The Latest: 03/03/2026 02:59pm ET

All the latest national and international news. Topics also include finance, weather and entertainment.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is your twenty four to seven use update the
latest use this hour in just four minutes.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Operation Epic Fury is intensifying as Iran targets US embassies
in the region. In a post on truth Social President
Trump said, now that the country's air defense, air force, navy,
and leadership are gone, they want to talk, but it's
too late. Iran has retaliated with strikes against American embassies
in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and the cost of gas
is on the rise, but the President says that's only temporary.

(00:30):
At the White House today, Trump said he expects prices
to fall as soon as Operation Epic Fury ends.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
If we have a little high oil prices for a
little while, but as soon as this ends, those prices
are going to drop, I believe, lower than.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Even before Triple A reports. The national average price for
a gallon of regular gas jumped eleven cents today to
three dollars and ten cents. Nearly a fifth of the
world's oil travels through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran
says it will target any vessel using the narrow waterway.
Stocks are also down in volatile trading on Wall Street.
The major averages have come off session lows, which had

(01:06):
the Dow Jones plunging over twelve hundred points earlier. Today,
a spike in oil prices and fearce the conflict with
Iran could drag on longer than expected sparked a broad
sell off on global markets. Homeland Security Secretary of Christi
Nomes testimony before a Senate committee is over. She faced
the Senate Judiciary Committee today as DHS remains unfunded, with

(01:27):
Democrats demanding changes to ICE immigration enforcement operations. Nome was
questioned about the ICE involved fatal shootings of Renee Good
and Alex Preddy in Minneapolis. There were several calls from
Democrats from Nome to resign. She also had plenty of
Republican support. However, one Republican not running for re elections,
Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina, attributed the deaths in
Minneapolis to nomes leadership, comparing it to when she put

(01:50):
down her fourteen month old dog. Nome will go before
the House Judiciary Committee tomorrow. Voters are going to the
polls in the first primaries of the midterm elections in Texas,
North Carolina, and Arkansas. Saw today the twenty twenty six
midterms could shift the balance of power in bolth the
House and Senate Chris Kraji. Singer songwriter Kesha is blasting
the Trump administration for using her song blow on their

(02:12):
TikTok account following the start of military operations in Iran.
She posted on Instagram and x about the unauthorized use yesterday,
saying that she didn't improve, while adding trying to make
light of wars disgusting and inhumane. The TikTok clip featured
fighter jets in the air with the tagline Lethality. Eric
Clapton is hitting the road this fall. Mark Mayfield with more.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has announced a
six state US tour. It kicks off in Detroit, Michigan,
September sixth, and wraps up in Kansas City, Missouri, September seventeenth.
Jimmy Vaughan will join Clapton on the road as a
special guest. Tickets go on sale Friday. I'm Mark Mayfield.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
The Prince Celebration is back for its tenth year. The
event will feature concerts, screenings, panel discussions, and immersive fan experiences.
It'll also celebrate the anniversaries of the singer's album including Parade, Emancipation,
Rainbow Children, Chaos and Disorder, and thirty one to twenty one.
The print celebration is taking place in Minnesota across Saint
Paul Paisley Park and downtown Minneapolis from June third through

(03:31):
the seventh. Tickets are on sale now. Two people are
safe today with quite a story to tell after their
hot air balloon got stuck on a cell phone tower
in Texas and they had to be rescued by firefighters.
Rescuers responded to the scene in Longview Saturday morning to
find the balloon stuck more than nine hundred feet off
the ground. Both occupants in the balloon's basket were conscious

(03:51):
and unhurt. It took more than a dozen firefighters hours
using multiple ropes and harnesses to finally get the stranded
duo down. No structural damaged to the cell tower was reported.
I'm Chris Kragio.