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Shapiro's fire escape, Trump tariff confusion and new Russian carnage

 
Today's NATIONAL story

Man charged in arson attack on Pennsylvania's Shapiro

What happened
Pennsylvania authorities yesterday arrested a man they said broke into and set fire to the governor's mansion in Harrisburg while Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and his family were asleep upstairs. The governor and his family were awoken by a state trooper pounding on their bedroom doors at about 2 a.m. yesterday; everyone was safely evacuated. 

Who said what
State Police officials identified the suspect, arrested yesterday afternoon, as Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg. They alleged he jumped the 7-foot iron fence surrounding the property, evaded police aware of the intrusion and caused a "significant amount of damage to a portion of the residence" with homemade incendiary devices before escaping.

"We don't know the person's specific motive yet" for this "targeted" attack, "but it has to stop," Shapiro said at a news conference outside a visibly charred wing of the 1968 mansion. "This type of violence is not OK. I don't give a damn if it's from one particular side or another. It's not OK." He noted that the attack occurred shortly after he, his family and other members of the local Jewish community had celebrated the first night of Passover on Saturday night in the now-damaged state dining room.

Shapiro, viewed as a rising Democratic star and possible 2028 presidential contender, is the latest high-profile political figure targeted with violence. An FBI affidavit unsealed yesterday said a Wisconsin teenager arrested for allegedly killing his mother and stepfather was planning to assassinate President Donald Trump to destabilize the government to "save the white race." But despite deep political polarization and a "handful" of alarming, attention-grabbing incidents in recent years, The New York Times said, "research shows that extremist violence in the United States has actually declined."

What next?
Balmer has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and related offenses.

 
 
Today's Trade War story

Trump says tariff break on electronics won't last

What happened
President Donald Trump said yesterday that the tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices that his administration quietly rolled out late Friday were only temporary. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on ABC's "This Week" that electronics imports would be taxed under a new tariff on semiconductors "in probably a month or two," along with levies for pharmaceuticals. 

Who said what
Trump's trade advisers were "out in force across the television networks" yesterday trying to "project confidence and calm" after "another week of reeling markets" fueled by "Trump's on-again, off-again approach to tariffs," The Associated Press said. But "their explanations about the overall agenda" mirrored Trump's "shifting narratives" on strategy and goals.

"Nobody is getting 'off the hook'" on tariffs, "especially not China," Trump said on social media yesterday. "There was no tariff 'exception' announced on Friday," because electronics are "subject to the existing 20% fentanyl tariffs" on China, and "they are just moving to a different tariff 'bucket'" aimed at reshoring "semiconductors and the whole electronics supply chain."

What next?
Tech investors had "briefly rejoiced" at the exemption for electronics, The Wall Street Journal said, but the "string of mixed signals" from Trump and his team over the weekend "fueled fresh uncertainty over U.S. trade policy, setting up another chaotic week on Wall Street and in Washington."

 
 
Today's INTERNATIONAL Story

Russian strike kills dozens in Ukraine on Palm Sunday

What happened
Russia struck the center of the Ukrainian city of Sumy with two ballistic missiles yesterday midmorning as crowds gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday. Ukrainian officials said at least 34 people were killed, including two children, and a further 117 were wounded, in Russia's deadliest attack on civilians this year.

Who said what
Yesterday's attack and an April 4 strike on Kryvyi Rih that killed 19 people, including nine children, are "fueling further skepticism over any Russian intent to end the war as President Donald Trump pushes for a ceasefire," The Washington Post said. Civilian deaths have actually "increased since U.S.-mediated ceasefire talks began in March," The New York Times said. 

"These attacks show just what Russia's supposed readiness for peace is worth," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on social media. French President Emmanuel Macron accused Moscow of a "blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump." When asked about the strike, Trump called it a "horrible thing," adding:, "I was told they made a mistake."

What next?
Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met with President Vladimir Putin in Russia on Friday "as impatience appears to be growing" in the White House over Putin's stalling and "reluctance to commit to a broad ceasefire," the Post said. "Everything is going very well" in the U.S-Russian relationship, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday, but "it is impossible to expect any instant results."

 
 

It's not all bad

Pat DeReamer and Mary Wheaton's friendship — and their tradition of exchanging the same birthday card — has been going strong for 81 years. Wheaton sent the card to DeReamer on her 14th birthday in 1944, and when DeReamer's birthday came around later that year, she signed her name on the card and gave it back. The tradition continued as the friends moved from Indianapolis and started families, and DeRamer, who recently turned 95, now holds the card.

 
 
Under the radar

The Earth's continents contain cratons, ancient and stable pieces of the crust that rarely deform and usually only change over a long geologic timescale. But a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience has found that the underside of the North American continent, specifically beneath the U.S. Midwest, is "dripping" as we speak. 

What's causing blobs of rock to drip into the Earth's mantle from the bottom of North America? A "chunk of oceanic crust that broke off from an ancient tectonic plate called the Farallon plate," said Live Science. The slab of rock is applying a downward dragging force on the continent and is "both redirecting the flow of material in the mantle such that it's wearing away the bottom of the North American craton" and also "releasing volatile compounds that are weakening the base of the crust," said Newsweek.

This is not the first time scientists have found evidence of cratons changing. A 2024 study found the North China Craton had undergone deformation too. But the North American craton changes are happening now, which "gives scientists an unprecedented opportunity to learn more about the geology of these lithospheric cores," said Popular Mechanics.

We will not feel any noticeable difference in our lifetime. "The mantle processes driving the dripping can influence how tectonic plates evolve over time, but they are very slow going," the study authors said in a press release. The dripping is "expected to eventually stop as the remnants of the tectonic plate sinks deeper into the mantle and its influence over the craton fades" — a sort of tectonic law of diminishing returns.

 
 
On this day

April 14, 2014

The terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped more than 275 girls from a boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria, prompting worldwide anger and condemnation. While 57 of the girls immediately escaped and others subsequently fled, 82 girls remained missing as of 2024, according to Amnesty International. Boko Haram continues to be a deadly and influential force in Africa.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

President Donald Trump's "tariffs shake faith in the safety of U.S. bonds," which were "long seen as a sure bet in global finance," The New York Times says on Monday's front page. "Manufacturers struggle with uncertainty of Trump's plans," but the "contour of trade desires emerges," The Washington Post says. "Spurned U.S. allies sit out trade war," The Wall Street Journal says. Even as "DOGE falls far short of budget goals," the "Trump cuts rattle addiction, mental health programs," The Minnesota Star Tribune says.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

All in the family

A pair of identical 22-year-old twin sisters and a pair of identical 21-year-old twin brothers recently wed in a double ceremony. "I wouldn't have it any other way," Kristen Baker told The Washington Post. The couples, who now live next door to each other in Arizona, met in 2016 and started dating in 2021, and they say they have never been confused over who's who. They also took a joint post-wedding cruise but "didn't do everything together because it's a honeymoon," said Kristen's husband, Jeremy.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Matthew Hatcher / Getty Images; Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images; Oleksandr Oleksienko / Kordon.Media / Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images