Transcript of A New Attorney General, Profiting Off Immigration Detention, Hollywood Merger

Confirmations are flying in the Senate before an August recess. New heads for TSA and FEMA, dozens of ambassadors and government jobs.

And Todd Blanch gets just enough votes to become attorney general.

I'm Ayesha Rascoe.

And I'm Scott Simon, and this is Up First from NPR News. A couple of Republicans declined to vote for Todd Blanch, saying that the Justice Department has become too politicized under President Trump.

Working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been great business for private prison companies. They've made record profits this year.

And while a merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers has rattled people in Hollywood, a couple of movie theater chains, Regal Cinemas and AMC, say they want it to go through. The merger is still stuck in an antitrust lawsuit.

Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend. Early into the morning, the U.S. Senate under pressure from President Trump, voting and debating which of the president's priorities need to be addressed right now.

Early today, the Senate confirmed President Trump's nominee for U.S. Attorney General, Todd Blanche, squeaked out a victory. NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales joins us now. Thanks so much for being with us.

Good morning, Scott.

This confirmation consumed the Senate for weeks. Why?

Mm-hmm.

Right. A week ago, it wasn't even really clear he had the votes to win confirmation. Much of the concerns came down to a conflict of interest. That's Blanche's role in installing Trump's demands, and that includes a controversial settlement this year under his administration that was between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service that created a $1.8 billion fund that was on track to benefit Trump's allies. Now, Blanche issued a written order rescinding that plan, but still, that and more was part of the reasoning that Blanche lost key support from two Republicans, that's Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. They expressed concerns about the future of the agency with little restraint to Trump's demands. With the Senate operating under tight margins, all eyes were then on a final swing vote, that's Bill Cassidy from Louisiana. He ultimately said he would vote for Blanche, helping him get over the finish line by that one vote.

And what won Senator Cassidy's support?

Well, he admitted he too had concerns over Blanche's role in things like that anti-weaponization fund. Here's Cassidy on the Senate floor: Mr.

Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this, but the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump.

So he argued Blanche would actually have more leverage to push against the president if he was confirmed to the role.

Senate's now in an extended August recess but had a long to-do list to get there, uh, before wrapping up their session early this morning. What else did they do?

Well, one big thing, they approved a Russia sanctions bill with broad bipartisan support and a vote of 87 to 11. That's not a common occurrence in Congress these days. It was at least a year in the making. It was named for the late GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, who's really the architect on this legislation all the way up until his death last month. The bill is designed to really squeeze to squeeze the Russian economy. One way it does that is by letting President Trump put tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and natural gas. The bill's supporters saw it as a tribute to Graham, and his death added momentum to get it done. His sister Darlene Graham spoke right before the vote. She was appointed to serve the remainder of his term.

My late brother Lindsey was a foreign policy and national security expert. He was also a peacemaker who was determined to bring an end to the conflict Ukraine.

And Claudia, when should the bill reach President Trump's desk?

Well, first it needs to go to the House, which is currently on their August recess, but Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled support for the bill. However, we should note that some Democrats have raised concerns about giving Trump more power to put tariffs on other countries.

So with both chambers now on August recess, what's next?

Well, a lot of campaigning. This is one of the last chances for both parties to make their cases before the midterms, so that's why this final Senate session was so critical. For example, the Senate this morning also approved a stopgap that funding measure to keep the government's lights on past the November elections. But Republicans in particular have a tough case to make to voters in the midst of the Iran war and economic fallout from that. President Trump had insisted that they could also approve the so-called Save America Act. This is a voting overhaul bill. But this morning, a vote on this measure limited to voter ID failed. So this is a fight that might continue even after today.

NPR's Claudia Gonzalez, thanks so much.

Thank you.

Immigrant detention is approaching a record high, numbers not seen since January of this year, and the private prison companies that detain those people for ICE are reaping windfall profits.

NPR immigration correspondent Vanessa Romo joins us. Vanessa, thanks for being with us.

Hi, Scott.

You listened in on the earnings report calls for two large private prison companies. What did you hear?

I listened to calls with CoreCivic and GEO Group, and first, they both noted that this period includes the partial government shutdown of DHS, during which time the number of detentions dropped. Obviously, that had an impact on both companies' bottom line. But despite that, they still reported impressive profits. Let's start with the GEO Group. Here's CEO George Zoly talking to investors. Our better than expected performance reflects significant revenue growth from the contracts that we entered into throughout 2025. Zoly said that thanks to those contracts, total revenues for the company are up 15% to more than $730 million over the same period last year.

Tell us about the other company you heard about, CoreCivic.

Patrick Swindle is CoreCivic's president and CEO. He said that the company's total revenue went up by just over 27% for a total of more than $680 million. He said that they were able to exceed expectations by lowering operating costs, meaning that the business of detaining people is becoming cheaper.

And the profits grow larger. Now, does all that revenue come from holding people in detention?

No. In fact, both companies are finding different ways to become a sort of one-stop shop for all things related to holding people in detention and even once they're out. So GEO Group noted that their ankle monitoring sales are up and will likely increase further now that TPS, that's Temporary Protected Status, for Haitian immigrants has ended. And our member station WVXU in Ohio previously reported on seeing Haitian migrants fitted with ankle monitors as they left meetings with ICE officials. GEO Group also said that they drew more money from transportation and flight contracts with the government, which went up as more people are being deported. Meanwhile, CoreCivic said it benefited this quarter from its purchase of Clinical Solutions Pharmacy, which is a mail-order medications company for correctional facilities. But actually, Swindle started off the call touting the recent sale of 4 of their facilities to DHS.

