Up First from NPR - Iran War, TSA Funding, No Kings Marches

Episode Date: March 28, 2026

The Iran War enters its second month with no clear ceasefire talks. Gas prices and airport chaos weigh down President Trump's approval numbers. Protesters against the president gather around the country for a third No Kings march.  To 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

At least a dozen U.S. service members injured by Iranian strikes overnight. A month into the war, it's unclear if the U.S. is in ceasefire talks or preparing to widen the conflict. I'm Scott Simon. I'm Don Gagne, and this is up first from NPR News. The war in Iran has shocked energy prices. Both are dragging down President Trump's approval rating. Meanwhile, little relief from long lines at airports as the government fights over the funding of the Department of Homeland Security. And people opposed to the Trump administration

gather at no King's protests around the country. What are they planning in Minnesota where protesters against ICE were killed earlier this year? So please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend. There's no let up in the war on Iran as more U.S. military assets are moved into the region. Overnight in a serious breach, Iran struck a military base in Saudi Arabia, U.S. troops stationed there. Israel says it has hit major industrial targets inside Iran, and a new military force in the Gulf has now joined the war on the side of Iran. And peers Carrie Kahn is in Tel Aviv. Carrie, thanks for being with us. Good morning. It appears that fighting in the last 24 hours has been significant. Please bring us up to

date. Israel says it hit major Iranian infrastructure this morning and it strikes Friday. Iran says, it has retaliated. A military spokesman this morning gave some very strong statements about striking U.S. assets, including that apparently significant air defense breach at the Saudi military base, leaving, as you said, U.S. service members injured. There were attacks at Kuwait's airport and port in Oman. And this is new, Scott. The Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have joined the war. They fired for the first time in this conflict at Israel overnight. That missile was successfully intercepted. But I understand Iranian missiles did get through Israel's multi-layered aerial defense system

elsewhere, right? One man was killed in Tel Aviv, where you are. Yes, he was a 50-year-old security guard. That was in one location. The airstrike was right before midnight last night. It was a cluster bomb. That's according to Israel's military, hitting multiple sites, including Scott, the apartment complex where I am. I was in the safe room when something hit the complex here. It was a loud, loud boom. It was a loud boom. just sounded like metal on metal. And after getting the all clear, I could see the facade to one of the buildings was very damaged, windows blown out. And this is on the back of a major breach of Israel's defense system just one week ago in the south near Israel's nuclear facility. Do the U.S. and Israel

say they have enough interceptors to guard against this rain of missiles and drones from Iran? They will not comment directly on targets or numbers of interceptors, but there is recognition that Iran has shifted to using these so-called cluster bombs, and they release multiple detonations when they're intercepted. They could cause a lot of damage. Here's Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshone. In a recent briefing he gave us, he points to what he often says is Israel's 90% interception rate

and what he says is Israel's complete control of Iranian airspace. Dozens of Israeli Air Force every day go back and forth and complete waves after waves of strikes targeting Iranian terrorism infrastructure. President Trump echoes that same assertion, but clearly Iran has been able to get munitions through and they've caused serious damage. And Kerry, what do you hear from people around the region

at this mark of one month into the war? We've heard from Gulf residents, especially in Dubai, they're concerned about damage to the Emirates' reputation as a safe haven. They're not used to being attacked. Actually, the Gulf is receiving more missiles than even Israel. For Israelis, they're exhausted. from scrambling in and out of bomb shelters all day and night,

but they remain defiantly supportive of the war. It's difficult to reach Iranians with the Internet blackout, but our reporters have talked to many leaving Iran at the Turkey border. All asked for anonymity as Iran is cracked down on people speaking to foreign media. This man told NPR, as many have, he supports the U.S. and Israeli campaign, even if airstrikes are hurting Iran. He says, if they're going to do it, better do it all. And, Paris, Kerry Khan and Tel Aviv, Carrie, thanks so much for being with us.

You're welcome. The war with Iran began as an unpopular one, and the American public has not warmed to it over the past four weeks. A Reuters, Ipsos poll, this week, finds 61% of respondents actively disapprove of the war. That's up 18 points from early March. And peers, Ron Elving, joins us now. Ron, thanks for being with us. Good to be with you, Scott. What do you make of those numbers?

I think we both recall that support for the Iraq War was in the 70s following the invasion. Back in 2003, that's right. Invading Iraq was popular at first, in part because the terror attacks of September 2001 were still so fresh. And in Iraq, there were clear objectives and some visible successes early on. Then things got bogged down and ground on for years and support drained away. And by the way, people like Donald Trump at that time started saying the Iraq war was a mess and even claiming that they'd opposed it all along. Now, Trump's war on Iran has been different in the stated reasons for the attack have shifted and shifted again. It was about the nuclear program, then regime change, then back to nukes and missiles and destroying a weapons program that Trump had said the U.S. obliterated last year.

Now, then the closure of the Strait of Hormuz brought the war home for drivers all over the world. including tens of millions of Americans, most especially farmers whose costs for diesel fuel and fertilizer have far outstripped the big jump in gasoline. It's not hard to see how that's going to affect food prices as well. Reuters points to Iran in the economy for President Trump's lowest job approval rating so far, just 36%. Other polls show much the same. Even the ones on Fox News, Trump was alive on Fox this week calling him to complain about that. Overall, his polls are the worst of his second term so far and still trending lower. We mentioned energy and food prices, but there's also widespread concern that this war has no clear end point,

that the oil issue may be with us a while, and many Americans worry about the thousands of U.S. Marines and airborne troops now converging on that region. Ron, there was a hope this week for a deal on funding for the Department of Homeland Security. what happened? The deal made its way through the Senate this week with bipartisan support. It would have funded homeland security, but not ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the Border Patrol. At the same time, it did not make the reforms the Democrats had insisted on, nor did it include Trump's demands for unrelated subjects, changes to voting laws, and rules for this November's midterm elections.

