Appeals court temporarily blocks Justice Department’s release of Biden conversations with biographer

July 10, 2026 / 12:33 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A federal appeals court temporarily blocked the Justice Department from turning over to a conservative think tank redacted transcripts and audio recordings of conversations former President Joe Biden had with his biographer roughly a decade ago.

A panel of three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed to issue an administrative injunction that stops the release of the material to the Heritage Foundation for 10 days.

The court said in a brief unsigned order that the purpose of its injunction, which expires at 11:59 p.m. on July 20, is to “give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion.”

The recordings at issue in the legal fight date back to 2016 and 2017, when Biden sat down with his biographer, Mark Zwonitzer, for his memoir, “Promise Me, Dad.” But they gained interest from the Heritage Foundation several years later following an investigation by former special counsel Robert Hur into Biden’s handling of sensitive government records after his vice presidency, which ended in 2017. The former president was not charged with any crimes stemming from Hur’s investigation.

The special counsel’s report, released in 2024, included passages that referenced Biden’s conversations with Zwonitzer. The special counsel wrote the recordings showed the former president’s “diminished faculties and faulty memory,” and said his conversations with Zwonitzer were “painfully slow, with Mr. Biden struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.”

Soon after Hur’s report was released, the Heritage Foundation filed a public records request for material the special counsel relied on to write specific portions of the report, including the excerpts that referred to Zwonitzer’s recorded conversations with Biden.

The Justice Department initially withheld the audio tapes and most of the written transcripts, citing certain exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act. But once President Trump returned to the White House, the department said it intended to provide the material to Congress and the Heritage Foundation.

Biden moved to intervene in a lawsuit the Heritage Foundation had filed in 2024 to force the release of the transcripts and tapes. But last month, a federal judge initially rejected a request from the former president to block the disclosure.

Shortly after she issued her decision, the judge, Dabney Friedrich, agreed to stop the Trump administration from releasing the information for three weeks to give the D.C. Circuit time to decide whether to take action itself. That order was set to expire at 5 p.m. Friday.

Biden’s lawyers had argued to the D.C. Circuit that disseminating his discussions with Zwonitzer would be harmful and likened their disclosure to the public release of diary entries or private text messages.

“The private conversations at issue were never intended to be shared with a wider audience, and the Department has them only because it collected the recordings as part of a criminal investigation that resulted in no charges,” they argued in a filing.

Biden’s legal team also said there is no immediate need for the Heritage Foundation to access the material.

“This FOIA action has been pending for nearly two and a half years, and there is no meaningful public interest — let alone one that must be satisfied in the immediate days or weeks — in the disclosure of decade-old conversations of a former President who is now a private citizen, and who neither holds nor is seeking public office,” they said.

But the Justice Department said the public has an interest in seeing the information that Hur relied on during the course of his investigation.

“Releasing the materials will allow the public to assess the persuasiveness of Hur’s determinations,” department lawyers told the D.C. Circuit in court papers.

Democratic candidate Brad Lander on why he calls himself a ‘liberal zionist’

1:55 PM EDT, Fri July 10, 2026 / CNN

By Dana Bash, CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/10/politics/video/nyc-house-candidate-brad-lander-israel-ip

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Democratic candidate Brad Lander on why he calls himself a ‘liberal zionist’

Inside Politics

Democratic House candidate Brad Lander recently ousted an incumbent member of Congress in a Democratic primary where opposition to Israel played a major role. He joins “Inside Politics” to discuss his views on the US-Israel relationship and why he calls himself a “liberal zionist.” He tells Dana Bash, “I want it to actually honor international law and Palestinian human rights so it can be the Jewish and democratic Israel that I grew up believing in.”

2:37 • Source: CNN

What happened under Trump this week

2026-07-10 12:05 p.m. EDT / The Washington Post

He met with NATO leaders, and a judge ordered him to pay $5.8 million for defamation.

President Donald Trump poses with world leaders at this week’s meeting of NATO allies. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Analysis by Amber Phillips

Here’s what happened under President Donald Trump’s administration this week that you may have missed.

