NPR News: 03-19-2026 3AM EDT

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roman. The head of the International Atomic Energy

Agency says he does not believe the current war in Iran can entirely eliminate that nation's

nuclear program. NPR's Jeff Bromfield has more.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi says Iran's nuclear program has been heavily

damaged by repeated strikes. But speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C., he said he expects

it will survive the current conflict in some form. That's because the program isn't just located

at Iran's main nuclear sites, he says. It's also scattered across the university's laboratories

and industrial facilities throughout the country. When the current war NC predicts,

we will still have a number of issues that will require a solution.

Grossi says his agency is ready to aid negotiations and it's ready to restart nuclear inspections

when the fighting stops. Jeff Bromfield and NPR News.

Reactions are pouring in from around Central California to a New York Times investigation

into allegations that labor and civil rights leader,

Caesar Chavez sexually assaulted young girls in the 1970s as well as a former civil rights icon,

Dolores Herta from Member Station KVPR Kerry Klein has more.

Miguel Arias is a Fresno City Council member. He says the reporting shocked him.

The list of the attorney got light-headed. It's devastating news.

Arias is the son of farm workers and called Huerta the matriarch of the Latino community.

He's calling to rename Fresno's Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

It's absolutely the right thing to do.

Other elected officials expressed support for Dolores Huerta.

Some called for Cesar Chavez Day to be renamed Farm Worker Day.

And the president of California State University Fresno said a statue of Chavez on campus would be

removed. For NPR News, I'm Kerry Klein in Fresno.

A day after the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena for attorney general Pam Bondi to appear

for a deposition on the department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files,

Bondi appeared for a closed-door briefing with the committee.

Democrats say they left the briefing because it was hastily arranged,

and they wanted Bondi under oath with a transcript to be released publicly.

The committee chairman, Republican James Comer, says he's never seen anything like this.

I've never seen member storm out of a briefing with the attorney general and the entire

leaders of the Department of Justice in their to answer questions, and they don't ask a single question.

The Trump administration has faced numerous political headaches since the rollout of the Epstein

files in December. The federal reserve said Wednesday it's going to keep the key interest rates

unchanged. Chairman Jerome Powell says there is increasing concern about the strength of the U.S.

economy because of the war against Iran. You're listening to NPR News.

The federal Bureau of Investigations may be purchasing commercially available data

that can be used to track Americans' locations as NPR's June-Juffy Block reports

that came out of a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. It was held on Wednesday.

Back in 2023, then FBI Director Chris Ray told Congress the FBI was no longer purchasing

commercial databases that include location data from internet advertising. At this hearing,

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon asked current FBI Director Cash Patel if he could also

commit to not purchasing American's location data. Patel did not. We do purchase commercially

available information that's consistent with the Constitution and the laws under the Electronic

Communications Privacy Act. Wyden says data purchases without a warrant are an end run around

the Fourth Amendment and that's compounded by the potential to use AI to comb through private

information. As spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment or clarify what data the FBI is buying.

June-Juffy Block and Pair News. The price of oil increased Wednesday as Iran's

southpars natural gas field was struck and Iran retaliated hitting an oil refinery and cutter.

The U.S. says it did not attack the Iranian gas facility. The price of West Texas Intermediate

was up more than $3 a barrel. For about $100 a barrel, Brett Crude increased to $111 a barrel.

Triple A says nationwide gasoline prices have climbed to now 384 a gallon. Up 70 cents more than

they were a year ago. Diesel is also soaring. This is NPR News from Washington. Support for NPR.

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