>> david: martha raddatz with the late reporting for us. martha, thank you. >>> tonight, the new developments just hours before this midnight deadline for millions of federal workers to take a buyout or risk being fired. a federal judge now putting president trump's plan on hold until at least monday. unions filing to stop it, calling it unlawful. today, president trump praising elon musk, who helped engineer the plan. the president saying musk is very good at helping the government cut costs. that email sent to federal workers titled "fork in the road," suggesting take the buyout or risk being cut. here's our senior political correspondent rachel scott tonight. >> reporter: tonight, just hours from the midnight deadline, a federal judge putting president trump's buyout offer for 2 million federal workers on hold, after unions called it arbitrary and unlawful. the white house says the ruling just gives workers more time to take advantage of what they call a once-in-a-lifetime offer. >> it's going to save the american people tens of millions

martha raddatz and what she's learned. >>> tonight, just hours before that midnight deadline for millions of federal workers who were sent an email titled "fork in the road," take a buyout or risk being fired, tonight, a federal judge putting president trump's buyout offer on hold, amid questions about whether it's lawful. >>> tonight, president trump defending his proposal after declaring the u.s. would own gaza, saying the palestinians would leave, suggesting egypt and jordan would take them. well tonight, what egypt is now saying about this. the white house now saying this would be temporary. and abc news learning some of the president's top advisers were caught offguard by all of this. >>> tonight, the plane crash killing a u.s. marine and three contractors. military officials say they were on an tell jens flight. >>> just in tonight, a harrowing view now of those deadly fires in california. you'll see the first responders rescuing seniors in the middle of the emergency. what they did with the flames closing in. >>> the disturbing scene in church. a priest attacked during a prayer ser

martha raddatz on what we now right now. >>> moments ago, elon musk center stage, wielding a chain saw amid the mass layoffs targeting thousands of federal workers across the u.s. the president's team today defending his first 30 days in office. and the new poll in tonight, what americans think of the first 30 days of the mass firings, of elon musk's role. what the polling reveals. >>> tonight, after president trump called president zelenskyy a dictator, and said that ukraine shouldn't have started the war with russia, the white house today saying president trump is very frustrated with zelenskyy. the trump administration pressuring him to sign a deal that allegedly includes handing over 50% of ukraine's mineral rights to the u.s. european leaders alarmed by this sudden shift on ukraine. >>> the prison inmate brought to a new prison in upstate new york. the disturbing police video. and authorities say within a half an hour of arriving at that prison, the inmate was clinically dead. >>> tonight, in an extraordinary move, the menendez brothers calling into a podcast from prison, hoping t

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>> david: all right, martha raddatz right here in new york tonight. good to have you here in person. >>> in new york city, the acting u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york resigned today, just three days after the justice department ordered the bribery case against new york city mayor eric adams be dropped. danielle sassoon resigning without complying with the order to dismiss. the justice department saying it planned to move the mayor's case to washington, to the justice department's public integrity section, but tonight, the two top officials of that department have also resigned. all after the department's push to drop the case. >>> tonight, the u.s. aircraft carrier "harry s. truman," carrying two nuclear reactors, has collided with a large merchant vessel near egypt in the mediterranean. the navy reporting there were no injuries to its 5,000 sailors or to the two reactors onboard. the incident, of course, now under investigation. the carrier and its strike group have been in the region to help thwart houthi attacks on shipping vesse

martha raddatz talks with senate democrat jack ride and mike lawlor about the push on ukraine and dramaticto the government workforce. >>> hamas releasing six israeli hostages. four were kidnapped during the october 7th attack and two have been in captivity for more than a decade. let's get more on these emotional reunions. there's also news on the release of palestinian prisoners. >> reporter: six hostages released today. they october 7th. two have been held by the terror group for more than a decade. they are the last group of living hostages to be released as part of phase one of the cease-fire deal. israel delaying the release of hundreds of palestinian prisoners set to be freed today, that decision reportedly becoming in response to the delayed return of shiri bibas' body and the murder of her two young children shortly after they were kidnapped. negotiations for phase two are set to begin next week. >>> back here in the u.s., a report that the justice department is investigating unitedhealthcare's billing practices for medicare. it comes during a tumultuous period for one of the nati

