Israel launches strikes against Iran as nuclear program talks falter | The Excerpt
On Friday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Israel has launched strikes against Iran targeting its nuclear program. An appeals court blocks the ruling directing President Donald Trump to return control of the National Guard to California. Paste BN Pentagon Correspondent Tom Vanden Brook discusses what he learned in an exclusive talk with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll about Saturday's $40 million military parade. 15,000 foreigners sign up to pay $5 million for U.S. residency and a path to citizenship. Plus, the Department of Homeland Security ends temporary protections for 530,000 immigrants. Paste BN Senior National Political Correspondent Sarah D. Wire tells us governors aren't on the same page about using the National Guard for protests. A miracle in seat 11A? The apparent sole survivor of Air India 171 walked away from the wreckage.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Friday, June 13, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, Israel has launched strikes on Iran, plus what the Army is saying about its costly military parade set for tomorrow, and we're learning more about the apparent sole survivor in this week's Air India crash.
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Israel launched a military operation against Iran targeting its nuclear program overnight. Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions including at the country's main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, while Israel declared a state of emergency in anticipation of retaliatory missile and drone strikes. Iran launched around 100 drones toward Israeli territory in retaliation, which Israel was working to intercept according to an Israeli military official. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps said its top commander, Hossein Salami, was killed and state media reported the unit's headquarters in Tehran had been hit. Several children were also reportedly killed in a strike on a residential area.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged the attack in a statement stressing that American forces are not involved in strikes against Iran. The operation could land a blow to the Trump administration's efforts to strike a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program. Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff was scheduled to meet with Israeli officials before participating in a sixth round of nuclear talks with Iran in Oman this weekend.
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An appeals court has temporarily halted a federal judge's order that blocked President Donald Trump's mobilization of thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles and required him to return control of troops to California. The ruling came just hours after a US district judge issued a temporary restraining order finding that Trump's deployment of 4,000 guard members was unlawful. The court said it would hold a remote hearing on the matter on Tuesday. The decision does not mean that the court will ultimately agree with Trump, but that he will maintain command of the National Guard for now. The ruling came amid rising tensions between Trump and California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom over federal military intervention in the state. Newsom had filed a motion for a temporary restraining order that would limit the activities of guard members and Marines to protecting federal buildings in a small area of downtown where most protests against federal immigration raids have taken place.
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The Army tomorrow will hold a $40 million parade to market its 250th anniversary. It also falls on President Trump's birthday. That's a coincidence according to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. I spoke with Paste BN Pentagon correspondent Tom Vanden Brook for more about his conversation with Driscoll. Hello again, Tom. Thanks for joining me.
Tom Vanden Brook:
Thanks, Taylor. Good to be here.
Taylor Wilson:
What did you hear from him about the stated goals of this military parade on Saturday?
Tom Vanden Brook:
Secretary Driscoll talked to us about the parade and a few other topics, but he mainly talked about the reason for the parade and he said that it's to showcase Army and that it will pay off the $40 million that they're going to spend on it in a quantitative way by filling up what he said their recruiting pipeline. In other words, people will see this and they're going to sign up and join the Army.
Taylor Wilson:
We've made note here on the showtime that this parade falls on the same day as Trump's birthday. What did Driscoll say about the timing of this event?
Tom Vanden Brook:
Simply coincidence is how he put it. He said that the Army had been planning this for more than a year before Trump was elected, and that in any event, the Army was born 250 years ago and that no one would've had the foresight to know that Trump would've been born 170 years later. So he discounted entirely the fact that this was somehow tied up. On the other hand, the Army hadn't planned for such a big event until relatively recently, and we know that the White House was interested in it. So coincidence, in all likelihood, that is true, but there are some other parallels going on here. It's Trump's 79th birthday and he'll be there. He'll be presented with a flag by the Golden Knights parachute team so people can make whatever conclusion they'd like about that.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, Tom, this is clearly a big military installation. How much will this cost?
Tom Vanden Brook:
Driscoll has stuck to this estimate that's been out there that we reported a few weeks back of $40 million, and that includes the expected damage that 70-ton tanks will do to DC roads. The Army's put down steel plates where they think the tanks will do their most damage, in other words, where they turn. But there are some suggestion or an experience that big vehicles like this are going to chew up some of the streets and the army says it's budgeted that in this cost of $40 million.
Taylor Wilson:
And Tom, at this point, do we have any sense on who will be in attendance?
Tom Vanden Brook:
The Army is saying that as many as a few hundred thousand people are going to show up for this. It's unclear. The weather doesn't look great, by the way. The forecast is for rain and possibly thunderstorms. Lots of people have been invited, lots of dignitaries. I was told by Secretary Driscoll that virtually all of his predecessors, his Army secretary will be invited and that includes Mark Esper, who readers will remember was promoted to defense secretary by Trump in his first administration and then later fired for failing to have active duty troops go after protesters in 2020.
Taylor Wilson:
You mentioned protesters, Tom. We're seeing Trump use the military to crack down on protests in Los Angeles this week. What did you hear from Driscoll about some of these moves and will this hang over the military parade?
