Blanche Confirmation Hearing, Iran War And Midterm Politics, Clayton ODNI Hearing
Up First from NPR
NPR
4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 16 July 2026
⏱️ 14 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
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Summary
President Trump notified Congress that the U.S. is back at war with Iran, starting a new 60-day clock for military action, though the clock that may matter most is the midterms as gas prices ripple through the economy.
And Trump's pick for intelligence chief, Jay Clayton, wouldn't acknowledge the results of the 2020 election at his hearing, leaving Democrats to ask why a man with no intelligence experience won't give a straight answer.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Anna Yukhananov, Kelsey Snell, Andrew Sussman, Alice Woelfle, and Mohamad ElBardicy.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
And our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.
(0:00) Introduction
(02:35) Blanche Confirmation Hearing
(06:30) Iran War And Midterm Politics
(10:24) Clayton ODNI Hearing
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, everyone, a quick note before we get to the stories of the day. We've got some pretty big news here at NPR just about a year ago. |
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| 0:33.9 | So please give today at donate.npr.org. |
| 0:37.3 | And thank you. It wasn give today at donate.npr.org. And thank you. |
| 0:40.3 | It wasn't Todd Blanche's qualifications that were front and center at his confirmation |
| 0:44.8 | hearing to lead the Justice Department. The focus was his loyalty. Are you in President Trump, |
| 0:50.3 | friends? I'm his lawyer. Was his lawyer. I'm Leila Faudaldz with A. Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News. |
| 1:00.6 | President Trump notified Congress that the U.S. is back at war with Iran. A majority of Americans oppose the war, |
| 1:08.6 | but Trump's base is behind him. Will anything make that change? |
| 1:11.8 | And the president's pick for Intelligence Chief wouldn't acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 |
| 1:16.4 | election. I'm not going to get into that with you. But you do have an obligation to be honest |
| 1:20.3 | and forthright with the committee. That's from Jay Clayton's confirmation hearing. Why so |
| 1:24.8 | much time spent on that question? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day. |
| 1:34.8 | The Senate Judiciary Committee grilled President Trump's nominee to lead the Justice Department on Wednesday. |
| 1:40.6 | But it wasn't Todd Blanche's qualifications for the job that were the focus. Instead, |
| 1:46.2 | the panel honed in on his close ties to the president and whether he would serve Trump or the |
| 1:52.1 | American people. NPR's Kerry Johnson has been following the hearing. Carrie, I mean, |
... |
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