Watch now: Israel expands strikes across Iran as Tehran prepares to choose a new supreme leader. And Talarico scores Texas primary win.
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The war with Iran widens overnight. Israel ramps up strikes as Tehran prepares to choose a new leader with a very familiar name
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Plus, a shifting war rationale. President Trump says Tehran was about to attack. Others in his administration say Israel forced his hand
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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
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The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world
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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
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Iran overnight and fresh attacks spreading across the region. Israel says it targeted
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Iranian missile launchers and weapons factories, including a missile storage and production
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facility in the city of Isfahan. The Israeli military also reports what it calls broad-scale
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strikes across Tehran. Explosions were also reported overnight in northwestern Iran. The
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strikes come as Iran begins mourning its late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was
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killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike last weekend. Israel's defense minister now warning that whoever
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replaces Khomeini could also become a target. Reuters reports Khomeini's son survived Saturday's
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attack and other leaders who also survived are now considering the son as a possible successor
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Meanwhile, the Israeli military says one of its F-35 fighter jets shot down a manned Iranian
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warplane over Tehran, which if confirmed would mark the first time such a shootdown has occurred
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Israel is also widening the fight beyond Iran. The Israeli military says it launched new strikes in Beirut
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targeting infrastructure used by the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. Iran is continuing to strike back
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Saudi Arabia's defense ministry says another attack targeted the Rastanura oil refinery
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which was hit earlier this week. Kuwait's military says the country faced another wave of Iranian missiles and drones overnight
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Meanwhile, the United States has now identified four of the six American service members killed in the initial strikes on Iran over the weekend
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They include 35-year-old Captain Cody Cork of Florida, 42-year-old Sergeant First Class Noah Tejens of Nebraska
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39-year-old Sergeant First Class Nicole Amour of Minnesota, and 20-year-old Sergeant Declan Cody of Iowa
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President Trump is offering a new explanation for why the United States launched strikes on Iran
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one that differs from what we heard from his own administration just a day earlier
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In the Oval Office Tuesday, the president pushed back on the idea that Israel forced his hand
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and offered his own justification for the timing of the strikes. Watch
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Mr. President, did Israel force your hand to launch these strikes against Iran
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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
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That framing contrasts with what Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers and later reporters on Monday
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when he laid out the administration's initial rationale for acting when it did
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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
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And we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks
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we would suffer higher casualties and perhaps even higher than those killed
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After the president's remarks, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth weighed in on social media
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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
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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
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not the question of the intent. Once the president made a decision that negotiations
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were not going to work, that they were playing us on the negotiations and that this was a threat
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that was untenable, the decision was made to strike them. That's what I said yesterday
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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
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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
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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
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Every hour there's a different rationale as to why we're doing this
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And America wants this president to pay attention to the problems at home, not the problems overseas
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particularly when no one has any idea of what the real rationale is
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It changes every hour. All of this is unfolding as the conflict widens
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and Congress prepares to vote on whether the president needs authorization to continue military action
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The central question now, what intelligence underpins the president's assertion that Iran was going to launch a strike first
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The 2026 election season is officially underway after primary races Tuesday in Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas
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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
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Tallarico addressed supporters last night. The number of young people who showed up to vote in this election is unprecedented
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The number of Texans who have never voted before but showed up in this election is unprecedented
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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
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threshold to clear the field Tuesday, and will now head to a May runoff against Texas
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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
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Paxton risk everything we've worked so hard to build over these many years. In North Carolina
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one of the year's most consequential Senate races was essentially set heading into the primary
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Democrat Roy Cooper will face Republican Michael Watley in November, a contest expected to play a
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major role in determining which party controls the Senate next year. Republicans currently have
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a 53 to 47 advantage. Democrats needs to flip four seats. In Arkansas, Republican Senator Tom Cotton
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easily secured his party's nomination. He will face Democrat Hallie Schaffner in the general
