NPR News: 03-02-2026 8PM EST

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skiivone. As the latest Middle East conflict continues into a third-day President Trump today paid tribute to service persons who have died in attacks by Iran. President Trump has projected that combat operations there could continue for four or five weeks and that the most intense part of the operation or the big wave as he put it is still ahead. The Defense Pete Hegseth today told reporters quote, this is not a rock, this is not endless. And PR's Tom Bowman has more. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Cain briefed the press talking about taking out Iranian missiles, its nuclear program in Navy. Now there already have been six Americans so just killed and queued by an Iranian missile and as many as 18 wounded. And General Cain said this is just the beginning of this operation and also to expect more casualties. And PR's Tom Bowman, the Iranian Red Crescent reports that more than 500 people in the

1:01region have died there so far in the conflict. The State Department is urging Americans to leave more than a dozen countries in the Middle East as the U.S. and Israel continue strikes on Iran. And PR's Michelle Kellman reports that Iran has been firing drones and missiles at Gulf countries with U.S. bases. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. is determined to wipe out Iran's ballistic missile capabilities and its Navy to prevent it from threatening countries in the region. The hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran and it is right now. Iran is responding with drone and missile strikes across the region and the State Department has been pulling some staff out of embassies in Gulf countries. The Department is also urging Americans in the region to sign up for emergency alerts and leave when possible. The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon announced that it will be closed on Tuesday. Michelle Kellman and PR News, the State Department.

2:01In Texas voting in the state's primary election ends tomorrow and one of the big questions is whether Gaines Republicans made with Latino voters in 2024 are sticking. And PR's Ashley Lopez reports. Issues like the economy and immigration played a big role in this shift among some Latino voters in 2024. But now, those issues are a liability for the party. Brandon Roddinghaus at the University of Houston says polling shows Latinos are becoming increasingly unhappy with President Trump's handling of the economy, as well as aggressive immigration enforcement operations. There's a sense that the Republicans have squandered a situation where they were likely to get the Latino vote on their side for several election cycles. Roddinghaus says significant participation among these voters in the state's Democratic primary could be one sign these voters could be shifting away from the GOP, Ashley Lopez and PR News. After some would fall until day markets closed the day relatively unchanged, this is NPR.

3:02Several international airlines are resuming a small number of domestic flights from the United Arab Emirates to get tens of thousands of travelers on their way home. Dubai officials are telling passengers to go to the airport only if contacted for flights, foreign governments urging citizens to shelter in place as evacuation plans are sorted. The origins of human affinity for alcohol may be visible in our primate relatives. Here's science reporter Ari Daniel. When fruits ripen, they ferment and produce alcohol. For some primates, that smell may be a shortcut to finding sugar and calories. But there wasn't much evidence that chimps were actually consuming the alcohol, so a team of researchers, including UC Berkeley PhD student Alexey Marrow, sampled urine from wild Ugandan chimps. At least ten of the animals urine contained a concentration equivalent in humans to having had one or two drinks.

4:07Perhaps leading to our modern attraction to the stuff, except that today we can produce and consume it at much higher concentrations. For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel. He marched for civil rights alongside Barton Luther King, Jr. ran for president and continued on as leader of his self-styled Rainbow Coalition. Now the Reverend Jesse Jackson returns to his once segregated home state of South Carolina for a final public farewell, lying in state at the Capitol in Columbia. I'm Louise Kivone and PR News.