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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Politics
5:16 am
Mon November 26, 2012

Young Voters Key In Obama's 2012 Win

Originally published on Mon November 26, 2012 9:44 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

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

This is the season when political professionals try to make sense of the last election. Plenty of Republicans have been calling for their party to take a new approach to immigration after the Hispanic vote went overwhelmingly to President Obama.

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It's All Politics
4:53 pm
Tue November 20, 2012

Tough Turkey: People Have A Harder Time Getting Pardons Under Obama

Credit Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
President Obama, with daughters Sasha and Malia, at last year's turkey pardoning ceremony.

Originally published on Tue November 20, 2012 6:14 pm

Presidential pardons usually take the world by surprise. There's no advance notice — the White House just sends out an announcement with the names of those receiving clemency. Thanksgiving is one lighthearted exception.

On Wednesday, President Obama will once again take part in the traditional turkey pardoning at the White House. But while the business of pardoning humans is more serious, it's also increasingly rare.

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Politics
5:26 am
Sat November 10, 2012

Taxing Work Ahead: Have Negotiating Tables Turned?

Originally published on Sat November 10, 2012 1:38 pm

Republicans and Democrats agree: Election season may have ended just four days ago, but it's already time to get back to work. In this case, "back to work" might mean "back to fighting."

Leaders in both parties made their opening bids Friday on how to deal with the tax, spending and debt problems that face the country at the end of this year.

While the scenario echoes last year's spending battle, there are some differences that could push the parties toward the resolution they never reached last time around.

Where The President Stands

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It's All Politics
3:18 am
Fri November 9, 2012

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

Originally published on Fri November 9, 2012 10:30 pm

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

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Election 2012
5:51 am
Tue November 6, 2012

Romney Schedules Last-Minute Election Day Rallies

Originally published on Tue November 6, 2012 12:18 pm

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

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

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

This is a day that many Americans will spend staring at maps of the United States.

INSKEEP: Some who are not staring already have the electoral map in their heads, as they calculate ways that President Obama or Mitt Romney can win 270 electoral votes.

MONTAGNE: In order to win, President Obama would need to hang on to painfully close leads in several states.

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Presidential Race
6:35 am
Sun November 4, 2012

Romney Brings Bipartisan Appeal To Final Push

Originally published on Sun November 4, 2012 12:08 pm

Transcript

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: I'm Ari Shapiro, traveling with the Romney campaign. And here's a summary of Romney's final sprint: a rally in New Hampshire, a flight to Iowa for another rally, a flight to Colorado, two rallies there with a long bus drive in between then back to Iowa for a few hours' sleep in Des Moines. And that was just yesterday. Romney means it when he says:

MITT ROMNEY: We've had some long days and some very short nights.

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Presidential Race
5:37 pm
Fri November 2, 2012

Romney Makes His Campaign's 'Closing Argument'

Mitt Romney made his "closing arguments" on the campaign trail in Wisconsin on Friday.

Presidential Race
5:35 pm
Thu November 1, 2012

Romney Says Obama Doesn't Understand Business

Originally published on Thu November 1, 2012 6:42 pm

Transcript

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: I'm Ari Shapiro, traveling with the Romney campaign. After a few days of muted criticism of the president, Mitt Romney let loose in Virginia today.

MITT ROMNEY: We really can't have four more years like the last four years. I know the Obama folks are chanting four more years, four more years. But our chant is this, five more days. Five more days is our chant.

(APPLAUSE)

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Election 2012
5:06 am
Thu November 1, 2012

Romney Returns To The Campaign Trail In Florida

Originally published on Thu November 1, 2012 6:41 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

If there is any political effect from a Republican governor touring his state with a Democratic president, it may simply be this: three entire days have passed in which politicians finally failed to turn a major national issue into a full-blown depressing partisan fight. As the two men did their jobs, of course, the political debate did continue about disasters and everything else - as you'd understand. It is election time. Republican Mitt Romney resumed campaigning yesterday in Florida. Here's NPR's Ari Shapiro.

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Presidential Race
5:29 pm
Wed October 31, 2012

Romney Picks Campaign Trail Back Up In Florida

Originally published on Wed October 31, 2012 6:53 pm

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney campaigned in Florida on Wednesday, the resumption of a crowded campaign schedule thwarted by superstorm Sandy.

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