Lebanese Warfront, US Troops Deployed To Middle East, TSA and Travel

Israel's Prime Minister ordered the military to expand its invasion of southern Lebanon.

Well, over a million Lebanese people have already been displaced by Israeli attacks.

I'm Leyla Faudel, that's Michelle Martin, and this is a first for MNPR News.

Iran agreed to let 20 ships through the state of her moves as Pakistan emerges as a mediator in

the war, but thousands of US troops are arriving in the Middle East, and Iran says any ground

invasion will be met with force. So is a deal coming or is this war widening?

And Congress still hasn't reached a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

President Trump says he has a plan to pay TSA. How soon could pay checks go out?

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One front in the US is really war with Iran is widening in Lebanon. Last night,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he's expanding his invasion of that country.

The toll inside Lebanon is devastating. Officials say well over a million people have been

displaced. More than 1200 people have been killed, including just this weekend alone,

three journalists, 10 paramedics, and a UN peacekeeper. NPR's Lauren Fraer has just returned from

southern Lebanon and joins us now in Beirut. Good morning, Lauren. Good morning, Leila.

So where are you returning from exactly and what did you see in here?

Frightened civilians fleeing Israeli bombardment, war planes constantly overhead, sonic

booms, but also resilience. We went to a Palm Sunday procession in the rain. I was in the

southern town of Jazeen and the mountains. Here's what it sounded like at a school converted

into a shelter for the displaced.

And that's the principle of the school. Collette Sleem describing these waves and waves of

people fleeing northward. Her school is now full. You could hear children playing in the yard there

and she's now forced to turn people away. It's worth looking at a map to understand the geography

of this. First last week, Israeli officials said they would take Lebanese territory up to the

Latani River. That's a river that runs east-west about 10 to 20 miles north of the current

Israel-Lebanon border. A few days later, they ordered residents out of his zone about 10 miles

beyond that north of the Zaharani River. And now Netanyahu's announcement about this widening

invasion is creating more confusion and more fear here.

I mean, what does Israel say is its aim here? Why is it invading further into Lebanon?

So Israel says it wants to create a buffer zone where Hezbollah can no longer fire rockets

across the border into northern Israel, which it is still doing by the thousands.

An Israeli soldier with U.S. citizenship grew up in New Haven, Connecticut.

Is the latest Israeli-killed in combat inside Lebanon? You'll know, Leila, this is a zone

that Israel occupied in the 1980s and 90s, and many Lebanese fear history is repeating itself now.

Israeli officials say in Lebanon, they want to duplicate the Gaza model, and we've all seen

images of the destruction in that territory. Now, Jazeen is also where three Lebanese journalists

were targeted and killed over the weekend, right? That's right. Ali Shayab, a veteran television

correspondent, really a household name here in Lebanon, along with sibling journalists,

Fatima Fattuni and her cameraman, brother Muhammad Fattuni. Afterward, their father Abbas Fattuni

appeared on TV, saying he was proud of his children, and Israel, as you noted, says it targeted

them deliberately. And why? Well, Shayab worked for a Hezbollah-affiliated TV channel. The Israeli

military accuses him and Muhammad Fattuni of being militants operating under the guise of journalists.

It says it's aware of reports that a female journalist Fatima was there, and takes steps to

mitigate harm to civilians. But after the killings in Israeli military spokesperson posted a picture

on social media of one of the TV journalists dressed as a combatant in military garb and then

admitted that the photo was fake. It was photoshopped. Press freedom groups say a credited journalist

deserve protection no matter what outlet they work for. Lebanese officials call this a crime that

violates international law and say they're taking this to the U.N. Security Council.

That's NPR's Lauren Freyer in Beirut. Thank you for your reporting, Lauren. You're welcome.

We turn now to Iran, where the Strait of Harmilose remains mostly closed, and Iran-backed

Houthi rebels in Yemen have joined the war. But additional U.S. troops have reached the

Middle East, and more are on the way. The U.S. military has not said what the mission will be,

but the focus is on the critical waterway that remains closed to almost all oil tankers.

NPR's Greg Maire is covering this and joins me now. Good morning, Greg.

Hi, Leyla. So how many troops are we talking about here?

Yeah, more than 2,000 Marines arrived in the region over the weekend. Another 2,000 or so Marines

are on the way by ship. A similar number of pair troopers from the 82nd Airborne are expected soon.

So overall, the U.S. is going to have roughly 50,000 troops in the Middle East.

Now, this expanding force gives President Trump additional options, but these are still

relatively small numbers. They could carry out specific limited operations, but it's not nearly

enough for a major sustained ground invasion. And as we noted, neither Trump nor the Pentagon

has hinted at the mission, but clearly the most urgent issue is the Strait of Harmilose.

So they're speculation, and at this point, it's just that speculation that the troops may be

part of an effort to try to open the Strait for oil tankers.

In the meantime, Iran carried out another significant attack against the U.S.

base this time in Saudi Arabia, what happened?

Yeah, Iran struck the Prince Sultan airbase outside the Saudi capital Riyadh on Friday.

And this is a big deal for several reasons. A dozen or more U.S. troops were injured.

A very valuable plane was apparently damaged or destroyed. It was an E3 AWACS.

