NPR News: 07-29-2026 12AM EDT

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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Giles Snyder 0:00
Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder.

What is the Capitol Hill subpoena involving Dr. Anthony Fauci about?

Giles Snyder 0:04
Dr. Anthony Fauci is expected on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Fauci was issued a subpoena compelling his appearance before the committee chaired by Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul. Over the weekend, Paul released what he says are diary entries written by Fauci during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What do the leaked Fauci diary entries allege about COVID-19 origins?

Giles Snyder 0:21
NPR's Ari Daniels says Fauci and Paul are expected to renew their clash over the coronavirus' origins.
Ari Daniel 0:28
In a post on X, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested his office had provided the diaries to Senator Paul, but it's not clear exactly how. Paul did publish a thread on X where he summarized his central accusation of Fauci. He said, quote, what he wrote privately and what he told the country are two different stories.
Giles Snyder 0:48
President Trump spoke Tuesday at the funeral of South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. Trump called Graham a true American original, as NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports.

How did President Trump eulogize Senator Lindsey Graham and why does it matter?

Deepa Shivaram 0:58
Trump and Graham had an openly hostile relationship when the two were running for president in 2016. But in his eulogy, Trump lauded Graham, who died earlier this month.
Donald Trump 1:07
He went out at the peak of his career, the top of his game, as a legend that every one of us, many of us here today, blessed to know him and a friend that none of us will ever forget. There was truly nobody like Lindsey Graham.
Deepa Shivaram 1:27
Graham was a staunch advocate for U.S. support for Ukraine and Israel. Before his death, he authored a bill to put energy sanctions on Russia and used the relationship he'd built with Trump to secure White House support for it.

What progress did the Senate make on the Russia sanctions bill after Graham's funeral?

Deepa Shivaram 1:39
Deepa Shivaram, NPR News, the White House.
Giles Snyder 1:41
Following Senator Graham's funeral service, the Senate took the first steps toward passing a new Russia sanctions bill that Graham had long championed. The Senate advanced the bill on an 86 to 12 vote with the visiting Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in the chambers. Zelensky had attended Graham's funeral and met with President Trump earlier in the day. More than 1,100 workers at AI companies, including top researchers, have signed a petition calling on the government to back a global effort to pace the development of AI. And Pierre-Sean Ruich reports the risk is that AI develops faster than humans can understand or control.

Why are AI researchers petitioning to slow development and who signed it?

John Ruich 2:18
The petition says it's not guaranteed that AI will help create a better future, and to realize AI's potential, we may need the option to, quote, buy time to address emerging risks, develop security measures, and strengthen oversight. Leading AI companies believe they're close to automating AI research, and the petition says it's unclear how much this could accelerate AI progress, with a risk that it accelerates beyond our ability to understand or control the resulting systems. Among the signatories are some of the top scientists and researchers in the field, working at companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google. John Rewich, NPR News.
Giles Snyder 2:56
And you're listening to NPR News. The teenager who used an assault-style rifle he got for Christmas to kill four people and injure nine others at Apalachee High School in Georgia has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

What recent U.S. school and festival shootings and legal outcomes were reported?

Giles Snyder 3:13
Colt Gray was 14 at the time of the shooting in 2024. The now 16-year-old... pleaded guilty last week, as Georgia Public Broadcasting's Chase McGee reports.
Unknown 3:22
It took Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Prim around an hour to decide Colt Gray's sentence after three days of victim impact statements and expert analysis. He sentenced Gray to the maximum, life without parole, saying his crimes, quote, reflected permanent incorrigibility. You wrote, I want to make history. I want people to remember the pain I caused. And there you succeeded. The pain that you visited upon this community is unlikely to disappear in my lifetime. Prosecutors focused on Gray's fixation with notoriety, saying he carried out the shooting for online fame among obsessed true crime fans. For NPR News, I'm Chase McGee in Winder, Georgia.
Giles Snyder 4:05
More details are emerging about Sunday's shooting during a food festival near Seattle's Space Needle.

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