Loading...
Loading...

At least 2,000 power troopers from the 82nd Airborne Division are being sent to the Middle
East.
Is this an escalation or a pressure tactic to force Iran to negotiate?
I'm Michelle Martin, that's a Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News.
Lebanon expels Iran's ambassador blaming Tehran for dragging the country into another
war.
Israel is threatening to use what it calls the Gaza model in Lebanon's south.
And Congress is inching toward a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, but
Democrats say President Trump's input is complicating negotiations.
I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it.
How much longer will TSA agents work without pay?
Stay with us, we've got the news you need to start your day.
This message comes from Babel.
Babel's conversation-based language technique teaches you useful words and phrases to get
you speaking quickly about the things you actually talk about in the real world, with
lessons handcrafted by over 200 language experts and voiced by real native speakers.
Start speaking with Babel today.
Get up to 55% off your Babel subscription right now at Babel.com slash NPR.
This message comes from Comcast.
Nothing brings people together quite like Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games.
From NBC Universal's iconic storytelling to the innovative technology across Exfinity
and Peacock, Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America, sharing every moment with
millions.
When Team USA steps on to the world stage, people are not just watching, they're cheering
together.
This winter, everyone's on the same team, Comcast, proud partner of Team USA.
This message comes from Carvana, who makes cars selling easy, and to your license plate
or VIN, get a real offer in minutes and have your car picked up from your door.
Sell your car the easy way with Carvana.
Pick up V may apply.
In Trump is sending thousands more American soldiers to the Middle East.
NPR has confirmed at least 2,000 paratroopers have gotten orders to mobilize.
The orders come as Trump's public comments this week have focused on diplomacy with Iran.
He continued to insist his administration isn't talks to end the war, something Iran
has denied.
Trump said Tuesday that whoever was representing Iran had offered some sort of prize,
related to the state of Hormuz, but he didn't say what it was or who offered it.
So is this deployment a way to pressure Iranian negotiators or a signal of the imminent use
of American troops?
We have Quill Lawrence from NPR's National Security team to explain, Quill, what do we know
about the troops?
Well, this week NPR and other outlets had reported that the commander of the 82nd Airborne
Division and members of his headquarters staff were heading to the Middle East, and
that suggested what NPR has now confirmed.
US official who was not authorized to speak publicly told our colleague Tom Bowman that 2
3,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina have been notified
that they're heading to the region.
So President Trump has said he won't rule out putting boots on the ground.
That's what we're talking about here, right?
Yeah, I mean, Airborne paratroopers, I guess you might easily imagine them parachuting
into taking airstrip, but they have many other abilities.
These soldiers come from the Division's immediate response force, which is able to mobilize
within 18 hours to go anywhere worldwide to do a variety of different missions, along
with the two Marine Expeditionary units that are already sailing toward the Persian Gulf.
This could bring about 6 to 8,000 American ground troops and their supporting troops in
close proximity to Iran.
Okay.
And so what will they do when they get there, what's their mission?
This is all speculation.
We don't know.
For decades, there have been U.S. military plans sitting on the shelf to take Harga Island,
which is Iran's exporting hub at the top of the Persian Gulf, 90% of Iran's oil comes
out of there.
President Trump has said to have a particular interest in Harga Island going back decades.
The U.S. has already bombed it during this war, but they said they avoided oil infrastructure.
But again, sending these troops, it could all be a negotiating tactic.
Yeah.
Back a bit, because on Monday, President Trump said these are high-level negotiations
and it could be heading toward a diplomatic resolution, but now he's sending thousands
of ground troops to the region, which sounds like the opposite quill of de-escalation.
Yeah.
I mean, I can see why our listeners might be confused by this.
It's a mixed message.
I mean, NBR has confirmed that there are at least back-channel efforts through third
countries to open up a dialogue.
President Trump says he's already talking with Iran, but the Iranians deny that.
Now, having thousands of ground troops could make it a more credible threat in any negotiations
to pressure the Iranian regime, that there is some threat of direct regime change or seizure
of nuclear material.
This is all speculation.
A Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said in blunt terms that the U.S. won't get
into some sort of prolonged quagmire like Iraq and Afghanistan, and Iran is still far
from that.
You know, a decade-long conflict with hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops and thousands
of American troops killed in action.
So far, you know, Iranian casualties have been massive, and the destruction there has
been massive, but U.S. casualties have been low.
