NPR News: 07-30-2026 4PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh.
What is the breaking White House drama over Todd Blanche's nomination and why did Senators Cornyn and Tillis oppose it?
President Trump says he could withdraw Todd Blanch's nomination for U.S. Attorney General after two outgoing Republican senators, Texas's John Cornyn and North Carolina's Tom Tillis, withheld their support for Blanch, currently the acting AG. Their opposition stems from the settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the IRS. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben has more.
Both senators wanted written guarantees regarding that settlement, which included a shield for Trump against tax audits, as well as nearly $1.8 billion for people claiming to have been targeted by the justice system.
How did the DOJ settlement with Trump spark demands for written guarantees from Republican senators?
They said the DOJ wouldn't provide it. Trump posted on social media that he's prepared to pull Blanche's nomination until after Cornyn and Tillis leave office at the start of next year. He also boasted that he'd ended their careers. In response, Cornyn posted, quote, POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, the White House.
How did President Trump respond to the senators' opposition to Blanche's nomination?
The U.S. has retaliated against what it describes as Iran's surprise attack on Jordan. Central Command says ballistic missiles were fired this week against U.S. forces. Meanwhile, the war could be expanding in the region. A day after Saudi Arabia disclosed it was directly engaged, Egypt reported an unidentified drone strike near the Suez Canal. A Georgia man is getting 15 years in prison for giving his son the weapon used in the 2024 mass shooting that killed four people and injured nine others at Apalachee High School. On the eve of Apalachee High's first day of school, Judge Nicholas Prim essentially told Colt Gray's father, Colin Gray, at sentencing that he failed his son and failed the community.
But for you failing to get Colt help, but for your failure to remove access to the guns, this doesn't happen. September 4th would have been a normal day.
Grayson, Colt pleaded guilty to his crimes and will serve life in prison without parole. Hot and dry conditions are posing challenges for firefighters in Oregon as close to three dozen major wildfires are burning through rangelands and cattle country in the eastern half of the state. NPR's Kirk Sigler reports new fire weather watch advisories are posted.
The National Weather Service is warning thunderstorms could bring little or no rain, but lightning that could spark new fires. Most of the recent fires that have burned close to a million and a half acres of land are believed to have ignited from lightning. Larry O'Neill is the state climatologist for Oregon.
So we're kind of holding our breath right now that the weather conditions can kind of try to moderate, although that's not looking likely.
There's only heat and wind in the immediate forecast, meaning dense smoke advisories will continue across the northwest. O'Neill warns it could be a long summer fire season with the higher altitude forests in Oregon that have so far not burned, remaining extremely dry. Kirk Sigler, NPR News.
U.S. stocks on the day higher with the Dow closing up 615 points. This is NPR. The Commerce Department finds the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the second quarter. That marks a slowdown from the 2.1 percent annual growth registered in the first three months of the year. While at the same time, a separate report also released today by the Commerce Department showed inflation remained fairly high in June 2020. despite slowing somewhat from the month before. That report showed that inflation in June, as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, hit 3.7 percent from a year ago. The famous Cinerama Dome movie theater in Hollywood will be revived after closing during the coronavirus pandemic.
And Piers Mandelit del Barco reports.
Cinephiles are excited about the Cinerama Dome's comeback. Sony says it will lease, restore, and reopen the widescreen geodesic-shaped theater in 2028, just in time to premiere a madcap movie shot in 70mm. It's a madcap! Preservationists have tried to revive the theater that's been shuttered since the pandemic.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:04
2
What is the breaking White House drama over Todd Blanche's nomination and why did Senators Cornyn and Tillis oppose it?
0:04–0:38
3
How did the DOJ settlement with Trump spark demands for written guarantees from Republican senators?
0:38–1:02
4
How did President Trump respond to the senators' opposition to Blanche's nomination?
1:02–5:03