NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-31-2026 2AM EDT

Episode Date: March 31, 2026

NPR News: 03-31-2026 2AM EDTTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. President Trump is again threatening Iran in a social media post Monday. Trump claimed progress is being made in talks with Iran, which denies direct negotiations. But he said if the Strait of Hormuz is not opened immediately, the U.S. would target Iranian power plants, oil wells, Harg Island, and possibly desalination plants. Meanwhile, an Iranian missile strike on a base in Saudi Arabia, wound. at least a dozen U.S. troops. Iran also destroyed two vital American radar planes, as NPR's Quill Lawrence reports. A U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly has confirmed to NPR that two E3-century aircraft were damaged in the Iranian missile and drone attack on Friday. The E3

sentries are known as AWACs, which stands for airborne warning and control system aircraft, and are crucial along with U.S. drones and satellites to deconflicting friendly aircraft and detecting threats. Iran appears to have targeted the planes precisely where they sat, uncovered, at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Also, the official confirmed that the number of wounded service members has grown since initial reports, including several injuries described as serious. Quill Lawrence NPR News. Fed Chair Jerome Powell says it's important to closely monitor the spike in energy prices brought on by the Iran war. You have to have to carefully monitor inflation expectations because you can have a series of these supply shocks, and that can lead, you know,

the public generally, businesses, price setters, households lead them to start expecting higher inflation over time. Why wouldn't they? At the end of a certain number of years, inflation is now just higher, and that can happen. So you monitor that very, very carefully. I spoke Monday to students at Harvard University saying higher energy prices have not yet created a hard choice for the Fed. He said the Fed can wait and see how. the war affects inflation. The Iran war now in its fifth week as the average price for gasoline nears $4 a gallon. Lawyers for the Justice Department whistleblower warning about what they call a failure to investigate his claims. NPR's Kerry Johnson reports on a new letter to Congress about the issue.

Ariz Ravani helped oversee major lawsuits over President Trump's immigration policy last year, but he was put on leave and then fired nearly a year ago after he raised concerns that top Justice Department officials were telling lawyers to ignore or mislead federal courts. Ruvani's lawyers say 15 months have passed since he blew the whistle, but there's no sign the Inspector General at the DOJ launched a serious investigation, and they cited correspondence showing the IG had closed the matter. They say it's part of a broader abdication of responsibility at the Justice Department. DOJ says Ruvani is, quote, desperate for relevancy, and there's no legitimate basis to investigate.

Terry Johnson, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR News. Colorado's Department of Transportation is requesting millions of dollars in unspent snowplow funds to prepare state roads for wildfire season. Emma Vanda 90 reports. Up to $12 million of snow contingency funds could be used to clear fuels along roads, but officials caution they'll need more to handle the season ahead. Bob Fifer is the deputy director of operations for the Colorado Department of Transportation. He says this is the first time they've been able to request these funds due to the record lack of snowfall. We've actually hit our peak snowpack about two weeks ago, which means that's the most snow our mountains we'll see, which was not very much.

In fact, most of our mountains are really down to dirt. The National Interagency Fire Center says parts of Interstate 70 and the Western Slope are expected to be at above-average risk for significant fires. For NPR News, I'm Emma Van Dnoughty in Denver, Colorado. Chicago Bulls have waived guard Jaden Ivy. The Bulls decision came after Ivy posted a series of videos on his Instagram account in which he criticized the NBA for celebrating Pride Month, expressing his disapproval from a religious perspective. Team officials say Ivy's comments do not reflect the values of the organization.

The Bulls acquired Ivy in a trade early last month, but he appeared in just four games before he was sidelined due to left knee issues. Financial markets in Asia, mostly lower in Tuesday trading. Shares in South Korea down more than 3%. Tokyo's benchmarking Niki down 8 tenths of a percent. U.S. futures have turned higher, following a mix finish for Wall Street on Monday. I'm Giles Snyder in PR News.