Good morning! On this day in 1912, Rose selfishly kicked Jack off that door that was obviously big enough to hold them both. Eighty-four years later, she had the gall to throw away a hunk of jewelry worth $250 million. Forget the iceberg. Was Rose the real villain of this story?

Oh, it’s also Tax Day. If you haven’t filed your income taxes yet, enjoy your evening with TurboTax. Or join the 19 million Americans asking for an extension this year.

NATIONAL SECURITY

🛡️ Iran launches largely unsuccessful attack on Israel

Other than surprise Cinnabon, what’s the best possible way to begin your work week? How about a story on war, defense, and the White House? Does it help if we point out that (amazingly) nobody died in Iran’s barrage of attacks on Israel over the weekend?

On Saturday (U.S. time) the Islamic Republic of Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel. Though there were some injuries, 99% of the attacks were shot down before hitting their targets. Nations around the world condemned the attack.

Iran claims Israel started this by attacking an Iranian outpost in Damascus, Syria on April 1. Iran also said this was it — as long as there’s no retaliation, they have “no intention” of continuing this fight.

Israel claims the Damascus attack was justified because Iran is the primary funder of Hamas. That’s the terror group that started this mess by attacking Israel on October 7. The targets in that building were responsible for that funding.

The Iron Dome is Israel's wildly successful missile defense tech. The nationwide system detects incoming attacks and shoots them down (with human support).

• The U.S. military helped out. President Biden said American “aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers” in the area helped Israel take out “nearly all” incoming attacks.

• The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force shot down a few missiles as well.

• Jordan, the Arab kingdom east of Israel, also took part. This could cause problems — 20% of Jordanians are Palestinian. But Jordan says that since the missiles flew over its airspace, the move was self-defense rather than a favor to Israel.

Israel’s defense of the attack cost $1.2 billion. The Israeli government met yesterday and vowed to build a regional coalition and "exact a price” against Iran. Iran, of course, vowed to retaliate against any Israeli retaliation to Iran’s retaliation to Israel’s retaliation. Simple enough.

U.S. response: While the U.S. helped Israel squelch the attack, President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. wouldn't support any counterattack against Iran. The White House is concerned this could get (even more) out of hand and lead to a catastrophic regional war.

Situation Room: President Biden monitored the situation in a section of the White House basement conveniently called the Situation Room. Which is actually a 5,000 sq. ft. complex of rooms.

• The Situation Room(s) was built in 1961 so JFK had more than a goofy red phone to run the show with.

• It’s been heavily renovated several times since then. The most recent reno, a $50 million overhaul, finished up in late 2023.

• This is the White House’s basement Bat Cave. It’s the command center, run by NSC* staffers, that allows the president to command U.S. forces all over the world. You know those movie scenes with a bunch of screens in a dark room? That’s this.

*The NSC is the National Security Council — the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Energy (she has the nukes!), intel folks, military advisors, and more. Biden met with the NSC on Saturday.

Future: Iran issued a strongly worded statement against any further U.S. involvement. The House of Representatives changed its schedule. It will now consider an Israel aid bill this week.

PS: On Friday, we referenced a coming story on Biden’s recent gun law actions. That was scheduled for today. However, to give the above story the length it deserves, we’ve pushed the gun story to Wednesday’s issue.

POLITICS

🔴 Donald Trump will make history today as the first former president tried in a criminal case. His trial begins today in New York City for $130k in hush money paid to porn star award-winning actress Stormy Daniels. Hush money itself isn’t illegal. But Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges a crime here for falsified business records involving the payments.

🔵 House Democrats plan to hit vulnerable House Republicans on abortion. Their polling says voters worry about a national abortion ban if Republicans win. But some Dems, including VP Kamala Harris, privately worry Trump’s claimed moderation on the issue will mitigate voter concern.

🔴 Donald Trump came out in support of embattled House Speaker Mike Johnson (R). Trump said Johnson's "doing a really good job under very tough circumstances.” Some House Republicans are pushing for Johnson’s ouster over spending concerns.

🔵 Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) wants President Biden to ban Chinese electric vehicles. Auto manufacturing is big business in Ohio. And Brown is the last Democrat standing in an increasingly Republican state. Fighting for your state's industry is a tried-and-true political strategy.

⚪ Activists in Colorado collected enough signatures to get a proposal on the ballot in November. The measure would ensure access to abortion in the state (though no restrictions currently exist). Organizers are pushing similar measures in ~11 states.

🔴 Despite criticizing him in the past, Trump endorsed Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick (R) at a rally on Saturday. McCormick is a Rich Guy CEO (and Army vet) who's spent much of his career in Connecticut and D.C. But he is from Pennsylvania. He's trying to unseat longtime Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D).

TRIVIA

Once upon a time, April 15 was just a nice spring day. The income tax we all know and love was illegal until the Constitution was amended in 1913 to allow it. The feds got their money through other means (like taxes on imports). Which amendment to the Constitution legalized the federal income tax?

Hint: We’re looking for a number somewhere in the teens.

WORLD

🇦🇺 Australia: A knife-wielding man killed six people at a mall in Sydney before a lone police officer took him out. Authorities say the perpetrator had a history of mental illness.

🇺🇦 Ukraine: Ukrainian leadership says the situation has "worsened significantly" as Russian troops continue their advance (allegedly with Chinese weapons). On a related note, Congress will consider loaning Ukraine billions of dollars in the face of opposition to aid.

🇺🇸 United States: The House on Friday passed a two-year extension to FISA. The controversial warrantless surveillance law is set to expire on Friday. The bill now heads to the Senate. We’ll have a full breakdown of how this thing works later this week if the Senate re-ups it.

🇺🇸 United States: Manuel “Benedict Arnold” Rocha, a former U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday. He pleaded guilty to defrauding the United States by acting as a Cuban spy for more than 40 years.

BRIEFS

• Lori and George Shappell, the world's oldest (transgender) conjoined twins, died at 62

• That's not suspicious at all — O.J. Simpson forced family and friends to sign non-disclosure agreements before he died

• The U.S. Space Force will complete a military exercise in orbit involving a spacecraft chasing down a rogue satellite

• Players for the NHL's Arizona Coyotes were told the team is moving to Salt Lake City, Utah ahead of next season

• USAID — the U.S. Agency for International Development — announced $100 million in humanitarian aid for wartorn Sudan

• The Berlin Zoo celebrated the 67th birthday of Fatou, the world's oldest gorilla

• Toronto, Canada wants to tax nonporous surfaces, alleging they contribute to flooding and overwhelm city stormwater budgets

• Despite rumors, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says he won’t run as a Libertarian

• Former VP Mike Pence has a new gig teaching at Pennsylvania’s tiny Grove City College

QUOTE

SNACKS

⛳ Golf: Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked golfer, won the Masters yesterday. This is Scheffler’s second major win after the 2022 Masters.

🗳️ Voters: Think you can predict how a person will vote based on age, location, education, religion, and more? Go build an American voter.

💔 Love: In a harsh indictment of reality show love, "Golden Bachelor" stars Gerry and Theresa will divorce three months after their TV wedding bash.

ANSWER

We’re looking for lucky number sixteen. In 1913, the required three-fourths of the states approved the Sixteenth Amendment. Yadda yadda yadda, that guy stands on the corner twirling a sign while dressed as the Statue of Liberty.

Before this, income taxes were allowed. But they had to be divvied up just like House seats. So if a state had 10% of the population, it owed 10% of the income tax. But that system was too complex to get much use.

The tax rate in 1913? Between 1% and 7%.