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Women in Maine may choose the victor in this year's Senate race

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 20:24:38 GMT

The race between Susan Collins and Troy Jackson is one of the nation's most high-profile Senate contests this year — and may ultimately be decided by an especially powerful voting bloc: Maine women.

Transcript

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The race for U.S. Senate in Maine is poised to be one of the most competitive of the midterms. It's a choice between incumbent Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson. To win in November, both need the support of an especially powerful voting bloc, Maine women. NPR's Elena Moore reports.

ELENA MOORE, BYLINE: On an 89-acre flower farm in Belmont, Maine, Stacy Leafsong is finishing up some arrangements for a wedding. With pops of blue and white, the flowers mirror the colors of the coast, which is just a short drive away from here.

STACY LEAFSONG: I do flowers seven days a week, literally live and breathe flowers.

MOORE: She says she built this farm from scratch and as a single mom. She's also a progressive activist and, last year on the farm, hosted the first fundraiser for Graham Platner's Senate bid. Since then, she watched his rise and then fall. Platner dropped out last month over rape allegations, which he denies. Leafsong had already denounced him by then, disturbed by previous reports about his behavior. As a domestic violence survivor herself, watching Mainers stick by him upset her.

LEAFSONG: I know people are incredibly stressed, and I think people are really scared, so there's that explanation. But I also think that his campaign was incredibly toxic in a lot of ways.

MOORE: Now Leafsong is backing the party's new pick, Troy Jackson, a progressive former state senator, and she hopes he can really speak to Maine women.

LEAFSONG: Women's issues are much more than childcare and abortion. There are so many complex issues in the state.

MOORE: Whether he can do that may determine his chances of defeating Susan Collins, and that could prove expensive. According to AdImpact, Republicans have already spent millions on ads trying to link Platner to Jackson, seizing on reports that he has a short temper.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Disturbing news about threats of violence against women. Is it Graham Platner again? No, it's Troy Jackson.

MOORE: Unlike Platner, Jackson has never been accused of sexual violence towards women, but there have been accounts of him getting into shouting matches with colleagues during his time as a state lawmaker. It's something he's apologized for and says he's always tried to treat colleagues with respect. To understand why these ads may hold weight, look at Maine's electorate.

EMILY CAIN: Women voters in Maine are the majority of voters. And so you have to take them seriously.

MOORE: That's Democrat Emily Cain. She's a former state senator and the previous executive director of EMILYs List, an organization that backs women candidates who support abortion rights.

CAIN: Independents are, you know, almost a third of voters in Maine. But the majority of voters are women who are older. So the people who decide statewide races are independents who are also a majority women.

MOORE: Collins has survived tough elections before, but 2026 is the first time she's on the ballot since Roe v. Wade was overturned. She's long considered herself pro-choice, but in 2018, her vote was crucial in confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, growing a conservative majority that went on to eliminate the constitutional right to an abortion. Speaking to reporters earlier this summer, Collins said she doesn't regret her vote.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SUSAN COLLINS: Obviously, I'm disappointed in that decision, which turned abortion issues back to the states. It has not had an impact on the state of Maine.

MOORE: Jackson still plans to make it an issue. He's evolved on the topic, initially entering politics as an abortion rights opponent, then shifting left and voting to expand access in recent years. Speaking to Maine Public Radio last month, he argued he's the better advocate on the issue.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)

TROY JACKSON: I'm rock solid on this now, and Susan has been the opposite.

MOORE: But in the end, these issues may come second for many voters. Diana Kushnar is a Republican running for state House. Talking with women on the campaign trail, she says their primary concern is high costs.

DIANA KUSHNAR: They're worried about whether they can afford a home and - because the rising utility bills, the cost of raising a family, and then just access to healthcare and whether their children will have even a reason to stay in Maine.

MOORE: Many share those concerns across the aisle, but there's also a desire for leadership change. Kelli Brennan, a nurse and union leader, feels that way.

KELLI BRENNAN: I think, for women in Maine, what we need right now is somebody who understands the working class.

MOORE: And from nurses and teachers to single moms, Brennan says the working class very much includes women. Elena Moore, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

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Trump renews push to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 19:35:35 GMT

President Trump has once again warned Fed Governor Lisa Cook that he wants to remove her from the central bank's governing board, over untested allegations of mortgage fraud. An earlier effort to fire Cook was blocked by the Supreme Court.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images North America

President Trump is once again threatening to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud. The move comes just over a month after the Supreme Court blocked Trump's earlier effort to remove Cook.

Deputy White House Chief of Staff Daniel Scavino sent a letter to Cook this week, demanding that she respond to allegations that she made false statements on mortgage applications. Those charges were first raised by Trump ally William Pulte, who oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"Even if your conduct does not rise to the level of felony offense, it appears to demonstrate a level of gross negligence in financial transactions that calls into question your competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator," Scavino wrote.

Cook has denied any wrongdoing.

"These allegations are as baseless now as they were a year ago when President Trump tried to remove Governor Cook and interfere with the independence of the Federal Reserve," Cook's attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement. "There is no valid cause for removing Governor Cook. As we did before, we will challenge this latest pretext and preserve her position and the historic role of the Fed."

The renewed push to fire Cook was first reported by ABC news.

Trump's earlier effort to oust Cook came at a time when the president was deeply critical of the central bank for not cutting interest rates more aggressively. He also threatened to fire Jerome Powell, who was then chairman of the Fed. Powell's term as Fed chair expired in May, though he continues to serve on the board.

In June, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the Federal Reserve occupies a special place in the U.S. government and that presidents can only remove Fed governors for cause. It will be up to lower courts to decide whether the allegations against Cook meet that standard.

Another court blocks White House ballroom work, teeing up a Supreme Court review

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 18:10:37 GMT

Construction has continued on the White House ballroom all summer, as seen on Wednesday.

Tierney L. Cross/AP

A federal appeals court ordered the Trump administration to halt construction on its White House ballroom, saying the project needs approval from Congress in order to continue.

"Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit wrote in a 136-page ruling issued Friday.

The three-judge panel issued a 2-1 ruling, but it says it will stay its order for two weeks to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the Supreme Court.

NPR has reached out to the White House for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

President Trump slammed the decision within two hours, calling it "horrendous, politically motivated and unlawful." He wrote on Truth Social that his administration will appeal immediately. He pointed out that the two judges who sided against him in the ruling were appointed by Democratic presidents: Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Trump also repeated his administration's argument that the ballroom is a matter of national security, and that Friday's ruling threatens it.