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election this fall. In Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced sharp
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questioning on Capitol Hill Tuesday, starting her testimony by blaming Democrats for the
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ongoing funding fight over her department. Noam told the Senate Judiciary Committee the dispute
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over DHS funding is harmful to national security, arguing the department is being disrupted even as
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the administration touts what it calls major immigration enforcement gains. The latest
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Democrat-led shutdown of DHS is reckless, it's unnecessary, and it undermines the American
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national security and it harms the men and women who work at DHS and their families. At a time when
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we've produced the most secure border in history and removed nearly 3 million illegal aliens from
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our country. Disrupting the department responsible for those gains is indefensible. The most forceful
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criticism did not come from Democrats. Republican Senator Tom Tillis, who you see here, of North
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Carolina, delivered a blistering rebuke of Noam's leadership, accusing her department of detaining
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American citizens and saying immigration enforcement under her watch has been, in his words
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a disaster. Watch. We just want numbers. We want a thousand a day, six thousand a day
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nine thousand a day, because numbers matter, right? No, they don't matter. Quality matters
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not quantity, quality. And what we've seen is a disaster. Under your leadership, Ms. Noem
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a disaster. What we've seen is innocent people getting detained that turn out are American
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citizens. I could talk about the culture that's been created here with Stephen Miller aiding and
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abetting. In one of the most striking moments of the hearing, the Republican senator turned to a
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controversial story from Noam's memoir, where she described killing her 14-month-old dog after
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calling it untrainable. Tillis used Noam's own story to question her judgment. I train dogs
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all right? And you are a farmer. You should know better. You should know that if you're going out
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to a hunting lodge and you're putting pheasants out and you're putting dogs out, you don't take
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a puppy out there. A 14-month-old dog is basically a teenager in dog years. You decided to kill that
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dog because you had not invested the appropriate time and training. And then you have the audacity
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to go into a book and say it's a leadership lesson about tough choices. The tense exchange
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underscores growing frustration with Noam's leadership, including from some members of her
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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
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operations with Ecuador, targeting major drug trafficking groups, including organizations Washington has now designated as terrorist groups. The U.S. Southern Command announced
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the effort on Tuesday, calling it a coordinated move by regional partners to take
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decisive action against what it describes as the scourge of narco-terrorism. The announcement
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follows comments Monday from Ecuador's president, who said the country is entering a new phase in
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the fight against narco-terrorism and illegal mining. Ecuador's defense ministry says the
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military will operate in an offensive role, though officials say details of the missions
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remain classified. The Pentagon has not outlined what the operations will involve or which groups
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will be targeted. But last year, the U.S. State Department formally designated two major Ecuadorian
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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
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for the busy spring and summer tourist season. It's the largest acidic geyser in the world
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located in the hottest part of Yellowstone's vast thermal area. The geyser had been dormant
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since 2020, but last month it began erupting again every two to five hours. Most eruptions
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last just a few minutes, sending water about 30 feet into the air. The pool at Etchines Geyser
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spans roughly 66 feet across. You see it there. It was once a major crowd pleaser in the 1970s
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80s, and 90s, according to the National Park Service, but activity began fading in the early
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2000s. Scientists say the water's acidity is similar to orange juice or vinegar. Acidic geysers
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are extremely rare, by the way, because that acidity can actually break down the surrounding
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rock in what scientists call the geyser's plumbing system. By the way, most of the world's known
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acidic geysers are located right there in Yellowstone. You know, I love the Rocky Mountains
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but I've never been to Yellowstone. I'm going to do that once I'm retired and have time to make my
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way around with really no deadline. All right, before we head out, here's what we're tracking
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today. Busy day on Capitol Hill and beyond. At 8 this morning, Pete Hegseth briefs reporters at
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the Pentagon expect the latest developments on the conflict in Iran. At 9, the House Committee
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on Oversight and Government Reform examines alleged fraud and misuse of funds in Minnesota
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Witnesses include Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. At 10, the House Judiciary
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Committee holds an oversight hearing on DHS with Secretary Kristi Noem set to testify
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At one, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt briefs reporters. Expect plenty of
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questions on Iran and the administration's rationale for war. Hey, we don't cover noise
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We take no sides. We just give you the story straight. NewsGuard gives us a perfect score
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for reliability. All sides gives us a center rating for balanced certification. We give you
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Facts first without the spin. Those are your unbiased updates for this Wednesday
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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
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For all of us here at Stradio News, I'm Craig DiGrelli. Have a great day
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