US and Iran Trade Attacks Again, Sen. Lindsay Graham Dies, Congress Returns
Up First from NPR
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4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 13 July 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
Senator Lindsey Graham has died at the age of 71, the South Carolina Republican was a committed advocate of U.S. military intervention abroad and a close ally of President Trump.
And as Congress returns from recess, Republican are facing tighter voting margins than before with Senator Graham’s death and Senator Mitch McConnel's absence.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Tina Kraja, Anna Yukhananov, Jason Breslow, Ziad Buchh, Mohamad ElBardicy and HJ Mai.
It was produced by Paige Waterhouse and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Eowyn Fain.
Our technical director is Damian Herring.
(0:00) Iran War latest
(1:52) Iran attacks
(5:42) Graham & Senate
(8:28) Congress returns
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The U.S. war in Iran went back into high gear over the weekend. Iran attacked another commercial ship and declared the strait of Hormuz closed. |
| 0:09.7 | U.S. Central Command says it struck dozens of targets and insists Iran does not control the straight. |
| 0:14.2 | I mean Martinez. That's Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:20.8 | Senator Lindsey Graham was a tough critic of candidate Trump, who became one of President |
| 0:25.6 | Trump's strongest allies in Congress. |
| 0:27.4 | He died suddenly this weekend at the age of 71. |
| 0:29.9 | What legacy does the South Carolina Republican lead behind? |
| 0:32.8 | And Congress returns to session today. |
| 0:34.5 | Senate Republicans already had a long to-do list. |
| 0:37.4 | With Graham's death and |
| 0:38.4 | Senator Mitch McConnell's absence, their thin margins are even thinner. How will they pass their |
| 0:42.8 | agenda? Say with us, we'll give you news you need to start your day. |
| 0:51.1 | The U.S. and Iran continue to vie for control over the strait of Hormuz, that crucial international |
| 0:56.1 | waterway. A new wave of U.S. strikes targeted Iranian missile and drone launchers and coastal |
| 1:02.0 | radar sites, the late Sunday night, that's according to U.S. Central Command. Iran responded by targeting |
| 1:06.9 | U.S. bases in the Gulf and Jordan. For the latest return to NPR's Hidal, Hidal, Hidal, good morning. Good morning. So it's been almost a week since this back and forth of strikes over the Strait of Hormuz started. What is the U.S. government saying about this latest round? That's right. So U.S. Central Command released a statement late Sunday Eastern Time, and they said, quote, the Strait of Hormuz is a vital |
| 1:28.8 | maritime corridor for global trade. Iran does not control at U.S. Sentcom. Also said that they had |
| 1:34.9 | hit dozens of Iranian targets at multiple locations with precision munitions, claiming it had |
| 1:40.1 | degraded Iran's ability to continue attacking international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. |
| 1:45.3 | Iran did not respond to that claim, but said that one person was killed in the U.S. strikes |
| 1:51.2 | and an agricultural water pumping station was targeted in central Iran, killing a guard. |
| 1:56.9 | Iranian officials say that brings the total number of deaths to 17 since the recent strikes began. |
... |
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