Iran war intensifies, Khamenei son emerges; Talarico wins Texas primary

The war with Iran widens overnight. Israel ramps up strikes as Tehran prepares to choose a new leader with a very familiar name

Plus, a shifting war rationale. President Trump says Tehran was about to attack. Others in his administration say Israel forced his hand

And the first big primary of 2026, a Texas Democrat scores a surprise win, while Republicans head to a high-stakes runoff between an incumbent senator and a MAGA challenger

The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world

These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News. Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli. The war in Iran is intensifying with new strikes across

Iran overnight and fresh attacks spreading across the region. Israel says it targeted

Iranian missile launchers and weapons factories, including a missile storage and production

facility in the city of Isfahan. The Israeli military also reports what it calls broad-scale

strikes across Tehran. Explosions were also reported overnight in northwestern Iran. The

strikes come as Iran begins mourning its late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was

killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike last weekend. Israel's defense minister now warning that whoever

replaces Khomeini could also become a target. Reuters reports Khomeini's son survived Saturday's

attack and other leaders who also survived are now considering the son as a possible successor

Meanwhile, the Israeli military says one of its F-35 fighter jets shot down a manned Iranian

warplane over Tehran, which if confirmed would mark the first time such a shootdown has occurred

Israel is also widening the fight beyond Iran. The Israeli military says it launched new strikes in Beirut

targeting infrastructure used by the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. Iran is continuing to strike back

Saudi Arabia's defense ministry says another attack targeted the Rastanura oil refinery

which was hit earlier this week. Kuwait's military says the country faced another wave of Iranian missiles and drones overnight

Meanwhile, the United States has now identified four of the six American service members killed in the initial strikes on Iran over the weekend

They include 35-year-old Captain Cody Cork of Florida, 42-year-old Sergeant First Class Noah Tejens of Nebraska

39-year-old Sergeant First Class Nicole Amour of Minnesota, and 20-year-old Sergeant Declan Cody of Iowa

President Trump is offering a new explanation for why the United States launched strikes on Iran

one that differs from what we heard from his own administration just a day earlier

In the Oval Office Tuesday, the president pushed back on the idea that Israel forced his hand

and offered his own justification for the timing of the strikes. Watch

Mr. President, did Israel force your hand to launch these strikes against Iran

Did Netanyahu pull the United States into this war? I might have forced their hand You see we were having negotiations with these lunatics and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first They were going to attack If we didn do it they were going to attack first I felt strongly about that

That framing contrasts with what Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers and later reporters on Monday

when he laid out the administration's initial rationale for acting when it did

Here's what he had to say then. We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces

And we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks

we would suffer higher casualties and perhaps even higher than those killed

After the president's remarks, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth weighed in on social media

backing the president's explanation, saying he was 100 percent correct. Later Tuesday, Rubio pushed back on the idea that his earlier comments conflicted with the

presidents, insisting he was talking about timing, not intent. Listen. This was a question of timing, of why this had to happen as a joint operation

not the question of the intent. Once the president made a decision that negotiations

were not going to work, that they were playing us on the negotiations and that this was a threat

that was untenable, the decision was made to strike them. That's what I said yesterday

And you guys need to play it. If you're going to play these statements, you need to play the whole statement, not clip it to reach a narrative that you want to do. All right

Meanwhile, the administration's formal letter to Congress cites broader national security interests, including protecting American forces and advancing American strategic objectives in the region

Democrats say the shifting explanations are raising concerns. Here's Chuck Schumer. The American people do not want an endless war. The administration doesn't seem to know what it's doing

Every hour there's a different rationale as to why we're doing this

And America wants this president to pay attention to the problems at home, not the problems overseas

particularly when no one has any idea of what the real rationale is

It changes every hour. All of this is unfolding as the conflict widens

and Congress prepares to vote on whether the president needs authorization to continue military action

The central question now, what intelligence underpins the president's assertion that Iran was going to launch a strike first

The 2026 election season is officially underway after primary races Tuesday in Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas

The biggest action and the most watched contests were in Texas. State Representative James Tallarico defeated U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate

Tallarico addressed supporters last night. The number of young people who showed up to vote in this election is unprecedented

The number of Texans who have never voted before but showed up in this election is unprecedented

But it's still unclear who he will face in November. Republican incumbent Senator John Cornyn had the most votes, but failed to reach the 50

threshold to clear the field Tuesday, and will now head to a May runoff against Texas

Attorney General Ken Paxton, the MAGA candidate who finished second. I worked for decades to build the Republican Party both here in Texas and nationally I refuse to allow a flawed self and shameless candidate like Ken

Paxton risk everything we've worked so hard to build over these many years. In North Carolina

one of the year's most consequential Senate races was essentially set heading into the primary

