The Daily

The governor of Illinois and Trump antagonist has become a national figure for Democrats. Where will that lead?

Warning: This episode contains strong language. The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department — founded to focus on fighting race-based discrimination — has drastically changed the kinds of cases it pursues, dropping or setting aside many already in progress. Sarah Koenig from Serial Productions tells the story of Kristie Metcalfe — her civil rights case and how it was squandered.

A continuing military investigation has determined that the United States is responsible for a strike that hit an elementary school in Iran, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the preliminary findings. Iranian officials have said the death toll was at least 175 people, most of them children. Malachy Browne and Julian E. Barnes, who have been covering the strike, discuss what probably led to one of the most devastating military errors in decades.

As Iran has tightened its chokehold on one of the world’s most vital shipping routes and the Trump administration sent mixed signals about how long the war would last, oil prices have swung wildly. Rebecca F. Elliott, who covers energy for The New York Times, explains just how much the world depends on that route — the Strait of Hormuz — and how quickly shutting it down can throw global energy markets into chaos.

What began as a relentless U.S.-Israeli military assault on Iran has turned into a wider crisis as the disruption of the world’s oil markets spreads beyond the Middle East. Eric Schmitt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times, discusses what we know about the players involved in the fighting.