By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is traveling to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for a dignified transfer for the two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in the Syrian desert that is testing the rapprochement between Washington and Damascus.

The two guardsmen killed in the attack on Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the U.S. Army. Both were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment. A U.S. civilian working as an interpreter was also killed.

The ritual at Dover Air Force Base honors U.S. service members killed in action and is one of the most solemn duties undertaken by the commander in chief.

During the process, transfer cases draped with the American flag holding the remains of fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that carried them to Dover to an awaiting vehicle to transport them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the fallen service members are prepared for their final resting place.

Trump, a Republican, said during his first term that witnessing the dignified transfer of service members’ remains is “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.

President Donald Trump speaks during a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Remembered as ‘the best of Iowa’

The Iowa National Guard is remembering the two men as heroes. Howard’s stepfather, Jeffrey Bunn, said Howard “loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out,” noting that he had wanted to be a soldier since he was a young boy.

In a post on the Meskwaki Nation Police Department’s Facebook page, Bunn – who is chief of the Tama, Iowa, department – called Howard a loving husband and an “amazing man of faith” and said Howard’s brother, a staff sergeant in the Iowa National Guard, would escort “Nate” back to Iowa.

Torres-Tovar was remembered as a “very positive” person who was family oriented and someone who always put others first, according to fellow guardsmen who were deployed with Torres-Tovar and issued a statement to the local TV broadcast station WOI.

“They were dedicated professionals and cherished members of our Guard family who represented the best of Iowa,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard.

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Trump stands by Syrian leader al-Sharaa

On Saturday, Trump told reporters that he was mourning the deaths and vowed retaliation.

Trump said Monday that he remained confident in the leadership of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the onetime leader of an Islamic insurgent group who led the ouster of former President Bashar Assad, whose family had an iron grip on Syrian rule for decades.

The U.S. president welcomed al-Sharaa to Washington last month for a historic visit to the White House and formally welcomed Syria as a member of the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group. Hundreds of U.S. troops are deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting IS.

“This had nothing to do with him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. “This had to do with ISIS.”

Three other members of the Iowa National Guard were injured in the attack. As of Monday, two were in stable condition and the other in good condition. The Pentagon has not identified them.

Trump traveled to Dover several times during his first term to honor the fallen, including for a U.S. Navy SEAL killed during a raid in Yemen, for two Army officers whose helicopter crashed in Afghanistan and for two Army soldiers killed in Afghanistan when a person dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire.

By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and BEN FINLEY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona said Tuesday that the Pentagon’s escalating investigation into his remarks urging troops to refuse unlawful orders is part of an effort to silence dissent within the military.

“This is just about sending a message to retired service members, active duty service members, government employees — do not speak out against this president or there will be consequences,” Kelly told reporters after a classified briefing from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others about deadly strikes on alleged drug boats in Latin America that Kelly and other lawmakers have opposed.

Kelly said the Defense Department did not notify him of an investigation because “what they really care about is the public message.”

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The Pentagon confirmed late Monday that Hegseth’s office escalated a preliminary review of Kelly to an official command investigation over “serious allegations of misconduct.”

Command investigations are a very common tool used by military officials to look into allegations of wrongdoing that don’t rise to the level of criminal charges. It is far less common for them to be used against a retired service member, much less a sitting member of Congress.

The investigation heightens tensions between the Democratic senator, who was a Navy fighter pilot before becoming an astronaut, and the Trump administration’s Pentagon, coming as lawmakers have increased scrutiny of the U.S. military’s attacks on boats accused of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

In a letter this week to the Pentagon, Kelly’s lawyers said that “there is no legitimate basis for any type of proceeding” and that “any such effort would be unconstitutional and an extraordinary abuse of power.”

The investigation was ordered after President Donald Trump accused six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video urging troops to defy undefined illegal orders of sedition “punishable by DEATH.”

Hegseth said Kelly faced investigation because he is the only one of the lawmakers who formally retired from the military and is still under the Pentagon’s jurisdiction, arguing that “Kelly’s conduct brings discredit upon the armed forces.”

Legal experts have said Kelly did nothing illegal, the Pentagon was misreading military law and he couldn’t be prosecuted by the executive branch as a member of Congress.

The video was released in November by Democrats who served in the military or intelligence community: Kelly, Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan. The lawmakers, who are seen as possible future aspirants for higher office and elevated their political profiles with the video’s wide exposure, spoke “directly to members of the military.”

Kelly told troops that “you can refuse illegal orders,” while other lawmakers in the video said they needed troops to “stand up for our laws … our Constitution.”

The lawmakers didn’t mention specific circumstances. But their message was released amid the boat strike campaign and Trump’s attempts to deploy National Guard troops to American cities.

The issue of illegal orders became even more salient following the revelations of a follow-up strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after the first hit, which some legal experts and lawmakers say went against the laws of war.

