--:-- Gideon Resnick: Good morning. It's Monday, June 23rd. I'm Gideon Resnick, in for Shamit Dabassu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: On today's show, we'll assess perhaps the most consequential days of the Trump administration so far.
--:-- Voice of Trump: There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: America has been truly unsurpassed. It has done what no other country on earth could do. The United States itself has now also opted for a dangerous military operation and aggression against the people of Iran. Violence and destruction could reach unthinkable levels, and the global non-proliferation regime as we know it would crumble and fall.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: We're going to examine major questions about President Trump's decision to strike three Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend. The first question we'll explore, were the strikes successful? The second, how close is Iran to obtaining a nuclear weapon? And third, was Trump's unilateral action legal?
--:-- Voice of Trump: Let's start with the basics of what happened. The strikes began with an attempted fake-out. The U.S. sent a group of B-2 bombers west over the Pacific on Saturday, where they were picked up by flight trackers. A number of those bombers split off from the group and started heading east to Iran.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: At the Fordow nuclear site south of Tehran, U.S. officials say that warplanes dropped roughly a dozen so-called bunker-buster bombs. It was the first time that these 30,000-pound bombs had been used in war. Fordow is Iran's most advanced and critical nuclear facility, in part because it's like a fortress located 300 feet under a mountain.
--:-- Voice of Trump: War plants and submarines fire dozens of cruise missiles at Natanz, Iran's largest uranium enrichment center, and submarine missiles hit Isfahan, a nuclear fuel research and production center, where intelligence officials believe that Iran has been storing nuclear fuel that is near bomb grade.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The United States and Iran are offering contradictory assessments of the damage done. Trump, in his address to the country on Saturday night, described the strikes as a, quote, spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.
--:-- Voice of Dan Cain: That assessment is not accurate, according to Israeli and U.S. officials. The U.S. military's most senior general, Dan Cain, said that there had been severe damage at the three sites, but that it was too early to say if Iran retained some capability.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And as for Fordow, officials from both Israel and the U.S. told the New York Times that it had not been completely destroyed, though assessments are still ongoing.
--:-- Voice of Iranian state media: Iranian state media, meanwhile, says the attacks only did minor damage to entrance tunnels.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And both Israeli and Iranian officials have suggested that Iran had enough advance warning about the strikes, that it was able to move nuclear material away from these facilities ahead of time.
--:-- Voice of Trump: After the strikes, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said it would continue working on its nuclear program.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So it's ultimately unclear to what degree the attacks actually damaged Iran's nuclear capabilities.
--:-- Voice of Benjamin Netanyahu: Both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have defended their attacks on Iran by saying they have intelligence indicating Iran is close to creating a nuclear bomb, which Iran denies.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But as CNN points out, this is something Netanyahu has been claiming about Iran for decades.
--:-- Voice of Benjamin Netanyahu: Here is Netanyahu issuing this warning to the United Nations back in 2012 By next spring at most by next summer at current enrichment rates they will have finished the medium enrichment and move on to the final stage. From there, it's only a few months, possibly a few weeks, before they get enough enriched uranium for the first bomb.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He's made similar warnings half a dozen more times over the past 30 years.
--:-- Voice of Director of National Intelligence: At the same time, American intelligence has suggested Iran is not nearly as close as Netanyahu claims, including as recently as March of this year, when Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified to Congress.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khomeini has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.
--:-- Voice of Trump: My intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that? Your director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. She's wrong.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Yesterday, reporters asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to explain the turnaround in the U.S. position and what new intelligence they obtained to justify the strikes.
--:-- Voice of Pete Hegseth: Well, I would just simply say that the president's made it very clear. He's looked at all of this, all of the intelligence, all the information, and come to the conclusion that the Iranian nuclear program is a threat and was willing to take this precision operation to neutralize that threat in order to advance American national interests, reduce the Iranian nuclear program, and obviously collective self-defense of ourself and our allies.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: NBC's Kristen Welker asked Vice President Pence the same question on Meet the Press.
