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NASA set to announce its new class of astronauts

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NASA set to announce its new class of astronauts



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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleSept. 22, 2025, 12:18 PM EDTBy Daniel ArkinDisney’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show represents a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation,” more than 400 Hollywood celebrities wrote in an open letter released by the American Civil Liberties Union on Monday.“We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech,” the letter says. “Efforts by leaders to pressure artists, journalists, and companies with retaliation for their speech strike at the heart of what it means to live in a free country.” The stars who signed the letter include Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller, Meryl Streep and Kerry Washington.The ACLU released the letter five days after the Disney-owned broadcast network ABC announced it was “indefinitely” pre-empting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” amid criticism of Kimmel’s on-air remarks about the Make America Great Again movement’s response to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.Jimmy Kimmel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC.Randy Holmes / DisneyABC pulled the show hours after Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr, who regulates the broadcast television industry, publicly blasted Kimmel and threatened to revoke licenses from ABC affiliate stations. Nexstar, an owner of ABC affiliate stations across the United States, then announced it would pre-empt Kimmel’s show “for the foreseeable future.”The firestorm has thrust Disney into a roiling debate over free speech. Democrats, First Amendment advocates and Kimmel’s defenders have since assailed Disney and ABC for appearing to cave to pressure from the Trump administration. President Donald Trump, who appointed Carr as head of the FCC at the start of his second term, hailed ABC’s move as “Great News for America.” “In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives, and entertainers across the board,” the Hollywood stars wrote in the ACLU’s open letter. “This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and our Constitution guarantees.”“We know this moment is bigger than us and our industry,” the celebrities added. “Teachers, government employees, law firms, researchers, universities, students and so many more are also facing direct attacks on their freedom of expression.”In the wake of Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University, teachers and professors across the U.S. have been fired or disciplined over social media posts about the Turning Point USA co-founder that were deemed inappropriate. Vice President JD Vance has encouraged people to report those who celebrate Kirk’s death to their employers.“This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation,” the stars added. “We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.”The letter did not make a specific demand of Disney. In response to Disney’s decision to suspend Kimmel, some in Hollywood have threatened to cut ties with the media conglomerate or urged viewers to opt out of Disney products. “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof said he would not work with the company unless Kimmel’s suspension was lifted. (“Lost” aired on ABC for six seasons.) Tatiana Maslany, star of the Disney+ series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” called on her social media followers to “cancel your @disneyplus @hulu @espn subscriptions!” (Disney owns Hulu and ESPN.)The boycott calls appeared to be growing online Monday, with scores of Reddit users pledging to nix their Disney streaming subscriptions. “It’s the only thing they will notice,” the title of the original Reddit post said.The ACLU released the letter shortly after Disney debuted a teaser trailer for the Star Wars movie “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” which is set to premiere in theaters next year. Pedro Pascal, who portrays the Mandalorian on the big and small screens, signed the letter and publicly backed Kimmel on Instagram.“Standing with you @jimmykimmellive Defend #FreeSpeech Defend #DEMOCRACY,” Pascal wrote.The fate of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” remained unclear Monday morning. The show has been on ABC since 2003, airing more than 3,500 episodes across 23 broadcast seasons. In recent years, Kimmel has positioned himself as a vocal critic of Trump and Republican politicians. Trump has slammed Kimmel, too, referring to him a “loser” and calling on ABC to cancel his show.In a monologue last week, Kimmel expressed condolences to the Kirk family but criticized Republicans for their reaction to his killing. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” he said. Authorities have charged the suspect, Tyler Robinson, 22, with murder. Officials said Robinson grew up in a conservative household in Utah but later became influenced by “leftist ideology.” Robinson’s mother told investigators that “over the last year or so, Robinson had become more political and had started to lean more to the left — becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented,” according to charging documents.In an interview last week with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, Carr said Kimmel’s remarks were part of a “concerted effort to lie to the American people.”Daniel ArkinDaniel Arkin is a national reporter at NBC News.