The decision "severely jeopardizes the lives and welfare of the people who work, and will be working, at the White House — including all future Presidents of the United States, and their families, as well as the lives of all those visiting, such as Heads of State and other Dignitaries, and all Americans who wish to visit the historic, beautiful Executive Mansion," Trump wrote.

The nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, chartered by Congress, which brought the lawsuit late last year, celebrated the ruling.

"This is a great day for our country and for the American people's right to voice their opinions about the historic places they cherish, including the White House," Brent Leggs, its president and CEO, said in a statement shared with NPR.

Friday's ruling is the latest chapter in a saga that began in October, when the Trump administration started demolishing the East Wing of the White House to make way for Trump's long-held dream of a presidential ballroom.

The administration has said the ballroom will total roughly 90,000 square feet and seat 1,000 guests. The White House originally estimated the cost at $200 million, but the Washington Post reported in June — citing contractors' invoices — that the total cost could be at least $600 million.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the administration in December, seeking to halt construction until the government completed the legally mandated review process, which includes obtaining approval from Congress.

"From the beginning, our position has been clear and consistent: the law states that only Congress can authorize the construction of a ballroom at the White House," Leggs said on Friday.

The Trump administration has argued that the case has no legal standing, and that stopping construction has implications for national security.

The legal fight has revealed new details about the mysterious bunker beneath the East Wing: Trump said the "military is building a big complex" under the would-be ballroom. The administration has pointed to high-profile threats in the months since — like the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting — to paint the ballroom as a national security issue.

"The single, integrated project includes Bomb Shelters, State of the Art Hospital and Medical Facilities, Protective Partitioning, Top Secret Military Facilities, Structures and Equipment, Protective Missile Resistant Steel, Columns, Roofs, and Beams, Drone Proof Ceilings and Roofs, Military Grade Venting, and Bullet, Ballistic, and Blast Proof Glass. It is all tied together as one big, expensive, and very complex unit, which is vital for National Security and Military Operations of the United States of America!" Trump wrote on Friday.

Senate Republicans originally proposed adding $1 billion in taxpayer security funding for the ballroom as part of a sweeping immigration and border security package in May, but ultimately dropped that provision after significant bipartisan backlash.

In the meantime, Trump's efforts to put his mark on D.C. — and weaken federal protections for historic sites — continue. Several, such as his proposed triumphal arch, face legal challenges of their own.

Monty Roberts, who trained horses through trust, dies at 91

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 17:48:17 GMT

The internationally acclaimed horseman defied the conventional method of breaking horses and developed his own gentler approach — based on horses' non-verbal language. Roberts spoke with Fresh Air in 1997.

Transcript

DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm David Bianculli. Monty Roberts, the internationally acclaimed horseman who used trust instead of intimidation to train horses died last week. He was 91. He defied the conventional method of breaking horses, something he watched his father do, and created his own gentler approach, known as join up. He based it on the nonverbal language horses used to communicate with each other. It was a language he observed as a teenager, watching wild mustangs in the Sierra Nevada.

Roberts was born in Salinas, California, in 1935. He grew up around horses, could ride confidently at 3, and by the time he was 8, said he spent 10-hour days working with horses, competing on weekends. He became a champion rider and was a stunt rider in about a hundred movies, including as a young boy, the Elizabeth Taylor film "National Velvet." He's trained thousands of horses, including wild horses, racehorses and problem horses.

Roberts became internationally known after Queen Elizabeth II brought him to work with her horses in 1989. She supported his controversial gentle approach to horse training and urged him to write his memoir, "The Man Who Listens To Horses," which became a best seller in 1996. Their 30 year friendship was the subject of the 2023 Andrea Nevins documentary "The Cowboy And The Queen." From his California ranch, Monty Roberts introduced his techniques to horse owners, trainers and students from around the world. He also traveled widely giving demonstrations.

Terry Gross spoke to Monty Roberts in 1997, shortly after his memoir was published. Roberts first learned about horses from his father who ran a riding school at the massive Salinas Rodeo, but Roberts' father used pain and punishment to break horses.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

MONTY ROBERTS: Well, I suppose you'd say my father was a very traditional horse trainer, working in the conventional manner. And, the main concept is, you do what I tell you to, or I'll hurt you. What it is is that, whether I hurt you a lot or a little, it's dealing with negative reinforcement. The use of pain or corporal punishment or acting out, in violence to train the animal not to do that thing that you're, um, you're against or you're working to avoid.

TERRY GROSS: So what approach to discipline and negative reinforcement did your father use?

ROBERTS: Well, he would tie legs up on horses and tie them down on the ground. He would tie them to posts and work in such a way so as to frighten them and cause them to test those tethers to the maximum degree, which would bash them very violently. Oftentimes, they were on the ground, oftentimes there was blood, and there was injury. It was all done in the vein that that's necessary to do to break this horse. And break is a very good word. It's been used for about 6,000 years now to describe the procedures used to cause a horse to accept saddle, bridle and rider and training, if you will.

GROSS: What do you call your approach?

ROBERTS: Starting. The approach itself is titled join up. But the procedure, I say, starting the horse rather than breaking the horse. Because I don't use any pain or restraint, and I request that the horse do the things I want. I don't demand it. I ask the horse to do them so as to cause a state of mind whereby he wants to do them, not because he's forced to do them.

GROSS: Your basic principle in training horses is to try to use horse language to communicate with the horses, to use horse behavior and horse language, which you learned from being with horses in the wild, which we'll get to in a few minutes. Describe your join up method of asking, basically - asking the horse first to go away and to then join up with you.

ROBERTS: Yeah. Well, it's their language and they use this business of sending the animal away. That is, they use it inter-specie as well as intra-specie. So they use this business of sending the animal away - isolation, rejection - as a discipline, and when that animal is out there isolated, the flight animal - the animal who provides meat for the predator - is very concerned about that, and they want to come back in the worst possible way. So that's the most severe punishment that you can deal a flight animal.

GROSS: A wild horse is more vulnerable to being preyed on when it's on its own than when it's with other horses.

ROBERTS: Exactly. The isolated grazer or flight animal is smorgasbord for the lion or the tiger or the grizzly bear and that sort of thing, even coyotes, but wolves, certainly. And so, they're very upset with that, and I discovered this language going on in the wild, watched how they communicated with one another and then utilized those responses in order to request their compliance or their cooperation.

GROSS: So how do you first send the horse away, which the horse doesn't like?

ROBERTS: Well, that's easy because they're a flight animal, and if you're dealing with untrained animals, all you have to do is use the aggressive phrases in their own language, and the animal goes away. That's the easy part.

GROSS: What aggressive phrases in horse language do you use?

ROBERTS: Well, first of all it would be eyes on eyes - piercing the eyes. That does not draw the animal in as it would the grizzly or the great white, but it drives the horse away. Then shoulders square, all movement square - fingers open and extended drives the horses away. There's lots of motions and positions of the body which mean go away.

GROSS: And how do you get the horse, then, to come back?

ROBERTS: Well, once the horse has gone its flight distance, then they begin to communicate that they would like to come back. And they do that with basically four statements. One is with the ear to say, I respect you. I don't know what this is all about, but I'll give you my respect. And then, two, that they'll try to come closer to you, just physically bending and trying to come closer to you. Three, that they lick and chew. They stick their tongue right out and then chew, and it's my opinion that they're saying, I'm a grazer. I'm a herbivore. I'm eating over here, and if I'm eating, I can't fear you because if we had any adrenalin or fear in us, we would have to stop eating. And then four, the dropping of the head down and bouncing the nose right along the ground, which means, if we could have this meeting to renegotiate the deal, I would let you be the chairman of the meeting.

GROSS: So when the horse does all these things that you just mentioned, what signals are you giving, like, come back - let's get together now?

ROBERTS: Well, after those four, then I go passive from aggressive, those earlier ones that I mentioned, and passive means to take the eyes off the eyes, to lower your gaze, to put your shoulders on a 45-degree angle to the horse's body axis, to face slightly away, and to round all your movements, inviting the horse to come in. There's dozens of movements, but those are the basic ones.

GROSS: You grew up on the grounds of a rodeo. Your parents ran a riding school, and you basically grew up in the rodeo. You won the national intercollegiate rodeo bulldogging championship. You won all kinds of, like, horse medals over the years. You started learning about horse language through observing wild mustangs in Sierra Nevada. And this relates to a wild horse race that used to be part of the rodeo.

And when the wild horses were done with this race, the horses, at the time you were young, were taken to the slaughterhouse to be made into dog food - something that you found very upsetting. So I want you to tell the story of how this wild horse race, in which the horses would later be taken out and slaughtered, how that relates to your observing of wild horses.

ROBERTS: Well, yeah, OK. The opportunity came up for me to go to Nevada and capture and bring these wild horses back to Salinas. My idea was that after the horse race was over, if I could put these horses through a program to cause them to accept saddle, bridle and rider, that they could go through a sale and be usable by people and, therefore, save their lives. And not only that, but that they would pay more for them than the people at the slaughterhouse. And I convinced the president of the association that this might be true. And he let me go and do this as an experiment one year. And, in fact, it worked out well. I did that several years, and you know, it became the normal thing. Now, that's all ancillary to what was really important in all of this, as we look back on it, because what actually happened that was of much more importance to me was that it was a university. They were my teachers.

GROSS: The wild horses.

ROBERTS: It was - yeah, it was just an incredible adventure in learning, where I learned their language - spoken in the raw, spoken in the rarest form of freedom and completely without human intervention.

GROSS: What were the first signs you picked up on, that made you realize there was a horse language that you could understand?

ROBERTS: First sign I picked up on was how the dominant female was running the family group. She was the controller of the sociological aspects of the family group. And as a very young child, I'd seen the movies - I thought the black stallion was the one that ran all the show, you know. Well, the black stallion doesn't have any decisions to make at all except how to get the mares pregnant and how to keep some other black stallion from taking them away. And once you end with those two obligations, you've done the stallion in. It's the mare who educates the young and who communicates - who decides where we'll eat and which direction we'll travel. And that's the first thing I noticed, was that the matriarch was the decision-maker of the sociological group.

GROSS: And then what did you notice about communication? How horses use the language with each other?

ROBERTS: The first thing I noticed in the forms or expressions of communication was the mare squaring up and isolating the obstreperous teenager, adolescent.

GROSS: And then - and forcing them out of the group for a while as punishment?

ROBERTS: Forcing them out of the group and holding them out of the group until they'd paid a price for their deed, whatever it was. And then how they allowed them back in and so forth and so on as you go through all of the expressions of their language.

GROSS: You also studied horses ears and what they communicate.

ROBERTS: Oh, indeed. The ears are very expressive, and you can read pretty much the intentions and the concerns of a horse by his ears.

GROSS: And what do the ears tell you?

ROBERTS: Well, they tell you everything. I mean, they tell you whether they're angry, whether they're happy. They tell you whether they're tired or fresh.

GROSS: Depending on whether the ears are back or forward or...

ROBERTS: Yeah, depending on their positions. And their movement - and the speed of their movement will tell you a lot of things about their concerns and their adrenalin levels and all of those things.

BIANCULLI: Monty Roberts speaking to Terry Gross in 1997. More after a break, this is FRESH AIR.

This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to Terry's 1997 interview with horse trainer and author Monty Roberts. The man who espoused a more humane method of training horses died last week at age 91.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

GROSS: Over the years, a lot of people have brought problem horses to you - horses with serious behavior problems, horses who can't seem to be trained or who actually attack people. How do you adapt your technique to work with horses who have behavior problems?

ROBERTS: Well first of all, Terry, there's no such thing as a problem horse on the face of the earth. There are horses who have problems with people. But yes, you're right - there are a lot of horses that people term problem horses. And yes, you're right, they do bring them to me, and generally after they've run the gamut to its maximum and the horse is absolutely, you know, given up on by everybody else, and they call me in.

An example of that certainly is Lomitas (ph) in Germany and more recently here in the United States, a filly called Song of Africa, who started her career in Ireland - thoroughbred for racing. And in her first race, she had a very serious time of it at the starting stalls or the starting gate just prior to the race. And she wound up being injured and crushing the gates all apart and being disqualified from the race, and it was a mess. And then she was put into some very harsh training to fix her, you know?

And then the next thing you know, she was fighting people and she had scars all over her and was in desperate shape. And the trainer in Ireland suggested that she be taken to the United States, where they claim they have greater expertise in this kind of thing, and she landed on the East Coast of the United States to be trained for another year, or approximately that, before the trainer said, you know, take her home and shoot her. She's just hopeless. And then I got the call, and at that moment in time, she was in a little place called Payson Park in Florida.

And I went there from California to meet the most incredibly beautiful but confused young female that you could ever imagine. And I worked with her for four days. Mind you, it had been two and a half years that they had gone the other way, and in four days, she simply said, this will be fine. I will do this. And she's racing and winning. She's one of the best fillies in the United States today.

GROSS: What do you think it is that you were able to do that turned her attitude around?

ROBERTS: To give her trust in the human being. She never had trust before because she'd been beaten up. She'd been caused pain by human beings, to say you must do this or I'll hurt you.

GROSS: So when you handed her back to her owner, did you have to convince her owner to never use punishment on the horse again?

ROBERTS: I never would have left California if I hadn't had an agreement to give me a young person from their organization who would learn all of the techniques that I used with this particular filly. Now, I can't teach that person all that I know in four days, but I can specifically deal with the problems of this filly and teach them enough to handle the problems of this one individual horse. And they handed me a young man, oddly enough, coincidentally, from Ireland, by the name of David Duggin (ph). And he has continued to do my work, to extend my communication with this filly, so that successfully she's been able to go on and do her racing.

GROSS: As a child, you were a stunt rider, and you, I think, doubled for Elizabeth Taylor in "National Velvet." You did some work in "My Friend Flicka." You doubled for Roddy McDowell, Mickey Rooney, Charlton Heston, Tab Hunter to name a few. Do you have a favorite stunt that you had to do in the films?

ROBERTS: I suppose they - the movies-makers tend to categorize you, and they say oh, we're going to to this. That guy Roberts he does that about as - about the best of anybody. It seems to me that my spot became most famous in the riding of horses down very steep hills - rocky, sandy hills where you blast straight down into the river and stuff like that.

GROSS: I've seen that in a thousand westerns (laughter).

ROBERTS: Yeah. Well that was me. That is to say, if you saw one made in the '40s or '50s, I was probably involved if there were rocks and sand flying, and you went into the trees or into the river, that was probably me.

GROSS: So what were some of the things you have to do to stay on the horse and make that work?

ROBERTS: I always said you get high, that is to say, you get light on the horse, you get high above him. And you try not to interfere with his own movements, so that he has the best chance of keeping his feet. And then as you approach, let's say, the river, that you separate from him and get distance enough so that he can't hurt you when you go into the water. And you basically leave him alone as much as possible.

GROSS: Did you do any of that fancy showy stuff like side-saddle riding? And when you're holding on to the saddle and your body is suspended on the side of the horse while you're dodging bullets from the bad guy who's shooting from behind a rock.

ROBERTS: Oh, that was - that was one of the first stunts they asked me to do. They said, can you gallop left to right and make yourself invisible by hanging off...

GROSS: That's it.

ROBERTS: ...The far side.

GROSS: Yeah. That's it.

ROBERTS: Yeah, I did a lot of that, and jumping on from behind, yes. And I used the mini-trampoline a lot, so...

GROSS: Oh, wait, wait - what did you use that for?

ROBERTS: Well, so that you thought I could jump eight feet high when I got on...

GROSS: Oh, so that's how it's done.

ROBERTS: Yeah.

GROSS: I didn't realize that.

ROBERTS: Little trampolines are very handy for that kind of thing. And, yeah, I had to do all that - the vaulting. You come out of the bar and grab the saddle horn and the horse runs down the street, and you hang on his side, and then vault into the saddle so that you can catch up to the bank robbers or whatever. Yep, I did all those kind of things - jumped the horse through the bar room window and up the stairs and into the saloon or whatever.

BIANCULLI: Monty Roberts speaking with Terry Gross in 1997. After a break, we'll continue their conversation. Also, Martin Johnson reviews "Jason Moran Plays Duke Ellington," and Justin Chang reviews the new film biography of Anthony Bourdain. I'm David Bianculli, and this is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHO WHO WHO AM I TO YOU")

NICOLETTE BIRNIE: (Singing) Who, who, who am I to you? Am I just some four-legged fool? Will you make me happy, or should I run to pastures new? Tell me, who, who, who am I to you? Am I the dirt bike that you jam on, or am I your partner on this ride? Will you treat me kind, or will you blow my mind? Tell me, who, who, who am I to you? Who, who, who am I to you? Am I just some four-legged fool? Will you make me happy, or should I run to pastures new? Tell me, who, who, who am I to you?

BIANCULLI: This is FRESH AIR. I'm TV critic David Bianculli. We're remembering Monty Roberts, the horse trainer who pioneered and advocated a more gentle approach to training horses. His philosophy was embraced and supported by Queen Elizabeth II, beginning a friendship that lasted 30 years. When she died in 2022, at age 96, he was one of the invited guests at her royal funeral. Monty Roberts died last week at age 91. Terry Gross spoke to him in 1997.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)

GROSS: When you were a young man, you worked in rodeos, and one of the things you did was the bull riding events. You won a championship in that area. You described that as the most dangerous event in the rodeo. Why?

ROBERTS: Yeah. I won a couple of small championships in bull riding. I won my major championship in bulldogging. But bull riding is a very dangerous event, and it's dangerous because the bull generally weighs between 1,400 and 2,000 pounds. And they move with unbelievable agility, and they don't want you on their back. And they can be very dangerous. And what they do to you oftentimes flings you through the air for 30 or 40 feet and bashes you up against some wall or fence or throw you down and jump on top of you kind of thing. It's just really dangerous. And virtually everybody that goes into it suffers significant injuries at one point or another.

GROSS: Well, here's what I want to know. You're somebody who has such a strong kinship with horses, tries to communicate with them in their own language. Do you feel any empathy with the bulls?

ROBERTS: Yeah. I love bulls.

GROSS: You do?

ROBERTS: I love them to death. And my son became a very good bull rider later, and he was absolutely in love with bulls. I mean, we had bulls in training programs to teach them to buck, and I have great empathy for the bulls and don't ever feel that those bulls are being mistreated. They get the best treatment you could ever imagine. They get the best of feed and care, and they're protected by their owners to the maximum degree. And they have great fun in what they do. They have the upper hand every single day.

GROSS: What does it feel like to be thrown by a bull?

ROBERTS: It hurts a lot, and it's loud noises when your head hits the ground and stuff. It's stupid. It's really stupid for anybody to go into that.

GROSS: What I was going to ask you - what is the point of this event (laughter)?

ROBERTS: It's crazy. It's absolutely crazy. But when you're raised around it and you watch your peers accomplishing something so incredibly overwhelming by riding this particular bull, there's some kind of urge within us, crazy human beings, to try to do that, too. And I really didn't like my son going into it. He's a practicing lawyer. He's a 3.7 graduate from Stanford in econ. Why would you put that brain in such great jeopardy, you know? But it ran its course and he got out of it without serious injury, and I'm very pleased for that.

GROSS: As we discussed earlier, your father was a horse trainer, and he tried to whip horses into submission, to kind of beat them into submission. And I guess he used brutality on you, too, to try to keep you in line. And I'm wondering if that's related to the fact that you have adopted, I think, about 47 foster kids over the years...

ROBERTS: Sure.

GROSS: ...For different intervals of time, kids who had been abused or who had run into problems with the law. Do those two things relate?

