The Headlines - Plane Crash in India, and Israel Appears Ready to Attack Iran

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

Plus, remembering the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson. On Today’s Episode:Passenger Plane Crashes in Western India With 242 Aboard, by John Yoon and Suhasini RajInside a Courthouse, Chaos and Tears as Trump Accelerates Deportations, by Luis Ferré-SadurníKennedy Announces Eight New Members of C.D.C. Vaccine Advisory Panel, by Sheryl Gay StolbergIsrael Appears Ready to Attack Iran, Officials in U.S. and Europe Say, by Michael Crowley, David E. Sanger, Farnaz Fassihi and Eric SchmittAfter a Wild Day in Court, Weinstein Jurors Will Resume Deliberations, by Hurubie MekoBrian Wilson, Pop Auteur and Leader of the Beach Boys, Dies at 82, by Ben SisarioTune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. 

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Michael Simon Johnson. Today's Thursday, June 12th. Here's what we're covering. A plane carrying more than 240 passengers and crew crashed earlier today in Western India. The Air India flight was headed to London when it went down shortly after takeoff in the city of Ahmedabad, near a local medical college.

Passengers from at least four countries—India, the UK, Portugal, and Canada—were on board. India's health minister says many people have been killed. Footage from the scene showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site as local firefighters doused the plane's wreckage. This is a developing story. You can follow the latest at NYTimes.com. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is facing pressure from the White House to ramp up its deportation efforts.

With a stated goal of 3,000 arrests per day, 10 times what the Biden administration ever reached, ICE agents have fanned out across cities and rural communities, targeting workplaces like farms, clubs, and restaurants. ICE is not yet hitting that goal. Last week, arrests peaked around 2,000 per day, according to the Department of Homeland Security. But the Trump administration says the push is working. ICE agents are going

not only to our undocumented immigrants work, but also to courthouses where routine immigration hearings are now the backdrop for arrests. My colleague Todd Heisler, a Times photographer, and I spent about three days in the main immigration courthouse in downtown Manhattan, which has become the epicenter of President Trump's immigration crackdown in New York City. Luis Ferrer-Sadourni covers immigration for the Times. He says plain clothes ICE agents wearing face coverings have started showing up in the building's courtrooms and hallways.

They quickly detain migrants leaving immigration hearings, handcuff them, and take them to holding cells that are overcrowded with recent arrestees. The courthouse itself has become very tense. There's frequent taunting between activists and ICE agents, and judges, as well as people who work there, have become dismayed by the frequent disruptions that the arrests have caused. ICE has said that these tactics are meant to conduct arrests in more controlled environments,

but some of the arrests themselves have turned chaotic. I saw the arrest of one man from the Dominican Republic who was tackled to the ground by six ICE agents inside a cramped hallway. was tackled to the ground by six ICE agents inside a cramped hallway. And it became a messy scene filled with photographers, activists, and agents grappling to detain the man. I talked to an Ecuadorian family who had showed up for an asylum hearing, and they were telling me how they almost didn't show up

because they were so nervous about being apprehended at the courthouse. These tactics have become the new reality for undocumented migrants who have to show up to courthouses filled with ICE agents, not knowing if they're going to be able to leave after their hearing. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has named eight new members to a federal vaccine advisory panel, half of whom have spoken out against vaccinations in some way. Kennedy had fired all 17 members of the panel earlier this week, promising to replace them with accomplished physicians and leading public health experts, not, quote, ideological anti-vaxxers.

But after the announcement, some public health leaders accused him of breaking his word. These new members have spread medical conspiracies and opposed COVID vaccine mandates, and one serves on the board of an organization focused on the risk of vaccines. An advisory panel more closely aligned with Kennedy's views and one serves on the board of an organization focused on the risk of vaccines. An advisory panel more closely aligned with Kennedy's views

could significantly alter or even drop which vaccines are recommended for Americans, including for children. That could change which shots private health insurance and programs like Medicaid will cover. US and European officials say Israel is poised to launch an attack on Iran, a move that could further inflame tensions in the region and delay efforts to broker a new US-Iran deal over the country's nuclear program.