here's martha raddatz. >> reporter: 24 hours after the shock of hamas handing over the wrong body to a grieving israeli family, tonight, the terrorist group saying they have now transferred the correct body of 32-year-old shiri bibas. bibas. the mother of two little redheaded boys. kafir was just 8 months old. his big brother ariel 4 when all three were kidnapped from their home during the october 7th massacre. the children were the youngest israeli hostages. the tiny bodies of the bibas boys were released thursday in a chaotic handover. hamas insists the bibas family was killed by an israeli air strike, but tonight israeli officials say that was a lie, the boys were killed in cold blood by hamas terrorists. >> the terrorists did not shoot the two young boys. they killed them with their bare hands. >> reporter: the boys' father was taken hostage separately. he was released earlier this month, but tonight, he is waiting for the heartbreaking word that his wife, like his sons, is likely confirmed dead. this comes as hamas says they will release six hostages alive tomorrow. no americans

. >> reporter: brown telling martha raddatz last year he wants to be judged by his abilities. >> youant to be judged based on my own accomplishments, based on my merits and given an opportunity. that's all i've asked for throughout growing up and through my air force career and hopefully i'm sitting in this chair as the chairman of the joint chiefs, not because i'm african american but because i'm a quality officer. >> reporter: trump nominating as his replacement dan caine, a retired three-star retired air force general who never served in a four-star position as the pentagon prepares to lay off 5,400 civilian workers starting next week in the first wave of firings that could total tens of thousands of workers as the pentagon aims to cut 5% to 8% of its civilian workforce. while trump insists the cuts are making the government more efficient, angry americans across the country from georgia to kansas are pushing back. >> we are all frickin' pissed off about this. you're going to hear it and feel it. >> reporter: in a district near atlanta republican congressman rich mccormick feeling

coming up on this week, congressman mike turner joins martha raddatz to discuss the u.s.ow. they'll discuss president donald trump's proposal to take control of the gaza strip, as well as elon musk's plans to make big cuts under the trump administration. you can watch the full interview on this week with george stephanopoulos at eight this morning, right here on abc seven. power company southern california edison believes its equipment may have started one of the southern california wildfires, the hurst fire, which scorched 800 acres. nobody died in the hurst fire, and it did not destroy any structures. it sparked the same day as the palisades and eaton fires. despite multiple lawsuits blaming edison for the eaton fire, the utility says there is still no evidence to support those claims. the growing reality is that fire season here in california is year round. los angeles burned in january this year. paradise, as we remember, burned in november of 2018. abc seven news reporter dustin dorsey has a look at what state lawmakers are doing to make sure fire crews have the tool

. >> reporter: brown telling our chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz last year he wantsd by his ability. >> i want to be judged on my own accomplishments, based on my merits and given an opportunity. that's all i've asked throughout my, you know, growing up and what i've asked for throughout my air force career and hopefully, you know, i'm sitting in this chair as the chairman of the joint chiefs, not because i'm african american but because i'm a quality officer. >> reporter: trump nominating as his replacement dan caine, a retired three-star general who has never served in a four-star position. the shake-up comes as the pentagon prepares to lay off 5,400 civilian workers starting next week. in the first wave of firings, that could total tens of thousands of workers as the pentagon aims to cut 5% to 8% of its civilian workforce. layoffs also hitting the federal aviation administration. more than 100 probationary employees have been terminated including team members that produce air traffic navigation maps. multiple sources tell abc news, while trump insists the cuts are

coming up on this week, congressman mike turner joins martha raddatz to discuss the u.s.e in the middle east right now. they'll discuss president donald trump's proposal to take control of the gaza strip, as well as elon musk's plans to make big cuts under the trump administration. you can watch the full interview on this week with george stephanopoulos at eight this morning, right here on abc seven. power company southern california edison believes its equipment may have started one of the southern california wildfires, the hurst fire, which scorched 800 acres. nobody died in the hurst fire, and it did not destroy any structures. it sparked the same day as the big wildfires, the palisades and the eaton fire. despite multiple lawsuits blaming southern california edison for the eaton fire, the utility now says there is still no evidence to support those claims. the growing reality is that fire season in california is year round. los angeles burned in january this year. paradise burned in november of 2018. abc seven news reporter dustin dorsey has a look at what state lawma

