Lebanese Warfront, US Troops Deployed To Middle East, TSA and Travel

Israeli airstrikes killed three journalists, 10 paramedics, and a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon this weekend. Israel's prime minister ordered the military to expand its invasion of Southern Lebanon. Well over a million Lebanese people have already been displaced by Israeli attacks. I'm Leila Fauldil. That's Michelle Martin, and this is a first from NPR News. Iran agreed to let 20 ships through the Strait Of Hormuz as Pakistan emerges as a mediator in the war. But thousands of US troops are arriving in the Middle East, and Iran says any ground invasion will be met with force. So is a deal coming, or is this war widening? And Congress still hasn't reached a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump says he has a plan to pay TSA. How soon could paychecks go out? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. This week on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, we asked comedy legend Robert Smigel about the moment he first knew he was funny. When I was like four or five, I could draw really well. So I could draw Fred Flintstone and Snoopy. And then probably a couple years later, I started drawing them having sex. Listen to the Wait Wait Don't Tell Me podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. One front in The US Israeli war with Iran is widening in Lebanon. Last night, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he's expanding his invasion of that country. The toll inside Lebanon is devastating. Officials say well over a million people have been displaced. More than 1,200 people have been killed, including, just this weekend alone, three journalists, 10 paramedics, and a UN peacekeeper. NPR's Lauren Frayer has just returned from Southern Lebanon and joins us now in Beirut. Good morning, Lauren. Good morning, Leila. So where are you returning from exactly, and what did you see and hear? Frightened civilians fleeing Israeli bombardment, warplanes constantly overhead, sonic booms, but also resilience. We went to a Palm Sunday procession in the rain. I was in the southern town of Jazin in the mountains. Here's what it sounded like at a school converted into a shelter for the displaced. And that's the principal of the school, Colette Sleem, describing these waves and waves of people fleeing northward. Her school is now full. You could hear children playing in the yard there, and she's now forced to turn people away. It's worth looking at a map to understand the geography of this. First, last week, Israeli officials said they would take Lebanese territory up to the Litany River. That's a river that runs east west about 10 to 20 miles north of the current Israel Lebanon border. A few days later, they ordered residents out of a zone about 10 miles beyond that, north of the Zaharani River. And now Netanyahu's announcement about this widening invasion is creating more confusion and more fear here. I mean, …