The U.S. could still, you know, sail and fly away, and the cost so far for the U.S. have
been political and economic, and putting boots on Iranian soil would bring much higher
risks of U.S. casualties and bring in a whole nother set of variables, and war is unpredictable.
And the main economic pain point for the U.S. is the Strait of Hormuz, which remains largely
closed, choking off oil and other crucial exports, and driving up prices worldwide, including
at the gas pump here in the United States, it's not clear how these extra troops would
affect that Iranian blockade or what countermeasures Iran might take.
That's MBR's quill, Lawrence quill, thanks.
Thank you.
For nearly a month, the world has been focused on U.S. and Israeli tax on Iran, retaliation
across the Gulf and skyrocketing energy prices.
Another front in this war has been one of the most deadly in Lebanon.
That's where Israel has been bombing homes, highways, bridges, and fuel stations in response
to a rocket fire by Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants.
It's reignited a long-running cross-border conflict, and the violence may be about
to intensify, Israeli officials are warning of a ground invasion.
MBR's Lauren Frayer is in Lebanon's capital of Beirut, Al-Loren, what's it like where
you are?
Well, we've been hearing loud booms through the night, A, Israel says its targeting Hezbollah
militants in Beirut suburb, so just south of where I am.
You know, Hezbollah is a powerful force in Lebanese politics distinct from the government.
It's backed by Iran.
Israel says it's killed commanders of Iran's revolutionary guards here inside Lebanon.
Human rights groups, though, say the civilian cost has been disproportionate.
The Lebanese government says at least 33 people were killed yesterday, including a three-year-old,
more than 1,000 people killed this month.
The government says nearly a fifth of the entire population of Lebanon has been displaced
by this violence, so people are camping out at a soccer stadium in Beirut.
Schools are shut indefinitely.
Less than a year and a half ago, a previous war between Israel and Hezbollah ended in a cease-fire,
but Israeli attacks never really stopped.
And I spoke to a college student yesterday who's tried to start her freshman year three
times since 2024, but classes keep getting canceled.
We studied online the first semester.
It was really hard.
Then they opened the universities as shelters.
They changed the system of the studying.
They did for us the partial exams.
She didn't want to give her name because she's staying in an evacuation shelter run by
a political party and she's worried about potential retribution.
What indications are there that an Israeli invasion might be happening soon?
Israel's defense minister said it yesterday.
He said he, Israel plans to take Lebanese territory, move the Israeli Lebanese border northward
by about 10 to 20 miles up to the Littani river.
He says he wants to finish off Hezbollah once and for all using what he called the Gaza
model.
You've seen footage of how Israeli attacks left that territory.
Israel's been bombing bridges across that river, saying they're used by Hezbollah.
Moving that border would leave hundreds of thousands of Lebanese living in occupied territory,
including this man, Paul Khrish.
He's a municipal official in a village called Aine Ebel, NPR reached him by phone.
Anam Achaewif, English Nobi, Batil Abnaini.
He says he's worried his region will no longer be Lebanese.
He doesn't know whether to stay or go.
The roads are getting hit by Israeli air strikes, he says.
And this has happened before.
Israel occupied southern Lebanon for nearly two decades in the 80s and 90s.
Now just want to be clear, US and Israel together have been attacking Iran.
In Lebanon, is it just Israel striking independently?
That's right.
So Lebanon is actually a US security partner.
The US helps fund the Lebanese army.
So these are unilateral Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
And if there's a ceasefire in Iran, you know, this front could actually continue.
What's the Lebanese government then saying about this, considering as you know what they're
supported by the US?
The Lebanese government is in a pretty tricky position.
It has been tasked with disarming Hezbollah itself, but it hasn't done so.
This week, though, the Lebanese government said it's expelling the Iranian ambassador,
giving him till Sunday to leave the country.
Israel praised that move, has Bula criticized it.
It is a sign that Lebanon may be turning on Iran, which has been a power broker here.
That's NPR's Lauren Freyr in Beirut.
Lauren, thank you.
You're welcome.
Lines that many airports are getting longer as TSA officers continue to go without pay.
The Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA, has been shut down for more than
a month.
There have been talks on and off between the White House and Congress to reach a funding
deal, but is there actual progress being made?
Well, let's ask NPR congressional correspondent Barbara.
Spront?
Barbara, what's the view from Capitol Hill?
Well, there may be a glimmer of progress here, but I don't want to oversell it.