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Trump admin. to support heavy tariffs on Russian oil in effort to end Ukraine war, sources say

July 10, 2026 / 2:08 PM EDT / CBS News

By Jennifer Jacobs, Jennifer Jacobs Senior White House reporter

Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News.

Jennifer Jacobs, Margaret Brennan, Margaret Brennan Moderator, “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan;” Chief foreign affairs correspondent

Margaret Brennan is moderator of “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on CBS. Based in Washington, D.C., Brennan is also the Network’s chief foreign affairs correspondent and a contributing correspondent to 60 Minutes. Additionally, she appears regularly on the “CBS Evening News,” leading coverage from Washington when news breaks on the political and foreign affairs fronts.

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Nikole Killion is a CBS News congressional correspondent based in Washington D.C., who has covered some of the biggest stories on Capitol Hill since 2021. Killion has also served a key role in CBS News’ election coverage during the 2024 and 2020 presidential races covering the Trump, Biden, and Harris campaigns.

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The Trump administration will support a draft bill that would impose heavy financial penalties on purchasers of Russian oil, adding to economic pressure on Moscow, all in an effort to bring Russia’s four-year war on Ukraine to a close, sources told CBS News.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told CBS News that the Trump White House has approved the latest draft of a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill.

A Ukrainian official told CBS News that on Friday, Graham informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that it has the support of the White House.

White House spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Both senators emphasized that Ukraine is turning the tide on the battlefield, and Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to be brought to the table. Graham indicated to CBS News that Putin’s constant attacks are a factor in Mr. Trump’s thinking, and the president has found Ukraine’s recent success on the battlefield to be persuasive.

The bipartisan bill aims to increase economic pressure on Russia. It is not clear how soon the tariffs would go into effect after the legislation is signed into law.

It would allow high tariffs to be imposed on countries that continue to buy Russian oil and natural gas. India and China are the two biggest buyers of Russian oil.

blob:https://www.cbsnews.com/e69672c0-3e83-43a6-b44e-00a8f08d4afc

Blumenthal did not yet have a vote count, but he believes there will be Democratic support for the bill. The Connecticut senator also credited timing: Recent declines in the price of oil since the cooling off of the war with Iran are making this a more palatable decision.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota had previously told the senators that he’d move the bill when they had the votes. The Senate returns to Washington on Monday.

Blumenthal said that the movement on sanctions was not the only big win for Ukraine. He also said that Zelenskyy adroitly handled his meetings with Mr. Trump at the NATO summit this week, both securing the long-sought license to produce Patriot interceptors and persuading Trump to sign off on purchases of Ukrainian drones for U.S. usage. Zelenskyy had made a direct request for the licenses from Mr. Trump during an appearance on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” in May.

Blumenthal, Graham, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and GOP Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi hailed the agreement and said they expect to roll out the legislation “very soon.”

“As Russia intensifies its slaughter of civilians, it is imperative that the legislative and executive branches work together to create tools to exact a heavy price on those who buy Russian oil and natural gas, fueling the Putin war machine,” the senators said.

Zelenskyy has been notified of the president’s approval of the tariff plan, one of the sources said. The Ukrainian president met with Graham in Kyiv Friday and said in a post on X that “Lindsey briefed me on the work underway in Congress on the relevant bill.”

Can a pro-Israel Jewish Democrat be the party’s 2028 nominee? Hear what progressive House candidate Brad Lander thinks

2026-07-10T18:02:49.833Z / CNN

Dana Bash

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 2:02 PM EDT, Fri July 10, 2026

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Can a pro-Israel Jewish Democrat be the party’s 2028 nominee? Hear what progressive House candidate Brad Lander thinks

Inside Politics

Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander joins “Inside Politics” after defeating incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in a New York City primary. Lander, an outspoken critic of Israel, says accusing Israel of genocide won’t be “a litmus test in the presidential race” but “I do think a reset in the US-Israel relationship is,” he tells Dana Bash.

