U.S. and Iran trade another round of attacks and Knicks make NBA Finals history: Morning Rundown

The U.S. launches attacks on Iran, while Tehran claims it targeted an American base in the Middle East. The 2026 World Cup kicks off today — we pick out the returning legends to watch. And why Graham Platner’s candidacy in the Maine Senate race is testing Democrats’ limits. Here’s what to know today. U.S. launches fresh wave of strikes; Iran fires back and says Strait of Hormuz is closed The United States launched new attacks on Iran last night and Tehran retaliated against American targets across the Middle East in a second day of strikes following the downing of a U.S. military helicopter. This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. Three Indian nationals were killed after the U.S. military fired at a Palau-flagged tanker, the Settebello, off the coast of Oman, Sarbananda Sonowal, India’s minister of ports, shipping & waterways said today. It comes after U.S. Central Command confirmed that American forces had disabled the Settebello in the Gulf of Oman yesterday. It said the tanker had “violated the ongoing blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran.” Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said that it fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. airbase and its control center in Jordan. Tehran also said the Strait of Hormuz was closed for all marine traffic. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy said it attacked two oil tankers that tried to transit through the waterway. CENTCOM, however, said the strait was open. Before the latest round of U.S. strikes, President Donald Trump warned that the U.S. would hit Iran “very hard” for the second day in a row and noted that its leaders had “taken too long to negotiate” a peace deal. Follow our live coverage here. More coverage of war in the Middle East: - Defense industry leaders are preparing to meet with Trump later this week as concerns grow over the U.S. supply of missiles, according to two people familiar with details of the meeting. World Cup: The legends to watch during this year’s tournament The 2026 World Cup has officially arrived — and that means the biggest names in global soccer are ready to compete for the ultimate title. Argentina’s Lionel Messi, arguably the game’s greatest ever player, and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (once again) headline a list of players to watch. Argentina is looking to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups. Don’t rule out Messi, with his playmaking ability and goal-scoring prowess, helping his team achieve just that, even if at 38 he is past his prime. At 41, Ronaldo is one of the most decorated players ever — but a World Cup title is one gap on his résumé. The loss of Diogo Jota last year in car crash puts even more pressure on Ronaldo, the all-time leading men’s goalscorer internationally, to return to top form. Then there’s Son Heung-min, the South Korean whose team will take on Czechia today. Widely considered the best-known Asian player in the world, Son is known for his dynamism on the pitch but comes into his fourth World Cup after a poor season with Los Angeles FC. South Korea’s biggest threat in the group stage is expected to be Mexico. The co-hosts get the tournament started today against South Africa. Here are the other big names to watch. 🍟 Welcome to America: These international tourists came to the U.S. for the World Cup — and fell in love with Buc-ee’s and ranch dip. 💬 Have a question? NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk is in Mexico City for the start of the tournament. Submit your World Cup question here, and she may answer it live at noon ET. 🗓 What to watch today: Mexico and South Africa face off at 3 p.m. ET, followed by South Korea and Czechia at 10 p.m. ET. See the full schedule, and here’s how to stream the matches. 📩 Join the excitement: Sign up for The Sports Desk newsletter for more in-depth World Cup coverage. The Democratic fight over Graham Platner has just begun Graham Platner clinched the Democratic nomination for Senate in Maine this week, but the party isn’t finished fighting over his candidacy — not by a long shot. With the state playing a central role in Democrats’ efforts to win control of the Senate, there are active behind-the-scenes discussions over whether he can be pressured to withdraw before the state’s mid-July deadline. Platner — who has denied allegations including physical abuse of women against him — has said he isn’t going anywhere. Questions about what his candidacy means for a party that pits progressives over moderates, outsiders against insiders, and critics of Israel against supporters of the Jewish state aren’t going away. In fact, they foreshadow future fights across the country and into the 2028 presidential election cycle. They also reflect a moral quandary for Democrats about when and where to draw a line on candidates’ personal behavior. More politics news: - Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has taken on a starring role in the race between Platner and GOP Sen. Susan Collins. Think back to the comment about abortion that swayed Collins to vote to confirm him — and turned out to be wrong. - Trump said, “I love the inflation,” after the annual inflation rate jumped to a three-year high. - A federal judge denied a request to temporarily halt the Trump administration’s proposed “anti-weaponization” fund but warned the Justice Department not to “play possum” with the court. Palisades Fire trial begins in L.A. Federal prosecutors argued in court that 30-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht was distraught over a failed relationship before he “maliciously” started a New Year’s Day fire in 2025 that, a week later, metastasized into one of the worst disasters in Los Angeles history. In opening statements yesterday, federal prosecutor Matthew O’Brien laid out a timeline of Rinderknecht’s alleged actions on New Year’s Eve, which ended with a walk up a well-known hiking trail to the exact location where a small fire started shortly after midnight. The fire, known as the Lachman Fire, was not fully extinguished and had continued to smolder undetected before reigniting a week later and becoming the deadly Palisades Fire. What caused the Lachman Fire remains central to the case. Rinderknecht’s attorney, Steve Haney, said in his opening statements that his client believes he is being used as a scapegoat for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s failure to fully extinguish the Jan. 1, 2025, blaze. How passengers described Uber driver Rinderknecht’s behavior that night. Knicks on brink of title after greatest-ever NBA Finals comeback. Here’s how they did it. The New York Knicks won Game 4 of the NBA Finals, 107-106, overcoming a 29-point deficit to pull off the largest comeback in Finals history and stun the San Antonio Spurs. New York heads into Game 5, scheduled for Saturday in San Antonio, with a 3-1 lead in the series. The Spurs dominated the first half of the game, and the Knicks trailed by 27 points at halftime. In the third quarter, the Knicks scored 26 points to the Spurs’ 14. Then, New York unleashed a 20-4 run in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 99-95. The final four minutes and 34 seconds of the game featured an absolutely shocking number of twists and turns. It culminated with OG Anunoby’s game-winning putback with 1.2 seconds left. Go deeper into how the Knicks made Finals history. Read All About It - An Alabama prisoner on death row said he breathed a “sigh of relief” after a judge suddenly blocked his planned execution by nitrogen gas. - Former wrestler and “X-Men” actor Tyler Mane revealed a “super rare” breast cancer diagnosis and advocated for men to get checked. - A man who was convicted of plotting to shoot up a sorority at Ohio State University lives just two blocks from its campus — and the Justice Department wants him evicted. - For subscribers: Many in Gen X are feeling like a panini, pressed financially by kids, aging parents and inflation. This 401(k) provision can help. Staff Pick: Before arrest with 303 gold bars, CIA officer spun tall tales A CIA officer accused of hoarding 303 gold bars worth $40 million? It’s a story that almost defies belief and raises an almost endless list of questions. By the time I started digging into the background of the officer, David Rush, my colleagues on the NBC News national security unit had broken several stories shedding new light on the case. But we still didn’t know much about the man himself. One of the few things we did know, however, was that he worked as a volunteer firefighter in northern Virginia. So I began to reach out to Rush’s former colleagues hoping that they remembered him and might be willing to talk to me. It turned out that he was pretty unforgettable. Rush had dazzled his fellow firefighters with stories about his time as a fighter pilot. They also told me that he was humble, reserved and not at all someone who sought attention. But now Rush’s former colleagues don’t know what to believe. — Rich Schapiro, investigative reporter NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified So what is urea skin care and does it actually work? Dermatologists weigh in on the trend. And, as summer travel gets underway, we’re stocking up on all our essentials — here are all the travel necessities we never get on a plane without. Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week. Thanks for reading today’s Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson. If you’re a fan, please send a link to your family and friends. They can sign up here.