It's still just a glimmer.
Democrats have been demanding changes to immigration enforcement ever since federal officers killed
to U.S. citizens in Minnesota earlier this year.
Senate Republicans sent Democrats another potential deal yesterday, but top Democrats said
it didn't have the significant reforms that they want to see.
What's new is the potential to fund DHS minus ISIS detention and deportation operations.
This would allow the rest of the Department to get funded, including those TSA officers
currently working without pay.
I know Democrats have been pushing to fund DHS without any funding for ICE for some
time.
This plan isn't quite that.
It sounds like little close or Democrats sold on it.
Not right now.
They're concerned that there won't be major changes to ICE enforcement tactics.
One example that they've been pushing for is a ban on face coverings for agents and
changes to warrant procedures.
Now as a reminder, ICE still has money despite the current shutdown, and that's because
of an injection of tens of billions of dollars that they got last year.
But as this deal emerges, it's not just Democrats who are hesitant.
Some Republicans are too.
Republicans why?
Well, they're worried about the process.
The White House is still going to want to fund ICE enforcement.
That's not going away.
The suggestion is to fund the rest of DHS now and deal with ICE later with a budget
tool that would let Republicans pass it without Democrat support.
That's called reconciliation.
And if they're going down that road, some Republicans want to include another big legislative
priority for President Trump in that same process, passing an election's overhaul package.
But to use reconciliation, the legislation has to comply with a very specific set of budget
rules.
And it's unclear that provisions of the bill would be able to get past those rules.
In fact, yesterday, Utah Senator Mike Lee, who's a major supporter of the elections bill,
said it's essentially impossible for it to pass in this way.
I know President Trump is a supporter as well, has he waited on this?
He has.
Here's what he said yesterday.
Well, I don't want to comment until I see the deal.
But as you know, then negotiating a deal, I guess they're getting fairly close.
But I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it.
I don't think that type of comment, basically, I'm probably not going to be happy no matter
what instills a lot of confidence for GOP lawmakers.
It leaves room for him to ultimately reject whatever framework emerges from these plans.
And Democrats say it makes it hard for them as well.
Here's Senator Patty Murray of Washington on the ongoing negotiations.
They would be a lot more productive if the president didn't keep making new and unreasonable
demands over social media.
He's awfully hard to find common ground with Republicans when it's not clear that they
have common ground amongst themselves.
OK, so what now?
Well, Senate Majority Leader John Thunne says he wants to get DHS funded by the end of
the week.
There's a two week recess coming up for Congress.
But I think it's hard to commit to that.
There has been a lot of whiplash around here over the last few days.
It's hard to see a clear path forward.
That's MPR's Barbara Sprunt.
Barbara, thanks.
Thank you.
Accuracy and depth are at the heart of what we do here at MPR.
Now, if you value our reporting, please consider leaving a review wherever you listen to
podcasts.
Listener GA Susie Q, great name.
Recently noted that they appreciate the variety of presenters and the fact-based journalism
they provide.
Now your reviews help signal to the algorithms that this kind of trusted journalism matters.
We read everyone and we appreciate the support.
And that's a first for Wednesday, March 25th, I mean, Martinez.
And I'm Michelle Martin.
Today's episode of first was edited by Jerry Holmes, Andrew Susman, Kelsey Snail,
Mohamed Elvardici, and Alice Wolfley.
It was produced by Zeyad Butch and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from the Shahinis.
Our technical director is Carly Strange and our supervising producer is Michael Lipkin.
We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.
This message comes from Angie.
Tackling a home project, Angie can connect you with pros who do such a good job you might
ask them to be your kid's godfather.
Don't do that.
Just trust them to get the job done.
Find a pro for your projects at Angie.com.
That's AMGI.com.
This message comes from NPR sponsor Charles Schwab with its original podcast on investing.
It's hosted by Liz Ann Saunders, Schwab's chief investment strategist and Colin Martin,
head of fixed income research and strategy for the Schwab Center for Financial Research.
Each week, Liz Ann, Colin, and their guests analyze economic developments and bring context
to conversations around stocks, fixed income, the economy, and more.
Download the latest episode and subscribe at Schwab.com slash on investing or wherever you
get your podcasts.
This message comes from Easy Cater, making it easy for organizations to order food for
meetings and events from favorite restaurants, set up meal programs for their employees,
and manage food spend all in one place at easycater.com.
Up First from NPR