ROBERTS: Oh, sure they do. I didn't know they did when I began to do it. You see, I went through university in psychology, and I volunteered for every family psychology experiment or lab project that they had. And I really found myself enjoying this parent-and-children relationship and the psychology of children. So after I left university, people in the county, in the state agencies, saw great value in what I was doing, and they began to give me calls and recommend that there was a child locked up in Paso Robles, California, that they felt had great potential if just given a chance. Why don't you go meet them, you know? And they knew I was a sucker. And I'd go meet these kids and bring them home. And what can you do, man? I had to try to help.

And my life was going pretty well. My horses were making me a little money, and I never asked for any money for these foster children to stay with me. And it just began an odyssey that went on for about 35 years. And those 47 foster children span about 35 years. So, you know, it wasn't like we had so many at one time, but it was a very gratifying thing to do. And there's about 40 very positive stories to tell in all of this and seven very negative stories to tell with no gray areas. And that's just the way it is. They - it either took or it didn't. But those odds are incredibly good when you consider kids between 11 and 13 coming to me, already incarcerated in wards of the county, wards of the state type thing.

GROSS: Did you use any of the principles that you had learned working with horses when you were working with your children?

ROBERTS: I used all the principles, the same principles. It's the same psychology. Give them a chance to fail, so they can have that chance to succeed. When they fail, they're responsible for their own actions. But when they succeed, they're also responsible for their own actions, and they must get the most positive rewards that you can possibly think of to give them. Generally love, generally exaltation, moving upward, giving them advancements, giving them a chance to learn something new when they achieve something.

GROSS: Not too many years ago - well, maybe you could tell me the year 'cause I don't really remember. You had major back surgery. I mean, your back had basically given out because of all of the falls you've taken over the years, the impact of all the riding on horses and bulls (laughter). And the doctor told you you'd never ride again. I think they would have been happier if you walked, but you ended up being able to walk and ride. However, I'm sure you're much more fragile than you were before your back problems. When you're working with a horse now, are you just a little more self-protective of your own body than you were before, and is that affecting your technique with horses?

ROBERTS: Yes, I am more protective now, more careful than I was when I was young. I think that's kind of a natural evolution for most people. But for me, it's a good deal more serious because I was in a wheelchair for a while, and they didn't know whether I'd get out of that. And then I was on crutches for about a year, and they didn't know whether I'd ever get off of some support system. And I'm just one accident away from the wheelchair, if you will. So I'm much more protective now, and it does affect my work with horses, not all that negatively, because sometimes I just go that bit slower and maybe it's even more effective.

And I'm teaching my young people now to go that bit slower and to give the horse a little more opportunity to get ready for things and to slowly come into things. I often say to my students, if you go at something with a horse as though you have all day to do it, it might take you about 15 minutes. But if you go at it like you have 15 minutes, it might take you all day, and it's truly a tortoise and hare situation in the real. I mean, that story of the tortoise and hare isn't very plausible, but this is a plausible story with the same techniques.

GROSS: Tell me about your favorite horse.

ROBERTS: My favorite horse, Johnny Tivio, a horse that I won four world championships with, a horse that was abused as a young horse. I got him in a very sad state, but I knew his talents. I had seen him with an abusive trainer as a very young animal. And I was able to get him at five years of age, not all that old, you know? And he - when he got trusting the human being, he turned his life around and became so productive, it was unreal. And you just had to get out of his way to allow him to win championships. He was a cutting horse and reined cow horse. He was an extension of me. He was like a brother, like a very close brother would be. But I have a lot of favorites, and Song of Africa is rising quickly on the list.

BIANCULLI: Monty Roberts, speaking to Terry Gross in 1997. He died last week at age 91. His memoir is called "The Man Who Listens To Horses," and the recent documentary about him is called "The Cowboy And The Queen." Coming up, Martin Johnson reviews "Jason Moran Plays Duke Ellington." This is FRESH AIR.

Senate passes Russia sanctions bill that was long championed by Lindsey Graham

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 17:33:40 GMT

Before his death, Lindsey Graham was one of the most vocal advocates in Congress for new sanctions on Russia. The South Carolina Republican helped champion legislation that was passed by the Senate on Friday.

Heather Diehl/Getty Images

The GOP-led Senate has passed a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, legislation that was led by South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham before his unexpected death last month at the age of 71.

The bill, which passed Friday by a vote of 86 to 11, is designed to stifle the Russian economy and bring an end to a war that started in 2022 when President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine that has since cost thousands of civilian lives.

The plan would sanction top Russian leaders and introduce harsh new penalties on nations that purchase oil and natural gas from Russia. It gives President Trump the ability to issue tariffs on these importers — up to 100% for major buyers of Russian energy, such as China and India. In addition, the bill extends sanctions against Iran.

Shortly before his death, Graham met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and announced he had reached a deal with the White House to support the bill. After his death, Graham's Senate colleagues said they would name the legislation in his honor.

"My late brother Lindsey was a foreign policy and national security expert. He was also a peace maker who was determined to bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine," said Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., in remarks from the Senate floor ahead of the vote. Graham was appointed to serve out the remainder of her brother's term.

"The war against Ukraine is primarily funded by the revenue Russia rakes in from energy sales," she continued. "Without these profits the ability to fund the war would be crippled. This legislation hits Putin where it hurts. "

The legislation will still need to pass the House before it can go to President Trump for his signature. Trump has signaled support for the bill, as has House Speaker Mike Johnson. But the Louisiana Republican will not have many votes to spare, as some House Democrats have voiced opposition to the bill, concerned about granting Trump new tariff authorities.

Colombia's new president vows to remake the country — and challenge rebel groups

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 15:41:45 GMT

Colombia's President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella speaks during a press conference in Bogota, Colombia, July 30, 2026.

John Vizcaino/AP

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia's new president will be sworn into office Friday amid tight security measures aimed at preventing protests and potential attacks by rebel groups.

Abelardo de la Espriella, an outspoken conservative who has been praised by President Trump, has promised to confront rebel groups in Colombia with greater military force while cutting government spending to reduce a budget deficit that doubled under outgoing President Gustavo Petro.

De la Espriella, a former criminal defense lawyer who ran as a political outsider, is breaking with tradition by holding his inauguration ceremony in Cali rather than the capital, Bogotá. The 48-year-old chose the southwestern city, which has been hit hard by drug violence and attacks from rebel groups, as the site of his swearing-in.

Some 11,000 troops have been deployed to the city to ensure the safety of the new president and the roughly dozen heads of state attending the inauguration.

Those expected to attend include Argentina's Javier Milei, Ecuador's Daniel Noboa and Chile's José Antonio Kast, alongside U.S. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and King Felipe VI of Spain.