--:-- Voice of Mike Pence: There's, of course, an open question about whether they were weeks away, whether they were months away, but they were way too close to nuclear weapon for the comfort of the president of the United States, which is why he took this action.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Now, there's another element here, too, Kristen, which is that we had a narrow window of opportunity. And Pence insisted this was not the beginning of another long-term mission in the Middle East.
--:-- Voice of Mike Pence: This is not going to be some long, drawn-out thing. We've got in. We've done the job of setting their nuclear program back. We're going to now work to permanently dismantle that nuclear program over the coming years.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: While Hegseth, Pence, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have all denied that regime change was the goal, Trump opened the door to that as a possible endgame in a social media post on Sunday.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Let's turn now to the legality of all of this. and the reaction from lawmakers.
--:-- Voice of Senator Lindsey Graham: This was the right call at the right time. It stopped their program from advancing even further. Iran with a nuclear weapon is an existential threat of the state of Israel.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But notably, a handful of Republicans have questioned the move. Representative Thomas Massey declared it unconstitutional and has sponsored a bipartisan resolution to prevent U.S. involvement in Iran, while Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said, quote, this is not our fight.
--:-- Voice of Senator Mark Kelly: Many Democrats, meanwhile, have focused their criticism on the intelligence driving the decision and the lack of congressional involvement.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: There was no clear, present, immediate danger to us and our troops, and even to Israel with regards to the nuclear capability.
--:-- Voice of Senator Mark Kelly: He also told Meet the Press he didn't understand the administration's rationale for attacking now. We could have tried to restart these negotiations in weeks or even a month. It was not, it did not have to be, had to be done like this right now.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Congress to enforce the War Powers Act, a Vietnam War-era law designed to restrict the president's capacity to engage in long-term conflict without congressional authorization.
--:-- Voice of Chuck Schumer: The legality of Trump attack will be a highly debated question in the days to come As commander of the armed forces he does have certain war power privileges in the Constitution. But it's Congress that ultimately holds the authority to declare war.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Under the War Powers Act, there are several requirements a president must meet before taking action. Presidents must coordinate with Congress before making an offensive move, at minimum notifying lawmakers within 48 hours, absent a declaration of war.
--:-- Voice of Chuck Schumer: They can only deploy U.S. troops if the U.S. is attacked or if Congress passes a resolution declaring war. And if troops are deployed without the authorization of Congress, a 60-day clock starts, and the military engagement can only last that long unless Congress approves an extension.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It is worth noting, however, that presidents of both parties have found ways to skirt this law in the past and to authorize strikes without congressional approval.
--:-- Voice of Christiane Amanpour: At Sunday's Emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, the secretary general called for an end to, quote, another cycle of destruction.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: CNN's Christiane Amanpour, a journalist with a long history reporting on the region, notes that it's hard to see how diplomatic talks can now reopen.
--:-- Voice of Christiane Amanpour: Not only have they been struck, but there is a huge amount of mistrust, let's say, between all parties. So how anybody comes to the table right now is going to take some very creative handling.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The real question now is, will Iran hit in retaliation to American targets? And if so, where, how, what, when? How will they telegraph it?
--:-- Voice of Trump: For Trump, the decision to strike Iran could bear political consequences for him as well, as part of his appeal to a contingent of his voters had been a promise to break with the political orthodoxy of foreign entanglements.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He mentioned that aspiration in his inaugural address earlier this year. We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Let's turn now to the dangerous heat wave sweeping large parts of the country this week, impacting millions of Americans.
--:-- Voice of Eric Holthaus: It's only the start of what is expected to be a very hot summer. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projected that basically the whole country outside of Alaska is likely to experience warmer-than-usual temperatures.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: People working in emergency management are a little concerned this year because there's a lot of question marks in terms of our federal, national capacity to respond to extreme weather events.
--:-- Voice of Eric Holthaus: FEMA is going through a big reorganization right now. I know state budgets are tight because they've lost federal funding in a lot of different ways. The National Weather Service, about half of the offices nationwide are critically understaffed right now.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: We don't have any experience as a country dealing with these kinds of temperatures. being this understaffed. So it's honestly an open question what's going to happen, but I know the changes that have happened at the federal level will make these events more deadly.
