US destroys Iran bridges, more targets ahead; Bondi still called to testify

The U.S. pounds key bridges inside Iran

Now President Trump warns power plants could be next. Plus, Hegseth forces out the Army's top general

Who's in and what it says about who's really in charge. And Trump praised her, then fired her

Why Pam Bondi is out as Attorney General and the main reason why Congress still wants her to testify

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

These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News. Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli

President Trump is following through on his threat to hit Iran extremely hard

starting with strikes on major bridges. Trump says the United States military has destroyed three of Iran's largest bridges

posting video on Truth Social showing a strike on the B-1 bridge

which connects Tehran to the city of Qaraj. Local media reports at least eight people were killed, nearly 100 injured

Hours later, Trump posted again, warning the U.S. has, quote, not even started what it plans to do next

He said bridges are the first targets, then electric power plants. Iran is responding, launching attacks across the region overnight

A drone strike hit Kuwait's Mina al-Ahmadi refinery, the second strike there in two days

Kuwait also says an attack damaged a desalinization plant that supplies water across parts of the Gulf

In Israel, debris from an intercepted missile damaged a home in Ramat Gan

Saudi Arabia says it shot down several Iranian drones, and the UAE reports its air defense systems were activated

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has now forced out the Army's top officer, ordering General Randy George to retire immediately

CBS News first reported the move, later confirmed by the Pentagon. A spokesperson says George is stepping down effective immediately thanking him for decades of service George had been in the role since 2023 and was expected to stay through 2027

Instead, Hegseth pushed for a change at the top, with one official telling CBS

he wants leadership aligned with his and President Trump's vision for the Army

This is the latest in a string of high-level shakeups inside the military

Hegseth has already removed or replaced more than a dozen senior officers across multiple branches

He has defended those decisions publicly, arguing allies and the military need to step up and follow a clearer mission

CNN reports the move also ties into internal friction at the Pentagon

George worked closely with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a key Trump ally

But Hegseth viewed that relationship as a problem and at times saw Driscoll as a rival

Officials say George's past role, working under former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in the Biden administration

also worked against him with the current leadership. The Pentagon made the announcement on social media calling it an immediate retirement and thanking George for his service

Just days ago, George was still on the job visiting West Point and meeting with cadets

The Academy posting photos of that visit highlighting his guidance to future Army leaders

Now the Army's Vice Chief, General Christopher Laniv, a close Hegseth ally, is expected to step in as acting chief

To another big dismissal, members of the House Oversight Committee from both parties say they will still call former Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify on the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files

Lawmakers say the firing of Bondi on Thursday does not change their plans and they will continue pushing to get her under oath

President Trump removed Bondi after months of scrutiny over her leadership of the Justice Department

including questions about the Epstein files and her failure to deliver on Trump's demands to pursue cases against his political rivals

In a statement Trump called Bondi a great American patriot and a loyal friend adding she will quote be transitioning to a much and important new job in the private sector to be announced later Trump has named Deputy

Attorney General Todd Blanche as Acting Attorney General. There are reports that Trump has privately

discussed replacing Bondi permanently with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. One year after signing

his Liberation Day tariffs into law, President Trump has issued a new executive order targeting

pharmaceutical drugs. Trump says brand-name drugs from companies that don't cut deals with his

administration in the coming months could face tariffs up to 100 percent. Companies that sign

on to his most favored nation pricing plan and build facilities in the United States would face

no tariffs. Companies that build in the U.S. but don't join the pricing plan would start at 20 percent

with tariffs rising to 100% over four years. Larger drug makers would have 120 days to negotiate

before tariffs take effect, while smaller companies would get 180 days. It is still unclear which

companies or which drugs would be hit. So far, the administration says it has reached deals with

17 major drug makers, including 13 that are finalized. The Justice Department now says a

key law governing presidential records is unconstitutional and that President Trump does

not have to follow it. In a new legal opinion, the Department's Office of Legal Counsel ruled

the Presidential Records Act goes too far, saying Congress cannot force the president to preserve

and turn over records to the National Archives. The law has been in place since the 1970s

requiring presidents to treat official records as government property, not personal. The opinion

first reported by Axios, says the law gives Congress too much power over the presidency

Assistant Attorney General T. Elliott Geyser writing, the act establishes a permanent and burdensome regime of congressional regulation of the

presidency untethered from any valid and identifiable legislative purpose For these reasons the PRA is unconstitutional and the president need not further comply with its dictates

The opinion is binding inside the executive branch, but it does not change the law

Courts or Congress would have to act for that. The decision could let the White House set its own rules for handling presidential records

something Trump has long pushed for. After leaving office in 2021, he kept documents at Mar-a-Lago

including classified material, and faced criminal charges over how they were handled

He denied wrongdoing, and a judge later dismissed the case after he returned to office

The White House says it's still preserving records and will keep its current system in place

Finally this morning, as expected, the National Capital Planning Commission has approved President Trump's plan to build a grand ballroom at the White House

Several commission members are Trump allies, but two did abstain. The project calls for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom built after the East Wing was torn down last October

with demolition crews gutting the space as cameras rolled. The vote was delayed for weeks by pushback over the scale of the project

CBS News reports the commission received more than 30,000 complaints, and at least 100 people lined up to speak at a public meeting last month, many of them preservationists and architects

Even with approval, the $400 million project is now in legal limbo

Earlier this week, a federal judge halted construction, ruling the president as a steward of the White House for future presidents, not its owner

The Justice Department says it will appeal. Trump has said the ballroom will be privately funded

and called it the greatest and most beautiful ballroom of its kind anywhere in the world

Hey, thanks for making Unbiased Updates part of your morning routine. We are the fastest, fairest few minutes in news

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Those here are unbiased updates for this Friday. For all of us at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DiGrelli

Have a wonderful Easter weekend