Lebanese Warfront, US Troops Deployed To Middle East, TSA and Travel
Up First from NPR
NPR
4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 30 March 2026
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
Iran agreed to let 20 Pakistani-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz as a diplomatic gesture, but thousands more U.S. troops are arriving in the region, raising questions about whether a deal is close or the war is widening.
And TSA workers are now past 40 days without pay, as President Trump says he has a plan to pay them but it is not clear how it will work.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Gerry Holmes, Andrew Sussman, Alfredo Carbajal, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Adriana Gallardo.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ava Pukatch.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:55) Lebanese Warfront
(05:37) U.S. Troops Deployed To Middle East
(09:54) TSA and Travel
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Israeli airstrikes killed three journalists, ten paramedics, and a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon |
| 0:07.1 | this weekend. Israel's prime minister ordered the military to expand its invasion of southern Lebanon. |
| 0:12.3 | Well over a million Lebanese people have already been displaced by Israeli attacks. |
| 0:16.5 | I'm Leila Fondyl, that's Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:22.5 | Iran agreed to let 20 ships through the Strait of Hormuz as Pakistan emerges as a mediator in the war, |
| 0:28.0 | but thousands of U.S. troops are arriving in the Middle East, and Iran says any ground invasion will be met with force. |
| 0:34.0 | So is a deal coming or is this war widening? |
| 0:37.1 | And Congress still hasn't reached a deal |
| 0:39.4 | to fund the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump says he has a plan to pay TSA. How soon |
| 0:45.1 | could paychecks go out? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. |
| 1:00.0 | One front in the U.S. Israeli war with Iran is widening in Lebanon. Last night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he's expanding his invasion of that country. |
| 1:05.8 | The toll inside Lebanon is devastating. Officials say well over a million people have been displaced. More than |
| 1:11.8 | 1,200 people have been killed, including just this weekend alone, three journalists, 10 paramedics, |
| 1:17.4 | and a UN peacekeeper. NPR's Lauren Freyer has just returned from southern Lebanon and joins us |
| 1:23.0 | now in Beirut. Good morning, Lauren. Good morning, Leila. So where are you returning from exactly? |
| 1:28.5 | And what did you see in here? Frightened civilians fleeing Israeli bombardment, war planes constantly overhead, |
| 1:35.8 | sonic booms, but also resilience. We went to a Palm Sunday procession in the rain. I was in the |
| 1:41.7 | southern town of Jazeen in the mountains. Here's what it sounded |
| 1:44.9 | like at a school converted into a shelter for the displaced. And that's the principal of the school |
| 1:58.6 | Collette Sleem describing these waves and waves of people fleeing northward. |
| 2:03.3 | Her school is now full. You could hear children playing in the yard there. And she's now forced to turn people away. |
| 2:09.5 | 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. |
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