Drones have been banned, and privately owned vehicles will not be allowed on city roads during Inauguration Day.

"One of the fundamental priorities of my government will be to exert control of our territory," de la Espriella said in a speech earlier this week. "If we don't control our cities and our rural areas, this nation will lose its sovereignty."

Over the past four years, drug gangs and rebel groups linked to decades of political conflict in Colombia have become increasingly powerful in rural areas, where they extort local businesses and profit from activities such as illegal mining and the drug trade.

Petro, a progressive, attempted to negotiate peace agreements with many of these groups under a strategy known as "Total Peace". But critics say the strategy failed, with some armed groups using ceasefires granted by the government to rearm, regroup and expand their control over rural communities.

De la Espriella has said he will end peace talks with Colombia's rebel groups and confront them with greater military force.

The wealthy lawyer, who has never held elected office, supports a tougher approach to crime that includes building large prisons and using aerial spraying and drones to destroy illegal coca crops, a practice Colombia halted more than a decade ago because of environmental concerns.

Elizabeth Dickinson, a Colombia analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that with de la Espriella, "the pendulum swings back to the right" after four years of a left-leaning administration that struggled to achieve results in negotiations with armed groups.

She said increased military pressure could help weaken rebel groups and encourage some fighters to demobilize, but completely ending the possibility of future talks could be counterproductive.

"We're talking about a conflict that has an estimated 27,000 individuals involved in different armed and criminal groups," Dickinson said. "These individuals will need a route back into normal life."

De la Espriella won Colombia's presidential election by about 250,000 votes, defeating left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda by roughly one percentage point.

He is the latest conservative leader elected in Latin America as voters increasingly focus on crime and security concerns.

Right-wing leaders have recently won elections in Peru, Chile and Ecuador, reflecting a conservative shift in parts of South America.

These politicians have sought closer alignment with the Trump administration on issues such as immigration and anti-drug policies.

De la Espriella has expressed support for the Trump administration's controversial campaign of militarly strikes against vessels suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, in which more than 200 people have been killed.

He is also expected to speed up the extradition of rebel leaders wanted in the United States on drug charges. He has begun aligning Colombia's foreign policy with Washington by cutting diplomatic ties with Cuba and restoring relations with Israel.

Domestically, de la Espriella has said he wants to cut government spending by as much as 40% to reduce the growing budget deficit. He has already announced plans to close 14 Colombian embassies in Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.

But de la Espriella will have to build a majority in Colombia's fragmented Congress if he wants to push through deeper reforms, said Sergio Guzmán, a political analyst in Bogotá.

The new president also faces opposition from Petro, who has refused to acknowledge the election result and claimed, without providing credible evidence, that the vote count was rigged.

Guzmán said the fraud allegations could fuel protests against de la Espriella's government among Colombians who are already concerned that his anti-crime policies could lead to human rights abuses by security forces.

"Petro is going to be a constant nuisance for De la Espriella," Guzmán said. "But I think De la Espriella is ready for a fight with Petro, both rhetorically and potentially on the streets.

Blanche's path to confirmation appears clear after winning key Republican's support

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 14:12:59 GMT

Attorney General Nominee Todd Blanche leaves a meeting on Capitol Hill on July 29, 2026.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

President Trump's nominee for attorney general will likely squeak by in his Senate confirmation, after securing key support from Sen. Bill Cassidy.

The Louisiana Republican said he's spoken multiple times with Todd Blanche, who has been serving as acting attorney general and has faced an uphill battle in his nomination process.

"I'll be criticized for this vote," Cassidy said in remarks Friday from the Senate floor. "What's new?"

Cassidy acknowledged concerns over Blanche's judgment in exempting the president from IRS audits and said he was particularly troubled by the Department of Justice bringing suits against the president's perceived political enemies.

"A never-ending cycle of prosecuting political enemies undermines the rule of law, degrades the public's trust in our institutions, and makes our politics more extreme," he said.

Cassidy, who's been increasingly vocal about opposition to the administration after he lost his renomination bid to a Trump-backed challenger, said that his decision is not a referendum on the president.

"Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this," Cassidy said. "But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche."

Cassidy's support is a major win for the White House.

His announcement came on the heels of fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announcing she would not support Blanche's nomination.

With the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Murkowski's opposition, Cassidy's vote is crucial in securing a glidepath for Blanche.

"The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration," Murkowski said in a statement on X on Friday. "I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case."

Murkowski said she has concerns about the "sweeping immunity protections granted to the president" and what she called the "politicization—even weaponization" of the Department of Justice.

She said another factor in her decision was the anti-weaponization fund, which the Trump administration initially said would be available to those who allege wrongdoing by the federal government. Blanche told members of Congress in June that the controversial fund was scrapped, and formally rescinded it earlier this week.

"I am also keenly aware that the Department's nearly $2-billion dollar slush fund—which likely would have rewarded January 6 protesters—is only off the table because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage," she said. "Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds."

GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina – both of whom are leaving Congress – initially held up the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote on Blanche's nomination, demanding written assurances that the fund was indeed dead. Blanche provided that written statement on Aug. 2.

Murkowski joins Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in announcing her opposition to Blanche.

Blanche has been working to assuage the concerns of GOP senators, traveling to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers and even taking a trip to Murkowski's state to meet with local and tribal leaders.

He was hired by Trump as his personal attorney in 2023 to defend him from charges over hush money payments, attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 elections, and the mishandling of classified documents.

Employers unexpectedly cut 23,000 jobs in a sign of a wilting labor market

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 13:10:10 GMT

The U.S. labor market softened in July as employers cut 23,000 jobs. Construction companies and factories continued to add workers, but retailers and restaurants shed jobs.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The U.S. job market unexpectedly stalled in July.

A report Friday from the Labor Department shows that employers cut 23,000 jobs last month, and job gains for May and June were revised sharply lower.

The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, but only because more than 260,000 people dropped out of the workforce.

It was the second month in a row that the monthly jobs tally came in weaker than forecasters had expected.

"We are increasingly hearing from workers that they are anxious about their job security and they are frustrated by the fact that they are stuck in roles that are not necessarily good for them," said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at the job search website Glassdoor. "And that's on top of workers who are not in a job right now and feel frozen out of the job market."

Glassdoor's worker confidence index slumped in July to a record low.

The Fed's job gets harder

Restaurants and retailers cut thousands of jobs last month, and local government also saw large job losses. Healthcare continued to add workers, but at a more modest pace than earlier in the year.

The softening job market may complicate the Federal Reserve's job, since it's also battling stubborn inflation. The Fed may be more cautious about raising interest rates at a time when the labor market appears less stable.

