NPR News: 03-20-2026 6AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kurova Coleman. The Pentagon says an American F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing after a combat mission in Iran. Imperial School Lawrence reports the pilot was wounded by any fire but is in stable condition. U.S. Central Command acknowledged that the F-35 made a safe but unplanned landing and said the incident is under investigation. But a U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to NPR that the F-35 fighter was hit by enemy fire and that the pilot is stable after requiring stitches. It's the first known instance of Iran's anti-aircraft defenses damaging a manned American plane. This news broke hours after Secretary of Defense Pete Hexas said Iran's air defenses have been, quote, flattened. Still, Iran is not shot down a single U.S. or Israeli pilot over nearly three weeks of war and thousands of bombing sorties over Iranian airspace. Israel is hitting Iran's capital, Tehran, with new strikes today. Iran is firing at its neighbors.

1:02Trump administration officials say that President Trump will decide when the war is over. Thomas Wright served in the National Security Council under former President Biden. He tells NPR Trump could increase the attacks in an effort to end the war quickly. President Trump could take greater risks to try to achieve a major tactical victory that would allow him to say that he has achieved his objectives and to end the war. So he could try to take Carg Island where a lot of Iran's oil is. And he could order a military raid on some of the nuclear facilities in Isfahan or Nance to take the highly enriched uranium. But he warns that's very high risk. He says the U.S. could possibly take casualties. Several crude oil prices remain volatile at about $107 a barrel. Gas prices continue to climb. And Fierce Camille and Dominozki reports the scale of the disruption to global oil markets

2:03is profound. About 20 million barrels per day typically passes through the strait of her moves. Right now maybe five million is making it around the strait like through pipelines. Dan Pickering is the chief investment officer at Pickering Energy Partners. 15 million barrels a day isn't easy to offset anywhere. That's the total production of the United States and where the biggest producer in the world. There is no easy fix. Tapping stockpiles and easing U.S. sanctions only partly fills the gap. And waving the Jones Act, which mandates goods traveling between U.S. ports be sent on American-built ships, might ease gasoline prices by a penny or less. Camille and Dominozki and PR News. The war against Iran has left the status of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia unclear. The grain says it is prepared to proceed. Russia says the war against Iran means the peace talks are on quote situational pause. This is NPR. The Trump administration says it will transfer the control of federal student loans from

3:04the Department of Education to the Treasury Department. President Trump had suggested last year he would move the loans to the small business administration. There's no explanation for the change. But it is the late design. Trump is trying to close the education department. There is a continued reckoning over the legacy of the late United Farm Workers Act of a Cesar Chavez. The Texas Newsroom's Lucia Vasquez spoke to historians who say this could be an opportunity to refocus on the broader farm workers movement. For decades, Cesar Chavez has been revered as a central figure in the fight for farm worker rights. But new reporting that corroborates allegations of sexual assault and child rape is reshaping how that legacy is viewed. Cynthia Orozco is a historian with the League of United Latin American citizens. She says the moment calls for a shift in focus beyond Chavez himself. Let's celebrate the farm workers, the farm worker movement, and let's celebrate the Lord of Swerta and let's celebrate the women who are now speaking out.

4:07Orozco says movements are built by people, not just leaders, and that this is a chance to recognize contributions that have often been overlooked. For MPR News, I'm Lucia Vasquez. People are hunting in Ohio for fragments of a meteorite that crashed to the Earth Tuesday morning. The fireball could be seen zipping across the sky from Wisconsin to Maryland. A few people have reported finding small pieces of blackened rock in Ohio. This is NPR. This message comes from Subaru. The all-new 2026 Subaru Outback features bold new styling, plus standard symmetrical all-wheel drive, and an available 260 horsepower turbocharged Subaru Boxer engine for confident performance wherever the trail may lead. Standard X-Mode with hill descent control offers greater ability to optimize traction in almost any condition. Remember the all-new Outback at Subaru.com slash Outback.