Historic Moon Mission Ready For Launch - What You Need to Know - April 1, 2026

[0:04] This is what you need to know now. [0:06] President Trump now claiming the president of Iran wants a ceasefire [0:10] after suggesting that America could pull out of NATO amid the escalating conflict. [0:15] Democrats investigating a claim in a new report alleging Secretary of Defense [0:19] Pete Hegseth's investment broker may have tried to buy defense stocks [0:23] just ahead of the Iran war. [0:25] The Hawaii doctor on trial accused of trying to kill his wife, [0:29] what his son has now revealed in court. [0:31] What's at stake today as the Supreme Court takes up a monumental case [0:35] about birthright citizenship. [0:37] Plus, a big development in a dispute over peanut butter cups. [0:40] We have much more What You Need to Know now. [0:43] I'm Elizabeth Schulze from ABC News. [0:45] It's Wednesday, April 1st. [0:47] This is What You Need to Know. [0:48] We'll show you the major milestone for Apple [0:50] and the legal fight over the White House ballroom takes a new turn. [0:54] But first, the big story. [0:56] President Trump is set to address the nation tonight in a primetime speech [0:59] with an update on Iran. [1:00] Earlier, the president posted on Truth Social [1:03] that Iran's president wants a ceasefire. [1:06] Iran's foreign ministry called Trump's claim false and baseless. [1:09] Meantime, the strikes are intensifying in the Middle East, [1:12] including an airstrike on Tehran's former U.S. embassy compound. [1:16] Matt Rivers is in Qatar. [1:18] Another Truth Social post from the president [1:20] and simply more confusion about where we go from here. [1:22] So the latest Truth Social post from Donald Trump says [1:25] Iran's new regime president, much less radicalized [1:27] and far more intelligent than his predecessors, [1:29] has just asked, [1:30] So let's just unpack that a little bit. [1:40] First of all, there is not a new president of Iran. [1:43] If that is in fact who the president is talking about here, [1:46] the same president that was in charge before the war started [1:49] is still the same president today. [1:51] Furthermore, he is outranked by others in the government, [1:53] namely the supreme leader, [1:55] even though we haven't seen or heard directly from him. [1:57] And it's not clear at all that if the Iranian president, [2:00] would be seen as the top negotiator in Iran, [2:03] if other groups inside of Iran would even respect that title. [2:06] And one last thing to unpack there, [2:08] the president is basically saying he'll agree to a ceasefire [2:10] if the Strait of Hormuz is open. [2:12] It was just yesterday that the president seemed to suggest [2:15] that reopening the Strait of Hormuz was not a prerequisite [2:19] for the United States to make a deal with Iran. [2:21] So it just leaves all of us here with a bit of confusion [2:23] as to what exactly the president is saying here, [2:26] who he's talking with, what his goals are. [2:28] Perhaps we'll get more clarity on that [2:30] when he addresses the nation. [2:31] Later on tonight. [2:32] Democrats on Capitol Hill are now launching an investigation [2:35] after the Financial Times reported [2:37] Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's broker [2:39] attempted to invest in defense companies [2:42] before the Iran war. [2:43] The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee [2:45] requesting documents from Hegseth, Morgan Stanley, and BlackRock. [2:49] House Republicans are not saying [2:50] if they're on board with an investigation. [2:52] A Pentagon spokesman says the Financial Times report [2:55] is entirely false. [2:57] President Trump is at the Supreme Court today, [2:59] making him the first sitting president [3:01] to witness oral arguments at the nation's highest court. [3:04] The justices are taking up his executive order, [3:07] which declares only newborns born on U.S. soil [3:10] with at least one parent who is either a U.S. citizen [3:13] or has permanent legal status can become citizens. [3:16] The justices are hearing the president's appeal [3:18] of a lower court ruling that struck down the policy. [3:22] Chief Justice John Roberts challenged [3:24] Solicitor General John Sowers' claim [3:26] that wealthy foreigners are exploiting [3:28] the nation's birthright citizenship tradition. [3:31] Justice Roberts challenged that claim. [3:33] Well, it certainly wasn't a problem in the 19th century. [3:36] No, but of course, we're in a new world now, [3:39] as Justice Alito pointed out, [3:40] to where 8 billion people are one plane ride away [3:42] from having a child who's a U.S. citizen. [3:45] Well, it's a new world. [3:45] It's the same constitution. [3:47] They will decide the future of birthright citizenship [3:49] by the end of June. [3:51] Legal challenges are looming after President Trump [3:53] signed an order that would limit voting by mail. [3:56] It would create a federal list of citizens eligible to vote [4:00] and would change how mail-in ballots are processed. [4:03] The order would change the design of mail-in ballots [4:05] to require barcodes from the Postal Service on envelopes [4:09] to make them easier to track. [4:11] If you voted by mail, you will have it on the envelope. [4:14] Obviously not on the ballot, but on the envelope. [4:17] So we will know a million mail-in ballots. [4:19] There'll be a million envelopes, [4:21] and you'll be able to know