NPR News: 04-03-2026 1AM EDT

Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is out at the Justice Department after just 14 months on the

job.

President Trump announced the shake up in the post on social media, and PR's Ryan Lucas

reports.

In a post online, Trump called Bondi a great American patriot and loyal friend who oversaw

what he called a massive crackdown on crime.

But Bondi had come under bipartisan criticism for a handling of the files related to convicted

sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

She's also been pressed by Trump to aggressively go after the president's perceived political

enemies.

And under Bondi's leadership, the Justice Department has investigated and even prosecuted some

of Trump's critics, but those cases have foundered in court or before grand juries.

Now Bondi is out, and Trump says Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former personal

lawyer for Trump, will take over leading the department for now on an acting basis.

Ryan Lucas and P.R. News, Washington.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has forced out the Army's top general, Army chief of

staff, General Randy George, was expected to remain in his post for another year and

a half.

But a Pentagon spokesman says George is retiring, effective immediately.

No reason was given.

In an out deleted video on the White House YouTube page, President Trump said the government

cannot fund programs like Medicare and childcare because of the war with Iran.

Trump gave remarks at an Easter event at the White House on Wednesday.

It was close to the press, but the video was streamed live on the White House YouTube

page.

The president was candid in his remarks about Iran and said it was the federal government's

job to take care of military security, not daycare.

Because the United States can't take care of the care.

That has to be up to a state.

We can't take care of the care.

The war is now in its fifth week.

The White House did not respond to request for comment on why the video of Trump's speech

was deleted.

Deepash Iveram and P.R. News.

President Trump assigned an executive order imposing a 100 percent tariff on branded pharmaceuticals

imported into the U.S.

The tariff would be imposed on companies that have not agreed to pricing deals or have

not committed to making their products domestically, companies still have months to negotiate

before the tariff's kick-in.

NASA's Artemis II mission with its crew for astronauts now bound for the moon, the

Orion spacecraft called Integrity, left Earth or orbit Thursday, and for the astronauts

fired up its engine for five minutes, fifty seconds.

Integrity looks like a good burn.

We're confirming.

Integrity copies.

The astronauts now on track for a lunar fly by early next week by the time they returned

to Earth.

The astronauts will have broken the human space flight distance records at 1970 by Apollo

13.

You're listening to M.P.R. News.

A proposal earlier this year by a South-Eastern New Mexico lawmaker for border counties in

the state to become a part of Texas was largely taken as an internet joke, but Texas House

speaker Dustin Burles recently released his list of priorities, calling for studying

the implications.

Now many Texans are asking if this is really possible.

Brad Burt from Memoritation, KTTC, and Texas spoke to a constitutional lawyer about

the idea.

Kenneth Williams is a professor of civil rights and constitutional law at Texas Tech University,

and he says theoretically, it could happen.

The Constitution does provide for that occurrence, however, for that to happen, there would

have to be a consent of both legislatures, Texas and New Mexico, and also the consent

of Congress.

Before the proposal could even reach New Mexico, legislators, however, it would require

a petition to call for an election and a vote of approval for the separation by voters

in the affected counties.

I'm Brad Burt in Lubbock.

When the Masters Golf Tournament gets underway in Georgia next week, it will be without

former Champions film, Nicholson and Tiger Woods.

And that's happened in more than 30 years.

Nicholson announced Thursday that he will not compete, saying his family is navigating

a personal health matter.

Wood said this week he is taking an indefinitely leave from golf following his arrest in Florida,

non-suspicion of driving under the influence.

Well, global oil prices surging amid the Iran war stocks in Asia, mostly lower, however,

shares in Japan and South Korea advancing Wall Street will be closed for good Friday.

Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast

app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org.

That's plus.npr.org.