President Trump says the U.
He compares the endgame to Venezuela where the leader changed while the regime stayed. How does this war end? I'm Leila Faldin. That's Steven Skip and this is up first from NPR News. Lebanon's government is asking Israel to talk. The country's president says, "Hazballah dragged Lebanon into a war it did not choose. Will Israel come to the table?" Also New York Mayor, Zlat Ron Mombani speaks of an alleged act of terrorism.
New York City will never tolerate violence. Whether from protests or counter-protests.
People were protesting the Muslim mayor. Then police say two teenagers allegedly inspired by ISIS
“tried to deploy improvised explosive devices. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.”
President Trump took questions from reporters at a press conference on Monday for the first time since the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. The administration took several days to explain what its objectives were in this war. And Trump has given conflicting reasons for why he launched the strikes. On Monday, he said this. We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they're pretty well complete. We've wiped every single force
in Iran out. That was one of several contradictory statements by the president throughout the
day suggesting the war's end was near or not near. NPR National Political Correspondent
Mar Elias has been listening to it all. Mar a good morning. Good morning. What do you make the president's many words? I think that the dominant message was declaring victory. And after you did declare victory, you tend to look for an off ramp. He said quote, this was just an excursion. We're close to finishing very soon. He said we've already won. But then in the next breath, he said, but we haven't won enough. And we're determined to achieve total victory. Here's a little sample
of that. We could call it a tremendous success right now as we leave here. I could call it or we could go further. And we're going to go further. But he didn't say what going further means. President Trump model, at least in past military excursions, have been one and done.
“Venezuela very quick got out same with the Iran bombing in June. It sounds like that's what he wants”
to do now. Mar, I just want to note that the president's remarks have been moving markets. Before this press conference, in the afternoon while the financial markets were still open, Trump told CBS the war was quote very complete. Stocks immediately sold. Somebody made billions of dollars. And then he comes to the press conference. He declares victory, but also hedges. I mean, I guess we could blame us. The media in a sense because Trump
always says many, many words and people grab a few and try to interpret them. But are you able to
get a through line from all of these different statements? Well, yes, there were some things that were different about yesterday. He wasn't talking about unconditional surrender or regime change. He was asked, what does victory mean for you? Here's what he said. Where they're not going to be starting the following day to develop a nuclear weapon. And that shouldn't be hard to claim. He also talked about having instead of regime change, having an internal candidate that he would
approve to be Iran's new leader. And he compared it to Venezuela. He said the Venezuelan model has worked really well. In other words, leave the regime in place, but the leader changes. Now, Venezuela is a small weak country in the United States's backyard, Iran is very different, a big country with regional ambitions. He was also pressed on why he had promised the Iranian people he would come to their aid. And he was asked, aren't you betraying them if you don't push
all the way for regime change? But he didn't answer that question. I guess this is a good point to
“remember that a war has two parties. Has two people with a vote? As military people will say,”
how does this look to Iran? Well, I think their objective is to survive and to make the cost of continuing the war as high as possible for the U.S. and Israel. That means keeping the gas prices high, keeping the streets of Hormuz strangled, if not closed. And the president did talk about that yesterday. He said he wants to keep the streets of Hormuz open. And he might have military escorts for oil tankers through the Gulf. But right now, the price of oil in the United
States, the price of gas at the pump is going up. And if it keeps going up, that could make continuing the war politically difficult for the president. Mara, the president also talked about an Iranian girls school that was hit very early in the war. What is he saying about that? He seemed to suggest that Iran did this himself. That's something no one else in his administration including his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has claimed. He said it's easy to get a
Tomahawk missile. Although we know Iran does not have Tomahawk missiles. But he seemed to suggest that Iran got a Tomahawk and used it against its own civilians. But he also said that the U.S. was
Investigating and that he would support the conclusion of that investigation.
that have yet to be supported by evidence. Mara, thanks so much. You're welcome. That's in
“Pierce, Mara, Lyerson. Now we do not know how this war ends, but we do have some idea of the scale”
of its destruction so far. Iranian health officials contend the United States and Israeli campaign has killed 1,200 people in Iran. Lebanese authorities report 500 deaths in an Israeli offensive there. And we go next to Lebanon where NPR is a deal of shelter has been sometimes underneath the bombs and covering this from Beirut, either in a deal. Good morning. Okay, so we heard from
President Trump, what do you hear from the other side in this war? Well, the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard said that President Trump is trying to put, quote, psychological pressure on Iran and they vow to continue standing up to the U.S. and Israeli aggression with, quote, courage and strong will. It also said that the Iranian armed forces are waiting for the U.S. Navy at the straight of harm moves. The reaction elsewhere in the region has been pretty muted, but we know that the Gulf is calling for an end to the war and a return to negotiations. The price of oil
“as you just heard from Mara sword yesterday as Iran targeted oil installations in the Gulf.”