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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleNov. 19, 2025, 9:32 PM ESTBy Gordon Lubold, Courtney Kube and Dan De LuceWASHINGTON — The senior military lawyer for the combatant command overseeing lethal strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela disagreed with the Trump administration’s position that the operations are lawful — and his views were sidelined, according to six sources with knowledge of the legal advice.The lawyer, who serves as the senior judge advocate general, or JAG in military parlance, at U.S. Southern Command in Miami, raised his legal concerns in August before the strikes began in September, according to two senior U.S. officials, two senior congressional aides and two former senior U.S. officials.His opinion was ultimately overruled by more senior government officials, including officials at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, the six sources said. Other JAGs and military lawyers at various levels of seniority weighed in on the boat strikes, as well. It’s unclear what each of their opinions were, but some of the military lawyers, including civilians and those in uniform, also expressed concerns to senior officials in their commands and at the Defense Department about the legality of the strikes, the two senior congressional aides and one of the senior former U.S. officials said.The JAG at Southern Command specifically expressed concern that strikes against people on boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, whom administration officials call “narco-terrorists,” could amount to extrajudicial killings, the six sources said, and therefore legally expose service members involved in the operations.The opinion of the top lawyer for the command overseeing a military operation is typically critical to whether or not the operation moves forward. While higher officials can overrule such lawyers, it is rare for operations to move forward without incorporating their advice. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement: “The War Department categorically denies that any Pentagon lawyers, including SOUTHCOM lawyers, with knowledge of these operations have raised concerns to any attorneys in the chain of command regarding the legality of the strikes conducted thus far because they are aware we are on firm legal ground. Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in complete compliance with the law of armed conflict.”A spokesperson for Southern Command referred questions to the Defense Department, which the Trump administration calls the War Department. A spokesperson for the White House did not respond to a request for comment.The JAG is Marine Col. Paul Meagher, according to three people familiar with the matter. Attempts to reach Meagher for comment were unsuccessful. The strikes on alleged drug boats have drawn support from Republicans, as well as criticism from members of both parties, NBC News has reported. The opinion of the Southern Command JAG, which has not been previously reported, adds a new dimension to concerns that lawmakers, retired military officers and legal experts have raised about the administration’s legal justification for striking alleged drug boats. Those concerns have centered on questions about whether the strikes violate international and U.S. law.Since Sept. 2, it says, the administration has killed 82 people in 21 strikes on small vessels it says were transporting drugs bound for the United States.Administration officials have not put forward any specific evidence backing up their claims.The administration has told members of Congress that President Donald Trump determined the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartel members, NBC News has reported. The administration designated some drug cartels in Latin America as foreign terrorist organizations this year.Trump has argued that drugs from the region pose a significant threat to American citizens. He has linked the boats to fentanyl to argue that the military strikes have saved tens of thousands of American lives, although fentanyl is typically smuggled into the United States by land across the Mexican border. Cocaine, which is most often moved via sea, is considered far less lethal than fentanyl.JAGs’ opinions on possible military operations are usually shared with higher authorities, including the Defense Department’s general counsel, Justice Department officials and ultimately the White House, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the process. JAGs typically play an integral role in defining the legal parameters of any military operation, and often their collective advice would be the primary guiding principle as political leaders decide whether to take such action, according to the current and former U.S. officials familiar with the process. In the Trump administration’s campaign against alleged drug boats, politically appointed lawyers at senior levels have often defined the legalities of the operations with minimal lower-level legal input, according to the two senior congressional aides and one of the former senior U.S. officials. There have been other signs of disagreement within the administration over the strikes. The head of Southern Command, Adm. Alvin Holsey, plans to step down after less than a year in a job that typically lasts about three years.Holsey announced in October that he will depart next month. In addition to concerns about the legality of the strikes, Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have complained that the administration has not provided them enough information about the legal rationale or the intelligence used to target the vessels and people the administration purports are bringing drugs into the United States. “There is no world where this is legal,” said a current JAG, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.Congress has not declared war or authorized the use of military force against the drug traffickers, and U.S. law allows the president to take military action without lawmakers’ approval only if there is a national emergency due to an attack on the country or American forces.Dan Maurer, an associate professor of law at Ohio Northern University and a former Army JAG, argued that the drug cartels’ narcotics smuggling and other actions are crimes but do not qualify as an armed attack on the United States as defined by U.S. and international law.“These drug cartels may be violent, they may be aggressive, they may be transnational,” Maurer said in an interview. “They may be doing terrible things within their own countries; they may be importing terrible things into our country that have bad consequences. But all of those are crimes, and none of which meets the traditional meanings of an attack or invasion.”Maurer and other former military lawyers and experts believe the Trump administration’s legal rationale for the strikes is so tenuous it could put commanders and troops in legal peril after Trump leaves office in 2029.Trump administration officials have defended the legality of the strikes and argued that they have shared ample information about them with members of Congress.The legal debate about the strikes is likely to intensify if Trump decides to hit targets inside Venezuela, as he has threatened to do. The current legal rationale for strikes on vessels does not apply to any strikes on land, a senior administration official told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing last week, according to two additional congressional aides.Some of the military’s strikes on boats have killed people who critics of the operations say may be noncombatants or even immigrants who are hitching rides on the vessels and have nothing to do with the drug trade. Two survivors of a strike were captured and repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador rather than taken into U.S. custody, a decision that one of the congressional aides said raises questions about whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute them for a crime.The internal differences over the legality of the boat strikes echo a similar debate more than 20 years ago. During President George W. Bush’s administration, senior military lawyers for the Army, the Air Force and the Marines raised objections over proposed “enhanced” interrogation techniques in 2003 and later testified to Congress about their concerns. They warned that U.S. courts could find those techniques amounted to torture and were illegal. John Yoo, the controversial legal architect of Bush’s “war on terror” after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, now argues the Trump administration’s boat strikes risk crossing the line between “crime fighting and war.”“Americans have died in car wrecks at an annual rate of about 40,000 in recent years; the nation does not wage war on auto companies,” he wrote recently in an op-ed in The Washington Post. “American law instead relies upon the criminal justice or civil tort systems to respond to broad, persistent social harms.” Gordon LuboldGordon Lubold is a national security reporter for NBC News.Courtney KubeCourtney Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit.Dan De LuceDan De Luce is a reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit. 
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