Tom Vanden Brook:
That's interesting, Taylor. Driscoll said that the reason that Trump was elected in part was because people were tired of seeing violence on the streets and this is exactly what they wanted to see. In other words, they wanted to see someone take charge when these things happen and to deal with them forcefully. He maintains that this is part of what the electoral system is all about, putting in charge somebody who will do that. And he fully supports the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles. And there's another request from the Department of Homeland Security that we reported on earlier this week for 20,000 additional National Guard troops and they would also be used for immigration enforcement actions. Driscoll supports that as well.
Taylor Wilson:
Tom Vanden Brook covers the Pentagon for Paste BN. Thanks as always, Tom.
Tom Vanden Brook:
Thanks for having me, Taylor. I appreciate it.
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Taylor Wilson:
More than 15,000 foreigners have signed up for the so-called Trump Gold Card that offers applicants residency and a path to US citizenship. That's according to a Trump announcement yesterday. He touts the program as a once in a lifetime opportunity, though it comes with a required $5 million price tag. The president's offering to wealthy foreigners comes at the same time he's spearheading a controversial nationwide immigration crackdown and pushing Congress to pass a massive tax and policy bill amid concerns about ballooning budget deficits. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has revoked temporary work and residency authorizations for more than 530,000 immigrants under a program the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end in a late May ruling. The program protected immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from deportation and provided them work permits.
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Governors around the country are not on the same page when it comes to using the National Guard at protests. I spoke with Paste BN senior national political correspondent Sarah D. Wire for more. Hello again, Sarah.
Sarah D. Wire:
Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier this week told members of Congress that the federal government's deployment of National Guard troops could expand beyond California. What exactly did we hear from Hegseth here?
Sarah D. Wire:
So he said they're trying to get ahead of the problem so that if in other places there are other riots, they have the capability to surge the National Guard there if necessary. This is not something that's normal. Since 1965, the process has been that the president asked for permission or is requested to go send the National Guard in by the governor. It's very unusual for President to make this decision.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, Sarah, amid these immigration enforcement protests and the expected No Kings Day Protests that you and I have talked about coming up this weekend, we're now seeing governors have to weigh calling in the National Guard versus taking the chance that Trump does it for them. How are Democratic governors in particular tackling this?
Sarah D. Wire:
So I talked to the governor of New Mexico and she said that the Democratic governors are actually speaking to each other about what to do and making plans about how to be prepared in case Trump calls in the National Guard for them. She said she's been telling her National Guard officials to ask for everything in writing and then she's prepared to sue the federal government just like California has.
Taylor Wilson:
Okay. And I guess what do Democratic governors say they'll do if Trump deploys, say, National Guards over their objections? Is it the lawsuit front? Is that the course of action for them?
Sarah D. Wire:
That seems to be the only recourse they have. It is a legal question. It's written in law that the request for the National Guard shall go through the governor. And so, they seem to think they've got a really strong case, but federal governments in court arguing that they don't. So we'll see.
Taylor Wilson:
We've seen a different approach in Texas with Republican Governor Abbott there. How is Texas approaching this and do we expect other Republican governors to follow his example?
Sarah D. Wire:
So in Texas, Governor Abbott has already deployed the National Guard ahead of the protests this weekend, but also at some of these immigration enforcement protests we're seeing across the country. The deployment is one of the largest in recent history from Texas. We're not seeing that from other governors so far. The other governors we spoke to for the story said that they are prepared to do anything within their power to protect peace and safety, but no one was willing to say that they have the National Guard on standby.
Taylor Wilson:
And sorry, did we get any sense from the various National Governors Associations on these issues?
Sarah D. Wire:
No, the National Governors Association said they don't have a statement yet and they'd let me know and they decide to weigh in. No, the Democratic Governors Association said they all stand behind Newsom and don't think calling in the National Guard over him was the correct move on the president's part. I never even heard back from the Republican National Governors Association. It is really interesting that the bipartisan US Conference of Mayors has put out a statement saying that it should be left to local officials to ask for help rather than having it foisted upon them, so to speak.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Sarah D. Wire covers national politics for Paste BN. Great insight for us as always. Thanks, Sarah.
Sarah D. Wire:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
A 40-year-old British national appears to be the lone survivor of Air India Flight 171, which crashed yesterday shortly after a midday takeoff in Ahmedabad in Western India. The plane had 242 passengers and crew on board. Vishwas Kumar Ramesh says he walked out of a broken emergency exit after the aircraft hit a medical college hostel. He had been filmed after the crash limping on the street in a bloodstained T-shirt with bruises on his face. He told Indian state broadcaster DD News from his hospital bed earlier today that the plane appeared to come to a standstill in midair for a few seconds shortly after takeoff and the green and white cabin lights were turned on. He added that the side of the plane he was in landed on the ground and that he could see that there was space outside the aircraft. So when his door broke, he tried to escape through it and was able to. Authorities have not released information about what may have caused the crash.
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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and Kaely Monahan, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.