7.15.26 Sen. Lindsey Graham’s legacy, Nigeria's search for justice, and community college hidden costs

**Lindsey Mast** (0:05)
Good morning. Today on Washington Wednesday, Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz may be weakening.

**Nick Eicher** (0:11)
We'll talk about that and more with Hunter Baker. He is standing by.
Also, today World Tour is Llamas kidnappers struck again, and Nigerian families say justice still hasn't come. Later, Why Community College is not always the fast track to a four-year degree.

**Scott Markland** (0:29)
You know, at a big community college, students sometimes can get lost.

**Nick Eicher** (0:33)
And World commentator Cal Thomas dusts off a 50-year-old interview and brings back a surprisingly current message.

**Lindsey Mast** (0:47)
It's Wednesday, July 15th. This is The World and Everything In It from listener-supported World Radio. I'm Lindsey Mast.

**Nick Eicher** (0:53)
And I'm Nick Eicher. Good morning.

**Lindsey Mast** (0:57)
Up next, Kent Covington with today's news.

**Kent Covington** (1:01)
President Trump is backing off his plan to charge ships for protection in the Strait of Hormuz. He had floated a 20 percent toll on cargo passing through to fund US forces guarding it.
But on Tuesday, he dropped that idea, saying that Gulf allies offered another path to compensate the US.

**Donald Trump** (1:19)
They've been frankly, they've been very strong partners. And they said, we'd love to do it a different way. We'd love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars.

**Kent Covington** (1:30)
And US. Navy ships are once again enforcing a blockade around Iran's ports this morning after Iran attacked oil tankers in the Strait. Washington had lifted that blockade last month under the ceasefire meant to end the war, but that truce continues to falter.

**Donald Trump** (1:45)
We had a deal two days ago. It was done. And then all of a sudden they couldn't do it. They didn't like something about the deal. They couldn't do it. And they shot first. And that was a big mistake that they showed.

**Kent Covington** (1:55)
House Speaker Mike Johnson says the problem in trying to achieve lasting peace is who's across the table.

**Mike Johnson** (2:01)
They're not good faith actors. They cannot be trusted. The people that are in these negotiation rooms, as the president said himself yesterday, they will say one thing and literally walk out the door and do the opposite.

**Kent Covington** (2:11)
Iran insists that it has a right to control the strait. Mediators led by Pakistan are trying to get both sides talking again. Before the war, a fifth of the world's oil moved through the strait, but traffic has again slowed to a trickle.
Two Supreme Court justices did something Tuesday that no justice has done in about seven years, testify before Congress. Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett went before House spending panel to defend the court's budget and ask for more money to counter a rise in threats against the justices. Justice Kagan.

**Elena Kagan** (2:45)
For some of us, those threats have come very close, and all of us live with the knowledge that they may again materialize.

**Kent Covington** (2:53)
Justice Barrett also shared how threats have impacted her family. More on that later in the program.
Lawmakers on Tuesday also pressed the justices about ethics concerns. Several justices have faced scrutiny over book deals and gifts they've received. Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.

**Rosa DeLauro** (3:10)
As justices of the Supreme Court, you can and do accept these gifts without any committee or without hesitation.

**Kent Covington** (3:18)
But Justice Barrett pushed back.

**Amy Coney Barrett** (3:20)
We're not permitted to accept gifts with some nuances and some exceptions from litigants before the court.

**Kent Covington** (3:28)
And Kagan pointed to separation of powers and warned against letting either the White House or Congress police ethics at the nation's highest court.

**Elena Kagan** (3:36)
No, you don't want a president picking an inspector general to decide which of us is breaking the rules.

**Kent Covington** (3:45)
The high court adopted its own code of conduct nearly two years ago, but it carries no means of enforcement and critics in Congress want to change that.
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, please raise your right hand. Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Grassley administered the oath of office to Darlene Graham Nordone, who takes her late brother's place in the US. Senate.

**Chuck Grassley** (4:06)
You solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

**Kent Covington** (4:12)
Senator Lindsey Graham died on Saturday night, and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appointed his sister to serve out the remainder of his term, which expires in January.

**Chuck Grassley** (4:21)
So help you God. I do. Congratulations. God bless you.

**Kent Covington** (4:26)
Darlene Graham Nordone is a long time South Carolina public administrator. No word yet on whether she'll run for a full term in November.