For people who are working, average wages have risen 3.2% in the last 12 months. That's likely not enough to keep pace with inflation, however, so workers' paychecks don't stretch as far as they used to.

"Part of the reason that workers are feeling bad about today's job market," Zhao says, is that "a lot of those wage gains have been eaten up by rising energy prices."

A new vaccine could vanquish a major cause of deadly diarrheal disease

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 11:36:33 GMT

A medical illustration depicts the Shigella bacteria, a leading cause of diarrheal disease.

Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images

Diarrhea has been a headline story in the United States this summer, with thousands of cases of explosive diarrhea traced to Cyclospora from tainted lettuce –- and the first two deaths from the outbreak now confirmed in Michigan.

In other parts of the world, diarrhea is a constant — and deadly — threat. Over 1 million people die from diarrheal illness such as dysentery every year. Nearly half of them are children under age 5. Chad has the highest rate of childhood deaths: roughly 1 in 140 children under 5 die each year.

In the world of public health, however, the disease often does not get the attention it deserves. It's because of what researchers call the "poo taboo" –- people just aren't comfortable talking about diarrhea.

Now a vaccine candidate offers a new hope.

"Rigorous" trial, "remarkable" response

The vaccine is called WRSs2 –- named after the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. It was tested jointly at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Emory Vaccine Center's Hope Clinic in Atlanta. The results, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases this summer: It was 89% effective at preventing one of the leading causes of diarrheal deaths, shigellosis.

The study recruited 108 adults. Half received the vaccine — a weakened version of the shigella bacteria suspended in a liquid — almost like a yogurt. The dose is a tad less than a shot-glass worth taken twice a month apart. The other half got doses of salt water.

The weakened bacteria is strong enough to bring on an immune reaction but shouldn't make anyone really sick, says Dr. Robert Frenck, a professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's and director of its Center for Vaccine Research, who co-led the trial.

Even though the number of trial participants were relatively small, that "rigorous" setup also makes the 89% figure harder to shrug off, says Dr. Kawsar Talaat, an infectious disease physician and vaccine scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Deliberate exposure is a brutal test — in this trial, 81% of the placebo group got sick, experiencing diarrhea and fever in some cases before receiving antibiotics.

"So the fact that the vaccine prevented almost 90% of the illness is really remarkable." she says. "It's the best efficacy we've ever seen."

Talaat runs studies of her own but was not involved in this trial.

Frenck thanks the volunteers who contributed to the study. He says they were paid about $250 a day for roughly a week for the trial, and took a quiz ensuring they knew the risks. While it might not be for everyone, he says the volunteers made a swift and efficient trial possible rather than enrolling thousands and waiting for them to naturally get infected — and he notes their commitment is critical to the vaccine effort.

A scourge for children

"Throughout the world, diarrheal illness is the second leading cause of death of children," Frenck says. "And Shigella is one of the more common causes of bacterial diarrhea." It's spread through contaminated food and water. Cases are more common in areas with poor sanitation.

The children who survive don't always recover fully. Kids who get Shigella often slip off their growth curves and never quite catch up.

"If somebody develops Shigella, then they develop prolonged diarrhea, more hospitalization, more malnutrition and cognitive impairment," says Dr. Jahangir Hossain of the Gambia Medical Research Council Unit at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The peak of risk, he says, arrives between 12 and 23 months of age.

Hossain has spent his career battling shigellosis cases since the 1990s, first in Bangladesh and now in West Africa. At the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Dhaka, where he started out, sometimes 800 diarrheal patients would come in a day, he says.

"A Shigella patient comes with bloody diarrhea. They develop fever, and abdominal pain," he says. "Definitely it is emotional for every doctor facing a patient coming with Shigella and malnutrition." Families often travel one to three hours to reach a clinic, he says, and the diagnostic labs that American hospitals take for granted mostly aren't there. The treatment is antibiotics, but with resistance reaching over 80% for some antibiotics in some regions, efficacy can vary widely.

No Shigella vaccine has ever been licensed, despite more than 100 years of research. Prior candidates topped out well below WRSs2's efficacy: one had 74% in young adults but no protection in younger children; an Israeli vaccine managed 28% overall; WRSs2's precursor, WRSs1 had 40% and more side effects.

"It is very good efficacy," Hossain says. "Usually WHO wants 60% efficacy and then it is fine — but it is 89% efficacy. It is a good hope."

But he sounds a cautionary note about the study: "It is a small trial, and it is only the adult age group." Hossain wants to see larger trials happen and see if it works in young children.

A timely trial

Dr. Hossain notes that the prospect of a vaccine is especially critical because increasing antibiotic resistance has complicated shigellosis treatment.

"The biggest problem is antimicrobial resistance," Hossain says. "Usually we give antibiotics — ciprofloxacin, then azithromycin, and ceftriaxone — but sometimes it does not work. In some countries, especially in South Asia, even ceftriaxone is resistant." Patients infected with antibiotic resistant Shigella, therefore, are often sick longer and are at higher risk of dying.

Talaat sees the same trend and highlights a precedent for what a vaccine can do about it. "As these organisms become harder and harder to treat, the need for a vaccine also increases," she says. "We saw it with typhoid — there's some typhoid that's almost impossible to treat with antibiotics now." She says if vaccines were to prevent the infection themselves, less antibiotics will be used which will in turn decrease the amount of resistant strains.

The vaccine is not side-effect free. Over half reported a headache and about 45% of recipients had some diarrhea after their dose. But no one was hospitalized from the vaccine. The authors called the safety profile acceptable while noting more work will be done to hone the vaccine's safety-efficacy balance — vaccines often have a tradeoff of more side-effects with a higher dose for a stronger efficacy.

What's next

WRSs2 is protective against a single species, Shigella sonnei. While one of the most common causes of diarrheal deaths, it's part of a group of triggering bacteria.

"The holy grail — the thing that would be perfect — would be a vaccine that would control ETEC [enterotoxigenic E. coli], Campylobacter and Shigella," Frenck says. "Then you'd be able to prevent all these with one or two administrations."

Frenck imagines a combination vaccine that would protect against all the major bacterial causes of diarrheal deaths, albeit likely not cyclosporiasis.

There's a practical reason for making it a combination vaccine too, Talaat says. "Kids get a lot of vaccines," so Talaat says it's easier to add one combination vaccine rather than several into the schedule — like the MMR or Tdap vaccine.

Hossain is more cautious about whether making it a combination will impede vaccine development.

"Combination is good — if it's possible to make it in a realistic way," he says. But he notes these vaccine trials have been ongoing for decades and worries if researchers "combine many serotypes and many pathogens together, it might be practically difficult."

"We cannot delay — we need something immediately," Hossain says.