. >>> let's bring in martha raddatz who will be hosting "this week" later this morning. morning to you. always great to have you. so let's start with president trump and elon musk's moves to reshape the federal government. what are the ramifications of these policies, and how are democrats planning to push back now? >> martha: well, whit, the effects of these changes are truly vast, especially when you look at usaid. there are alarm bells across the world going off saying this is life-saving aid and needed. nutrition, medicine, housing in places that have relied heavily on american support. there are no doubt cuts in any department that could be made, but this one especially has many people panicked, and democrats are doing what they can heading to court and they will likely have some success as the downsizing continues, but courts take time, and democrats like senator chris murphy say their party needs to be more aggressive and we'll have senator murphy on this morning to ask about just that. whit. >> whit: we also know there's a legal battle playing out over those trum

chief global correspondent martha raddatz has details. od morning, martha. >> reporter: good morning, george. this is the same usa naval base where the 9/11 terrorists have been held for decades. this morning ten migrants flown from the texas boarder in a military transport plane now under armed guard at guantanamo bay. the department of homeland security which released images from the transport say the men are members of a violent venezuelan gang, the worst of the worst, they say. hundreds of u.s. service members arrived ahead of the detainees and are setting up a tent city that can handle up to 30,000 detainees. the migrants will be held there until they can be deported to their home country. president trump also saying he is open to an offer by el salvador's president to hold criminals in that country notorious megaprison including american citizens. trump saying he would do it in a heart beat if it was legal, which is highly doubtful, according to legal scholars. robin? >> robin: all right. our thanks to you. now the u.s. postal servic

our chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz has the latest for us. good morning, martha. >> reporter: good morning. this came as a complete surprise after weeks of secret negotiations by president trump's billionaire friend and special envoy steve whitcoff. arriving in moscow on his private jet to whisk marc fogel home to a reception by the president himself. this morning american teacher marc fogel back on u.s. soil, kissing the ground, thankful to be home. [ applause ] with an american flag draped around his neck the 63-year-old from pennsylvania, met by president trump overnight at the white house. >> we got him home. he's healthy. looks good actually. to me, you look damn good. >> i think the expectations are low. >> reporter: the emotional home coming years in the making. >> i feel like the luckiest man on earth. never has one meant so much to so many. >> reporter: lost for words as he expressed his gratitude thanking the president and members of his administration who helped bring him home. >> i'm a middle class school teacher who's now in a dre

our chief global affairs anchor martha raddatz has the late et for us. rtha, no one was injured, but apparently only because the devices went off too early? >> reporter: that's exactly right, michael. the israelis have wasted no time. benjamin netanyahu instructing his military to carry out massive operations to find out who planted those bombs. it was a brazen and potentially catastrophic act. four bombs planted in buss in central israel, three exploding, leaving the buses in flames. video posted on social media show u.s. intelligence sources say the size and number of devices indicates this was well resourced, saying they are military grade, sizable explosives, what appears to be the largest coordinated attack inside israel proper since the october 7th massacre in 2023. authorities tell abc the attack was believed to have been planned for this morning during the presabbath rush when buses in israel are crowded with commuters. but the buses were empty when the bombs detonated. investigators also found a note according to sources, indicating the attackers

chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz is in washington with the latest. od morning, martha. >> reporter: good morning, rebecca. incredible images of this crash. an accident that truly could have been a major disaster. this morning extraordinary video of the navy jet crashing into the san diego bay. watch again as it plunges nose down into the water. and here, a distant image from a nearby surveillance camera. >> they advise that it did land in the water. navy boats are searching the water. >> reporter: an immediate search launched for the two pilots after parachuting from the aircraft, rescued within one minute by a tourist fishing boat. >> they went to the hospital to get treatment. at that point we just assisted with perimeter for this large debris field that's out here. >> reporter: the $67 million navy jet was attempting a landing on north island naval air station off coronado beach. as it came to the end of the runway it started a go around. the pilots headed back up. that's when they ejected, landing in the bay avoiding potential catastrophic casualt