The Headlines - Iran’s Escalating Retaliation, and Takeaways From the Clintons’ Epstein Testimony

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

Plus, fighting phone scams.  Here’s what we’re covering: U.S. Sending More Forces to Middle East as Iran War Widens, by Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt Noem to Address Congress for First Time Since Minnesota Immigration Surge, by Madeleine Ngo Despite Promises, Veterans Affairs Department Cut Thousands of Roles for Doctors and Nurses, by Nicholas Nehamas, Andrea Fuller, Danielle Ivory and Ellen Barry Seven Takeaways From the Clintons’ Epstein Depositions, by Annie Karni and Michael Gold Banks Are Becoming Bulwarks for Vulnerable Seniors, by Paula Span Tune in every weekday morning, and tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Tuesday, March 3rd. Here's what we're covering. I'm not going to give away the details of our tactical efforts, but the hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now. The Trump administration is sending more forces to the Middle East, including troops and fighter jets, as the war with Iran widens. Someone was screaming, how long will it take. I don't know how long it'll take. We have objectives. We will do this as long as it takes. to achieve those objectives, and we will achieve those objectives. The world will be a safer place when we're done with this operation.

All right? Thank you, guys. Yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others acknowledged the possibility of an extended campaign lasting weeks or more. They've also said they expect more American casualties. Six U.S. service members have been killed so far. The Secretary made the comments right before heading into a closed-door meeting with senior lawmakers, some of whom have expressed skepticism about the administration's justification for the attacks. While the president has broad

authority to respond to specific time-sensitive threats, going to war requires congressional approval. This week, both the House and Senate are set to weigh in with votes seeking to limit Trump's power to continue to use force against Iran. Meanwhile, the Times has learned new details about what led up to Trump's decision to launch the operation. The Prime Minister, the Prime Minister, of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, had been pushing Trump for months to strike a decisive blow. The two leaders talked about it at the White House for hours earlier this month, even about possible dates for an attack. Trump also talked about it extensively with his own inner circle of advisors, and few of them

voiced opposition. Even Vice President J.D. Vance, a longtime skeptic of American military intervention in the Middle East, said if the U.S. was going to hit Iran, it should, quote, Go big and go fast, according to people familiar with the conversation. And while Trump sent a team to negotiate with Iran, his special envoy Steve Whitkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, they left the talks last week telling Trump they did not think a deal could be reached on the country's nuclear program. The next day, Trump gave the go-ahead for the strikes. Quote, Operation Epic Fury is approved. No abortes. Good luck.

In the last 24 hours, Iran's retaliatory attacks on American targets in the Middle East have intensified. Explosions were reported in several countries where the U.S. has military bases, including Iraq, Kuwait, and the UAE. And the U.S. embassy in Riyadh closed today after a drone attack, according to Saudi Arabia's defense ministry. There have also been attacks against Dubai's international airport and other infrastructure. Amazon's cloud computing business. said two of its facilities in the UAE had been hit, and the state departments urged Americans to leave immediately from 14 Middle East countries because of serious safety risks.

Inside Iran, more than 550 people have died in the U.S. Israeli strikes, according to emergency services. And in Lebanon, where Israel is carrying out strikes against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, a government official said at least 50 people have been killed and nearly 30,000 displaced. Now, two more updates on the Trump administration. Today, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Christy Noem, will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It's the first time she'll face questions in Congress since her department

launched its aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, which resulted in widespread outrage after agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens. Democrats are expected to press Noem on that. Funding for her department lapsed more than two weeks ago, in part because Democrats have refused to pass a spending bill without new restrictions on DHS agents. Republicans, meanwhile, are pointing to the heightened risk of terrorist threats in the U.S. following the attacks on Iran and saying Democrats should relent and agree to funding. Nome will also face questions from lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee tomorrow. Also, a new Times analysis of the VA has found that the agency has cut thousands of medical positions, even as many of its facilities

face a severe shortage of doctors and nurses. All we are doing is taking unfilled and unnecessary positions off the books. VA Secretary Doug Collins has previously said most of the eliminated roles had been vacant for a year or more and that they didn't need to be filled. But the Times found that more than 70% of the jobs did have people working in them last year or this year. The cuts include nearly 5,000 jobs in nursing and more than 1,500 positions for doctors. That's raised concerns among current and former VA employees who worry it will disrupt patient care. Collins himself has acknowledged the need for more medical providers, but the agency said it's been opening new clinics and offering more appointment times.

A spokesman for the VA said the measure of its success should be how well it performs, not how many people it employs. While on that trip, did you ever witness or become aware of sexual abuse of any kind? I did not. The House Oversight Committee has released the full videos of its depositions with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as part of its Epstein investigation. The Clinton's testified last week agreeing only after they were threatened with contempt of Congress. They had called the subpoenas to appear invalid and politically motivated.

I've never been in his home. his offices, his anything. Both repeatedly said they had no knowledge of any sex trafficking or sexual abuse by Epstein or by his close associate, Galane Maxwell, who's serving a 20-year prison sentence. Hillary Clinton was particularly exasperated with what she said was repetitive questioning. Bill Clinton, for his part, said he'd flown with Epstein a few times and described the relationship as cordial and business-like, as opposed to being friends. he had an understanding about the airplanes, that he would let me use the airplane to set up my age programs around the world if I'd agreed to talk to him for an hour about economics and

politics on every long leg. At one point, Bill Clinton was asked if he thought President Trump should be called to testify before the committee as well. That's for you to decide, but he did know him well. Clinton said he'd talked to Trump once about Epstein, 20-something years ago, but that nothing about Epstein's criminal behavior came up. Clinton said he remembered Trump telling him he was friends with Epstein and that they'd had a falling out over a property deal. And finally, a 76-year-old woman got a phone call recently from someone claiming they were an officer with the Department

of Criminal Investigations, not a real department. He told her she needed to cooperate with his investigation into money laundering. He knew her address, the name of her late husband. Over the phone, he showed her a badge and a photo ID. He started calling her every morning to ask where she was going, and he said his team would be watching. She was scared, paranoid, and then he started asking her for money. It was a scam, of course, something that's easy to say from the outside, in hindsight, and the only thing that stopped it was the woman's bank. When she went in and asked for tens of thousands of dollars, a teller said they couldn't do that and flagged it to the branch manager. He then talked to the woman and helped call the police.

As more and more of these scammers target older Americans, just like this, banks and tellers are becoming the last line of defense. AARP has been offering a free video program called BankSafe that trains tellers to spot red flags and to intervene. More than 1,500 institutions have used the training, including the bank that the woman went to. This kind of practice reflects a shift in approach. Until recently, according to one expert who studies elder abuse,

banks had put more emphasis on the autonomy of customers. Essentially, they're adults. They can make poor choices. Now, with some changes in government and industry policies, banks are taking different steps. And they're on high alert for even more sophisticated scams, like tools that can voice clone someone's grandson. and plead for money.

Asking banks to play this role of defense may seem odd for younger Americans who don't go to the bank ever, but for many older people, it's still a regular errand, where they see people they know and maybe trust. The head of one bank told the times some of her customers come to the bank

more often than they even go to the doctor. Those are the headlines. Today on the Daily, it is essentially the start of the midterms today. In Texas, voters are heading to the polls for a Senate primary showdown that everyone in U.S. politics is watching closely. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.