Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 1, 2026

AMY GOODMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWS ANCHOR, THE WARREN PIECE REPORT, IS AVAILABLE ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM. WELCOME TO DEMOCRACY NOW!, democracynow.org, The Warren Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. President Trump claimed Tuesday U.S. forces would end operations in Iran very soon, saying it could take two to three weeks. the U.S. and says, while he's exchanged messages with Washington, there are no negotiations

currently underway. On Tuesday, Israel struck a major pharmaceutical company in Tehran. Israel claimed the plants responsible for developing chemical weapons. This comes as the USS George H.W. Bush deployed to the Middle East Tuesday, along with three destroyers, according to two U.S. officials speaking to the Middle East Tuesday, along with three destroyers, according to two U.S. officials speaking to the AP.

The carrier strike group consists of more than 6,000 service members. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a news briefing at the Pentagon Tuesday morning and launched into a prayer for U.S. troops in the region.

May God watch over all of them, each day and each night. May his almighty and eternal arms of providence stretch over them and protect them and bring them peace. In the name of Jesus Christ, and amen.

President Trump's expected to address the nation tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. It comes as several European nations have refused to back the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. France has blocked Israeli planes from flying weapons through its airspace, while Italy refused last-minute permission for U.S. bombers to land in Sicily. Spain has consistently denied the U.S. use of its bases and airspace for the war. And on Tuesday, Spain's defense minister said Spain will not accept lectures from anyone.

British Prime Minister Kira Starmer also pledged the United Kingdom will not be dragged into the war in Iran. In an interview with The Telegraph Tuesday, President Trump said he's strongly considering pulling out of NATO. This is Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Fox News last night.

We are going to have to reexamine whether or not this alliance that has served this country well for a while is still serving that purpose, or has it now become a one-way street where America is simply in a position to defend Europe, but when we need the help of our allies, they're going to deny us basing rights and they're going to deny us overflight?

A drone attack sparked a large fire at Kuwait International Airport this morning, according to Kuwaiti state media. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia says it intercepted and destroyed two Iranian drones. Bahrain also said it's working to extinguish a fire at a business facility that resulted from an Iranian attack. A tanker also came under attack off the coast of Qatar earlier today.

Israeli strikes in southern Beirut killed at least seven people Tuesday, according to Lebanon's health ministry. It comes as Israel says it will keep control of southern Lebanon, establish a new security zone and destroy all homes in Lebanese villages near the Israeli border after its war with Hezbollah ends. Israel has killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon since it resumed its war with Hezbollah,

according to Lebanon's health ministry. More than a million people have been forced to flee their homes. This is Lebanon's minister for social affairs.

I think this is a very different character from the previous war, different regions that have been targeted. And you have also the fact that host communities are tired. This is another challenge, ensuring the social cohesion.

A U.S. journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad Tuesday. Shelley Kittleson is a U.S. freelance journalist based in Rome who's covered the Middle East. According to police, Kittleson was seized by four men in civilian clothes and taken in a vehicle. The State Department said it had previously warned Kittleson of threats against her and is coordinating with the FBI to secure her release.

President Trump says he plans to attend Supreme Court oral arguments today on his executive order ending birthright citizenship. It would be the first time a sitting president would be present during oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Critics call it a dangerous assault on the independence of the judiciary.

President Trump signed the executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship on his first day back in office. A series of lower courts blocked it, ruling the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. Here's President Trump speaking to reporters yesterday.

And this is not about Chinese billionaires or billionaires from other countries, who all of a sudden have 75 children, or 59 children in one case, or 10 children, becoming American citizens. This was about slaves.

And if you take a look, slaves, we're talking about slaves from the Civil War.

