NPR News: 03-09-2026 1PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. NPR has confirmed video that shows what appears to be a U.S. missile slamming into a compound in Iran where a girl's school was struck killing over 100 people. NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports President Trump is blaming the Iranians. The seven-second video was posted by Meher News, a semi-official Iranian news agency. It shows what experts told NPR is likely a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles that slams into an Iranian revolutionary guard compound, a school that was once part of that compound was also struck, killing around 175 students and staff. Speaking on Air Force one Saturday, President Trump said he believed Iran was behind the school blast. But NPR's analysis suggests a highly accurate strike. It hits seven buildings on the compound, including the school. The Pentagon says the investigation continues.

1:02Jeff Brumfield and NPR News. The U.S. Army confirms the seventh U.S. service member killed in action in the Middle East is 26-year-old Sergeant Benjamin N. Pennington. In a statement today, the Defense Department says Pennington died yesterday from wounds he sustained during an Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Saudi Arabia on the first day of the U.S. and Israeli bombings of Iran. The Army says the Kentucky native was assigned to the first space brigade. He will be posthumously promoted to Staff Sergeant. The remains of six Americans killed in the Middle East were flown home over the weekend. The war in Iran's created a major bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz and NPR's Jackie North him has more. There are roughly 120 cargo ships in limbo at ports in the Gulf region, and not surprisingly shipping companies are not accepting new bookings because we've got all this fresh food and the other things sitting there and they have no idea that companies how long the conflict is going to last. NPR's Jackie North him reporting.

2:02U.S. air travelers could see long wait times at security checkpoints this week. NPR's Joel Rose reports passengers waited for hours at several major airports over the weekend. Security lines snaked out of the terminal and into the parking garage at Lewis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans. At Houston's hobby airport passengers waited three hours or more at security checkpoints on Sunday. Austin Quayar was trying to get home to Chicago. We were going to try to look at getting earlier flights, but we came and get up to ask him at this point. The Department of Homeland Security blamed the long lines on the partial government shutdown. Workers at the TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, have been working without pay for more than three weeks after lawmakers and the White House failed to agree on changes to how immigration officers operate. Joel Rose and PR News, Washington. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 341 points are roughly three quarters of a percent. It's NPR news. A day after topping $100 a barrel for the first time in four years, Brent Crude's hovering

3:06around $93 to sour. Meanwhile, Triple Lake says the national average for regular gas has jumped again and is now $348 a gallon. The Department of Justice says it has reached a settlement with ticket master and parent company Live Nation Entertainment to settle an anti-trust lawsuit. Under the agreement, Live Nation sells 13 amphitheaters and allows rivals to play a role in ticket sales. However, more than two dozen states are opting to continue with a trial in New York Federal Court. Pixar's animated film Hoppers is at the top of the box office, Charles and PR's Bob Mundello, has details. Computer animated beavers in Pixar's latest family comedy have opened the floodgates when it comes to ticket sales. Hoppers is expected to take in $46 million by the end of the weekend. That beats the opening of every original animated film since Coco almost a decade ago, though a couple of animated sequels have done better. Credit a story that's easy to understand. You created a fake animal, which makes the other animals think you're an animal.

4:11Yes! This is like avatars. This is nothing like avatars. It also continues a hot streak for Hollywood generally, with each week putting a little more distance between this year's totals and the lackluster early ticket sales in 2025. 2026 is now up almost 10%. Bob Mundello, NPR News. The Dow is down 334 points, says and pays off 20 and the NASDAQ is up 14 points. This is NPR News. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.