2:59 • Source: CNN

Mamdani official’s planned meeting with Iran envoy shut down by State Department

July 10, 2026 12:35pm EDT / Fox News

Commissioner Ana María Archila had scheduled a sit-down with Iranian envoy Iravani

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

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A senior official in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration planned to meet with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations before the State Department reportedly intervened, and the meeting was canceled.

Commissioner Ana María Archila, leader of the Mamdani administration’s Office of International Affairs, was scheduled to meet with Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, Tuesday, the City Journal first reported.

A U.S. official familiar with the matter confirmed to Fox News Digital that the meeting had been scheduled.

TRUMP SAYS HE’S IRAN’S ‘NO. 1’ TARGET AS RENEWED CONFLICT RAISES ASSASSINATION FEARS

The reported intervention marks the second known instance in recent weeks in which the Trump administration has stepped in over the Mamdani administration’s contacts with foreign leaders, highlighting growing federal scrutiny of New York City’s international outreach under its new socialist mayor.

Commissioner Ana María Archila, leader of the Mamdani administration’s Office of International Affairs, was scheduled to meet with Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations.(Lev Radin/Sipa USA via Reuters)

The Office for International Affairs coordinates closely with the State Department on many diplomatic matters because of New York City’s role as host to the United Nations.

Once the State Department became aware of the planned meeting, it was called off and State Department officials met with Mamdani officials to clarify acceptable conduct, a State Department official told the City Journal.

The Iranian mission declined to comment on the meeting to Fox News Digital. “That meeting did not take place, it will not take place and I did not know about it until there was a press inquiry regarding it,” Mamdani said during a press conference on Friday.

Pressed on whether he supported such a meeting, he added: “I’ve said that that meeting will not be taking place. Thank you all very much.”

A State Department official told Fox News Digital in a statement: “We appreciate the mayor understanding the value of diplomacy, and for his decision to cancel this meeting. It is unconscionable that a New York City official would even consider meeting with the Iranian Ambassador to the U.N., a man who consistently works to undermine U.S. interests and whitewash his regime’s crimes against the United States, our allies, and Iran’s own citizens.”

A senior official in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration planned to meet with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, before the State Department reportedly intervened and the meeting was canceled.(Anna Connors/Pool via Reuters)

Trump has repeatedly said he is “No. 1” on Iran’s “kill list,” and Israel recently shared intelligence with the U.S. president about an Iranian plot to assassinate him, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The reported Iran meeting would mark the second known instance in recent weeks in which the Trump administration intervened over the Mamdani administration’s contacts with foreign officials.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN CEASEFIRE IS ‘OVER’ AFTER IRANIAN ATTACKS TRIGGER MASSIVE US RESPONSE

An official with Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office had planned a meeting with Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations.(Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

In June, the Washington Post reported that a planned meeting between Mamdani and Colombian President Gustavo Petro was scrapped after State Department objections. Fox News Digital has asked the State Department to confirm that account.

Archila, the official who planned to meet with the Iranian representative, served as the co-director of New York’s progressive Working Families party prior to her appointment as commissioner. She had no prior diplomatic experience before taking the role, and in 2022 ran for lieutenant governor of New York.

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Archila made headlines in 2018 when she confronted former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., outside a Senate elevator after he announced he would vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

She identified herself as a sexual assault victim and asked him why he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh after hearing the account of Christine Blasey Ford, who claimed Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh denied the allegation.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390374605112

Trump says the Iran ceasefire is ‘OVER.’ What now?

2026-07-10T19:10:19.032Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/10/politics/trump-says-the-iran-ceasefire-is-over-what-now

The Iran war has apparently entered a new phase.

After more than three months of attempts to hold together an exceedingly brittle and confusing pair of ceasefires, President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that the truce was ending.

Then he said it more firmly Friday.

The US has agreed to continue talks, Trump wrote on social media, but added that Iran had been informed, “in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!”

So what does this mean? And where does it leave the United States — both with the war effort and the politics that surround it?