--:-- Voice of Eric Holthaus: Heat is already the number one cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S., according to government experts. And a study published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that heat-related deaths have doubled in recent decades.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Some people are at higher risk than others, like children, seniors, people who are unhoused, and people who are incarcerated in prisons without air conditioning.
--:-- Voice of Eric Holthaus: A lot of people don't have a place to escape that heat, and especially if you are working outdoors it can be deadly
--:-- Gideon Resnick: This week the Trump administration will weigh the future of a federal rule that aims to protect workers from extreme heat.
--:-- Voice of Eric Holthaus: It was proposed last summer by the Biden administration and it would require employers to provide water and rest breaks when temperatures exceed certain levels.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Some states already have their own work-related heat rules in place, but this rule, if implemented, would override those, and it would be the first of its kind at the federal level.
--:-- Voice of Eric Holthaus: And the administration, meanwhile, is trying to rehire employees that it fired at the National Weather Service to stabilize operations at their field offices around the country, which helped to make sure that the public gets advanced warning of extreme weather.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Holthouse says that heeding those warnings and preparing for heat is the most important thing you can do when temperatures climb this high.
--:-- Voice of Eric Holthaus: So that means just making sure that you have spare batteries, spare water, you know, prepare to go without electricity in case there's a blackout and it's really hot outside.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Knowing where a cooling shelter is around you, making sure that your phone is charged so you can receive those messages. Those are all good things that we can do as individuals.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following.
--:-- Voice of Mahmoud Khalil: Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate of Columbia University who became a prominent face in pro-Palestinian activism on campus, was released from ICE custody on Friday.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He had spent more than three months in detention and missed the birth of his son.
--:-- Voice of Mahmoud Khalil: Federal agents detained Khalil without a warrant on March 8th, the first of several international student activists to be arrested and targeted for deportation.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: A federal judge in New Jersey ordered the government to release Khalil, saying that his continued detainment was, quote, highly unusual.
--:-- Voice of Mahmoud Khalil: Khalil was reunited with his wife and newborn son Saturday afternoon at Newark Airport, telling a crowd of supporters and others that he plans to keep speaking out against Israel's war on Gaza.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Israel is still waging a full war across Palestine. The U.S. government is funding this genocide. And Columbia University is investing in this genocide.
--:-- Voice of Mahmoud Khalil: This is why I was protesting. This is why I will continue to protest with every one of you.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The administration is still seeking to deport Khalil as his case winds through the legal system.
--:-- Voice of Gideon Resnick: Sticking with immigration, Senegal's women's basketball team was forced to cancel a training camp in the United States this week after the State Department denied visas for some of the players and staff.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: This comes as President Trump issued travel bans earlier this month for 12 countries, not including Senegal, citing national security reasons.
--:-- Voice of Gideon Resnick: A number of outlets have reported that the administration is considering adding other countries, including Senegal, to that list.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The travel ban had included exemptions for certain sporting events, including the World Cup and the Olympics.
--:-- Voice of Gideon Resnick: A State Department official declined to provide more information, citing confidentiality of visa records.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And finally, last night, a new NBA champion was crowned.
--:-- Voice of Gideon Resnick: The Oklahoma City Thunder prevailed over the Indiana Pacers in a thrilling seven-game series.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Early on, the Pacers' star guard Tyrese Halliburton had to leave the game with an Achilles injury.
--:-- Voice of Gideon Resnick: This is the first time the Thunder have won since 1979, when they were located in Seattle, and they were known as the Supersonics.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Voice of Gideon Resnick: And if you're already listening to the News app right now, we have a narrated article coming up next.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Wired has the story of a young man who was shot by his father, rendering him blind, his prolific gaming career, and how he's trying to make video games more accessible to people like him.
--:-- Voice of Gideon Resnick: If you're listening in the podcast app, you can follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
