Trump wants say in Iran’s successor; Did Noem’s testimony cost her job?

Israel steps up its strikes inside Iran and Lebanon.

As President Trump says, he wants Iran's current leadership out and replaced.

Plus, why did Trump suddenly fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Nome?

The heated Senate exchange many believe sealed her fate.

And it Texas congressman drops his re-election bid after admitting to an affair with the staff

member.

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

These are your unbiased updates from Strait Hero News.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Simondar Zario in for Craig Negrally.

New this morning, Israel is continuing its broad wave of strikes in Iran and Lebanon, targeting

the Iranian regime and the Iran-backed militia, Hezbollah.

It comes as President Trump says he wants Iran's current leadership removed and a hand

in choosing who comes next.

Trump told NBC News in a phone interview Thursday, quote,

We want to go in and clean out everything.

And in a separate interview with Axios, he says he believes the U.S. should be involved

in choosing Iran's next leader comparing it to how he says he helped install Venezuela's

current government.

He also called on members of Iran's revolutionary guard to stop fighting.

And I'm once again calling on all members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the military

and the police to lay down their arms, they're only going to be killed.

And now is the time to stand up for the Iranian people and help take back your country.

You're going to have a chance after all these years to take back your country, accept

immunity, we'll give you immunity and we'll be giving you really the right side of history

because that's what it is.

So you'll be perfectly safe with total immunity or you'll face absolutely guaranteed death.

Trump also says Moshchaba Kameni, the son of slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Kameni,

would be quote, unacceptable as Iran's next leader.

Iranian officials have delayed announcing a successor for days, but political figures

in Iran suggest an announcement could come soon.

On Capitol Hill, the U.S. House Thursday failed to pass a war power's resolution that would

have limited Trump's ability to order strikes on Iran without congressional approval.

The similar measure failed the Senate the day before.

Meanwhile, Israel says it has launched a broad wave of strikes targeting Iranian regime

infrastructure in Tehran overnight.

Israel also carried out new strikes in Lebanon with the Israeli defense forces saying it

hit Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Beirut, including a command center and facilities

used to store drones.

Lebanon's prime minister is now urging international intervention, warning quote, humanitarian

disaster is looming, and saying the Lebanese people did not choose this war.

The war with Iran is now driving demand for a weapon Ukraine has spent years perfecting.

Interceptor drones designed to hunt down the same Iranian-made drones, now targeting

U.S. forces and allies in the Middle East.

ABC News reports U.S. officials and several Gulf nations are now in talks with Ukraine

about buying those systems.

They're cheap, they're fast, and they specifically target Iran's Shahed drones before they hit

their attack mark.

The technology was developed during Russia's war on Ukraine, where swarms of Iranian-style

drones have repeatedly hit Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

Ukraine's interceptor drones are designed to chase them down mid-air, using cameras

and AI tracking before pilots fly the drones directly into the incoming threat.

Now the systems cost just a few thousand dollars each, far cheaper than the traditional

air defense missiles that can run into the millions, and it's that cost that's drawing

attention from countries now facing Iran's attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the United States and several Middle Eastern

partners have already asked for help, including for equipment and Ukrainian specialists.

He says Ukraine is prepared to share its experience, but only if it doesn't weaken Ukraine's

own defenses against Russia.

President Trump is making a major change at the Department of Homeland Security, firing

Secretary Kristi Noem and tapping Oklahoma Senator Mark Wain Molen to take over the

agency.

Trump announced the shakeup on social media, saying he will nominate Molen to lead the

department with a confirmation process expected to start soon.

The move comes after a week of intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill, where Noem faced tough questions

about DHS operations, including the deadly shootings of two American citizens by immigration

enforcement officers earlier this year.

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana pressed Noem repeatedly during one of those hearings

and multiple reports, including CNN, say her exchanges with Kennedy may have been a turning

point for Trump.

The decision also marks a shift for the president who had previously defended Noem and said he had

no plans to remove her despite growing criticism from both parties.