Now where you are in Beirut, we know there have been Israeli air strikes. There's been in Israeli ground force that has moved into southern Lebanon and the President of Lebanon wants direct negotiations with Israel. What does that mean? Yeah, so Lebanon is really been at war
for decades. The first ever direct talks were just three months ago, actually. And then yesterday,
Lebanese President Joseph Allen called for more direct negotiations with Israel and for an end to the bombing. He asked once again for help from the international community to provide the Lebanese armed forces with equipment and what he called logistical support to help in the Lebanese governments campaign to try and disarm and distance itself from the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, which operates mainly out of southern Lebanon. Now just last week's security
authorities in Lebanon actually issued arrest warrants. It's unprecedented for those who they believed launch the rockets into Israel, which dragged Lebanon into this war. And the Justice Minister even proposed the Lebanese cabinet to issue an arrest warrant for the leader
of Hezbollah. Now these are some of the strongest rebukes ever by the Lebanese state towards
Hezbollah. But again, whether they're able to follow through remains to be seen, you know, the Lebanese army says is outgunned by Hezbollah. And there are actually questions about political will within the army to go through with the disarmament. So how is Israel responded to this Lebanese effort at peace? And we are spoke to an official in Israel, briefed on the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic affairs. And Israel says sees positive
signs from the Lebanese government in its approach to Hezbollah, but that the war is continuing and will continue. The official said that Hezbollah is still showing. It has capabilities with rocket fire toward Tel Aviv yesterday. And the official said that Israel has no patience
“to enter a war with Hezbollah every few months. But let's remember that Israel has been striking”
southern Lebanon for 15 months now, even though a ceasefire was brokered last year and the Israeli military is pushing further into Lebanese land, growing fears or happening about invasion into Lebanon. Now let's talk about Iran itself. Of course, he is really campaign continues there. The U.S. campaign continues there. They have a new supreme leader. President Trump has talked about assassinating him too. What are these really saying? The Israelis are being a little
bit coy about that particular point. In a post on social media yesterday, the Israeli foreign ministry posted a photo of the late Iotalali Qamenei carrying a gun with his son, who is the new supreme leader also carrying a gun and the caption was like father like son. But when asked whether Moshnabah Qamenei should be worried, the Israeli military spokesperson said that they don't comment on specific targets and they quote leave some room for surprise. What we do know is that the
work continues bombs fell on Tehran just this morning. And here's a deal on Shaltchi, thanks so much. You're welcome. Two Pennsylvania men have been charged with terrorism-related crimes following an attempted attack using explosive devices over the weekend in New York City. Okay, there were no injuries. The device didn't go off, but federal investigators assert that the suspects, both of them teenagers,
were motivated by ISIS. That group has worked to radicalize young Muslim men around the world. And Pierce Bryan Man is covering the story, Brian Good Morning. Good morning, Steve. What do you know about the suspects? So, Amir Bilat, who's 18 in Ibrahim, Kayumi, 19, or both from Pennsylvania, neither have criminal records. Investigators said they arrived in New York City Saturday, apparently drawn by an anti-Muslim protest organized by a far-right group. It had been widely
publicized. Authorities said yesterday the men were caught on camera throwing improvised explosive devices at the anti-Muslim protesters. Jake Clayton is US attorney for the Southern District of New
York at a press conference yesterday in Manhattan.
a deadly attack. These were ISIS-inspired actions. And it is chilling that they wanted to do something
“more than the Boston Marathon. More than three deaths. Rebecca Winner heads the NYPD's anti-terror”
organization. She said at least one of these devices was a jar Steve that was packed with nuts and bolts and screws and also a chemical called TATP widely used in the IEDs around the world. Winner said it's very lucky this device didn't detonate when thrown into the crowd. They could have caused death, destruction, extremely dangerous compound, and extremely dangerous place to plant. So Baladin Kiyomi were charged yesterday with crimes that
include aiding of foreign terror organization and using a weapon of mass destruction. Disturbing to hear the composition of that weapon, but why do authorities say the men were motivated specifically by ISIS? Officials say Baladin Kiyomi started talking after their arrest. According to court documents filed yesterday, they allegedly waived their Miranda rights and told police. They watched ISIS materials on their phone investigators say Baladin allegedly wrote on a piece of
paper that he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Baladin also allegedly told authorities he hoped to carry out an attack bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
“Important to say Steve, these are only allegations at this point that two men were a”
rain yesterday. They have not yet entered a plea. They're being held without bail. How is Mayor Mokdani responding to all of this? Yeah, Zorn Mokdani is New York City's first Muslim mayor speaking yesterday. He condemned that anti-Muslim rally as big a tree, but said the far-right activists who gathered had a right to free speech. I will defend that right every day that I am mayor even when those
protesting say things that I have hore. New York City will never tolerate violence,
whether from protests or counter-protests. And Mokdani praised NYPD officers who responded quickly to this alleged attack. Okay, so let's talk this through. Where does the investigation
“go next with the suspects in custody and at least according to the police saying some things?”
Yeah, the FBI probe is continuing in New York City also in Pennsylvania where these men lived, agents searched, storage unit in Pennsylvania last night. Officials have declined to say whether they think these men had actual contact with ISIS recruiters or self-radicalized after looking at that material online. And why PD officials say they do think these alleged actions are part of a pattern where the Islamic State is attempting to mobilize young,
Muslim men using social media. Brian, is there any evidence that this incident wasn't some way linked to the war in Iran? You know, NYPD commissioner Jessica Tish spoke about this a couple times yesterday. She said there's no sign Kiyomi and Balot were motivated by U.S. and Israeli air strikes in Iran, but she said the war does have the city's anti-terror units on high alert. She says drone and heavy weapons teams are forward deployed throughout New York
City. Officials say they also want residents to be vigilant. And here's Brian Man, thanks so much. Thanks, Steve.
And that's a first for this Tuesday, March 10th. I'm Steve Inskip.
And I'm Leila Faldin. Today's episode of a first was edited by Rebecca Metzler, Hannah Blogg, Alfredo Carbohal, Muhammad Zadbar G.C. and Alice Wolfly. It was produced by the Zadbuch and Neo-Dumos. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hindus, our technical director, is Carly Strange. Our supervising senior producer is Vince Pearson. Join us again tomorrow.
