NPR News: 04-03-2026 8AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, an encore of a Coleman, President Trump says the U.S. has destroyed one of Iran's largest bridges. This is after he threatened to send Iran back to, quote, the Stone Ages. And Piers Emily Fang reports there are reports of several air strikes across Iran. The B-1 bridge west of the capital Tehran, connecting it to the city of Kharaj was under construction when it was hit in the tack that Iran's IRGC security forces said killed eight people. The IRGC also threatened to hit major bridges in the Middle East in retaliation. People in Iran reported strikes all across the country overnight, and a spokesperson for one of Iran's biggest steel company says it will take at least half a year to repair damage from strikes on industrial factories starting last month. Trump has threatened the U.S. will hit more civilian infrastructure, including power plants in Iran by next week. If Iran does not open the strait of her moves, a threat that's been criticized by many Iranians who oppose Iran's current regime, including opposition figure Reza Pahlavi,

1:01the son of the former Shah. Emily Fang and Piers News is stumble. U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi is out of her job after President Trump announced that online yesterday afternoon. The Attorney General had been criticized for mishandling files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. She had not succeeded in President Trump's demand to legally target his perceived political foes. MPR's Carrie Johnson says Bondi has changed the federal agency in other ways. She presided over a massive exodus at the Justice Department, hundreds of prosecutors and FBI agents now gone, reshaping the institution. Judges of course have criticized the Department for blowing off orders, grand cherries, pretty frequently declined to bring indictments which almost never happened before last year. And some of the top leaders in the FBI who were fired last year have sued. They say they were ousted for political reasons because they were not sufficiently loyal to Donald Trump and Piers Carrie Johnson reporting. The Trump administration is suing the states of Illinois, Connecticut and Arizona.

2:04The administration claimed it holds the exclusive right to regulate prediction markets. And Piers Bobby Allen reports recent moves in the prediction market industry have set off debates about profiting off war and insider trading. The Community Futures Trading Commission has taken the rare step of launching lawsuits against three states. It argues sites like Kowshi and Polymarket should not be regulated as gambling businesses. The question of whether prediction market sites are gambling or what's known as a futures contract has set off more than two dozen lawsuits, pitting state gaming officials against the Trump administration. It's the latest legal development over an issue expected to go all the way to the Supreme Court. Lawmakers in Washington have been expressing alarm over the sites where people can bet thousands of dollars on military strikes in Iran, the extent of famine in Gaza and what Trump official will leave the White House next. Donald Trump Jr. is an advisor to both Kowshi and Polymarket, Bobby Allen and Piers News. This is NPR. The Cuban government says it will release more than two thousand prisoners in connection

3:04with the Christian holy week. Cuban officials say the detainees include both foreigners and Cuban citizens, including women and young people. The news comes as the Trump administration has put an oil embargo on the island, cutting vital energy supplies to Cuba. The crew of the Artemis II mission is hurtling toward the moon. They'll fly by in a few days and then circle back to Earth. One topic of discussion, what do astronauts eat? NASA says they have dozens of items from which to choose, from Central Florida public media, Mary Ann Summerall explains. The menu includes a wide variety of foods with things like spicy green beans, tropical fruit, salad and maple cream cookies. In a NASA video about eating in space, astronaut Christina Cook says foods you wouldn't even imagine being rehydrated are actually good. NASA's Norm Knight, the director of the Flight Operations Directorate, says NASA tracks each meal to ensure the crew's health.

4:06We have a food lab and we have folks at the Johnson Space Center tracking what they eat, the nutrition, the calories, it makes a difference. Each crew member was able to help sample and craft their own menu preferences before launch. For MPR News, I'm Mary Ann Summerall in Orlando. For Gaster Say, a late winter storm is bringing heavy snow, sleet and ice to the upper midwest and great lakes today, northern Michigan and Wisconsin could see up to a half inch of ice. I'm Kurova Kulman, 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.