Iran Strikes Canceled, White House Cage Matches & World's Largest IPO - Friday, June 12, 2026

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Today is Friday, June 12th. We'll tell you about President Trump's new choice for the top intelligence job in the face of backlash over his last one. Also, the elaborate preparations for White House fight night, as well as the obstacles that have already come up for cities hosting the World Cup. Plus a severe weather outbreak that's now moving to another part of the US. A warning about a dangerous new social media challenge. And how SpaceX has already made history ahead of what's expected to be a record-breaking first day on Wall Street. Those stories and even more news to know coming up.
Welcome to The News Worthy. All the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this.
Severe storms left a trail of damage in the Midwest and the threat still is not over. At least 11 cities across Illinois and Wisconsin reported tornadoes last night. They leveled homes and businesses, grounded flights, and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of customers. At least one person is believed to have died from the storm. Today, the biggest threat moves east, so there could be more severe thunderstorms and flash flooding. Extreme, potentially dangerous heat is also expected to linger from the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast, and daily high temperature records could be broken in several places. Philadelphia declared a heat health emergency for today, activating cooling centers and other services. New York City officials also urged people to take precautions. Speaking of weather, a potentially dramatic global climate shift has arrived. NOAA confirmed the start of El Nino conditions yesterday, and forecasters say this could actually be one of the largest El Nino events on record. That could mean more heat waves in the northern US., unusually strong droughts, and heavy rainfall events in the south. But it's not all bad. The pattern is also expected to lower hurricane activity in the Atlantic and could bring a milder winter to millions of Americans.
Just three hours before the US was set to attack Iran, President Trump called off the strikes. He cited progress in peace stocks. In fact, the president says a deal could be signed as soon as this weekend. According to Trump, the deal would guarantee Iran never gets a nuclear weapon and that shipping in the region would return to normal. On the other side, Iran just says nothing has been finalized, and an Iranian government spokesperson accused the US of making excessive demands. Remember, this week has already had some pretty intense fighting, with an American Apache helicopter getting shot down and the US military launching two nights of strikes on Iran. The US says it was going after Iranian military targets, though the New York Times also reports the US struck a drinking water facility. The Pentagon is now investigating.
President Trump has chosen someone new to lead America's intelligence agencies. The president says he'll now nominate Jay Clayton to serve as the Director of National Intelligence. Right now, he serves as the US. Attorney in Manhattan, overseeing several high-profile cases in the country's busiest court. Clayton also led the SEC during President Trump's first term, and Republicans and some Democrats spoke highly of the choice yesterday. Of course, this also comes after lawmakers revolted over Trump's choice for interim director. The president had been under pressure to move on from his decision to appoint top housing official Bill Pulte, who doesn't have experience in anything similar. To be clear, Clayton doesn't have direct intelligence experience either, but he does have more support because, as a federal prosecutor, he has overseen cases involving terrorism, public corruption, and national security threats. Trump told the Senate to confirm Clayton ASAP.
In the meantime, the president still plans for Pulte to take over temporarily and downsize the intelligence community.
Several lawmakers are still protesting Pulte by voting no on extending the Foreign Intelligence Powers Law known as Section 702 of FISA that we told you about yesterday. That led to the US. House rejecting the three-week extension yesterday, and FISA is expiring today. Now Congress is out of town and some lawmakers are headed overseas, so a solution seems unlikely anytime soon.
Something unprecedented is happening at the White House this weekend. UFC cage matches on President Trump's 80th birthday. The MMA's signature octagon is already set up, as well as an arched lighting structure, risers with seats, hundreds of porta-potties, barricades, fencing, and so on. Four thousand invited guests, including the president, first lady, and other top officials plan to be in attendance. At the ellipse nearby, organizers expect another 120,000 visitors to watch on large screens. Besides the main event, there will also be performances by military bands, a Golden Knights flyover, Clydesdales, a 10-minute fireworks show, and more. More than $60 million and tens of thousands of hours of labor have been poured into this project. Sunday's event starts at 8 p.m. Eastern and will be streaming on Paramount Plus.