Iran And Yemen's Houthis Blockade, Hegseth On Capitol Hill, Arizona Primary Day
7/21/202613 min
The war between the U.S. and Iran keeps widening as Yemen's Houthi rebels announce a blockade of Saudi Arabia that would choke off another key oil route, even as Iran signals it may be open to talks.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth heads to Capitol Hill today to ask for 350 billion dollars more for the war, in a rare chance for senators to question him after the Pentagon admitted 100 troops were wounded in the past two weeks and hasn't briefed reporters since May.
And it's the last day of primary voting in Arizona, a swing state that's become ground zero for election denialism, with big fall races taking shape for governor, a toss-up House seat, and secretary of state.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Tina Kraja, Andrew Sussman, Larry Kaplow, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
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 Stacey Abbott.
And our Supervising Senior Producer is Vince Pearson.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:53) Iran And Yemen's Houthis Blockade
(05:31) Hegseth On Capitol Hill
(09:20) Arizona Primary Day
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMichel Martin· Host0:00
[gentle music] Iran already controls one key waterway used for oil shipping in the Middle East.
Leila Fadel· Host0:06
Now Yemeni rebels backed by Iran are trying to cut off another one. Will they succeed?
Michel Martin· Host0:11
I'm Michelle Martin. That's Leila Fadel, and this is Up First from NPR News. Seventeen American troops have died in the Iran war. The Pentagon says 100 more were wounded in the past two weeks. Today, senators finally get to question Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as he asks them for more money to fund an unpopular war.
Leila Fadel· Host0:32
And it's primary day in Arizona, where Republican races will tell us how their voters feel about election denial. There are candidates running who tried to overturn the 2020 election results. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
Speaker 30:46
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