Tuesday morning news: March 31, 2026

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Trump threatens Iran w/obliteration if no deal in a week » President Trump is threatening devastating damage to Iran’s infrastructure if that Middle Eastern nation does not reach a deal soon to end the U.S.-Israeli air campaign Operation Epic Fury.

In a social media post, the president said great progress is being made in peace talks with Iran, while also threatening that the U.S. will completely obliterate Iran’s power plants, oil wells, and possibly even plants that supply drinking water if a deal to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz isn’t in place shortly.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:

LEAVITT: This remains a truly once in a generation opportunity for the regime to make a good deal with the United States, permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions, and stop acting as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.

Trump says he’s negotiating with the speaker of Iran’s parliament, though the speaker denies the talks. A few days ago, the president said he’d hold off on bombing key Iranian infrastructure until April 6th, and there’s no indication that date has changed.

While Trump says negotiations are moving in the right direction, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman has a different view, calling the peace proposal from the White House “excessive, unrealistic, and irrational.”

SOUND: [Sirens, blast]

Meantime, more retaliatory strikes from Iran and its proxies on key infrastructure of Israel and other U.S. Middle East allies Monday as the U.S. and Israel blistered Iran with fresh strikes of their own.

Middle East allies like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait are urging the U.S. to continue Epic Fury until Iran’s leadership or behavior has changed significantly. They say Iran hasn’t been weakened enough yet.

The U.S. is preparing to possibly send in ground troops for special, targeted missions short of a full ground invasion, like seizing Iran’s oil facilities or enriched uranium.

FBI: Michigan synagogue attack inspired by Hezbollah Ready to record » The gunman who plowed his truck into a synagogue in Michigan earlier this month was inspired by the Islamic terror group Hezbollah. That is the finding of the FBI.

RUNYAN: We assess this attack to be a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan.

That is FBI Detroit Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyon.

The gunman, a Lebanese national who entered the country in 2011 as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, drove his truck into the building while it served as a daycare. He ended up killing himself after exchanging gunshots with security.

Investigators have found he planned out the attack beforehand, searching online for where he could find large gatherings of Jews in Michigan, and had also posted anti-Semitic sentiments online.

Children were inside the synagogue at the time of the attack, but they were all okay. 30 officers did need treatment for smoke inhalation.

TSA workers get paid, airport lines ease » Transportation Security Administration -TSA- workers finally started getting paid for the first time in a month and a half Monday. And as they did, those long security lines at America’s airports got a whole lot shorter.

TSA falls under the Department of Homeland Security -DHS- and is caught up in a political stalemate over DHS funding. 

TSA Officer Aaron Barker says he didn’t receive his full back pay yet, but anything coming in right now helps.

BARKER: This morning I did receive a deposit into my account, as many of my colleagues have… That money is needed in order to get some sense of normalcy back to officers’ everyday lives.

Hundreds of TSA workers quit and large numbers called in sick over the past few weeks, leading to very long lines at airport security checkpoints.

Monday, those lines were generally way down. At Houston’s main airport, the wait went from about four hours over the weekend to roughly 10 minutes Monday.

Controversy with other DHS agencies responsible for immigration enforcement and border patrol sparked the standoff. After two U.S. citizens died in confrontations over immigration raids this year, Democrats are refusing to fully fund DHS unless there are reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, and Customs and Border Patrol.

GOP meets, fails to pass DHS bill, not planning to return » The lack of a DHS funding deal isn’t keeping lawmakers on Capitol Hill from their Easter recess.

The Senate met for 31 seconds Monday, giving Republicans the theoretical possibility of passing a House bill via unanimous consent that would’ve funded DHS for two months.

But Democrats squelched such a political maneuver. 

Making sure, Senator Chris Coons of Delaware was there as a watchdog, and the Senate recessed without voting.

COONS: Just in case a Republican member showed up and said, ‘I ask unanimous consent that we fund ICE and Border Patrol, or that we adopt the House bill,' I was there to object.

Republicans argue the reforms Democrats want—like barring agents from wearing masks and making them prove their identity—would make those agents less safe.

Now, both chambers are on a two-week Easter recess. 

The White House is still urging the Senate to come back to try to pass key priorities like DHS funding. President Trump says he’ll host an Easter dinner for lawmakers if they do.

Student shoots teacher, self in Texas school » A 15-year-old student shot a teacher, then fatally shot himself at a high school near San Antonio Monday morning.

Another student at the school, Jesse Garza, described the scene to KSAT-TV:

GARZA: All I know is that there were three to four gunshots. It sounded like, it sounded like a table slamming down. And then I heard someone scream… Everyone just like ran out the back, to the bus area.

The gunfire rang out at Hill Country College Preparatory High School in the city of Bulverde. Medics took the teacher to a hospital nearby. No official word on the teacher’s condition, or on what exactly led to the shooting.

Afterward, school officials took students to a middle school nearby to reunite with their parents. 

Classes at the high school are canceled today, but counselors will be on hand if students or families need to talk.

Protecting women's sports » The Trump Administration is taking legal action in Minnesota to protect women's sports. 

WORLD's Travis Kircher reports: 

KIRCHER: The Department of Justice's Civil Rights division filed a lawsuit Monday against education and sports officials in Minnesota. 

The lawsuit accuses the Minnesota department of education and the Minnesota state high school league of violating Title IX when they allowed boys who identify as female to compete in girls-only sports. 

The lawsuit also says boys were allowed to invade girls locker rooms and bathrooms. 

In a statement, Minnesota's Democratic attorney general Keith Ellison characterized the lawsuit as a sad attempt to get attention. He also accused the Trump Administration of trying to shame and harras children. 

But the DOJ says those policies create unfair competition, infringe on girls athletic opportunities, and create a hostile environment for girls. 

For WORLD, I'm Travis Kircher. 

And I’m Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead: A former Special Forces officer on the balancing act the U.S. is trying to pull off in Iran. And later, why Gen Z appears to be dating less often than previous generations.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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