ReadNOW

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today’s top stories

The Trump administration is defending its decision to strike three nuclear targets in Iran over the weekend. U.S. officials say the strikes, which were carried out without congressional approval and without notifying top Democratic lawmakers, were intended to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The United States’ decision to intervene came a little over a week after Israel launched a series of strikes on Iran. U.S. officials say the American strikes devastated Iran’s nuclear program, but independent experts analyzing satellite imagery say it is far from destroyed. Here are four takeaways from the U.S. airstrikes on Iran.

• 🎧 Democrats have been highly critical of the strikes, while most Republicans have stood by the president, ReadNOW’s Deepa Shivaram tells Up First. A few Republicans have said the White House’s decision was unconstitutional because it’s Congress, not the president, who has the authority to approve the use of force. One public opinion poll from before the U.S. strike on Iran shows that most Americans think the U.S. military shouldn’t get involved in the conflict. Trump, who campaigned on the U.S. not getting involved in more foreign wars, raised the idea on social media that there could be a regime change in Iran, which could potentially get the U.S. more involved.

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel will not be dragged into a war of attrition, nor will it end the conflict until its objectives are achieved. Israel wants to degrade Iran’s missiles and nuclear program.

• 🎧 ReadNOW’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi, who is in Tel Aviv, says Iran’s first move after the U.S. bombed its nuclear sites was to fire missiles towards Israel, which she was able to record from her home. Al-Shalchi visited the affluent neighborhood of Ramat Aviv, where one of the missiles hit, and heard from the community. She says people there are overwhelmingly in support of the war, saying that Iran “has posed an existential threat to Israel with its nuclear program for decades and Israel had to do something about it.” The fear in Israel is that the war will result in routine fire with Iran for a long time.

Iran is now considering how it wants to respond to the U.S. attack on its nuclear program, and how it might do that. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards released a video overnight saying the U.S. will face consequences and ending with a message saying the U.S. “can start this war, but we’ll be the ones who end it.”

• 🎧 Iran has a range of options when it comes to retaliating against the U.S., including carrying out a cyber attack and disrupting oil shipping in the Gulf, ReadNOW’s Greg Myre says. Iran is in a very difficult position as it’s already on the losing end of the battle with Israel. If Iran doesn’t respond to the U.S., it will look weak. But if it does respond, Iran could face a larger hit from the U.S.

Today’s listen

Tonight is a big night for more than 100 high school theater stars gathered in New York City for the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, also known as the Jimmy Awards. This annual event unites nominees on Broadway to put on a show in just 10 days. The competition begins with around 150,000 students from various schools nationwide, who are ultimately narrowed down to a select group of finalists who will perform at the award ceremony held at the Minskoff Theatre. The top two awards of the night are best actor and best actress in a musical. Read more about the awards and listen to students currently vying for their chance to take home a Jimmy.

Picture show

In a small town in Shelby County, Ala., — often referred to by the Republican Party as the reddest county in the U.S. — a new museum exhibit is dedicated to Black history. It addresses what happened in Harpersville after enslaved people were emancipated, granted their freedom and not much else. ReadNOW’s Picture Show spoke with Tyler Jones, who is part of 1504, the narrative studio behind the project. This studio has been working in collaboration with the Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation to reframe the narratives of Black descendant communities through embodied storytelling. Jones highlighted the significance of transforming a plantation from 1841 into a space dedicated to reparative history and healing. Check out this inside look at the project through photos and videos.

3 things to know before you go

1. The Oklahoma City Thunder have won the NBA Finals, concluding a seven-game series against the Indiana Pacers with a 103-91 victory.
2. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has just released some of its first images to the public, showing off what it can do before embarking on a 10-year vivid time-lapse video of the night sky.
3. Bassist Carol Kaye, who worked with Barbra Streisand, Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys and other hitmakers, said she doesn’t want to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.