Amna Nawaz:
We begin the day’s other headlines in Washington, D.C.
A federal judge briefly extended White House access to three media outlets until a final ruling on President Trump’s press ban is made. Lawyers for CNN, MS NOW and Politico returned to court today as the judge’s initial restraining order against the ban was set to expire.
The president excluded the three organizations last month, complaining that their media coverage was unfavorable to his administration. Outside the courthouse, a media lawyer said he expected a decision next week.
Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., media attorney:
We believe President Trump’s ban on the free press violates the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause, and is an attempt to deprive the American public of information about their government.
Amna Nawaz:
Of note, PBS News is one of more than 70 news organizations that signed an amicus brief in support of the preliminary injunction.
Separately, the Trump administration is suspending Microsoft from the green card program, accusing the tech giant of abusing the system. The program allows employers to sponsor H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
This morning, Vice President JD Vance announced the suspension, which also affects Adobe and several large IT outsourcing companies.
JD Vance, Vice President of the United States: Our message to Microsoft is: You are a great American company, but you need to hire great American workers.
Amna Nawaz:
In a statement, Microsoft clarified that the vast majority of applications are for existing employees and not for hiring new people, adding — quote — “Microsoft only files H-1B petitions for those who meet the rigorous standards for this visa category.”
Even today:
Man:
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Satya Nadella of Microsoft Corporation.
Amna Nawaz:
The Microsoft CEO received one of the nation’s highest science and technology awards from President Trump. Satya Nadella was one of several immigrant tech leaders to be honored alongside Elon Musk and Google’s Sergey Brin.
At the same ceremony, Trump himself received the National Medal of Science, awarded to his late uncle in the 1980s. John G. Trump was an electrical engineer and longtime professor at MIT.
The USS Abraham Lincoln has finally returned home after a record deployment in support of the war in Iran. Sailors lined the deck of the aircraft carrier as it docked in San Diego earlier in the day. Family members and loved ones cheered his arrival from the shore.
The Lincoln’s return marks the end of an eventful deployment, which lasted more than 260 uninterrupted days at sea, a modern record. During this period, there were reports of stress among the crew and poor living conditions.
In Ukraine, authorities say a Russian-guided bomb killed at least 33 people on public buses in the eastern city of Kramatorsk. Footage from the scene shows a burned vehicle and bodies in the street in one of the deadliest attacks this year.
Even today:
Ed Miliband, British Foreign Secretary:
We are announcing more sanctions against Russia, against Putin’s war machine.
Amna Nawaz:
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the site of another strike, saying the UK would step up pressure on Russia.
And today in Portugal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the war had reached a dangerous phase.
Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State: Deadlocks can only end in two ways. First, you have a negotiated settlement, in which each side must give up something to achieve peace. The other way to get out of dead ends is to climb. One or both sides intensify their actions in an attempt to break the other side and break the stalemate.
Amna Nawaz:
At the same time, President Zelensky said his mediators planned to travel to the United States in the coming days to continue negotiations. He urges the Trump administration to put more pressure on Russia to end the war.
Congressional Democrats want U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle to respond to a report that she asked a Trump donor to pay her $100,000 credit card bill. According to messages reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Guilfoyle offered conservative media personality Eric Deters access to senior administration officials in exchange for funds.
This reportedly happened days before his Senate confirmation hearing last year. In a statement provided to the “News Hour,” Congressman Robert Garcia said this — I quote — “would be a brazen abuse of power and a stunning addition to Guilfoyle’s existing record of scandal and corruption.” Guilfoyle’s lawyers deny the Journal’s information.
Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson is this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The committee cited his bold and inventive works for creating what it calls new forms of contemporary literature. One of his best-known works is “Autobiography of Red,” which transforms a piece of Greek poetry into the tale of a teenage love story.
The Nobel Prize team posted this photo of them learning of the victory, which they later called crazy. When asked how she was going to celebrate, Carson said she was going to take a walk in the woods to avoid the phone and, as she said, hear the silence.
On Wall Street, stocks finished mixed today after the latest rise in oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average recorded a slight gain of about 50 points. The Nasdaq fell 1.25 percent. The S&P 500 also closed lower.
And four astronauts returned to Earth today after nearly eight months aboard the International Space Station.
Women:
Landing. On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home, Crew-12.
Women:
We are very happy to be back on planet Earth after an incredible mission to the International Space Station.
Amna Nawaz:
The team of American, French and Russian astronauts landed this morning off the coast of California. They were sent to the station in February after an astronaut from the previous mission was evacuated for medical reasons. Repairs to the capsules then briefly delayed their return. Seven astronauts remain on board the station.
And NASA from present to past. Margaret Hamilton, a computer scientist who helped land NASA on the Moon, has died. As a young mathematician at MIT, Hamilton was the first female programmer to work on Project Apollo in the 1960s. She later led the 100-person team that wrote the software for the lunar mission.
In recent years, a 1969 photograph of the 5’4” Hamilton standing next to the printed code for the moon landing has gone viral on social media. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Hamilton the Medal of Freedom, saying his work – quote – “laid the foundation for modern software engineering.” His death was announced yesterday by MIT. Margaret Hamilton was 90 years old.
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