New Ceasefire, 'Pulp Fiction' at the Pentagon & Boomers to Zoomers - Friday, April 17, 2026

Today is Friday, April 17. There's a new ceasefire that just went into effect.

We'll tell you what it means for a potential peace deal in Iran.

Also, why an ICE agent is facing a rare criminal charge?

And where a severe weather outbreak is expected to peak today?

Plus what to know about the new person chosen to lead the nation's top health agency?

What a recent Pentagon prayer event had to do with the movie Pulp Fiction?

And big-time movie reveals and surprises from Toy Story 5 to Top Gun 3.

Those stories and more news to know 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.

There's a breakthrough in the Middle East, a 10-day ceasefire went into effect at midnight

this morning in Lebanon. The truth poses fighting between Israeli forces and Iranian-backed

Hezbollah forces. Remember, Hezbollah has been designated a terror group by the U.S.

as well as several other countries and international organizations.

It's Iran's most powerful proxy and is even considered more powerful than the Lebanese military.

Hezbollah did acknowledge the ceasefire but did not directly address whether it would abide by it,

just saying its actions would be, quote, based on how developments unfold.

And the U.S. said Israel also still has the right to defend itself.

Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade strikes right up until the time the ceasefire

was set to take effect.

That conflict has also been a key sticking point in negotiations to potentially end the war

in Iran. And the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire next week.

But President Trump says he's confident a deal with the Iranians could also come soon.

In fact, he says another round of talks could happen this weekend.

Meanwhile, American officials say U.S. troops in the Middle East are rearming and

stand ready to resume combat in case the negotiations fail.

The U.S. is also keeping up with its naval blockade that's now expanded.

The American military now says it will target any vessel linked to Iran anywhere in the world.

Back in Washington, hundreds of lawmakers, mostly Democrats, are still voicing their

disapproval of the war while hundreds of others, mostly Republicans, are defending it.

Once again, the U.S. House took up a resolution that would have required President Trump

to withdraw all U.S. forces from the war in Iran unless Congress authorized military action.

And once again, the vote failed by just one vote this time.

Of course, even if a war power's resolution were to pass the House,

it would still have to pass in the Senate, where a similar vote also failed this week.

There is now a nationwide warrant out for the arrest of an ICE agent.

He's been charged with assault in Minnesota over an incident earlier this year.

Prescutor say he was driving on a state highway when another driver apparently cut him off.

In response, they say the ICE agent drove alongside the car, yelling,

and pointing his gun out the window directly toward the people in the other car.

Those people called 911, apparently not realizing he was an ICE agent,

just saying there was someone driving erratically and pointing guns at people on the highway.

At the time, the ICE agent told state investigators he feared for his safety and safety of others

after being cut off. Now, he faces two counts of second-degree assault and could spend three

years in prison if found guilty. So far, no comment from him or the Homeland Security Department.

This is a rare instance of state prosecutors charging a federal agent for on-duty actions,

and it's the first such case connected to the federal government's 10-week operation in Minnesota.

But it might not be the last. The local prosecutor says this is just one of 18 incidents involving

federal agents that's now under investigation. By the way, the person who's been defending agents

in Congress and in courtrooms submitted his resignation yesterday. Acting ICE director Todd Lyons

says he's resigning to take a job in the private sector, but he will stay on until the end of next

month to help with the transition. And at this point, it's not clear who might take over for him.

Rather than Trump has chosen Dr. Erica Schwartz to lead the country's top public health agency.

We're talking about the CDC, and Schwartz has seen as a highly qualified traditional choice to

lead it. Schwartz has several degrees, including a medical degree from Brown University.

During President Trump's first term, she was deputy surgeon general. She's also been

chief medical officer at the US Coast Guard. On Instagram, her video posts have addressed loneliness,

the importance of getting regular sleep and health screenings, and health priorities at different

ages. She's also praised vaccines as a cornerstone of preventative care. If the Senate confirms her,

she'll work under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Yesterday, RFK Jr. voiced his support,

saying Schwartz and other CDC leaders will be able to revolutionize the agency, and as he said,

get it back on track. For the last couple of months, the CDC has been led by Dr. J.

Bhattacharya in enacting capacity. He's also director of the National Institutes of Health,

and is expected to continue doing double duty during the Senate confirmation process, which can take

several months. Defense Secretary Pete Hegset's most recent Pentagon prayer meeting has now gone viral.

People are sharing video of Hegset reading a prayer, and during it, he almost word-for-word quoted

a fake Bible verse used in the movie Pulp Fiction. It was originally delivered by Samuel L. Jackson

as part of a pretty violent monologue, though in the Defense Secretary's version,

the last two lines did resemble language from the actual Bible. Hegset used it to frame the war

in Iran as an act of divine justice. Not sparked plenty of ridicule online from people who assumed

Hegset believed he was reading actual scripture, but depending on spokesperson says Hegset knew where

the prayer came from, and that he chose it, because it was also said by service members who

led a heroic rescue mission in Iran. No matter where it came from, though, the message behind the

quote is also facing some criticism. Pope Leo put out another statement that did not specifically

mention Hegset or Pulp Fiction, but did warn against military leaders conflating war with divinity,

basically saying they shouldn't use religion for their own military gain. The prayer services

are not mandatory, but some military sources have told news outlets attendance is highly encouraged.