In an 8-to-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a law that banned conversion therapy for LGBTQ children in Colorado. The challenge to Colorado's ban is led by a Christian-licensed counselor, Kaylee Charles, who argued the ban is a violation of her First Amendment rights to free speech and religion. Supreme Court Justice Katanji Brown-Jackson was the only dissenting vote. The ACLU of Colorado said in a statement, quote,

This case is a major blow to the rights of LGBTQ plus youth, not only in Colorado, but across our country. Conversion therapy has no place in our country. Attempts to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression causes severe, lasting psychological harm to LGBTQ+, youth," the ACLU said. So-called conversion therapy has been widely discredited by medical organizations, including

the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Federal immigration agents will reportedly be stationed at an upcoming Marine Corps graduation in Parris Island, South Carolina, raising fears for undocumented families attending the event. The agents are reportedly charged with identifying whether any of the graduates' family members

are undocumented. Thousands of non-U.S. citizens have served in the military with advocates condemning the deportation of veterans, service members and their relatives under Trump and other U.S. administrations. In related news, a federal judge in Boston has ordered the Trump administration to restore protections and deportation relief for tens of thousands

of immigrants who entered the U.S. through a parole process under President Biden. The Biden administration established the CBP1 app in 2023 to allow immigrants to make appointments to petition for asylum at ports of entry and the southern border. Judge Alison Burroughs ordered the Trump administration to reverse its policy, which ordered as many as 900,000 immigrants who'd used the app to leave the U.S. immediately. Tens of thousands of immigrants who received the notice have already left the U.S. voluntarily

or have been deported. President Trump signed a sweeping executive order cracking down on mail-in voting as he escalates his attacks on voter access ahead of this year's midterm elections. The order seeks to create a list of U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state, directing the U.S. Postal Service to mail ballots only to verified voters. Arizona's Democratic Secretary of State, Adrienne Fonte, said in a statement, quote,

"'This executive order is a disgusting overreach from the federal government and shows how little the Trump administration understands about election administration. We will not let this order stand without a fight, and we'll meet the federal government in court," Fontes said. Arizona is among several states the Trump administration has sued in order to access sensitive voter data.

The state was also at the center of Trump's false claims of election fraud in 2020. In the last election, in the last month that President Trump voted in in Florida, he mailed in his ballot. A federal judge has ruled President Trump's executive order defunding NPR and PBS is unconstitutional. Judge Randolph Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said in his ruling, quote, "[The First Amendment draws a line which the government may not cross at efforts to use

government power, including the power of the purse, to punish or suppress disfavored expression by others,' unquote. President Trump's executive order last year spurred Congress to claw back $1.1 billion in federal funding for public media outlets, including PBS and NPR. Congress's rescission of the funds remains in place. Trump's executive order led to the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,

which had funded public media in the United States for more than half a century. The White House called Tuesday's decision a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge and vowed to appeal. A federal judge has temporarily blocked construction of President Trump's White House ballroom, saying he doesn't have the authority to fund the $400 million project through private donors.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon also said President Trump does not have the power to remodel the White House without congressional approval, writing in his decision, quote, "'The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families.' He is not, however, the owner," unquote. The lawsuit was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Earlier this week, Trump told reporters the ballroom would be a shed for a massive military complex being built underneath. And Canadian diplomat, politician and human rights advocate Stephen Lewis has died of cancer at the age of 88. Lewis served as the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and led Ontario's progressive New Democratic Party, the NDP.

He was also the father of socialist activist and documentary filmmaker Avi Lewis, who has just been elected as head of Canada's New Democratic Party. Stephen Lewis spent decades advocating for global HIV-AIDS awareness, co-founding AIDS Free World. From 2001 to 2006, he served as the U.N. Secretary-General's special envoy for HIV-AIDS in Africa. We spoke to him in 2012, as one of the largest international AIDS conferences concluded in

Washington, D.C.

There's never a smidgen of that money available, Amy, for global public health. We're always struggling for the crumbs and the pennies from the table when we know the amounts of money that are available for other and more perverse purposes internationally. And that, too, has to end. And there we need voices in the G8, like those of President Obama, to say, everything is distorted, the priorities are wrong, the human imperative is what should count, and we're

making a grave mistake in our priorities.

And those are some of the headlines. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman.