Today: US launches new strikes against Iran, and Trump nominates Todd Blanche as attorney general

Today as it Happened on Tuesday, June 9, 2026: President Trump directed the U.S. to begin new "self-defense strikes" on Iran Tuesday, in response to Iran downing a U.S. helicopter on Monday. U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft targeted "Iranian air defense, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz," U.S. Central Command said, in what it called "a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression." The strikes were completed by Tuesday evening Eastern Time. "U.S. forces remain vigilant and postured to defend against unjustified Iranian aggression," CENTCOM wrote. President Donald Trump has officially nominated Todd Blanche to be the next Attorney General of the United States, after he served as acting Attorney General since April. Blanche stepped into that role after Pam Bondi was fired, and since then he's handled controversies including the fallout after the announcement of a nearly $1.8 billion fund that could have potentially given money to people who were convicted after attacking the US Capitol on January 6th. And NASA on Tuesday revealed the crew for its Artemis III mission, the next step in the space agency's plan to eventually land astronauts on the moon. The announcement came two months after Artemis II's record-breaking trip around the moon that surpassed the distance record of Apollo 13. NASA's Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio, Andre Douglas and the European Space Agency's Luca Parmitano won't fly to the moon or land on the surface. Instead, they’ll orbit Earth while practicing docking their Orion capsule with two lunar landers. ------------------------------------- Follow Scripps News on other platforms— Join our newsletter at https://bit.ly/2q1tepr Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scrippsnews/ Follow us on X: https://x.com/scrippsnews Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scrippsnews/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scrippsnews