVILY ON AID AND DEFENSE SUPPORT.. ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF WHAT HAPPENED OVERNIGHT IN KYIV.
A RUSSIAN MISSILE AND DRONE STRIKE IN KYIV KILLED AT LEAST 14 PEOPLE AND INJURED 99 OTHERS, IN ONE OF THE DEADLIEST ATTACKS ON THE CAPITAL IN MONTHS
ZELENSKYY SAID RUSSIA LAUNCHED MORE THAN 440 DRONES AND 32 MISSILES… CALLING THE DAMAGE SOME OF THE “MOST HORRIFIC” KYIV HAS SEEN SINCE THE WAR BEGAN.
UKRAINE’S INTERIOR MINISTER CONFIRMED TO REPORTERS THAT AN AMERICAN CITIZEN IS AMONG THE DEAD, KILLED BY SHRAPNEL, THAT’S ACCORDING TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.
MEANWHILE, A SEPARATE DRONE STRIKE IN ODESA KILLED ONE PERSON AND INJURED 17 OTHERS, THAT’S ACCORDING TO LOCAL OFFICIALS.
L3 SENATORS TO BE BRIEFED ON SECURITY AFTER DEADLY MINNESOTA ATTACKS
THIS MORNING, SENATORS ARE GETTING A HIGH-LEVEL SECURITY BRIEFING FROM U-S CAPITOL POLICE AND THE SENATE SERGEANT AT ARMS
… THAT DEADLY ATTACK ON STATE LAWMAKERS IN MINNESOTA IS SPARKING NEW FEARS OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE.
THE SUSPECT — 57-YEAR-OLD VANCE BOELTER — IS CHARGED WITH KILLING MINNESOTA HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER MELISSA HORTMAN AND HER HUSBAND… AND SHOOTING STATE SENATOR JOHN HOFFMAN AND HIS WIFE IN A TARGETED HOME INVASION.
AUTHORITIES SAYS BOELTER WAS DISGUISED AS A POLICE OFFICER, WEARING A TACTICAL VEST AND BODY ARMOR… AND HAD ** A HIT LIST** OF MORE THAN 45 DEMOCRATIC OFFICIALS.
AMONG THEM…. U.S. SENATOR TINA SMITH AND STATE REPRESENTATIVES HILLARY SCHOLTEN AND GREG LANDSMAN.
THE BRIEFING WAS REQUESTED BY SENATE LEADERS CHUCK SCHUMER AND JOHN THUNE, WHO ARE ALSO REVIEWING SECURITY SUPPORT FOR MEMBERS UNDER THREAT.
INVESTIGATORS SAYS BOELTER HAD BEEN PLANNING THE ATTACKS FOR SOME TIME, DRIVING TO MULTIPLE LAWMAKERS’ HOMES, EQUIPPED WITH ASSAULT WEAPONS, DISGUISES, AND DETAILED SURVEILLANCE NOTES.
L3 BLACK BOXES RECOVERED IN DEADLY INDIA PLANE CRASH
INVESTIGATORS IN INDIA ARE ANALYZING THE BACK BOXES RECOVERED FROM THE WRECKAGE OF AIR INDIA FLIGHT 171… A BOEING 787 DREAMLINER THAT CRASHED JUST MINUTES AFTER TAKEOUT, KILLING AT LEAST 270 PEOPLE, LAST WEEK, WE HAD IT AS BREAKING NEWS HERE ON STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS.
THE LONDON-BOUND JET SLAMMED INTO A MEDICAL HOSTEL NEAR AHMEDABAD, LEAVING ONLY ONE SURVIVOR FROM THE 242 ON BOARD, DOZENS ON THE GROUND ALSO KILLED.
INVESTIGATORS HAVE RECOVERED BOTH THE FLIGHT DATA RECORDER AND COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER. THE LATTER CAPTURING PILOT CONVERSATIONS, ALARMS AND ANY FINAL DISTRESS CALLS THAT COULD REVEAL WHAT HAPPENED IN THOSE FINAL MOMENTS. THE PLANE ONLY WENT UP IN THE AIR FOR A FEW HUNDRED FEET BEFORE DESCENDING, CRASHING AND CAUSING A MASSIVE FIREBALL IN A NEIGHBORHOOD.
