Israel's military chief says Israel will act after Iran shot missiles at the country over the weekend, and the hush money criminal trial for former President Donald Trump got underway Monday with jury selection.

Israel's military chief vows response to Iran's missile strike

Israel's military chief said Monday that Israel will respond to Iran's missile strike over the weekend.

Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said that Israel is still considering its steps. But he said the Iranian strike of missiles and attack drones "will be met with a response." Halevi spoke during a visit to the Nevatim air base, which Israel says suffered light damage in the Iranian attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been huddling with top officials to discuss a possible response.

World leaders have been urging Israel not to retaliate after Iran launched an attack involving hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told the BBC on Monday the U.K. does not support a retaliatory strike, while French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris will try to “convince Israel that we must not respond by escalating.”

U.S. officials said Sunday that President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an effort to contain tensions, that Washington would not participate in any offensive action against Iran, and the president made “very clear” to Netanyahu “that we do have to think carefully and strategically” about risks of escalation.

Florida leaders on both sides of the aisle are also reacting following the unprecedented drone and missile attack.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is calling for immediate action from Israel. 

“What I don’t understand is why Joe Biden and the administration would leak to the media, the contents of a conversation in which he tells Netanyahu he doesn’t think Netanyahu should respond at all," Rubio said. "It is the continuing part of this public game that they are playing, which frankly, encourages Iran and Hezbollah, which we haven’t even talked about, and the Houthis and all these other elements that are targeting Israel."

Democratic State Rep. Jared Moskowitz posted his thoughts on X.

“It’s time for regime change in Iran. I assume my colleagues who were jumping for elections in Israel will, of course, be as vocal on Iran,” he said.

That is in reference to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling on Israel to hold new elections, saying he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way” and is an obstacle to peace in the region amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

And Sen. Rick Scott, who recently visited Israel, blamed Biden for what happened.

“I’m doing everything I can do to get Israel's aid done. We gotta have a president that understands Israel has a right to defend itself and should defend itself," he said. "When you have 300-400 missiles and rockets shot at you, you ought to have the ability to defend yourself. That’s what they should do, and we should do everything we can to support them."

The U.S. and U.K., however, did help Israel by shooting down dozens of drones and missiles. 

The Iranian attack on Saturday, less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building, marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

An Israeli military spokesman said that 99% of the drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted.

The former head of U.S. CENTCOM, retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, said Monday that Iran had about 150 ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel from Iranian territory and appears to have used up most of that current stockpile in the weekend attack.

McKenzie discussed the attack in a panel discussion with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a Washington-based think tank and lobbying group.

McKenzie argued that Iran’s expenditure of those 150 long-range missiles, out of a total ballistic missile stockpile of about 3,000, showed that Iran’s barrage on Israel “was a maximum effort. It was an indiscriminate effort.”

The U.S. and its partners in the region are easily able to track when Iran brings its ballistic missiles out of storage and positions them on launch pads, he said.

When Iran launches, deep space sensors detect that immediately, he said. Radars in the region then catch when any missiles break the radar plane, he said.

Especially given the distance involved, “it is hard for Iran to generate a bolt from the blue against Israel,” McKenzie said.

Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel’s six-month war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in the kidnapping of 250 others.

An Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused widespread devastation and killed more than 33,700 people, according to local health officials.

Jury selection begins in Trump hush money trial

Potential jurors are being evaluated by Manhattan criminal court Judge Juan Merchan, Donald Trump's legal team and local prosecutors in the historic first criminal trial of a former president. After a morning and early afternoon of motions and arguments by attorneys, jury selection officially began just before 2:30 p.m.

Merchan said around 200 New Yorkers of a 500-person juror pool were present at the courthouse.

A randomly selected group of 18 prospective jurors in Donald Trump's hush money trial on Monday afternoon began sifting through a litany of pre-selected questions, touching on their educational backgrounds, news habits, hobbies and ability to be neutral.

Both of the first two prospective jurors said they lived in midtown Manhattan, had never attended a Trump rally and felt they could be impartial.

On a question about whether she had any strong beliefs about the former president, the first respondent paused briefly, then said, “No.”

As the jurors ticked through the list of questions, Trump held a stapled stack of papers close to his face, appearing to follow along with the answers.

Donald Trump signaled he wants be intimately involved in his defense at his hush money trial in New York City on Monday, where his attorneys told Judge Juan Merchan that Trump wants to be present for every conversation with the judge, his attorneys and potential jurors, according to CNN.

Potential jurors can ask to speak privately with the judge, members of Trump's defense team and prosecutors when answering sensitive questions on the juror questionnaire during the selection process.

A legal journalist inside the courtroom, Adam Klasfeld, reported that Merchan spoke of the possible complications of having Trump involved in those conversations due to his Secret Service detail.