Pete Hegseth acknowledges that Iran still has some missiles and launchers despite saying its defenses were decimated. Trump allies — and foes — unite to oppose a blockbuster television merger. And the singer D4vd is arrested in the murder of a 14-year-old whose remains were found in his abandoned car.

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Here’s what to know today.

Pete Hegseth says Iran is digging out missiles and launchers

A week ago, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Iran’s missile program was “functionally destroyed,” with stockpiles depleted, decimated and ineffective. But yesterday, he acknowledged that there are at least some stockpiles remaining, saying that Iran is “digging out” its remaining missiles and launchers.

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The Trump administration has sought to showcase that its military prowess caused devastation to Iran’s capabilities. Officials, however, have offered conflicting messages on how bad that devastation has been. Roughly half of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers were still intact and thousands of one-way attack drones remained in its arsenal as of earlier this month, NBC News reported. Multiple missile stockpiles buried underground in Iran were undamaged.

Another contradiction: President Donald Trump said that China has agreed not to send arms to Iran and was “very happy” with the U.S. effort to clear the Strait of Hormuz. But U.S. intelligence reporting suggests China was planning to provide new air defense weaponry to Iran in coming weeks, NBC News reported earlier this week.

Read more about the contradictions from U.S. officials.

While peace talks between the U.S. and Iran have stalled, Trump announced yesterday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. So far, it appears to be holding. Images from southern Lebanon early this morning show displaced people in cars packed with their belongings beginning their journeys home. But Israeli troops still remain in southern Lebanon. Trump said peace talks between the U.S. and Iran could resume “maybe this weekend.” Meanwhile, a House effort to end the war with Iran failed by just one vote.

Follow the latest on our liveblog.

More Iran war news:

• For subscribers: Sayed Mohammed Al-Mousawi disappeared during Ramadan. Eight days later, his family received a call to collect his corpse. The killing has become a flash point in a wider crackdown across the Persian Gulf.

• New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the Iran war is worsening a cost-of-living crisis.

Staff Pick: Trump allies and foes join forces to stop a blockbuster TV merger

Nexstar isn’t exactly a household name. But as the owner and operator of hundreds of network affiliate stations across the country, the company has huge influence over what we watch on local television. Nexstar is looking to expand its footprint with a $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna, a rival firm. The combined media behemoth would reach as many as 80% of U.S. households, making it the nation’s largest operator of TV stations. It’s a corporate marriage that could transform the broadcast industry — but it’s not a done deal.

In recent weeks, an unlikely coalition that spans the ideological spectrum stepped up to try to block the merger. DirecTV and eight Democratic state attorneys general — including New York’s Letitia James, one of Trump’s highest-profile political adversaries — filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal court. Meanwhile, Newsmax — a pro-MAGA cable news brand run by Christopher Ruddy, one of Trump’s longtime friends — teamed up with an eclectic mix of progressive advocacy groups and labor unions in a bid to reverse the FCC’s approval of the transaction.

I set out to understand how people who are typically on opposite ends of our political divide found common ground. — Daniel Arkin, senior reporter

Democrat Analilia Mejia wins New Jersey special election

Democrat Analilia Mejia won the special election to fill New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s seat in the U.S. House, NBC News projected, defeating Republican Joe Hathaway. Mejia will fill the rest of Sherrill’s term until 2027 and narrow Republicans’ House majority 218-214. There will also be a regularly scheduled primary in June to serve a full term in the district starting next year.

Mejia entered yesterday’s contest as the favorite to win. She ran on a progressive platform that included abolishing ICE, raising taxes on the wealthy and universal health care and child care.

More on Mejia’s path to victory.

More politics news:

• The House approved a short-term renewal until April 30 of a controversial surveillance program used by U.S. spy agencies after Republicans revolted and refused Trump’s push for a longer extension.

• Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons is leaving the Department of Homeland Security, capping a tenure rife with national outrage over the agency’s immigration crackdown.
• Justin Fairfax, a former lieutenant governor of Virginia, fatally shot his wife before he died by suicide in their home.

• Trump announced he was nominating Dr. Erica Schwartz, who served as deputy U.S. surgeon general during his first administration, to lead the CDC.

• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced blistering criticism from Democrats during a pair of House committee hearings yesterday. Here’s how he defended his handling of measles outbreaks and large staffing cuts at federal health agencies.

• The Commission of Fine Arts approved early designs for the 250-foot triumphal arch Trump wants to build in Washington, D.C.

• A federal judge issued a new order halting construction of the White House ballroom.

• For subscribers: The DNC has a report on why Democrats lost the 2024 election. Some think it’s being suppressed.

D4vd arrested in murder of teen

The singer D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of a 14-year-old girl whose decomposed body was found last year in his abandoned Tesla, authorities said yesterday. Burke, 21, is being held without bail, and the case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office next week, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

On Sept. 8, police found the remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez in the trunk of a Tesla impounded at Hollywood Tow. Officers found a decomposed head and torso inside a black cadaver bag, and a second bag contained dismembered body parts, according to court filings. Hernandez was reported missing from Lake Elsinore, southeast of Los Angeles, in 2024.

What else to know about the case.

Warehouse worker accused of arson raged online against capitalist greed

In the weeks before Chamel Abdulkarim is alleged to have set fire to the warehouse where he worked in Southern California, he posted political memes and bashed billionaires on social media. On the morning of April 7, investigators said Abdulkarim recorded himself torching pallets of packaged toilet paper with a lighter, saying “all you had to do was pay us enough to live” and “there goes your inventory.” That video went viral.

Abdulkarim’s protests against low-wage work and the rising wealth of America’s billionaires reverberated across the internet after he “compared himself to Luigi Mangione,” prosecutors said. He faces state and federal charges and faces up to 20 years in prison if he’s convicted.

Reporter Erik Ortiz spoke to Abdulkarim’s friends, as well as people at the Kimberly-Clark warehouse where he worked. In interviews, friends said they were wary about how he had grown increasingly political. Some of the 100 workers affected by the fire said they were scrambling to find new jobs. But there are also supporters online who say Abdulkarim’s alleged actions give voice to American workers who feel helpless.

Read the full story here.

Read All About It

• Nearly a week after their return to Earth, the four Artemis II astronauts described their fiery descent, reunions with their families and the challenge of fully processing the mission.

• FIFA and New Jersey’s governor are blaming each other for $100 train tickets during the World Cup.

• For subscribers: Is America in a vibecession? It depends on who you ask.
• Sudan entered a fourth year of a war that’s been called an “abandoned crisis,” as a new Middle East conflict throws into shadow the fighting that has forced 13 million people to flee their homes.

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

By now, we all know that a good SPF is a necessity during summer, but sunscreen can be a mess to deal with. If you’re looking to apply sun protection in an effective, mess-free way, it might be time to consider a sunscreen stick. Plus, here are the 100 best things we’ve ever bought from Amazon — including tons of summer skin care.

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