Here are some key points and questions.

As with many of the president’s pronouncements, it’s not clear how lasting the sentiment will be. As of Friday morning, there’s been a lull in strikes, so it’s not as if full-scale war has returned.

Trump’s statement that talks will continue would also seem to suggest he really doesn’t want it to resume and is still fixated on an elusive peace deal.

He also this week resurrected his threats to target key Iranian civilian infrastructure, which would quite possibly be a war crime.

So it’s possible saying the ceasefire is over is more of a warning than anything else — the latest attempt by Trump to threaten Iran into submission and to cut an acceptable deal.

Of course, that hasn’t really worked before. So why would it now?

But if Trump is to be taken at face value, this would seem to be a pivot point featuring some difficult choices.

For one, does the United States go back to full-scale war in hopes of extracting something significant from Iran?

That seems to be the alternative to the ceasefire, judging by Trump’s and the administration’s past rhetoric. But the president also said Wednesday that “I don’t think it’s going to start again” — referring to large-scale war — and added, “We’re not looking for long term.”

Trump has also appeared to lay the groundwork this week for arguing that the war has already succeeded in denuclearizing Iran, even without getting its nuclear material or a long-term nuclear deal. That sounds somewhat like a guy who’s just ready to be done with it all.

For another, does the United States reinstitute its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz?

The reason the ceasefire crumbled in recent days was that Iran kept striking vessels in the area. The administration has argued the blockade gave the US significant leverage over the situation by applying major pressure on Iran’s economy. So if Tehran isn’t abiding by its promises from the memorandum of understanding to fully reopen the strait, one would think the US would want to reinstitute the blockade it had used as a countermeasure. But so far, there’s no sign of that.

Which leads to the big one: What else does the US do about the strait?

It’s pretty clear that a major reason for the ceasefire’s shakiness is Iran’s reluctance to give up its trump card: control of the strait. The war has proven Iran’s ability to inflict major damage on the world economy by threatening vessels that move through the strait, which, it’s worth remembering, was open before Trump started the war. That leverage is a huge problem for the US and its Gulf allies — not just in this war but for the foreseeable future in the Middle East.

It’s looking more and more like negotiations won’t resolve this, but it’s perhaps the one issue that needs to be resolved, somehow.

Beyond the difficult decisions in the Middle East are what this means, legally speaking, at home.

A true end to the ceasefire would seem to trigger questions about whether the administration must now get authorization from Congress for the war.

The War Powers Act states that Congress needs to declare war or authorize the use of military force within 60 days of hostilities starting — or 90 days if the president seeks an extension.

The administration has skirted this requirement by claiming that the war was actually “terminated” when the first ceasefire began on April 7 — even though the military was still stationed in the region and has occasionally carried out retaliatory strikes.

So now that the ceasefire is apparently over and the 90-day window passed in late May, does the administration now have to seek authorization? Logic would suggest it does.

Unless the administration is going to argue that the clock now goes back to where it was on April 7 — or that the US is in a new war. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth once said in congressional testimony that the clock was effectively paused during the ceasefire.

Either way, though, Trump’s decision should trigger a real debate about what war powers he should even have right now.

That said, there’s not a great way to enforce the War Powers Act unless enough congressional Republicans decide to. They’re the ones who could provide the votes to end the war, via war powers resolutions and other measures.

Both the House and Senate have voted narrowly to end the war (though the Senate later reversed itself). And it’s been clear that some Republicans are losing patience with the conflict, given it increasingly threatens their political prospects in the 2026 midterm elections.

The question now would seem to be whether the end of the ceasefire might tempt enough of them to either 1) push for Trump to go back to full-scale war in hopes that might achieve an actual victory or 2) decide to try to end the war.

When the Senate reversed itself after rebuking Trump last month, it did so thanks to two GOP critics who decided to give Trump some room to operate. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy set aside his major concerns about the war and Trump’s negotiations after getting a White House briefing, while Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul cited how “hostilities seem to be over and the president asked me to give consideration to his negotiating position.”