Much more news is still ahead, but first let's take a quick break to talk about our sponsor.

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Millions of people from Texas to Wisconsin are now in the path of severe weather.

Much of the same region has been dealing with back-to-back storms all week,

but meteorologists say today could bring the most dangerous conditions yet. The forecast say

severe thunderstorms are likely, complete with strong tornadoes, large hail damaging winds and

flooding rain. They're expected to start in the middle of the day today and could last well into

the night. Then there could still be some isolated storms tomorrow, especially in Ohio,

but they're not expected to be nearly as widespread. After that, the country is expected to get a

break from severe weather for a few days. A former Virginia lieutenant governor killed his

estranged wife and then himself. The couple had been going through a divorce and police say the

horrific crime happened while their two teenage children were home. It came as a shock to a lot

of people since it wasn't long ago that Justin Fairfax was actually considered a rising star in

the Democratic Party. But while he was still in office, two women came forward accusing him of

sexually assaulting them. Fairfax strongly denied the allegations and still tried to run for governor,

but he was never able to make a comeback. Quaradocuments say at that point Fairfax started

drinking heavily and withdrew from his family. He still lived with them but had actually been

ordered to move out by the end of this month. Now people from across the political spectrum have

said they're praying for the family and are encouraging anyone who's struggling with that kind

of darkness to reach out for help. The rapper and singer David has now been arrested for murder.

His real name is David Burke and he's been under investigation ever since Celeste

Reves Hernandez's body was found last year and he's apparently abandoned Tesla in the Hollywood Hills

though it's believed she died long before she was found. Celeste's family first reported her

missing back in 2024 when she was a 13-year-old seventh grader living 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

It's not clear exactly what led to Burke's arrest but the case will be presented to the LA District

Attorney's Office on Monday. The artist's lawyers say evidence will show he did not murder Celeste

and they plan to defend his innocence. When the girl's body was found David had been on tour

in support of his first full-length album. He has been especially popular among Gen Z fans and is

known for some high-profile collaborations. The anthem he created for the game Fortnite and his

viral hit called Romantic Homicide. The co-founder of Netflix Reed Hastings says he's stepping down

from the company's board this summer ending a nearly three-decade run at one of the most powerful

media giants in the world. Under his leadership, Netflix transformed from a DVD by mail business

to a streaming powerhouse. The whole time changing how people consume and make entertainment.

Hastings is now handing the reins to longtime partner and co-CEO Ted Cerandos and chief operating

officer Greg Peters. In announcing his resignation, Hastings said their commitment to the company is

so strong that he's now able to focus more on philanthropy and other pursuits. Already he serves on

the boards of Bloomberg and Anthropic as well as several educational nonprofits.

The parent company of TV shopping channels QVC and HSN has now filed for bankruptcy. It comes in

the face of declining viewership and a ship to online retail. More customers are apparently

tuning into digital live streams on TikTok or online marketplaces like she and instead of

watching for deals on TV. President Trump's tariffs also impacted QVC groups supply chain

and the network has been trying to rely less on goods from China. Now it says bankruptcy is just

part of its plan to cut more than five billion dollars of debt and this way it will be able to keep

operating. Earlier this week we told you about Hollywood heavy hitters gathering for cinema con.

Well since then they've made plenty of announcements and previewed tons of upcoming releases.

For example, Disney unveiled its first trailer for Toy Story 5 with the help of stars Tom Hanks

and Tim Allen who talked about the theme of the movie being toys replaced by technology.

Also movie stars Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans were on hand to debut the first trailer for

Marvel's Avengers Doomsday. They played Doctor Doom in Captain America. Disney actually played

the first 17 minutes of the highly anticipated movie The Mandalorian and Grogu that hits theaters

next month and Paramount announced a top gun three now in development again starring Tom Cruise

as Maverick. Plus there were plenty of big franchise revivals and reboots like a new space balls

pattington four supergirl and so on. Of course those are just a few of the most talked about reveals

if anything the event revealed the entertainment industry is plenty busy and excitement is

building for the next year in theaters. That's it for the main news today so now it's time for

Feel Good Friday where we bring you one extra feel good or positive news story before the weekend.

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A new social experiment has brought people together across generations and across the country.

Outside of a busy coffee shop on Boston University's campus there's a pay phone that says

call a boomer. 3,000 miles away at a senior housing facility in Reno, Nevada.

A similar pay phone reads call a zoomer. When someone on either end of the line picks up the phone

it automatically places a call to the other phone and calls are free for both users.

The biotech startup Matter Neuroscience installed the phones to connect Gen Z with older adults

since studies have shown the two age demographics have the highest levels of loneliness

and hundreds of conversations have happened since with the calls mostly coming from the younger

generation reaching out to older people. They've apparently talked about everything from the weather

to movies to college courses and even dating. Many young people have asked for advice or words of

wisdom. Now Matter Neuroscience says it hopes it's been able to prove that humans need each other

and have more in common than they might think and it says it will be doing more fun things in the

future to help people learn a little more about themselves and their fellow humans.

Thank you so much for listening today. We'll be back tomorrow with our special edition

Saturday episode explaining the impact of the war on everyday prices and offering very

specific ideas of ways to save money in several areas of your life. Then we'll be back on Monday

with the latest news. For now, have a great weekend.