Tracy Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, March 30th. Here's what we're covering.

Tracy Mumford: The war in Iran is now in its fifth week in counting. And this morning, we're looking at how the conflict is expanding, the wave of US troops that were just deployed, and how gas prices may be about to hit a new high. To start, another front in the war has opened as the Houthis, an Iranbacked militia in Yemen, opened fire on Israel this weekend and vowed to carry out more attacks going forward. At the same time, Israel and the US continued to pound Thrron with air strikes. One resident there told the Times that they felt quote hours and hours of explosions. Iran also stepped up its retaliation, launching a wave of drones and missiles at a military base in Saudi Arabia, injuring 12 American soldiers. It was one of the most serious breaches of US air defenses since the war started.

Reporter: Are you considering still putting boots on the ground and would you do that without going to Congress?

Donald Trump: I just have lots of alternatives. We have uh tremendous numbers of ships over there.

Tracy Mumford: Also, as of this weekend, President Trump has new options if he decides to turn up the pressure on Iran. According to two US military officials, several hundred special ops forces, including Army Rangers and Navy Seals, have now arrived in the Middle East, joining thousands of recently deployed Marines and Army paratroopers.

Donald Trump: they gave us, I think, out of a sign of respect, 20 boats of oil. big big boats of oil.

Tracy Mumford: Trump said that Iran is going to let some oil tankers pass through the straight of Hormuz. He framed it as a sign that talks with Iran to end the war were underway and going well. It wasn't immediately clear who the ships belong to or where they would be headed. Still, any oil or gas getting through would be a major development. Since Iranian forces all but cut off the crucial waterway, global energy prices have soared. The cost of oil has climbed over 50% compared to before the war. And in the US, gas prices are approaching an average of $4 a gallon.

Tracy Mumford: Now, more on an energy crisis in a different part of the world. For months, the US has had an effective oil blockade on Cuba. As the Trump administration tries to force political and economic changes in the communist ruled country, it has cut the island off from fuel, upending everyday life there.

Jack Nicas: I can tell you that the situation on the ground is quite dire.

Tracy Mumford: Jack Nicas covers Cuba for the Times, and he says some of the most severe consequences so far have been to the country's health care system. The hospitals are cancelling surgeries because many doctors and nurses can't commute to work. Many clinics are struggling to administer treatments like chemotherapy because of the power outages. Uh many ambulances are parked. Pharmacies are largely empty. They've halted medicine production because many of the factories run on diesel. All of this together has really resulted in in a significant worsening of healthcare in Cuba, which once was a triumph for the nation. and six separate doctors uh we spoke to said that those rapidly deteriorating conditions were already causing deaths that that would otherwise be preventable.

Tracy Mumford: This weekend, the Times learned that the US Coast Guard will allow one tanker full of oil to reach Cuba, buying the nation at least a few weeks before its reserves totally run out. According to analysts, the ship, which is owned by the Russian government, was already very close to the island as of last night. It's unclear why the White House is letting it through, though the decision avoids a potentially thorny confrontation with Russia in the waters just off the coast of Florida.

Tracy Mumford: In Washington, to catch you up quickly on the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, it is still shut down with no new funding.

Senator: This gambit that was done last night is a joke. I'm quite convinced that it can't be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill. And I'm going to

Tracy Mumford: just hours after Senate Republicans struck a deal with Democrats to fund everything at DHS except ICE and Border Patrol, House Republicans angrily rejected that that highlighted a major rift within the party with hard-right Republicans in the House ripping on their counterparts in the Senate for what they consider caving to Democrats demands. The stalemate has resulted in the exact situation many lawmakers have been trying to avoid. Congress is now scheduled to be off for Easter break. That means the partial shutdown will likely last until midappril at least.

Tracy Mumford: The most visible consequence of the funding lapse though may get some relief as soon as today. TSA agents are set to get paychecks after President Trump ordered DHS to find the funds to do it. Before this, hundreds of TSA officers had quit and absence rates spiked, causing hours long security lines and people missing their flights. Amid the chaos, the White House deployed ICE agents to airports. Over the weekend, the administration said those deployments would continue for now.

Protesters: Tell me what democracy looks like. This is what

Tracy Mumford: also this weekend protesters against the Trump administration gathered around the country for no kings rallies.

Protester: There are a lot of people here.

Tracy Mumford: The organizers said 8 million people took part. One of the largest protests in recent history. The Times has not independently confirmed the numbers spread over thousands of protest sites.

Protester: And we show up and Minnesota. We showed the country that that is what we do.

Tracy Mumford: One of the largest gatherings took place outside the Minnesota state capital where people turned out in part to protest the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Prey by federal agents in Minneapolis this year. Opposition to ICE and the administration's immigration crackdown remained a key part of the rallying cry at the protests, but there were also chance of end this war. At least in some places, the war in Iran seemed to be motivating many younger people to turn out. A 22-year-old organizer at a rally near the University of Iowa said the crowd there was a lot younger than at previous No Kings demonstrations, which she attributed in part to anger over the new conflict in the Middle East. The White House itself has mocked the nationwide protests. An administration spokeswoman said earlier that quote, "The only people who care about these Trump derangement therapy sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them."

Tracy Mumford: And finally, every year at a mass the night before Easter, the Roman Catholic Church welcomes new converts. This weekend in the US, there will be a surprising number of them. The arch dasis of Detroit will have almost 1,500 most in two decades. The same trend is happening in Los Angeles and Phoenix as well as smaller rural places like Gallup, New Mexico and Allentown, Pennsylvania. One cardinal told the Times that when a bunch of bishops got together at a conference recently, they were all asking each other, "What's your number? What's your number?" For quite a while, the broader Christian population in the US had been declining. But a survey from Pew showed last year that it's stabilized.

Tracy Mumford: As for why Catholicism in particular is calling to people, there are a lot of theories. Some converts told the Times they were feeling disconnected or lonely and they thought the church could help. Others said they were drawn in by Catholic podcast stars on social media. And then there's the fact that the new pope is American. Still, what exactly is behind the surge has stumped even church leadership? Cardinal Robert Mroy of Washington said, quote, "Of course we think the Holy Spirit is, but we are kind of stymied."

Tracy Mumford: Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.