U.S. AND UK OFFICIALS ARE ASSISTING INDIA’S INVESTIGATION.
MEANWHILE, AIR INDIA IS UNDER PRESSURE TO INSPECT ITS ENTIRE BOEING DREAMLINER FLEET… AS QUESTIONS GROW ABOUT MECHANICAL FAILURES AND CREW RESPONSE IN ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S WORST AVIATION DISASTERS IN DECADES.
L3: LONG LINES AT LOUVRE AMID LABOR STRIKE
.. WHERE THOUSANDS OF FRUSTRATED TOURISTS STOOD IN THE HEAT MONDAY, ONLY TO FIND THE WORLD’S MOST-VISITED MUSEUM CLOSED.
LINES SNAKING UP THE STAIRS AND AROUND THE BUILDING
… PACKED WITH PEOPLE HOPING TO CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THE. MONA LISA…
INSTEAD THEY GOT A STRIKE.
WORKERS WALKED OFF THE JOB, SAYING THEY’RE OVERWHELMED BY WHAT THEY CALL **UNIMAGINABLE CROWDS***
TICKET AGENTS, SECURITY STAFF, AND GALLERY ATTENDANTS REFUSED TO TAKE THEIR POSTS AFTER A COMPANY MEETING… CITING OUTDATED INFRASTRUCTURE, WATER LEAKS, AND TOO MUCH FOOT TRAFFIC TO HANDLE SAFELY.
ONE AMERICA TOURIST CALLED IT “THE MONA LISA MOAN” — SAYING THERE WAS NO SIGN, NO EXPLANATION, AND THOUSANDS LEFT IN THE DARK UNDER THE ICONIC GLASS PYRAMID.
NO WORD YET ON WHEN THE LOUVRE WILL REOPEN.
L3: OKC THUNDER ONE WIN FROM TAKING NBA TITLE OVER PACERS
FINALLY THIS MORNING, THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER ARE NOW JUST ONE WIN FROM CAPTURING THEIR TEAM’S FIRST-EVER NBA TITLE, AFTER A BIG GAME 5 WIN LAST NIGHT AGAINST THE INDIANA PACERS.
JALEN WILLIAMS SCORED 40 POINTS FOR THE THUNDER AS THEY BEAT THE PACERS 120-109.
THE LEAGUE MVP ALEXANDER HAD 31 POINTS.
OKLAHOMA CITY HAS NOW COME FROM 2-1 DOWN THE SERIES TO LEAD 3-GAMES-TO-2.
GAME 6 IS THURSDAY NIGHT BACK IN INDIANA WHERE THE PACERS WILL TRY TO STAY ALIVE.
MEANTIME, TONIGHT IN SUNRISE, FLORIDA THE STANLEY CUP WILL BE IN THE BUILDING AS THE FLORIDA PANTHERS TRY TO GO BACK TO BACK AND WIN HOCKEY’S HOLY GRAIL… GAME 6 OF THE STANLEY CUP FINALS.
A GUY NAMED PHIL PRITCHARD, WHO HAS BEEN THE **KEEPER OF THE CUP FOR DECADES”, WILL BE THERE WAITING TO SEE IF THE FLORIDA PANTHERS WIN AND HE WOULD THEN AWARD IT TO THE WINNING TEAM.
THAT’S PHIL AND ME IN WICHITA KANSAS WHEN HE BROUGHT STANLEY CUP TO OUR STUDIOS IN 2020.
ITS AN ABSOLUTE ICON AND WE SHALL SEE IF HE AWARDS IT TO NIGHT OR WHETHER THE EDMONTON OILERS CAN DEFEAT THE PANTHERS AND FORCE A GAME 7.
THESE ARE YOUR UNBIASED UPDATES FOR THIS TUESDAY.
WE’LL SEE YOU BACK HERE TOMORROW.
FOR ALL OF US HERE AT STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS — I’M CRAIG NIGRELLI.
HAVE A GREAT DAY