This is A.O. Scott. I'm a critic at The New York Times. What I do and what the other critics here do is part of the same project that all of the journalists at The New York Times work on every day to give you clarity and perspective, and above all, a deeper understanding of the world. When you subscribe to The New York Times, it's not just here are the headlines, but here's the way everything fits together. If you'd like to subscribe, please go to nytimes.com. From The New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, April 2nd. Here's what we're covering. It's been just one month since the United States military began operation. Epic fury. Last night, in a primetime address, President Trump delivered what the White House had billed as an important update on the war with Iran. Our objectives are very simple and clear. We are systematically dismantling the regime's ability to threaten America or project power outside of the United States. Walking away from this speech, there was really no revealing news. What stuck out to me is that President Trump essentially used this speech to almost plead with Americans to keep this war in perspective. Solon Kano Young's covers the White House for the Times. He tacked through the lengths of other conflicts that America has been involved in. He talked about the length of the Vietnam War. Lasted for 19 years, five months and 29 days. Iraq went on for eight years, eight months and 28 days. And then he compared it to this war, which is about a month in. This is a true investment in your children and your grandchildren's future. But while the president tried to provide assurance to Americans and make his case for why he believes the conflict is necessary, he did not provide something that's been missing from his messaging for weeks. And that's an articulate, clear strategy for the way forward with the war and how it will end. Trump basically juggled between endorsing negotiations for an end to the war while also promising an escalation of the type of violence that we've seen. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong. One more takeaway as well. The president continued to distance the United States from the strait of Orr-Rus. He said that the United States didn't need the oil that goes through the strait. And yes, while the U.S. does not import as much oil from the Gulf as other nations, President Trump's comments ignore the reality that oil prices are set globally and that a disruption like this in the strait, it's going to have ripple effects across the globe, including on the United States, and the gas prices are showing it. Meanwhile, following Trump's claims in his speech that Iran's missile and drone systems have been severely weakened, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps released a statement this morning denying that, saying that the United States and Israel, quote, know nothing about our vast and strategic capabilities. Now, a few quick updates on other big stories we've been tracking. At the Supreme Court yesterday, the Trump administration defended the president's push to limit birthright citizenship. We're in a new world now, as Justice Leader pointed out, to where 8 billion people are one plane right away from having a child who's a U.S. citizen. Well, it's a new world. It's the same Constitution. But a majority of the justices appeared skeptical of their arguments. Key conservatives on the court raised doubts about the constitutionality of Trump's executive order, which calls for no longer automatically giving citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants or some temporary foreign visitors. The order, which has been caught up in court challenges since Trump signed it, could affect an estimated 200,000-plus newborns every year. The justices are expected to issue their decision in late June or early July. In an unprecedented move, Trump himself went to the court yesterday to watch the hearing, something no sitting president has ever done before. Legal experts called it a show of power and potentially an attempt to intimidate the justices. Trump got up and left abruptly as the lawyer challenging his order was speaking. Also in Washington, after six weeks and counting, lawmakers say they have a plan to end the partial government shutdown and reopen the Department of Homeland Security. It could get pushed through as soon as this morning. It's the same bipartisan deal that had been floated last week before President Trump and Republicans in the House angrily rejected it. Since then, there have been behind-the-scenes talks at the White House and on Capitol Hill about how to break the stalemate. While Congress is technically in the middle of a spring break recess, there are special sessions today that could allow the measure to pass. That requires, though, that not a single lawmaker object, and some hard-right Republicans could still throw a wrench in things. They see the deal as caving to Democrats, because it specifically leaves out new funding for ICE and Border Patrol. And high above the Earth. The integrity guidance converged. Performance nominal. Upper stage. RCS ready. NASA's Artemis II mission has now successfully begun its journey to the Moon. Outstanding stand. We see the same, and we have a beautiful moon rise. We're headed right at it. It's at the very start of a mission that will take it 250,000 miles away from Earth as it passes all the way behind the Moon. It's expected to make it there on Monday, before using the Moon's gravity to swing back to Earth without needing to use any power from its engines. Other than a brief hiccup with the comms and an undisclosed issue with the toilet on board that was resolved, the mission seems to be going well. Though the head of NASA said yesterday that, quote, we will hold our celebration until this crew is under parachutes and splashes down. In other news on the Spacefront, The Times has learned that SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company, is quietly planning to go public. Yesterday, the company filed confidentially for an IPO, an initial public offering, according to two people familiar with the plan. That could bring in a huge infusion of cash, possibly tens of billions of dollars, but it would also force the company to become more transparent. Musk has made big promises about the company's goals, like creating a colony on the Moon, sending people to Mars, and launching floating AI data centers into orbit, many of which are unproven long shots, and going public would amp up the pressure to deliver. One investment manager, whose firm has a stake in SpaceX, said he thinks it's a terrible time to go public right now, given the global economic upheaval. But he said Musk needs cash to fund the expensive, ambitious projects he's pitched. SpaceX values itself at more than a trillion dollars, and it would be one of the most valuable companies ever to reach the stock market. Musk himself, of course, stands to profit. An IPO could put him on the path to becoming the world's first trillionaire. And finally, I went to an English class where the teacher gave the students a choice. They could do the lesson on paper, or they could write it in their Chromebooks, but most of the kids decided to use paper. Most of the students I talked to said it felt kind of good not to be on the devices all the time. My colleague Natasha Singer has been covering how schools have become a battleground in the fight over screen time. It started with restrictions on cell phones, but now some districts are taking another look at laptops. For at least a decade, tech companies have urged schools to have one laptop per kid competing to get their products in the classroom. The idea was that laptops would help kids learn, prepare them for the workplace, and if everyone had one, it would level the playing field. But studies have found that digital tools have generally not improved students' academic results or graduation rates, and they've sparked other issues. And were people sending each other mean messages? Yes, definitely. And how often was that happening? All the time. Natasha talked with students who said even things like Google Docs became tools to bully other kids. Some students just got super distracted by having a screen in front of them all the time. Faced with this, one middle school in Kansas recently asked all students to return the laptops they'd been using freely in class and at home. Now they're loaned out sparingly for specific activities assigned by a teacher. We're actually using it for school work and no one's messing around on them. I had students tell me that they're talking more to their peers because they're not burying their faces in Chromebooks anymore. They're collaborating more. And so we're not talking about a school that is returning. It's like the new Luddism. It's not right. It's like they are moving to what they call more intentional, more purposeful tech use. And so it's no longer sort of this knee jerk, oh, we have to write something. Let's get out to Chromebooks. Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest and the Friday News Quiz.
