Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear sites in an attack escalating the conflict between the two countries. An appeals court allows Trump’s authority over National Guard troops in L.A. to remain for now. And the sole survivor in an India plane crash that killed everyone else on board isn’t sure how he escaped, his family said.
Here’s what to know today.
Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear sites in major attack
The Israeli military launched a series of airstrikes against Iran on Friday in a dramatic escalation of their long-running conflict, raising fears of another war in the Middle East.
Among those killed in the strikes was Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Iran’s most senior military official, multiple Iranian state news outlets reported. Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was also killed in an attack at the Tehran headquarters, as well as a top IRGC official and at least two nuclear scientists, Iranian state media reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were aimed at “Iran’s main enrichment facility” and scientists working on Iran’s nuclear program, as well as targets associated with the country’s ballistic missile program. Netanyahu claimed Iran posed a “threat to Israel’s very survival” and that its operation would continue “for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
The U.S. said it was not involved and was not providing assistance to Israel in the attacks. In fact, the Trump administration had been urging Israel to hold off on an attack as it continues talks with Iran on its nuclear program. Now, Israel’s move appears to be a significant break with the Trump administration. And despite the U.S. denying its involvement in the attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested the attack couldn’t have happened “without the coordination and approval of the United States.”
Read the full story here, and follow our live blog for the latest updates.
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Legal battle ensues over Trump’s National Guard deployment
President Donald Trump, for now, can keep control of the thousands of National Guard troops he deployed in response to immigration protests in Los Angeles, an appeals court ruled last night, pausing a lower court’s order that found his actions to be unlawful. The decision from a three-judge panel in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came hours after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued a temporary restraining order that had been set to go into effect today, saying Trump’s deployment of the troops was unlawful. While Breyer’s order did not apply to the deployment of 700 Marines to L.A., the appeals court ruling does. The appeals court hearing on the matter is scheduled for Tuesday.
The legal battle over the federalization of National Guard troops in California comes nearly a week after ICE raids in the city sparked days of protests and stoked tensions between Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. After the lower court’s ruling, Newsom said Breyer’s decision showed Trump is not a “monarch” and “should stop acting like one.” Justice Department attorneys framed Breyer’s ruling as an attack on Trump’s presidential powers. Read the full story here.
Meanwhile, tensions between the Trump administration and California leaders were also on display earlier Thursday when Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed during Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s media event in L.A. related to immigration. “I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla told Noem, which prompted several men dressed in plainclothes to push him out of the room. Once taken to a hallway, Padilla was pushed onto the ground and handcuffed.
Noem falsely said in an interview on Fox News that Padilla did not identify himself and he was “lunging toward the podium.” Padilla, in an interview with NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff, disputed her account.
“They said I wasn’t wearing my pin. My polo says ‘United States Senate,’” Padilla said. “There was no threat. There was no lunging. I raised my voice to ask a question, and it took, what, maybe, half a second before multiple agents were on me.” Read more and watch Padilla’s interview.
More politics news:
- House Republicans clashed with three Democratic governors — New York’s Kathy Hochul, Illinois’ JB Pritzker and Minnesota’s Tim Walz — in a tense immigration hearing in Washington, D.C.
- The incident involving Padilla forced the Trump administration to go on the offensive, politics reporter Natasha Korecki writes in an analysis, capping a week in which the Democratic Party seems to have finally found its voice.
- The Republican-led House voted to pass a rescissions package that codified cuts proposed by DOGE and clawed back $9.4 billion in previously approved funding for foreign aid, NPR and PBS.
- Trump is set to host a major military parade tomorrow celebrating the Army’s 250th anniversary. It also happens to be his 79th birthday. Here’s everything to know about the event.
1 survivor, 241 killed in Air India plane crash
More than 240 people died — and one passenger survived — after an Air India plane crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff Thursday. The London-bound Boeing 787-8 aircraft struck a building where medical students were sitting down to lunch shortly after it took off around 1:38 p.m., local time. Video showed the plane’s landing gear was still down when it crashed and created a ball of flames.
There were 230 passengers and 12 crew members on board, Air India said in a statement; 241 people were killed.
The survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, is “doing well” but “psychologically disturbed” by the event, according to the medical director of the Civil Hospital, where he is being treated. Ramesh’s family told NBC News’ European partner, Sky News, that Ramesh was dazed and that he said he couldn’t find his brother or any other passengers after the crash. “It’s a miracle that he survived,” said Ramesh’s brother Nayan Kumar Ramesh. “But what other miracle for my other brother?” Here’s what else we know.
Read All About It
- The retrial of Harvey Weinstein ended abruptly in a mistrial when the jury foreperson refused to join deliberations on the remaining rape charge involving former actor Jessica Mann.
- There are empty shelves at Whole Foods stores across the country, and a cyberattack is to blame.
- At least five people are dead and two are missing after floodwaters swept away 15 vehicles in San Antonio.
- A Harvard scientist who was arrested last month and accused of smuggling frog embryos into the U.S. was released from federal custody.
- The cost of eggs may be on the decline, but bacon prices are still sizzling.
Staff Pick: ‘We’re fighting for my girl’s life’
An 11-year-old girl and U.S. citizen who is recovering from a rare brain tumor is now in Mexico after her undocumented parents were deported four months ago. In an exclusive interview with reporter Nicole Acevedo, the girl’s mother said her condition has worsened without the specialized care she was getting in Texas. They’ve filed for humanitarian parole, hoping they can come back to continue her treatment. “She’s not going to be cured overnight,” the mother said. “It takes time.” — Sandra Lilley, NBC Latino editorial director
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