Trump pauses Hormuz plan as peace deal nears; Primaries show split results

A sudden shift in Hormuz. President Trump hits pause on escorting ships, but keeps the pressure on Iran

Plus, primary night and a split verdict. Trump flexes his power in Indiana while Democrats gain ground elsewhere

And the cruise ship crisis deepens. Passengers still stranded because of Hantavirus and now a fight over where they can even dock

The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world

These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow. Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli. This morning, President Trump is hitting pause

on his plan to have the U.S. military escort cargo ships through the Strait of Hormuz

In a social media post, Trump said the move came at the request of Pakistan and other mediators

calling it a temporary step as negotiators work toward a broader peace deal

He said the escort plan, known as Project Freedom, will be, quote, paused for a short period of time

And there may be a reason why. White House officials tell Axios the U.S. is getting close to a one-page agreement with Iran

a memorandum of understanding that could end the war and set the stage for broader nuclear talks

Sources say it would include a pause on Iran's nuclear program, sanctions relief, and a path to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, though nothing is final

For now, Trump says the United States will maintain a full blockade of Iranian ships and ports

The president confirmed that great progress is being made toward a final agreement

while issuing a warning Tuesday at the White House. They should do the smart thing, you know, they should do the smart thing

And because we don't want to go in and kill people, really

I don't want to. I don't want to. It's too tough. great people. I know the people. I have so many Iranian friends from New York and from

other places over the years. They're great people. I don't want to kill those

Iran is framing the move very differently, with state media calling it a U.S. backdown

after what it described as firm warnings from Tehran. This all comes after Iran announced new

restrictions for ships moving through the strait, requiring permits and designated routes

and warning of decisive action for any violators. This morning primary results in Indiana Ohio and Michigan are highlighting a split political landscape Donald Trump flexing his power inside the GOP while Democrats pick up key momentum heading into the midterms

In Indiana, Trump-backed candidates ousted most of the Republican state senators who opposed his redistricting push

Five of the seven targeted incumbents lost, with one holding on and another race still too close to call

In Michigan, Democrat Chedric Green won a special election, locking in his party's majority in the state Senate

It's a good sign for Democrats in the battleground state ahead of November's midterms

And in Ohio, former Senator Sherrod Brown won the Democratic nomination in a special election

setting up a November showdown with Republican Senator John Husted, who was appointed to the seat last year

Also in Ohio, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy won his party's nomination for governor

and will face Democrat Amy Acton in the general election. There's a new twist this morning in the cruise ship virus outbreak

Spain says it will take the ship, but officials in the Canary Islands are now pushing back

Nearly 150 passengers and crew, including 17 Americans, remain on that ship, the MV Hondias

after a hantavirus cluster killed three people and sickened others. Health officials have identified seven cases so far, two confirmed and five suspected, including one person still in critical condition

Spain's central government says the ship can head to the Canary Islands for treatment and a full investigation

But the region's president is opposing that plan, saying there's not enough information to guarantee public safety

The World Health Organization says some limited human-to-human spread may have happened

but emphasizes the risk to the broader public is low. Three people are now being medically evacuated, and once that's complete

the ship is expected to sail to the Canary Islands, where Spanish authorities will take over

conduct a full investigation, and begin disinfecting the vessel. Officials believe the virus may have originated during excursions earlier on the trip

possibly through contact with infected rodents, but the exact source is still under investigation

The cruise began in Argentina in March and has been at sea for about seven weeks

Earlier, I spoke with public health expert, Professor Lawrence Gawston. He an internationally recognized scholar at Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University and directs the World Health Organization Center on global health law I asked him how passengers likely contracted Hantavirus

The more likely possibility is that it's a rodent-borne disease, mice or rat droppings, urine

Sometimes it aerosolizes in the air and you can breathe it in

And there are two forms of hantavirus disease, both very, very serious and potentially lethal

One is a pulmonary form that basically affects your breathing and your lungs

And the other one is a hemorrhagic fever, which primarily affects your kidneys

and both of them are very dangerous and unless you get very intensive care can lead to death

because there is no known treatment for either form of the disease

Is there a risk for those 140 or so passengers who are still on board

because they're in close quarters with people who might be infected with the Hantavirus

Well, they're a considerable risk, but not for that reason. It's very unlikely that being in close quarters that you'll contract the virus from another person

what's much more likely is that many of them have already been exposed to these contaminated

rat or mice droppings and they're going to get very very sick

and before they get very sick they're going to need to get strong supportive care

and then ultimately intensive care and the ship medics don't have the capacity to do that

The man accused of trying to kill President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

is now facing an additional federal charge, and new court documents are laying out what he had with him

The federal grand jury has indicted Cole Thomas Allen on four counts

including attempted assassination of the president and multiple weapons charges. Prosecutors have now added a new count accusing him of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon Court filings say Allen traveled from California to Washington D in the days before the April 25th attack carrying a 12 pump shotgun a caliber pistol and about 100

rounds of ammunition. Investigators say he used that shotgun to fire at a federal officer, identified only

by initials in the indictment. The new charge makes clear prosecutors believe Allen pulled the trigger, but his defense

team is challenging whether he intended to kill. Allen has not entered a plea and is scheduled to

be arraigned on May 11th. Finally this morning, if you start me up, I'll never stop. Those famous

lyrics from the Rolling Stones, and it turns out they meant it. They are still going. The Stones

have announced they're releasing a new album, Foreign Tongues, on July 10th, their first in 18

years. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood are all back with a 14-track record that

also includes an appearance from late drummer Charlie Watts using one of his final recordings

The lead track, Rough and Twisted, was quietly released last month on a limited white label vinyl

The album is being described as forward-leaning, mixing new production and technology with that

classic Stones sound. And yes, I had to go to Google this morning and see just how old Mick Jagger is

He's 82 years old. Wow. And as you know, I've got the moves like Jagger

I wish, right? All right. Before we head out, here's what we're tracking today

At 830 this morning, new producer price numbers drop, giving an early read on inflation before it hits consumers

At 11, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appears in front of the House Oversight Committee for a private and voluntary interview as part of their Epstein investigation

At 1230, the First Lady Melania Trump, along with the President and Vice Presidents, honor America's military mothers at the White House

And later today, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch appears at the Nixon Library for a book signing on his new children's book

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Those here are Unbiased Updates for this Wednesday. We'll see you back here tomorrow

for all of us here at Straight Arrow. I'm Craig DeGrelli. Have a great day