The briefing for Sunday, March 22.

Iranian missiles struck the southern Israeli cities of Dimona and Arad late Saturday, marking the first time Iranian missiles penetrated Israeli air defenses in the area around the country's main nuclear research center. The strikes injured dozens and heavily damaged apartment buildings, with at least 64 people taken to hospitals in Arad alone. President Trump responded by threatening to 'obliterate' Iranian power plants if Tehran doesn't fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, posting on social media that the U.S. would destroy 'various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!'

Iran warned early Sunday that any strike on its energy facilities would prompt attacks on U.S. and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets in the region, specifically targeting information technology and desalination facilities. The Iranian strikes on Israel came hours after Tehran's main nuclear enrichment site at Natanz was hit earlier Saturday, though Israel denied responsibility for that attack. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not received reports of damage to the Israeli nuclear center or abnormal radiation levels, though it called for 'maximum military restraint' near nuclear facilities.

The Strait of Hormuz crisis has become a critical flashpoint, as attacks on commercial ships have stopped nearly all tankers from carrying oil and gas through the passage that handles 20% of global oil exports. This has led to cuts in output from some of the world's largest oil producers and contributed to soaring oil prices. Iran's envoy to the International Maritime Organization said navigating the strait is possible for 'everyone except enemies,' indicating Tehran would determine which vessels are allowed passage. The developments signal the war is moving in a dangerous new direction at the start of its fourth week, with death tolls surpassing 1,500 in Iran, over 1,000 in Lebanon, 15 in Israel, and 13 U.S. military members.

President Trump said Friday that he was considering 'winding down' military operations against Iran even as he outlined new objectives and deployed a Marine expeditionary unit of about 2,500 combat soldiers to the Middle East. In a Truth Social post, Trump provided his most detailed statement on war objectives since the conflict began, including degrading Iran's military, defense infrastructure, and nuclear weapons program. Notably absent from the list were regime change and 'unconditional surrender,' which Trump had insisted on in the war's early days.

Three weeks into the conflict, lawmakers from both parties are increasingly questioning when and how the war will end, especially as the administration requests $200 billion in additional Pentagon funding. Under the War Powers Act, the president can conduct military operations for 60 days without congressional approval, but Republicans who have largely supported the commander in chief are beginning to express concerns. Senator Thom Tillis told the AP, 'The real question is: What ultimately are we trying to accomplish? There has to be a strategic articulation of the strategy, what our objectives are.'

Military analysts suggest the newly deployed Marines could be planning to capture Kharg Island, Iran's primary oil export terminal, to cut off the nation's revenue and force concessions. However, Iran's state media warned that any attack on the island would lead to 'insecurity' in the Red Sea and attacks on energy facilities throughout the region. The administration's shifting goals have perplexed lawmakers, with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer calling the Pentagon's $200 billion funding request 'preposterous' and questioning whether the original mission objectives have been met. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believes 'the original mission is virtually accomplished now,' though acknowledged Iran's threats to the Strait of Hormuz are 'dragging it out a little bit.'

President Trump threatened Saturday to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to provide airport security starting Monday unless Democrats agree to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which has been partially shut down since mid-February. In social media posts, Trump said ICE would 'do Security like no one has ever seen before' and arrest 'all Illegal Immigrants,' specifically targeting Somali immigrants at airports. The move would expand the administration's immigration crackdown into the nation's airports as long security lines have formed due to staffing shortages.

The shutdown has left thousands of Transportation Security Administration employees working without pay for more than a month. At least 376 TSA officers have quit since the partial shutdown began, and unscheduled absences have more than doubled. Union officials report that some workers are taking second jobs while others face evictions, with one Dallas-based union official saying employees' bank accounts 'are at zero or negative' with no funds for daycare or food. Some airports have begun collecting gift cards and food parcels for TSA staff.

Democrats have refused to pass DHS funding without reforms to ICE following federal agents' fatal shootings of two Minneapolis protesters in January. Democrats are demanding that ICE bar agents from wearing face masks, provide better identification for officers, and tighten rules for obtaining warrants. A Senate bill to fund DHS and provide back pay to TSA workers failed to advance Friday, though there are signs of progress with bipartisan talks restarting behind closed doors. ICE agents, who are not specifically trained for airport security, have not been significantly affected by the shutdown because Congress previously provided separate funding for that agency.