Molen is expected to step at a DHS at the end of the month and told reporters he hopes

his confirmation process begins right away.

As for Noem, she's expected to remain in the administration in a new role called Special

Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.

Texas Republican Tony Gonzalez is dropping his bid for re-election after admitting he had

an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide.

Gonzalez says he will still serve out the rest of his term in Congress.

In his statement posted to social media late Thursday, he said, quote, through the rest

of my term, I will continue fighting for my constituents for whom I am eternally grateful.

The announcement came just hours after House Republican leadership urged him to step aside

in the race just days after Gonzalez advanced to a runoff primary against conservative activists

Brandon Herrera.

The move comes as the House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into the Gonzalez

affair.

He says he will fully cooperate.

Republicans hold a razor thin majority in the House.

This Texas district leans red.

It's been more than a decade since a Democrat has held the seat.

That Katie Padea Stout will face Herrera in the fall.

Savannah Guthrie made a quiet return to familiar ground this week, stopping by the today's

show Studios Thursday for the first time since her mother disappeared more than a month

ago.

The longtime NBC anchor didn't go on the air, but she visited colleagues to thank them

for their support.

In a statement, NBC said Guthrie plans to return to the show eventually, but right now remains

focused on helping her family and working to bring her mother home.

During the visit Guthrie told staff she doesn't tend to come back though she acknowledged

it won't be easy.

I have every intention of coming back.

She says, I don't know how to come back, but I don't know how not to.

You're my family and I would like to try.

Meanwhile investigators in Arizona say new forensic evidence tied to the case has led to a dead

end.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department says black gloves found roughly two miles from Guthrie's

Tucson home were tested for DNA and traced back to a local restaurant employee.

We say that person is not connected to the investigation and other DNA evidence collected

is still being analyzed.

84-year-old Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson home in early February and authorities

believe she was taken against her will.

Investigators have released surveillance images of a masked suspect approaching the home,

video that security company Rings CEO says could have been even more helpful had there

been more cameras on the property.

He's been ridiculed for those comments.

For now the investigation continues with no arrests and no clear suspect.

Let's end on a lighter note this morning.

The viral baby monkey that melted the internet clutching a stuffed animal is starting to let

go and join the rest of his troop.

Punch an orphan Japanese macaque at a zoonier Tokyo is starting to learn what keepers call

the rules of monkey society.

Punch was born last July and hand raised after his mother abandoned him.

He was given a stuffed orangutan to help him practice an important survival skill,

clinging.

His attachment to the stuff he went viral.

Bazoo staff say the little monkey is now spending less time with the toy and more time with

other macaques, sitting with adults, getting groomed and even hitching rides on their backs.

He still sleeps with the plushie at night but the zoonier director says using it less during

the day is a good sign punch is becoming more independent.

And his fame isn't slowing down because of it.

The stuffed orangutan has been so popular it's caused shortages and crowds at the zoon's

monkey mountain are so big now visitors are limited to just 10 minutes at a time.

I'm glad punch is doing a lot better.

Now before we head out here is what we're tracking today.

At 8.30 this morning the labor department releases the February jobs report, economists

expecting a relatively stable labor market.

At 11 the Philadelphia Flower Show opens at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

This build is the largest indoor flower show in the world.

At noon a public memorial service in Chicago for the late Reverend Jesse Jackson with former

president Clinton Obama and Biden all expected to attend.

And later tonight President Trump departs joint face Andrews for Palm Beach where he often

stops to take questions from reporters before boarding Air Force One will keep an eye on

that.

We're the fastest, fairest few minutes in news.

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Those are your unbiased updates for this Friday we'll see you back here next week.

Oh and for everyone not in Arizona and Hawaii don't forget to spring your clocks forward

before you go to bed tonight daylight saving time officially begins on Sunday.

For all of us here at Strader and News I'm Sima Del Rosario have a great weekend.