We estimate our net proceeds from these 4 sales to be approximately $1.6 billion at an average price per bed of $307,000.

Plus, Swindell added, CoreCivic will continue to get paid for operating those detention centers. So even though those sales won't be reflected until next quarter, they are part of a larger strategy to meet President Trump's goal of having 100,000 people in detention at once. And during the call with GEO Group, Zoli said that they're in talks to do the same.

Now, Vanessa, NPR has reported that GEO Group has government ties that run deep. What are those connections?

Well, they start at the top of ICE. The acting director, David Ventrella, is a former executive at GEO Group, but in a recent letter, he told lawmakers that he's divested his GEO Group stock. Then there's Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, who was also a paid consultant for GEO Group before joining the government. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi also lobbied for GEO Group before she was appointed. Then there's the president's ties to both GEO Group and CoreCivic. There was an analysis of Trump's most recent financial disclosures by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington last month, and they found that the president's brokers have made 29 trades of private prison stocks since he returned to office.

And there's Vanessa Romo. Thanks so much.

Thank you.

This summer's box office is booming, but behind the scenes in Hollywood is a big corporate drama.

The merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery has loomed as merely a possibility all summer. Many in the film industry are against it. But a second major movie theater chain owner has come out to support the deal.

We're joined by NPR culture correspondent Mandalit del Barco from our studio in Culver City. Welcome.

Thank you so much.

So why do many in Hollywood hate this merger?

Well, this mega merger has a lot of vocal opponents who say it would be disastrous for the film industry. In fact, more than 1,400 actors, directors, writers, and filmmakers signed an open letter to try to block the merger. Here's Scottish actor Alan Cumming in a recent Instagram post. This merger would mean thousands of job cuts, fewer films, and even higher prices. But it isn't a done deal. And that's because attorneys general from 12 states, including California, are suing Paramount for antitrust violations. A judge in Northern California has set a trial for March.

What's the argument for the deal?

Well, David Ellison, who owns Paramount Skydance, continues to push for this $111 billion acquisition. Position.

On Tuesday, he talked to investors saying it would work, creating a stronger, well-capitalized, creative-first company with the scale to compete alongside Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and others, benefiting consumers, theatrical exhibition, and creators alike.

The head of Regal Cinemas recently released a statement supporting Paramount.

What did he argue?

Eduardo Acuña is the CEO of Regal Cinema, the second-largest movie theater chain in the country, and back in June, he was on a panel with other Hollywood leaders. It seemed then that he was still making up his mind about the Paramount deal. I think they're doing great work. On the other hand, we're all concerned with consolidation just in general. In any industry in the world, consolidation usually doesn't bring the best. Since then, Acuña says he met with Ellison and his team, and it comes down to trust. Acuña now says he believes they're sincere about their commitment to put 30 films a year into theaters with the combined studios. And he says a long fight in court will create more uncertainty and distractions and could damage the industry. But, you know, he's not the first theater owner to say this. Adam Aron, the CEO of the country's number one movie theater chain AMC, has been backing the deal, and he argued in an op-ed recently that the combined movie studios are critical to the momentum being felt at the domestic box office.

So why does he think momentum at the box office should figure into this deal?

Well, both of the CEOs refer to the recent success of Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey and the newest Spider-Man movie, Collectively, these hits have made history. They're primed to hit $1 billion at the box office this weekend. And that's a really big comeback for movie theaters that suffered through the COVID pandemic and film production shutdowns over the past 6 years. When Disney merged with Fox and Fox Searchlight in 2016, the combined studios made about half the number they did before separately. But these movie theater CEOs say they believe Ellison's promise to provide theaters with even more movies Of course, we don't know if they'll be hits or if ticket prices will go up.

But other movie theater owners don't agree?

Well, that's right. In fact, Cinema United, the association of movie theater owners around the world, remains opposed to the Paramount-Warner merger. CEO Michael O'Leary sent a memo to the members blasting the deal, saying he's skeptical of Ellison's promises to cinemas, and he noted that the combined company will carry a debt load of $80 billion a year.

So what's next for the proposed deal?

Well, if it doesn't close by the end of September, Paramount will have to start paying Warner Bros. shareholders $7 million a day. And while the antitrust trial in California looms, one of the Hollywood trade publications half-jokingly begged George Clooney and his A-list friends to save the day by buying Warner Bros. instead.

NPR culture correspondent Mandalit del Barco in our studio in Culver City, thank you so much.

Thank you.

That's Up First for Saturday, August 8th, 2026. I'm Aisha Roscoe.

And I'm Scott Simon. Michael Radcliffe produced this podcast with help from Elena Twork. Our editor is Diana Douglas, so ably assisted by Jason Breslow, Alina Hartounian, and Rose Friedman.

Our director is Andy Craig, and our technical director is David Greenberg. Those two never stop whispering in our ears. Our engineering team, including includes Simon Laszlo Jansen, Jay Sizz, and Zovan Kenhoven.

Ah, they whisper to you, they shout at me. Our senior supervising editor is Shannon Rhodes, our executive producer is Evie Stone, and our deputy managing editor is Catherine Laidlaw. The three fates.

Tomorrow on the Sunday Story, black lung disease among coal miners in Appalachia has climbed to its highest level in over 50 years. Why aren't we protecting miners from silica dust?

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