A federal judge ruled Friday that the Department of Defense's press access policy violates the First and Fifth Amendments, blocking key restrictions that had barred most major media outlets from the Pentagon since October. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ruled in favor of The New York Times, which had sued after the Pentagon enacted controls requiring reporters to sign a document agreeing that any information gathered must be approved before release, even if unclassified. Major outlets including CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, CNN, Fox News, and BBC News refused to sign and had their access revoked.

Judge Friedman struck down the policy's provision that reporters who 'solicit' sensitive information could be barred from the building over security risks. 'To state the obvious, obtaining and attempting to obtain information is what journalists do,' Friedman wrote, noting that 'essential journalistic practices that the plaintiffs and others engage in every day - such as asking questions of Department employees - could trigger a determination that a journalist poses a security or safety risk.' He also blocked language stating that Pentagon access is a 'privilege' not a 'right,' saying the Pentagon cannot deny access 'unreasonably or on the basis of viewpoint.'

After major outlets declined to sign the policy, the Pentagon press corps became primarily conservative media outlets like One America News Network that had agreed to the terms. The Pentagon Press Association celebrated the ruling and called for 'immediate reinstatement of the credentials of all PPA members.' Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department 'disagrees with the decision and is pursuing an immediate appeal.' Judge Friedman did not strike down the policy requiring reporters to have escorts in some parts of the building, leaving that restriction in place.

The Trump administration's promised boost to tax refunds this year is likely to be entirely consumed by spiking gas prices caused by the Iran war, leaving most Americans with little extra spending money despite what the president had touted as 'the largest tax refund season of all time.' Gas prices have soared more than a dollar since the war began February 28, reaching a nationwide average of $3.94 Sunday. Economists now expect the average household will pay $740 more for gas this year, nearly equal to the $748 increase in refunds estimated by the Tax Foundation.

The energy shock comes as many consumers face a precarious financial position, with savings rates falling and credit card debt rising. 'When you start looking across the perspective from a consumer side, you're seeing people who have maxed out their credit cards, are using buy now, pay later to purchase their groceries,' said Julie Margetta Morgan of The Century Foundation. Unlike in 2022 when gas prices also spiked due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, households no longer have fattened bank accounts from pandemic stimulus and companies are no longer rapidly hiring and raising wages.

The impact will worsen the 'K-shaped' economic narrative, with lower-income households hit hardest. The bottom 10% of earners spend nearly 4% of their incomes on gasoline, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics, while the top 10% spend just 1.5%. Economists forecast gas prices could peak at $4.36 per gallon in May before slowly declining, following the 'rocket and feathers' phenomenon where prices rise quickly but fall slowly. Most analysts still expect economic expansion this year despite the gas price shock, though growth will be slower as dollars spent on gas are less likely to be used for restaurant meals, new clothes, or entertainment.

Doctors across the nation report that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment is reaching beyond vaccines to other proven preventive care for newborns, with refusals of vitamin K shots nearly doubling from 2.9% to 5.2% between 2017 and 2024, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzing over 5 million births. Parents who decline vitamin K shots are much more likely to refuse the hepatitis B vaccine and eye ointment that prevents potentially blinding infections. Idaho pediatrician Dr. Tom Patterson said that on one recent day, half the newborns he saw didn't receive vitamin K shots that have been given since 1961 to prevent deadly bleeding.

Vitamin K is critical because babies are born with low levels and their intestines can't produce enough until they start eating solid foods around 6 months old. Before injections became routine, up to 1 in 60 babies suffered vitamin K deficiency bleeding, which can affect the brain and gastrointestinal tract. Research shows newborns who don't get the shot are 81 times more likely to develop severe bleeding. Dr. David Hill of Seattle cared for a toddler whose parents declined the shot and who essentially had a stroke as a newborn, resulting in severe developmental delays and ongoing seizures. Idaho doctors reported eight deaths from vitamin K deficiency bleeding in their state over 13 months.

Innumerable social media posts question medical advice on vitamin K and eye ointment, while the Trump administration has repeatedly undermined established science. A federal advisory committee appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading anti-vaccine activist, voted to end the recommendation to immunize all babies against hepatitis B at birth, though a federal judge temporarily blocked the decision Monday. One common thread tying together anti-vaccine views and resistance to newborn protective measures is the fallacy that natural is always better than artificial, Hill said, noting that 'nature will allow 1 in 5 human infants to die in the first year of life, which is why generations of scientists and doctors have worked to bring that number way, way down.'