US Service Members Killed, Whitmer on Synagogue Attack, Iran’s World Cup Uncertainty and more

Hey there from CNN, I'm David Rhined with the five things you need to know for Friday, March 13th.

It's day 14 of the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hexeth

and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Kane gave an update this morning on how things are going.

Iran has no air defenses. Iran has no air force. Iran has no navy.

Despite those claims, Iran is still firing on targets, especially at ships in or near the

strait of Hormuz. Its closure is jacking up oil prices, but this morning Hexeth downplayed those attacks.

They are exercising sheer desperation in the straits of Hormuz.

Something we're dealing with? We have been dealing with it, and don't need to worry about it.

He also pushed back on CNN reporting from last night that quoted multiple sources familiar with the matter as saying,

the Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran's willingness to close the strait and fail to account for potential consequences.

Meanwhile, sent-com is now confirming the deaths of all six American service members on board a refueling aircraft that went down in western Iraq yesterday.

Previously, they said at least four were killed. Not a ton of details about what happened here at this point, but the military says the incident was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.

A second aircraft involved in the crash landed safely in Israel.

We got to take a break when we come back the latest on the attack on Michigan's synagogue. Stick around.

Yesterday's attack was anti-Semitism. It was hate, plain and simple.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer gave an update this morning after a man rammed a car into a synagogue yesterday in West Bloomfield outside Detroit.

She praised the synagogue security team for acting quickly to stop the suspect before he could hurt any of the 104 children inside its school and daycare.

Steven Engber, who is CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, said they will not be deterred from practicing their faith.

We will come back stronger. We will be there tonight, hunched about services in tomorrow morning. That will not stop. That will not end. No matter how much they try, that will not stop us.

The Department of Homeland Security has identified the suspect this 41-year-old A-Man Muhammad Ghazali. He was born in Lebanon and became a U.S. citizen in 2016.

Whitmer would not speculate on a motive for the attack, but condemned it as anti-Semitic.

U.S. economic growth is weaker than previously estimated, and the outlook is shaky.

That's the main takeaway from the Commerce Department's second fourth quarter GDP estimate released today, which reflects a tumultuous year for the U.S. economy, marked by tariffs and other economic shocks.

The gross domestic product, which is the broadest measure of economic output, did grow by 0.7% in the last three months of 2025, which is below the 1.4% previously estimated for the period.

That's not terrible, but it's much slower than the 4.4% growth the economy saw over the summer. So what's behind the slowdown?

Export saw the biggest revision down nearly 2.5 points from the previous estimate.

And last year's historic 43-day government shut down and slowed consumer spending in other big factors.

Mortgage rates are also rising again. The average rate of a standard 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.11%, up from 6%.

Marks the biggest weekly increase since April 2025.

The largest housing affordability package in more than a generation just passed the Senate.

It's called the 21st century Road to Housing Act, and it includes about 40 measures designed to increase housing and lower costs.

The bill was led by Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a Democrat.

It aims to ease a nationwide housing crisis that's been building since 2008.

Lawmakers say the package would encourage home building, cut regulatory hurdles, and expand manufactured housing.

The Trump administration has expressed support for the bill, but the big question, can it pass the House, which recently passed a smaller housing package of its own?

When we come back, uncertainty over Iran is extending to the World Cup. Stick around.

Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, all there is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities.

You'll hear deeply moving and honest discussions with people who have faced and are living with life-altering losses.

Singer, songwriter, and actress Sarah Bareilles.

I'm really honored to be here.

You've actually listened to this podcast.

Many, many times. Yes, yes, I...

I'll drive you to it.

I guess my own grief.

You realize how ununique you are.

You know, how much everyone is carrying and how I think really people want permission to share.

How much pain they're carrying at any given moment to know that it's okay to be in so much pain, because I think we all are in different ways.

Talking grief, building community.

That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Yesterday, President Trump said Iran's men's soccer team is welcome in the U.S. for this summer's World Cup, but he expressed some reservations.

He wrote on True Social. This is what he said, quote,

The Iran National Soccer team is welcome to the World Cup, but I really don't believe it is appropriate that they be there for their own life and safety.

The Iranian team pushed back through its official Instagram account, saying that no one can exclude it from playing and suggested the U.S. should be the team to sit out.

Iran is scheduled to play all three of its group stage matches in the U.S.

Alright, that's always got for now. Our next update comes your way at 6pm Eastern. Talk to you later.

I'm CNN Tech reporter Claire Duffy. This week on the podcast, Terms of Service.

There's a growing category of products aimed specifically at addressing women's unique health needs.

These tools and services are sometimes known as FEM tech, and they can provide big opportunities and benefits, but they can also come with some risks.

To walk us through all of this, I spoke with Bethany Corbin. Bethany is an attorney and CEO of FEM Innovation, where she advises startups,

clinicians, and healthcare organizations.

In my opinion, what it really does is gives us a collective language to talk about women's healthcare innovation and the tools that are out there, so that we can take control of our healthcare experiences and know how to advocate for ourselves, and a system that's probably not been designed to advocate for us.

Listen to CNN's Terms of Service, wherever you get your podcasts.