Democrat Roy Cooper will face Republican Michael Watley in November, a contest expected to play a

major role in determining which party controls the Senate next year. Republicans currently have

a 53 to 47 advantage. Democrats needs to flip four seats. In Arkansas, Republican Senator Tom Cotton

easily secured his party's nomination. He will face Democrat Hallie Schaffner in the general

election this fall. In Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced sharp

questioning on Capitol Hill Tuesday, starting her testimony by blaming Democrats for the

ongoing funding fight over her department. Noam told the Senate Judiciary Committee the dispute

over DHS funding is harmful to national security, arguing the department is being disrupted even as

the administration touts what it calls major immigration enforcement gains. The latest

Democrat-led shutdown of DHS is reckless, it's unnecessary, and it undermines the American

national security and it harms the men and women who work at DHS and their families. At a time when

we've produced the most secure border in history and removed nearly 3 million illegal aliens from

our country. Disrupting the department responsible for those gains is indefensible. The most forceful

criticism did not come from Democrats. Republican Senator Tom Tillis, who you see here, of North

Carolina, delivered a blistering rebuke of Noam's leadership, accusing her department of detaining

American citizens and saying immigration enforcement under her watch has been, in his words

a disaster. Watch. We just want numbers. We want a thousand a day, six thousand a day

nine thousand a day, because numbers matter, right? No, they don't matter. Quality matters

not quantity, quality. And what we've seen is a disaster. Under your leadership, Ms. Noem

a disaster. What we've seen is innocent people getting detained that turn out are American

citizens. I could talk about the culture that's been created here with Stephen Miller aiding and

abetting. In one of the most striking moments of the hearing, the Republican senator turned to a

controversial story from Noam's memoir, where she described killing her 14-month-old dog after

calling it untrainable. Tillis used Noam's own story to question her judgment. I train dogs

all right? And you are a farmer. You should know better. You should know that if you're going out

to a hunting lodge and you're putting pheasants out and you're putting dogs out, you don't take

a puppy out there. A 14-month-old dog is basically a teenager in dog years. You decided to kill that

dog because you had not invested the appropriate time and training. And then you have the audacity

to go into a book and say it's a leadership lesson about tough choices. The tense exchange

underscores growing frustration with Noam's leadership, including from some members of her

own party as you saw as Congress continues to scrutinize immigration enforcement and the Minneapolis shootings that left two Americans dead The Trump administration is expanding its campaign against what it calls narco in Latin America The U military is launching a new round of joint

operations with Ecuador, targeting major drug trafficking groups, including organizations Washington has now designated as terrorist groups. The U.S. Southern Command announced

the effort on Tuesday, calling it a coordinated move by regional partners to take

decisive action against what it describes as the scourge of narco-terrorism. The announcement

follows comments Monday from Ecuador's president, who said the country is entering a new phase in

the fight against narco-terrorism and illegal mining. Ecuador's defense ministry says the

military will operate in an offensive role, though officials say details of the missions

remain classified. The Pentagon has not outlined what the operations will involve or which groups

will be targeted. But last year, the U.S. State Department formally designated two major Ecuadorian

criminal organizations, Los Lobos and Los Chineros, as foreign terrorist organizations. Finally this morning, an attraction at Yellowstone National Park is back to life just in time

for the busy spring and summer tourist season. It's the largest acidic geyser in the world

located in the hottest part of Yellowstone's vast thermal area. The geyser had been dormant

since 2020, but last month it began erupting again every two to five hours. Most eruptions

last just a few minutes, sending water about 30 feet into the air. The pool at Etchines Geyser

spans roughly 66 feet across. You see it there. It was once a major crowd pleaser in the 1970s

80s, and 90s, according to the National Park Service, but activity began fading in the early

2000s. Scientists say the water's acidity is similar to orange juice or vinegar. Acidic geysers

are extremely rare, by the way, because that acidity can actually break down the surrounding

rock in what scientists call the geyser's plumbing system. By the way, most of the world's known

acidic geysers are located right there in Yellowstone. You know, I love the Rocky Mountains

but I've never been to Yellowstone. I'm going to do that once I'm retired and have time to make my

way around with really no deadline. All right, before we head out, here's what we're tracking

today. Busy day on Capitol Hill and beyond. At 8 this morning, Pete Hegseth briefs reporters at

the Pentagon expect the latest developments on the conflict in Iran. At 9, the House Committee

on Oversight and Government Reform examines alleged fraud and misuse of funds in Minnesota

Witnesses include Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. At 10, the House Judiciary

Committee holds an oversight hearing on DHS with Secretary Kristi Noem set to testify

At one, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt briefs reporters. Expect plenty of

questions on Iran and the administration's rationale for war. Hey, we don't cover noise

We take no sides. We just give you the story straight. NewsGuard gives us a perfect score

for reliability. All sides gives us a center rating for balanced certification. We give you

Facts first without the spin. Those are your unbiased updates for this Wednesday

We'll see you back here tomorrow. Actually, I won't. I'm off for a couple of days, but there will be a broadcast

For all of us here at Stradio News, I'm Craig DiGrelli. Have a great day