So Trump did not really get behind the deal, and some of the most conservative people in the House, the House Freedom Caucus, withheld their votes as well. Last night, the House passed its own version, which could fund all of Homeland Security with ICE and the Border Patrol for the next eight weeks. But unfortunately, the Senate has now left town for a two-week recess, meaning it's not clear when they'll take up that House bill or whether indeed they could pass it. And in the meantime, Trump has issued an executive order that the TSA of Fisher should be paid from reserve department funds, money that's been available throughout the six weeks

of the shutdown to date. But as lines at airport have been historically long, now the president has seen fit to use those reserve funds to pay TSA workers who've been going without a check. Lastly, this week, President Trump is putting, I'll phrase it this way, is John Hancock on the Benjamin's? This week, the White House said Trump's signature would soon be on our folding money. You may recall six years ago, Trump was also intent on having his name on the COVID relief checks that went out at the height of that pandemic. But there could be even a larger pattern here. Trump has also ordered up a gold commemorative coin with his likeness on it. And he's torn down the east wing of the White House for an enormous ballroom.

He now says the military had asked for. And he's also put his name on the Washington Cultural Center that had been named for John F. Kennedy. And he's renamed the Institute of Peace, the Donald Trump Institute. of peace. NPR senior contributor Ron Elvin, thanks so much, Ron. Thank you, Scott. Across the U.S. today, people are taking to the streets to demonstrate against the Trump administration. It's the third no-king's protest. And it's happening amid the war with Iran, a partial government shutdown that has crippled air travel, and after the aggressive immigration operation in Minnesota that left two U.S. citizens did. And Piers began,

Anderson is in the Twin Cities, Meg. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. Where are these protests happening today? Yeah, well, organizers say there are more than 3,000 protests happening in all 50 states and a lot of different countries as well, Australia, Ecuador, Greece, and more. I'll be at the one happening this afternoon at the Minnesota State Capitol in downtown St. Paul. That's expected to be the largest demonstration in Minnesota. But across the country, there are a lot of other smaller gatherings, you know, not just in big cities, but in small towns and suburbs and rural areas too. What are the organizers demanding? Organizers have highlighted federal officers arresting immigrants without warrants, President Trump taking military action abroad without congressional approval, and threatening

to nationalize the country's elections, which goes against the Constitution. Bethany Winkles is with Minnesota AFL, CIO. That's one of the main organizers of today's protest, and she says all those issues might seem unrelated, but... Those things are connected because they are an assault on our democracy, and so people should hopefully bring their own issue. But if we don't understand that none of these can be taken as individual instances, we are nowhere. Organizers are calling the rally in St. Paul the flagship of today's protests. What are people there telling you? Well, you know, on the one hand, there is a lot of energy for these protests. The community was really galvanized during the ice surge here. And so the

protest is expected to be very large. There will be some big names in attendance, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, Bernie Sanders. I spoke to one woman named Amy Carpenter. She's a retired first grade teacher. She lives in a Minneapolis suburb. She told me the ICE campaign was a big motivator for her to go to the protest today. The stuff that was happening with ICE in Minneapolis was just incredibly upsetting. There's still incredible amount of fear and trauma in people.

And it's just so wrong. It's just so wrong. And local organizers, you know, that includes. activists and immigrant rights groups are billing it as a day of healing and remembering the two American citizens killed by federal officers here. Meg, during the height of ice operations there, you talked to a lot of Minnesotans who said they were fearful of going outside, let alone protesting. Do you hear any of that now? Yeah. So when you talk to Minnesotans in the aftermath of all of this, you know, they often say it's a lot quieter, but it's not over. As of early March,

there were still around 650 immigration officers in the state. That's about three or four times the size it normally is. So people are still on edge. You know, there are still immigrant families here who are mostly staying home. And a lot of people witnessed or experienced immigration officers using a lot of force against protesters and people observing them. And so, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if some people who would normally go to this protest don't go. And on the national No King's website, there is some level of vigilance about being tart. targeted by the federal government. In the event's tips on how to prepare for a protest, they talk about using encrypted communications apps, scrubbing metadata from photos and videos before posting them online, and avoiding taking photos of other protesters' faces. And beers Meg Anderson. Thanks so much. You're welcome. And that's up first for Saturday, March 28, 26. I'm Scott Simon. And I'm Don Gagne, Elena Tuarek, produced today's podcast with help from Danny Hensel. and Gabe O'Connor.

Our editors include Jerry Holmes, Ed McNulty, Ravenna Cainig, Melissa Gray, and Diana Douglas. Here in the studio, Andy Craig, is our director, along with our technical director, David Greenberg. He had engineering support from Jay Sizz, Simon Janssen, and Zoe Van Gnhoeven. And you know, you'll find this hard to believe, but there are people who try to keep us in line.

Shannon Rhodes, our senior supervising editor, E.B. Stone, our executive producer, Jim Kane, as our deputy managing editor who navigates this ship to shore. Tomorrow on the Sunday story, a program for treating drug and alcohol addiction in Italy may change treatment here in the U.S. Thanks for listening and for supporting your local NPR station.

Would you like to find yours? We'd like you to find it. Just go to stations.npr.org.