Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone.
Chapter 2: What did Secretary of State Marco Rubio say about the war with Iran?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the current war with Iran needed to happen. He's on Capitol Hill today to make the administration's case, although the Trump administration did not seek congressional approval before strikes on Iran. NPR's Michelle Kellerman has more. Secretary Rubio says the U.S.
has a clear goal in mind to eliminate the threat of Iran's short-range ballistic missiles and its naval assets. And he says there was an imminent threat. We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces.
And we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties. He says the US hopes the Iranian people can overthrow the government, but the objective of the US mission, he says, is to deny Iran the ability to threaten the region with missiles. And he says it was important to take this action when Iran was at a weak point.
Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department. In Lebanon, at least 52 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes over the past day, the health ministry there says. The strikes follow a Hezbollah attack last night, creating a crush of people searching for somewhere safe to stay. From Beirut, NPR's Jawad Rizkallah describes the scene.
Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon continue today, following Hezbollah's attack last night. Families fled towards safer areas. Some found space in shelters. As those filled up, others came here, on one stretch of Beirut's seaside promenade, one of the few truly public spaces in the city.
Displaced families have laid out mattresses and blankets on the wide walkway by the Mediterranean, where people usually come to walk and watch the waves. Bags and pillows sit beside them. Some men smoke hubbly bubblies. For now, this section is a temporary refuge. It's a cold winter night with damp sea air coming in from the water. They didn't come for comfort.
They came because it feels safe and because it's available. Jawad Rizqallah, NPR News, Beirut. Limited commercial flights out of the Middle East resumed today, but as NPR's Joel Rose reports, many travelers remain stranded.
Tourists and business travelers hunkered down in hotels and airports across the Middle East, a waiting word on when airports would reopen and flights can return to a normal schedule. That includes Christy Elmer of New Hampshire, who traveled to Dubai last week for business meetings. We're waiting to fly out. Our flights keep getting canceled, so we've had flights booked every day for the week.
The airport in Dubai, which is one of the busiest in the world, said operations had resumed with a, quote, small number of flights. Airlines canceled more than 3,400 flights across the Middle East on Monday alone, according to the flight tracking site FlightRadar24, bringing the total number of cancellations since the war began to nearly 10,000. Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington.
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