SCOTUS Asks For More Security, Graham’s Sister Sworn In, Parasite Spreads Across US: AM Update 7/15

**Tara Narula** (0:00)
Courage, I learned it from my adoptive mom.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:02)
Hold my hand.

**Susan Collins** (0:03)
You hold my hand.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:06)
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**Elena Kagan** (0:09)
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**SPEAKER_2** (0:11)
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**Mark Halperin** (0:17)
Hey, good morning, everybody. I'm Mark Calprin, host of Next Up with Mark Calprin. Filling in today for Megyn Kelly, it's Wednesday, July 15th, 2026 And this is your AM update.

**Amy Coney Barrett** (0:27)
Many of us, me included, have received threatening, anonymous deliveries designed to intimidate and harass us.

**Mark Halperin** (0:35)
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan making a rare appearance on Capitol Hill, urging Congress to approve a larger court budget as threats against the justices grow more personal, more frequent and increasingly dangerous. Lindsey Graham's sister sworn into his Senate seat, carrying forward the work of the brother who raised her.

**Richard Smith** (0:54)
If you're somebody that seemed to go into salad bars on a weekly basis, just give that a rest for a week or two.

**Mark Halperin** (1:00)
A fast growing parasite outbreak sickening thousands across more than 30 states as health experts warn Americans to rethink what they eat until investigators find the source and a massive heat dome baking much of the country with record temperatures threatening millions from coast to coast. All that and more coming up on your AM Update.

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**Mark Halperin** (2:28)
Supreme Court justices, Elena Kagan, a liberal and Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative making a rare appearance on Capitol Hill yesterday, testifying before separate House and Senate panels as the high court seeks a roughly 10 percent budget increase amid a surge of threats against judges. The court requesting $228 million for the next fiscal year, including $14.6 million to expand the teams assigned to protect each justice and their families. Nearly 400 federal judges facing threats last year, with another 276 targeted during the first half of this year, according to the US Marshals Service. The danger becoming frighteningly real in June of 2022, when a California man traveled across the country to Justice Brett Kavanaugh's Maryland neighborhood intending to assassinate him.
Nicholas Rossky, arriving near the justice's home, with a Glock handgun ammunition, a tactical knife, zip ties, pepper spray and burglary tools, before calling 911 himself and surrendering to police. Rossky pleading guilty last year to attempted murder, admitting he was angered by the leaked draft opinion, signaling the court was prepared to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
The leak triggering weeks of demonstrations in the spring of 2022 with pro-abortion activists gathering outside the Supreme Court and repeatedly protesting near the private homes of conservative justices. Justice Kagan telling members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee, the Supreme Court police force is now preparing for another dramatic increase in threatening activity.

**Elena Kagan** (4:11)
Our respective departments' growing needs are obvious given current conditions. The Capitol Police Chief recently testified that threats against Congress are up 50% this year. The Supreme Court police expect a smaller but still very substantial 38% annual increase in threats this year, which follows a 25% increase last year.
For some of us, those threats have come very close, and all of us live with the knowledge that they may again materialize. But as the Chief Justice has said, all members of the court continue to do their jobs as they believe legally right, adjudicating cases without fear or favor.

**Mark Halperin** (4:54)
Justice Barrett, a mother of seven, describing how the threats have forced the dangers of her job directly into the lives of her children.