NPR News: 07-12-2026 11PM EDT

Dale Willman· Host0:01

Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Friends of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham are offering their thoughts on the seventy-one-year-old from South Carolina after he died overnight from what a doctor says was a torn aorta. Jeff Flake worked with Graham while he served as a senator from Arizona. He says Graham was someone who held strong views about the role of Congress.

Jeff Flake· Soundbite0:20

Lindsey, like I said, he was an old-time pol. Um, he had voted for President Obama's nominees, uh, to the court and for ambassadorships, for cabinet positions, and, uh, he was very bipartisan in that way.

Dale Willman· Host0:33

Graham spoke with President Trump about his recent trip to Ukraine just before he died. The US has launched another round of strikes against Iran and says they are over in response to an Iranian attack on Saturday. Those strikes then prompted Iran to attack several Middle Eastern countries. The attacks involve the str- status of the Strait of Hormuz, which is a key global trade route. NPR's Shannon Bond reports.

Shannon Bond0:54

Iran fired at and disabled a commercial container ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. It said ships were attempting to, quote, "travel along an unapproved route." Tehran said the strait is closed to transit entirely amid the latest round of hostilities with the US, but President Trump rejected that claim, speaking to NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.

Donald Trump· Soundbite1:14

It's open. We bombed the hell out of them last night.

Shannon Bond1:19

US Central Command says it's striking targets in Iran in retaliation to, quote, "continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz."