U.S. Rescues One of Two Crew Members From Jet Downed in Iran

Jessica Mendoza (0:00)

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Alex Ossola (0:23)

Iran hits two US warplanes. The search continues for a crew member still on the ground in the country. We'll get the latest. Plus hiring in the US blew past expectations. The economy added 178,000 jobs last month.

Matt Grossman (0:36)

Economists at the Fed and the policy makers there still have a lot of questions about how the war is going to affect the economy. The jobs report does give them some help though.

Alex Ossola (0:46)

And Maine is poised to freeze the construction of new data centers in the state. It's Friday, April 3rd. I'm Alex Ossola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

Iran shot down an American F-15E fighter jet earlier today. It's the first known loss of a jet in the country since the start of the war. The US has rescued one crew member and the status of the second is unknown, and the search and rescue continues. The Journal's senior video and national security correspondent Shelby Holliday has been reporting this story, and it's here now with the latest. Shelby, what do we know about the situation? How did this happen?

Shelby Holliday (1:30)

Yeah, this was an extremely tense day for the United States. The plane was downed in Iranian territory. The crew members were both in an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet, and one of them was rescued earlier in the day, but the search has been ongoing for the second crew member for hours now. And we know that Iran brought the plane down at this point. It's not clear what they shot the plane with, but there was a huge search and rescue effort, and some of the aircraft involved in that effort have been filmed flying over Iran.

Alex Ossola (2:03)

And how has Iran responded to this situation?

Shelby Holliday (2:06)

Iran has been using it to their advantage in propaganda and posts online. In some posts, they were even taunting the United States. It's quite amazing when you talk to former Air Force officials, they say it's incredible that this hasn't happened sooner. It's been five weeks of war, 13,000 combat flights. It's pretty amazing that this is the first time something like this has happened. Of course, it's extremely serious. But for Iran, it's a big victory. They've been shooting at US planes for five weeks, and they haven't been able to bring anything down, and they're claiming it as a victory. It's a very small victory, but it is something. And it's just a reminder that Iran is still a very aggressive and capable enemy in this fight.

Alex Ossola (2:46)

President Trump has said repeatedly that the US has diminished Iran's military, a claim that, of course, Iran has rejected. What does this incident show about Iran's military capabilities?

Shelby Holliday (2:57)

That's a good question. From day one of this fight, Iran has fought back. Their ability to do so with missiles and drones and other types of equipment, fast boats, that has diminished. Drone strikes are down 90 percent, missile strikes are down 90 percent, but they're still shooting at stuff. They're still able to fight back. And so this is just a reminder, it's just sort of a wake up call that Iran is not going down quietly.

Alex Ossola (3:19)

What are you going to be keeping an eye on in the coming hours and days to see how the situation progresses?

Shelby Holliday (3:25)

I'm really curious to see if the US will be even more resolved after this incident and if they will ramp up the combat flights in any way or strike more targets or do something that sends a big signal. I'll also be curious to see what Iran is capable of doing in the coming days. They've been getting help from adversaries. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has acknowledged that adversaries hinting at Russia and China have been helping them with satellite imagery and intelligence. So I am really curious to see if things escalate from here or if we just go back to status quo. The air war over Iran, thousands of targets hit.

Alex Ossola (4:02)

That was WSJ's senior video and national security correspondent Shelby Holliday. Thanks Shelby.

Shelby Holliday (4:07)

Thanks guys.

Alex Ossola (4:08)

This afternoon we reported that Iran also hit a second American warplane. People familiar with the matter said that the pilot is safe as they were able to fly out of Iranian territory before ejecting from the aircraft. In other Iran news, the latest efforts to reach a ceasefire between the US and Iran, led by Pakistan, have hit a dead end. Mediators said today that Iran has officially told them it isn't willing to meet US officials in Pakistan in the coming days and that US demands are unacceptable. Qatar is resisting efforts by the US and other regional countries to be a key mediator for a potential ceasefire deal. And a French-owned container ship has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, the first known vessel with ties to Western Europe to cross the channel since the start of the war. Separately, a new 2027 budget proposal released by the White House today seeks $1.5 trillion in defense spending, by far the most in modern history. President Trump had promised a request of this size back in January, before the war on Iran. The proposed budget includes cuts for non-defense spending, for things like education and the Environmental Protection Agency. Congress will need to determine which pieces of the budget will be passed into law before the fiscal year begins on October 1