Ari Shapiro

Ari Shapiro reports on the White House for NPR with a focus on national security and legal affairs. His stories appear on all of NPR's newsmagazines, including All Things Considered and Morning Edition, where he is also a frequent guest host. Shapiro began covering the White House in 2010 after five years as NPR's Justice Correspondent, during which time his coverage of Justice Department policies and controversies chronicled one of the most tumultuous periods in the department's history.

The first NPR reporter to be promoted to correspondent before age 30, Shapiro has been recognized with several journalism prizes, including The American Bar Association's Silver Gavel for his coverage of prisoners lost in Louisiana's detention system after Hurricane Katrina; The Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize for his investigation of methamphetamine use and HIV transmission; the Columbia Journalism Review's "laurel" recognition of his investigation into disability benefits for injured veterans; and the American Judges' Association's American Gavel for a body of work reporting on courts and the justice system. He has appeared as a guest analyst on television news programs including The NewsHour, The Rachel Maddow Show and CNN Newsroom.

Shapiro is based in Washington, D.C., where, as NPR's Justice Correspondent, he covered some of the most significant court cases in recent history, including Supreme Court rulings on Guantanamo detainees, the perjury trial of top White House official Lewis "Scooter" Libby and the fraud trial of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. He has also broken stories about the government's evolving approach to counterterrorism, detention and interrogation policies. He investigated abuses of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and covered the legal proceedings against American soldiers accused of those abuses.

Before covering the Justice Department, Shapiro was NPR's regional reporter in Atlanta and then in Miami. In 2003, he was an NPR reporting fellow at WBUR in Boston.

Shapiro is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale. He began his journalism career in 2001 in the office of NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg. Shapiro was born in Fargo, North Dakota, and grew up in Portland, Oregon.

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2:18am

Fri November 9, 2012
It's All Politics

'Let Mitt Be Mitt': But Who Was He?

Originally published on Fri November 9, 2012 9:30 pm

The postmortems for Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign are rolling in.

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4:04am

Fri November 2, 2012
Election 2012

Romney Back On The Attack In Virginia

Originally published on Fri November 2, 2012 10:43 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

On a Friday - we've made it to Friday - it's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

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4:18pm

Tue October 30, 2012
Presidential Race

Romney Blurs Campaigning Line At Ohio Event

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish.

Mitt Romney did not officially campaign today out of respect for those recovering from Sandy or still enduring the giant storm, but he did appear in a crucial swing state before thousands of cheering supporters.

NPR's Ari Shapiro reports on Romney's balancing act one week before the election.

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6:18am

Thu October 25, 2012
Presidential Race

Romney Exudes Confidence In Nevada, Iowa

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Mitt Romney has also accelerated the pace of his campaign. Yesterday, he was in four states and four time zones, as the endurance test intensifies.

NPR's Ari Shapiro is traveling with the Romney campaign.

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7:11am

Mon October 22, 2012
Presidential Race

Foreign Policy Takes Center Stage In Final Debate

Originally published on Sun October 28, 2012 8:44 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene. Good morning.

Tonight the presidential candidates meet for the final debate of this presidential election. President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney will be in Boca Raton, Florida. The event will focus on foreign policy, which was never expected to rival the economy as a major issue in this campaign. But foreign policy has played a bigger role than anticipated in recent weeks.

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4:10pm

Fri October 19, 2012
It's All Politics

White Men, A Key GOP Demographic, Discuss The Romney Appeal

Originally published on Fri October 19, 2012 6:12 pm

Credit Daytona Beach Visitors Bureau

For all the attention paid to women in this race, there's another gender gap — with white men.

The Republican ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan campaigned in northeastern Florida on Friday, where thousands of men had descended on Daytona Beach for the annual motorcycle festival Biketoberfest.

A bunch of them were at Willie's Tropical Tattoo smoking cigarettes, drinking beer and listening to music.

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5:17am

Sat October 13, 2012
Presidential Race

Candidates Return To The Trail After VP Debate

Originally published on Sat October 13, 2012 9:15 am

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. It's a time-honored tradition in presidential campaigns to debate after the debate. Both sides are still squabbling now over who won this week's vice presidential faceoff. And on the campaign trail yesterday, the running mates themselves were out spinning for their side. NPR's Ari Shapiro has this round-up of the day on the trail.

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5:02am

Thu October 11, 2012
Election 2012

Romney Move Closer To The Center As Election Nears

Originally published on Thu October 11, 2012 6:14 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

This week in Iowa, the Des Moines Register asked Mitt Romney about abortion. Romney replied: There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda.

Democrats immediately noted that during the Republican primary campaign Romney actually wrote an article headlined, "My Pro-Life Pledge" that promised specific legislation. Much of his political base is pro-life and his campaign quickly clarified that Romney remains proudly pro-life and would support pro-life legislation.

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3:41pm

Mon October 8, 2012
Presidential Race

Romney Paints Obama As 'Weak Leader' In Middle East

Originally published on Sun October 14, 2012 7:28 am

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel. Later this month, President Obama and Mitt Romney will meet for a debate focused exclusively on foreign policy, but the Republican is not waiting until then to confront the issue. Today, in a speech at the Virginia Military Institute, Romney attacked the Obama administration's policies, especially in the Middle East.

MITT ROMNEY: It's clear that the risk of conflict in the region is higher now than when the president took office.

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3:54pm

Mon October 1, 2012
Presidential Race

Stakes High For Romney At First Presidential Debate

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 5:20 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

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4:29pm

Thu September 27, 2012
It's All Politics

A Second, Chance Interview With Subject Of Controversial First Lady Remarks

Originally published on Thu September 27, 2012 5:17 pm

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images

During the Republican National Convention last month, I traveled with Mitt Romney's campaign from Tampa, Fla., to the American Legion conference in Indianapolis.

Romney delivered a speech about foreign affairs and national security. Among the thousands of attendees from around the country, I interviewed one woman from Virginia whose quote sparked a conversation among NPR's audience and staff.

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3:50am

Thu September 27, 2012
Election 2012

Obama Campaigns In Battleground Ohio

Originally published on Thu September 27, 2012 6:00 am

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene. Renee Montagne is talking with voters in Colorado this morning for our series First and Main.

It is hard to believe but we are finally nearing the end of a presidential campaign that in many ways started back in January 2009.

INSKEEP: Iowa begins early voting today. Other states begin soon, and the presidential candidates are preparing for a final expensive and possibly brutal final act.

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3:35pm

Mon September 24, 2012
The Message Machine

Colorado Springs Soaks In Triple The Political Ads

Originally published on Tue September 25, 2012 4:11 pm

Second of a two-part series

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2:26am

Mon September 24, 2012
Presidential Race

Ads Slice Up Swing States With Growing Precision

Originally published on Tue September 25, 2012 8:08 am

4:33pm

Mon September 17, 2012
It's All Politics

Obama, Romney In Tug Of War Over China Trade

Originally published on Sun October 21, 2012 5:04 pm

Credit Alexander F. Yuan / AP

President Obama kicked off the week in the battleground state of Ohio, where he spent much of the time Monday talking about China.

His administration filed a new trade complaint against China with the World Trade Organization on Monday. The White House is challenging Chinese subsidies for auto parts.

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