Regardless of whether it is a combination vaccine or not, all agree the next step is making sure it works in children. The people who die of and are affected by shigellosis are overwhelmingly small children in the global south, who, the authors say, have poorer immunity than well-developed and nourished children. The paper — like Hossain — calls for trials in places where poor sanitation is a factor in high rates of diarrheal disease, targeting particularly young children next.

"The most important population for a potential Shigella vaccine would be children under 5," Talaat says. "We want a vaccine that's safe and effective in children as young as one year of age, or even younger."

For Frenck, that's the whole point. He says that vaccines are needed to achieve his goal of "really reducing deaths of children in the world."

Trump targets birthright citizenship. And, Iran aims to ban U.S. from Strait of Hormuz

Fri, 07 Aug 2026 10:56:19 GMT

Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today's top stories

President Trump announced that he signed two executive orders targeting birthright citizenship. The orders come after the Supreme Court's recent ruling affirming that the Constitution grants automatic citizenship for virtually all children born in the United States. Trump's first order aims to restrict who is eligible for birthright citizenship, including babies born to members of foreign terrorist groups or employees of foreign governments. The second order aims to deny visas to pregnant foreigners that the administration believes are coming to the U.S. to engage in "birth tourism" to ensure their children obtain citizenship.

President Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David in Maryland, on July 31, 2026.

Aaron Schwartz/AFP via Getty Images

🎧 Authorities have cracked down on businesses that coach travelers on how to hide their pregnancies from immigration officials over the years, NPR's Juliana Kim tells Up First. The true scale of birth tourism remains unclear. Estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Center for Immigration Studies indicate that tourist births account for a small fraction of the 3.6 million U.S.-born babies each year. Immigration advocates argue that birth tourism is overstated, Kim says. Like Trump's previous directive aimed at restricting birthright citizenship, legal experts expect Thursday's executive orders to face challenges in court as well.

Iran's parliament is considering an agreement with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The proposal would ban ships connected to the U.S., Israel and other "hostile countries" from the key waterway until Iran receives compensation for war damages. Commercial vessels passing through the strait would be subject to fees of up to 7% of cargo value and a 20% fine for noncompliance. On Wednesday, Iran said it was finalizing a shipping route agreement with Oman, a U.S. ally. The Trump administration disputes Iran's characterization of the agreement, maintaining that the U.S. currently controls the strait through its naval blockade of Iran. Oman has not commented.

🎧 Trump's public statements about progress in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran don't seem to align with the reality of what is understood by Iranians, NPR's Franco Ordoñez says. Trump is facing significant pressure to end the war, but Iran remains unyielding despite military pressure from the U.S., and it's making its own demands regarding the Strait. The stalemate has raised concerns from observers that the U.S. may have to accept terms worse than the previous status quo, which was free movement through the Strait. Current negotiations are also focused on the waterway reopening rather than issues like uranium enrichment, which Trump originally cited as justification for the war.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday voted along party lines to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. The decision comes after Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination during a hearing on the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Justice Department will decide whether to pursue potential criminal prosecution of Fauci. Prosecutions are rare, but two former Trump advisers — Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro — were imprisoned on contempt of Congress charges during President Joe Biden's administration.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced yesterday that he has been discharged from a rehabilitation center after more than 50 days in the hospital. He says he was hospitalized following a fall, and his stay was extended due to pneumonia. The 84-year-old's extended absence sparked conspiracy theories and concerns about his future in office. McConnell's term expires in early January, and the race to succeed him is underway. Republican Rep. Andy Barr will face off against Democratic former Kentucky state Rep. Charles Booker in the November midterms. (via Louisville Public Media)

Deep dive

A vendor sits next to a logo for World AIDS Day, along a sidewalk in Phnom Penh on December 1, 2022. (Photo by TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP) (Photo by TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images)

Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP via Getty Images

Cambodia has become the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to reach a key United Nations milestone for HIV diagnosis and treatment. In 2020, UNAIDS set an ambitious 95-95-95 target for countries to achieve by 2030. The objective is that within each country, 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95% of HIV-positive people are taking medication that lowers the amount of the virus in their body and 95% of people on those medications have a viral load so low that they have nearly no risk of passing the disease onto others. Only 11 countries in the world have reached this target. Here are some of the ways Cambodia made the list:

🇰🇭 In 1999, the country launched a campaign to encourage couples to always use condoms. By the campaign's early years, more than 80% of sex workers reported using them.
🇰🇭 In 2003, the Cambodian government made HIV medication free after an international financing group called the Global Fund provided the country with a $11.2 million grant.
🇰🇭 Early programs targeted high-risk groups with elevated HIV rates, including the military, police, garment factory workers and sex workers. As HIV rates decreased in the general population, the epidemic became more concentrated among harder-to-reach high-risk groups.

Weekend picks

Kevin Sussman, left, Lauren Lapkus, Brian Posehn, John Ross Bowie in Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.

Colin Remas Brown/HBO Max

Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:

🍿 Movies: Olivia Wilde plays a mixed-media artist who engages in a consensual and kinky, but very unprofessional sub/dom relationship with her assistant Elliot in I Want Your Sex. Elliot is enjoying himself, but his life quickly unravels.

📺 TV: Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, a new 10-part HBO Max sequel to The Big Bang Theory, explores the lives of peripheral characters: the local comic book store owner Stuart, his girlfriend Denise and two brainy misfits, Bert and Barry.

📚 Books: This summer's heat makes it a great time to stay indoors or in the shade with new books. This month's new selections feature dogs, Hollywood stars, small towns and characters facing challenges beyond the sweltering weather.

🎵 Music: NPR Music's New Music Friday has pinpointed the best new albums released today. Their starting lineup includes Ravyn Lenae's Blue Island and Overmono's Pure Devotion. Check out the other notable releases that made the list.

🎮 Games: Jimothy the raccoon took over social media because of his unique shape due to a spinal condition. Now, you can play as the short-spined critter in an arcade-style video game.

❓ Quiz: This week's quiz covers a mix of politics, celebrity news and health headlines. Challenge your memory and see how well you score.

3 things to know before you go

Jalapeno peppers sit on a cutting block.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recalled jalapeños linked to hundreds of cases of Salmonella across multiple U.S. states. (via Texas Public Radio)
In this week's installment of Far-Flung Postcards, NPR's Diaa Hadid visits the Hurulu Eco Park in Sri Lanka, where elephants roam freely. As their habitats get converted to farmland, conflicts with humans have ensued.
A new study from researchers in Germany reveals how a certain species of snail changes the properties of its mucus to serve different purposes. They say the information could help engineers develop slimes to seal wounds or deliver medications.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.