Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skiavone.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the current war with Iran needed to happen.

He's on Capitol Hill today to make the administration's case,

although the Trump administration did not seek congressional approval before strikes on Iran.

NPR's Michelle Kellerman has more.

Secretary Rubio says the U.S.

has a clear goal in mind to eliminate the threat of Iran's short-range ballistic missiles

and its naval assets, and he says there was an imminent threat. We knew that there was going to be

an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces,

and we knew that if we didn't pre attack against American forces. And we knew that

if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher

casualties. He says the U.S. hopes the Iranian people can overthrow the government, but the

objective of the U.S. mission, he says, is to deny Iran the ability to threaten the region with missiles.

And he says it was important to take

this action when Iran was at a weak point. Michelle Kellerman and PR News, the State Department.

In Lebanon, at least 52 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes over the past day. The

health ministry there says the strikes follow a Hezbollah attack last night,

creating a crush of people searching for somewhere safe to stay. From Beirut, NPR's

Jawad Riskala describes the scene. Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon continued today, following

Hezbollah's attack last night. Families fled towards safer areas. Some found space and shelters.

As those filled up, others came here. On one stretch of Beirut's seaside promenade, one of the few truly

public spaces in the city. Displaced families have laid out mattresses and blankets on the

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