And this is essentially a flying command center that gives you a picture of the battlefield.

Now, the Pentagon hasn't provided details, but multiple news reports and photos verified

by Aishan's France press show the plane was split in half.

And a direct hit on a key plane at an important airbase deep inside Saudi Arabia

suggests Iran is somehow acquiring very detailed targeting information.

And one possibility is the Iranians are getting help from Russia.

And there's a somewhat unexpected source on this.

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, says Ukrainian intelligence shows Russian satellites

are gathering information on U.S. targets in the Middle East.

He was in the Middle East over the weekend, the Ukrainian president. Why?

Ukraine is the world leader when it comes to defensive drones that can shoot down incoming drones

and Iranian drones in particular. Ukraine was forced to learn very quickly because Russia was

buying drones from Iran and firing them at Ukraine. At this point, Russia has taken that

Iranian technology as making its own upgraded drones. Now, Zelensky says Ukrainian drone teams are

already helping Middle Eastern countries. And he was in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates,

and Qatar seeking their help in his war with Russia.

Now, we're watching this war expand in the Middle East. A lot of people being killed,

infrastructure destroyed. Is there any diplomatic progress to end this war?

Yeah, Pakistan is taking the lead role as mediator. It's one of the few countries with pretty

decent relations with both the U.S. and Iran. And Iran has agreed to allow Pakistani flag

oil tankers to pass through the straight of Hormuz to a day up to a total of 20. So that

helps Pakistan. But there's no real sign of a possible U.S. Iran breakthrough.

The mistrust was summed up by Iran's parliament speaker who accused the U.S. of talking about

diplomacy while secretly planning a ground invasion. And PR's Greg Myri, thank you, Greg.

Sure thing, Leyla. A quick request before we continue. Please rate and review up first on Spotify

or Apple Podcasts. One listener recently told us that three stories is just right and provides

enough of a summary to decide what to research further. Your reviews help signal to the algorithms

that this kind of trusted journalism matters. We read everyone and we appreciate the support.

TSA agents still are not being paid. It's been over 40 days since funding was cut off and began

causing long lines at airport security checkpoints across the country.

Congress has not reached the deal to pay them due to a disagreement over immigration

enforcement tactics. President Trump says he's ordering the Department of Homeland Security

to find money in its budget, although it's unclear exactly how that will work.

And PR's Joe Hernandez joins us now with the latest on U.S. air travel and the next steps for TSA.

Hi, Joe. Good morning. So what happened in airports across the U.S. this weekend?

Well, a version of a story we've been hearing for weeks now, which is long lines at TSA

checkpoints at many airports across the country. These are the longest wait times in TSA history.

So we're talking three, four hours or even more. Over the weekend, BWI airport in Baltimore

was telling travelers to arrive three to four hours before their flights. And PR spoke with one

traveler in the security line there, Darren Davis, who was flying from Baltimore to Atlanta,

which he does often. This process usually takes about maybe 15 minutes at least on the Baltimore side.

I have no idea how long this is taking at this point to be really honest. You just kind of got

a smile and nod. I hope you get through, but it's at least four times a time. And that's in

Baltimore. Atlanta is just unspeakable at this point. But it can be hard to understand why these

wait times are fluctuating so much. So wait times can be several hours at airports like Houston and

New Orleans one day and then much shorter than next day. So in addition to the headache of these

long lines, travelers are also dealing with the kind of unpredictability of this whole situation.

Let's just get to the why here for those who don't know why the government isn't paying TSA

agents. How did this all start? Yeah, it has to do with the dispute in Congress over funding for

the Department of Homeland Security. That includes TSA and it also includes immigration and

customs enforcement or ICE. There have been several proposals now to fund DHS with added restrictions

on immigration enforcement that Democrats have been pushing for, but lawmakers haven't been

able to reach a deal yet. And in the meantime, TSA agents are missing paychecks. They're calling out

from work and that's leading to these long lines. Now one of the ways the Trump administration has

chosen to deal with that so far is by sending ICE agents to some airports. White House

borders are Tom Homan told CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday that those ICE agents will stay there

as long as they're needed. Look, we're going to continue an ICE presence there and until the

airports feel like they're in they're 100%. You know, in a posture where they can do normal operations.

And some airports have had close to 40% of TSA agents call out last week. Now, the Trump

administration says they have a plan to pay TSA workers. What is that plan and when will that happen?

Right. So Trump signed a memo ordering Homeland Security to use department funds to pay TSA workers.

It's not exactly clear how that will work since it's not an appropriation from Congress,

but the administration says TSA staff could start getting paid as early as today,

even if those paychecks do go out. There are still a few issues here. One is that so far during

the shutdown close to 500 TSA officers have quit and then Congress still has to figure out how to

fund DHS, but lawmakers have just left on recess. That's NPR's Joe Hernandez. Thank you for your

reporting, Joe. You're welcome. And that's up first for Monday, March 30th. I'm Layla Faldon.

And I'm Michelle Martin. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Jerry Holmes,

Andrew Sussman, Alfredo Carbohal, Mohamed El Bardisi, and Adriana Gallardo. It was produced by

Ziyad Butch and Eva Pucache. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from

Stacey Abbott and our technical director's Carly Strange. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.

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