Concerns over the possible attack led the US to withdraw diplomats from neighboring Iraq on Wednesday, and families of U.S. military members and non-essential embassy personnel have been told they can voluntarily leave nearby Bahrain and Kuwait if they want. President Trump had dissuaded Israel from attacking Iran months ago, but with Iran's proxy groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, currently decimated, many Israeli officials believe they now have a golden opportunity to attack Iran directly. Iran is taking those threats seriously, especially as nuclear talks with the US have stalled.

Trump expressed his waning confidence in getting a deal done on a podcast interview that posted hours before the US withdrew personnel from the region. They seem to be delaying, and I think that's a shame, but I'm less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago Something happened to them But I am much less confident of a deal being made Iran's defense minister said on Wednesday that in the event of a conflict following failed nuclear talks The United States would suffer heavy losses telling reportersS. military bases around the region are,

quote, within our reach. I am very happy with today's verdict. It's a big win for everyone. Harvey Weinstein will be in jail. Harvey Weinstein, the former Hollywood executive whose sexual assault case against a number of women became the flashpoint for the MeToo movement, was found guilty of a felony sex crime in Manhattan on Wednesday. I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that standing here right now will give courage to others to speak up. Weinstein had previously been convicted in 2020 of sex crimes against two women, but that conviction was overturned last year after an appeals court determined that he had not

had a fair trial. Weinstein's retrial added a third woman to his charges. All three women had been seeking work in the film and television industry between 2006 and 2013. Weinstein argued the interactions were all consensual. The jury in the retrial found Weinstein guilty of a first degree criminal sexual act against one of the women

and acquitted him on charges against another. The jury is set to continue deliberations today regarding the remaining charge of third degree rape. Still, yesterday's conviction of the 73 year old carries a maximum sentence of 25 years. carries a maximum sentence of 25 years. And finally. ["The Beach Boys"]

Brian Wilson, the creative force behind one of America's most enduring bands, the Beach Boys, has died. He was 82. ["The Beach Boys"] Wilson formed the Beach Boys in the early 1960s with his two brothers, his cousin, and one of his schoolmates. Together they skyrocketed to success, initially capturing the surf rock craze of the time

and reflecting an almost mythical depiction of California life. Then everybody be served like California. Wilson was far more than just a beach mom though. In fact, he didn't even surf. He was the band's primary songwriter and often its main vocalist. And after a string of simple pop hits,

he pushed the Beach Boys to new creative heights with their innovative 1966 album Pet Sounds, which he wrote and produced almost single-handedly. With its complex harmonies, orchestral arrangements, and avant-garde style, Pet Sounds cemented the Beach Boys' place in rock history. style, Pet Sounds cemented the Beach Boys place in rock history. But early on, Wilson showed signs of instability. In the 70s and 80s, Wilson struggled with drugs, alcohol, and mental health problems resulting in paranoia and delusions. He claimed he often heard threatening voices in his head.

I didn't get out of bed until like four in the afternoon, you know. I took a lot of drugs. I spent a lot of money on drugs. And it was either, let's get high or I'm going to get stoned or else. Let's see. How about drunk today? Nah, let's call it. For years, he lived under the care of his therapist in what Wilson later described as

a controlling, abusive relationship. He was fired from the band in the 80s and retreated from public life. At one point he had forgotten much of his own musical catalog and had to relearn many of the Beach Boys songs from a songbook. But Wilson had a revival in the 2000s touring with new music projects and winning Grammys. Being called a musical genius was a cross to bear, he once told Rolling Stone. Genius is a big word, he said. But if you have to live up to something,

you might as well live up to that. ["Goodbye, Grace"] Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, an interview with California Governor Gavin Newsom on Trump's show of force in Los Angeles. It's shock and awe. It's overwhelming.

And I just want folks to understand that we will lose this democracy if we are silent. I'm Michael Simon Johnson. We'll be back tomorrow.