exactly, correctly, [4:24] that citizens voted. [4:25] Each state would also have to provide a list [4:28] of eligible voters receiving mail-in ballots. [4:30] At least 60 days before an election. [4:33] If they don't comply, they could lose federal funding. [4:36] And another move by the Trump administration [4:38] is making headlines, this time related [4:40] to an investigation of anti-Semitism on college campuses. [4:44] A judge is allowing the administration [4:46] to collect a list of Jewish employees [4:48] at the University of Pennsylvania. [4:50] Aaron Katursky explains. [4:52] A federal judge in Philadelphia [4:53] ordered the University of Pennsylvania [4:55] to turn over a list of Jewish employees [4:57] so the Trump administration can investigate claims [4:59] of anti-Semitism. [5:00] U-Penn said it would appeal the decision [5:02] after campus groups argued requiring the school [5:05] to furnish lists of Jewish faculty and staff [5:08] evoked the tactics of Nazi Germany before the Holocaust. [5:11] The judge called that comparison [5:13] unfortunate and inappropriate. [5:15] And though he conceded the administration's subpoena [5:18] was ineptly worded, he ordered Penn to comply. [5:21] The judge saying the administration [5:23] had an understandable purpose to find out [5:25] if Penn's Jewish community experienced [5:26] or witnessed anti-Semitism in the workplace. [5:29] Elizabeth Bauer, [5:30] the Ivy League school said it does not keep [5:32] lists of employees' religions. [5:33] And while committed to confronting anti-Semitism, [5:36] the school said requiring Penn to create lists [5:38] of Jewish faculty and staff and to provide [5:40] personal contact information raises serious privacy [5:43] and First Amendment concerns. [5:46] NASA said fueling was underway [5:47] for the Artemis II mission. [5:49] Teams are now loading super cold liquid hydrogen [5:52] and oxygen into the rocket, a key step ahead of liftoff. [5:56] NASA's closely watching the weather [5:57] with a narrow launch window set for later today, at 6 p.m. [6:00] 624 Eastern. [6:02] After liftoff, the astronauts will orbit the Earth [6:04] for about a day, then slingshot around the far side [6:07] of the Moon before reentering Earth's atmosphere [6:10] and splashing down in the Pacific. [6:12] The mission is a critical step in NASA's plan [6:15] to return humans to the Moon [6:17] and potentially send astronauts to Mars. [6:19] You can watch the launch live right here on Disney+. [6:22] We have much more What You Need to Know. [6:35] Here's your Daily Briefing, other big stories [6:37] that we're following on ABC News. [6:38] Luigi Mangione is due in court today. [6:41] His lawyers will ask a judge [6:42] to delay his federal murder trial until next January [6:46] so they can attempt to push his state trial [6:48] back from June to September. [6:50] Mangione is accused of gunning down [6:52] United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson [6:54] on a New York City street back in 2024. [6:57] Prosecutors have rested their case [6:59] in the trial of a Hawaii doctor [7:01] accused of trying to kill his wife during a hike last year. [7:05] Gerhard Koenig is facing attempted murder charges. [7:08] A 16-year-old son was called [7:09] as a prosecution witness yesterday. [7:12] He testified he's not spoken to his father [7:14] since his stepmother was left bloodied [7:16] and needing help getting off of a trail. [7:18] What did the defendant tell you during that call, [7:21] as close to word for word as you can remember? [7:23] That he would not be making it back to Maui [7:27] and to take good care of the younger kids [7:30] and that he had, that Eri, my stepmom, [7:34] had been cheating on him and that he tried to kill her. [7:37] Emil Koenig also says his father told him [7:40] he planned to take his own life. [7:41] Defense attorneys will begin their case today. [7:44] Gerhard Koenig could take the stand. [7:47] And President Trump is vowing to appeal a ruling [7:50] that stops the construction of his White House ballroom. [7:52] With the East Wing already demolished, [7:54] a judge issued a preliminary injunction [7:57] saying that Trump cannot build the ballroom [7:58] without approval from Congress. [8:01] And new today, Hershey is making a change [8:03] after a complaint from the grandson [8:05] of the creator of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. [8:08] The company says it will now replace a compound coating [8:11] and return to using all the classic chocolate ingredients [8:14] after the complaint, which claimed that [8:15] cheaper ingredients don't taste as good. [8:18] Hershey says only a small amount of products are affected. [8:21] Finally, before you go, Apple is celebrating [8:23] a major milestone, 50 years since Steve Jobs [8:27] and Steve Wozniak launched the company [8:29] in a California garage in 1976. [8:32] Over the decades, Apple has reshaped technology, [8:35] starting with early personal computers. [8:37] Before the iPod in the early 2000s, [8:39] Apple lineup mostly consisted [8:41] of laptops and desktops. [8:42] But the music player set the stage [8:44] for a new era of consumer tech. [8:46] Then Apple launched the iPhone in 2007. [8:49] Over 200 million of them are now sold every year. [8:54] And that is what you need to know for breaking news [8:56] and live updates throughout the day. [8:57] Check out ABC News streaming on Disney+. [9:02] New episodes streaming every day on Disney+.