Given the negotiations don’t seem to be working and the ceasefire is over (according to Trump), does Paul go back to voting against Trump’s authority? Does Cassidy — who’s already been defeated by a Trump-backed primary challenger — lose patience, too?

Similar questions loom over other Republicans who might worry about where this war is going and how much it could cost them in November.

And with Trump looking like he has no good options — or even much of a plan — they might start to feel the need to do something they’ve avoided like the plague throughout the last 18 months: actually assert their power over him.

Vance family to rent home in Virginia countryside

July 10, 2026 / 2:17 PM EDT / CBS News

By Olivia Rinaldi, Nicole Sganga

Washington— The Secret Service has been providing security measures to accommodate an additional residence for Vice President JD Vance and his family in Middleburg, Virginia, two senior law enforcement officials confirmed to CBS News.

Sources familiar with the decision say the rental property would supplement — not replace — the official vice presidential residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington. Middleburg is roughly 40 miles from the capital and is well-known for its hunting and horses.

Since the Vance family moved into the vice presidential residence at 1 Observatory Circle, they have made several upgrades, including a new fence for the 72-acre property and the addition of a new chicken coop.

Vance and his wife, Usha, have three young children, and are expecting their fourth this summer.

Middleburg has been home to previous presidential retreats. Former President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline built their Wexford retreat in the Virginia countryside near the town. Ronald and Nancy Reagan later rented the estate during the 1980 campaign.

NBC News first reported that the Vance family was considering leasing a property in Middleburg.

Book excerpt: “Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000” by Barry Walters

July 10, 2026 / 9:35 AM EDT / CBS News

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At least 12 killed by wildfire in southern Spain: “Majority of them are foreigners”

2026-07-10T08:19:00-0400 / CBS News

At least 12 people died in a wildfire Friday in the town of Los Gallardos in southern Spain, near the popular tourist city of Almeria, authorities said. Eight more were injured and 23 were unaccounted for.

The cause of the blaze hasn’t been determined but Spain has been one of many European nations hit by severe heat waves, with temperatures peaking at almost 106 degrees in the country’s south.

Antonio Sanz, the regional health minister of Andalucia, the region where the fire raged, told a press briefing four of those who died appeared to be “of British origin” because they were in a vehicle whose steering wheel was on the right side, unlike vehicles used by the rest of Europe.

Regional President Juanma Moreno pointed out on a local radio show that “the majority” of those who were killed “were foreigners” and the process of identifying them was ongoing.

This image made from video provided by INFOCA shows firefighters battling a wildfire in Los Gallardos, near Almeria, Spain, on July 9, 2026. INFOCA via AP

Sanz added that some of the victims lost their lives after “deciding to find a different path (out) on their own, other than the evacuation one” recommended by officials and wound up walking across a “dry riverbed” that in the end “became a real trap.”

He stressed that the only way to assure area residents were safe was to institute a lockdown and relocate them, adding that sine 122 people had been brought to a nearby theatre and a sports center.

Hundreds of emergency responders were working to contain the flames that authorities described as very serious and concerning, since they were in an area with plentiful vegetation.

The fire has consumed almost 7,800 acres of the vast natural area and reached a highway, making the situation even more dangerous for passers-by.

A picture taken on July 10, 2026 shows houses in a burnt area on the site on a wildfire that killed 11 in Los Gallardos, near Almeria Province. JOSE JORDAN / AFP via Getty Images

The Spanish Royal Family canceled their toast during a ceremony at the General Air and Space Academy in Murcia where the king’s daughter, Princess Leonor, completed her military training ahead of her taking command of the country’s armed forces at some point. During his speech, King Felipe asked for a minute of silence for the fire’s victims.

Earlier in the morning, the crown royals expressed their condolences, saying they were “deeply saddened.”

“We express our sadness and condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased and to all those affected. We also extend our gratitude and support to the emergency services and all those who, with professionalism and dedication, continue to work to address this situation,” they said in a statement on social media.