Trump and several Republican lawmakers have argued that the strike that killed survivors was justified because the people were trying to overturn the boat and stay in the fight. The administration says the attacks are stemming the flow of narcotics into the United States and that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

Hegseth on Tuesday called it “a highly successful mission to counter designated terrorist organizations” bringing in drugs that are “poisoning the American people.”

When it announced its investigation into Kelly, the Pentagon suggested Kelly’s statements interfered with the “loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces” by citing the federal law that prohibits such actions. The Defense Department also said it could recall Kelly to active duty for court-martial proceedings.

Kelly rejected the claims by Trump and the Pentagon, saying he upheld his oath to the Constitution and has dismissed the Pentagon investigation as the work of “bullies.”

“They’re trying to shut people up,” he said Tuesday. “But in this case, they picked the wrong guy. So I’m not going to shut up about this.”

By JACK DURA, Associated Press

Automakers Hyundai and Kia must offer free repairs to millions of models under a settlement announced Tuesday by Minnesota’s attorney general, who led an effort by dozens of states that argued the vehicles weren’t equipped with proper anti-theft technology, leaving them vulnerable to thefts.

Under the nationwide settlement, the companies will offer a free repair to all eligible vehicles at a cost that could top $500 million, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said. Hyundai and Kia must also outfit all future vehicles sold in the U.S. with a key piece of technology called an engine immobilizer and pay up to $4.5 million of restitution to people whose vehicles were damaged by thieves.

The settlement was reached by 35 states, including California, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The vehicles eligible for fixes date as far back as 2011 and as recently as 2022. About 9 million eligible vehicles were sold nationwide.

Thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles soared in part because beginning in 2021, videos posted to TikTok and other social media demonstrated how someone could steal a car with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. Minneapolis reported an 836% increase in Hyundai and Kia thefts from 2021 to 2022. Ellison announced an investigation into the automakers in early 2023.

Ellison said the two companies installed engine immobilizers on cars sold in Mexico and Canada, but not widely in the U.S., leading to car thefts, crimes and crashes that injured and even killed people, including teenagers.

“This crisis that we’re talking about today started in a boardroom, traveled through the Internet and ended up in tragic results when somebody stole those cars,” Ellison said at a news conference.

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He was joined by Twin Cities officials, a woman whose mother was killed when a stolen Kia crashed into her parents’ vehicle and a man whose car was stolen nine times — as recently as Monday night, and including seven times after a previous software fix.

Under the settlement, Hyundai and Kia will install a zinc sleeve to stop would-be thieves from cracking open a vehicle’s ignition cylinder and starting the car.

Eligible customers will have one year from the date of the companies’ notice to get the repair at an authorized dealership. The repairs are expected to be available from early 2026 through early 2027.

In a statement, Kia said the agreement is the latest step it has taken to help its customers and prevent thefts.

“Kia is eager to continue working with law enforcement officers and officials at federal, state, and local levels to combat criminal car theft, and the role social media has played in encouraging it, and we remain fully committed to upholding vehicle security,” the company said.

The Associated Press emailed Hyundai for comment.

Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.

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By JIM VERTUNO, Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Joe Ely, the influential Texas-born singer-songwriter whose blend of honky-tonk, rock and roadhouse blues made him a favorite among other musicians and led to collaborations with Bruce Springsteen and the Clash, has died. He was 78.

Ely died in Taos, New Mexico, of complications from Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s and pneumonia, with his wife and daughter by his side, according to a post on his Facebook account Monday night and later confirmed by his representatives.

Ely was considered a key figure in the progressive country music movement as a founder of the influential country-rock band The Flatlanders with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and later as a solo artist.

FILE – Joe Ely performs during the “Tsunami Relief — Austin to South Asia” concert at the Austin Music Hall in Austin, Texas Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005. (AP Photo/Kelly West, file)

“Joe Ely performed American roots music with the fervor of a true believer who knew music could transport souls,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

“But his true measure came through in the dynamic intensity of his powerhouse live performances, where he could stand his ground aside fellow zealots Bruce Springsteen who recorded duets with Ely, and the (Rolling) Stones and the Clash, who took Ely on tour as an opening act,” Young said.

After signing with MCA, Ely released his first solo album in 1977. He would release more than 20 albums over his career, including “Love and Freedom” earlier this year.

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Born in Amarillo, Texas, Ely stayed connected to his Texas roots through decades of recording and performing that lacked a mainstream breakthrough but made him a favorite of other artists.

“Every time I start a new album I head up to West Texas and drive around, you know, drive on those old cotton roads and in the wide-open spaces, and every once in a while I’ll come across a place where I’ve spent some time,” Ely told Texas Monthly in 2011.

It was a soundcheck for a show in London that led to the collaboration with British punk band the Clash. Ely would later open for the Clash at several shows and sang backup vocals for their hit song “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”