Morning Must Reads: December 19

Exclusive: Ted Cruz on Why Cuba’s Leaders Can’t Be Trusted

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, writing for TIME, shares his family’s experience with the Castro regime, and argues that Congress should reject President Obama’s new Cuba policy. “[The Castros] are evil, and we cannot make a deal with an evil regime,” he writes

8 Children Found Dead in North Australia

Eight children, ranging in age from 18 months to 15 years, were found dead inside a home in the northern Australian city of Cairns on Friday

White House Doesn’t Rule Out Cybercounterattack in Sony Hack

The White House said it is currently devising a “proportional response” to the massive hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment

Watch Stephen Colbert Bid Farewell to The Colbert Report

Stephen Colbert brought an end Thursday to one of the greatest sustained performances in pop culture, TV or otherwise, when he hosted the final episode of his satirical Colbert Report, featuring cameos from everyone from Christiane Amanpour to Bill Clinton

Obama Praises LeBron for Wearing ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Shirt

President Barack Obama applauded LeBron James in a new interview for wearing a shirt dedicated to Eric Garner during a recent game and said more sports stars should use their influence to address social issues

U.S. Kills 3 ISIS Leaders in Iraq Strikes, Officials Say

Defense officials said Thursday that American air strikes had killed three of the group’s mid- to high-level leaders in the past month and a half. One official called the deaths a “serious blow to ISIS command and control”

Fincher and Ellroy to Make HBO Series

Gone Girl Director David Fincher has signed up for an HBO noir detective series together with L.A. Confidential writer James Ellroy. Shakedown is set in the underworld of 1950s Los Angeles and is inspired by the life of Hollywood vice cop-turned-private eye Fred Otash

Uber Takes a Break in Portland

Facing ruinous fines of $1,500 against the company, and up to $2,250 for the driver, each time a fare was picked up, Uber has agreed to stop its services until Portland legalizes ride-sharing

NASA’s Kepler Telescope Discovers Another Planet

NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has found another new planet. Dubbed HIP 116454b, the new body is bigger than Earth, smaller than Neptune and probably too hot to sustain life as we know it

Chinese President Xi Jinping to Visit Macau

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Macau on Friday for the tiny Chinese enclave’s 15th anniversary of its transfer back to China’s hands. Xi will try ensure Macau does not go the way of Hong Kong, which has recently become a hotbed of political dissent

Investigators Say Arsonists Responsible for Massive L.A. Fire

Federal investigators believe a fire that took down an entire apartment complex in downtown L.A. last week was set on purpose. It took 250 firefighters an hour and a half to put out the blaze at the Da Vinci apartment complex on Dec. 10

FCC Rejects Claim That the Word ‘Redskins’ Is Obscene

The FCC denied a law professor’s attempt to strip a radio station of its license because of repeated use of the word. The FCC said the word isn’t obscene, citing a Supreme Court ruling defining obscene material as something sexual in nature

We will hold an #AskTIME subscriber Q&A today, Friday, December 19, at 1 p.m., with TIME managing editor, Nancy Gibbs, who recently selected The Ebola Fighters as TIME’s choice for Person of the Year 2014.

You can submit your questions beforehand on Twitter using the #AskTIME hashtag or in the comments of this post. We depend on smart, interesting questions from readers.

You will need to be a TIME subscriber to read the Q & A. ($30 a year or 8 cents a day for the magazine and all digital content.) Once you’re signed up, you can log in to the site with a username and password.