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Conservative CNN pundit Scott Jennings was quickly fact-checked as he tried to convince panelists that Trump has lowered gas prices.During an appearance on a panel hosted by CNN anchor Abby Phillip, Jennings flatly stated that "gas is lower today than when he took office," referring to Trump."No, it's not," Phillip shot back. She had to repeat herself as Jennings continued trying to make the assertion.Jennings was responding to comments by Democratic political strategist Neera Tanden, who was also a Biden White House advisor. Tanden pointed out that the price of oil and gas had gone up."What's the price of gas today, do you know?" Jennings asked. When Tanden gave estimates for a barrel of oil at $78 and gas at $4.30 per gallon, Jennings responded, "And what's the price of gas under Joe Biden?" and asked Tanden if she ever talked about oil and gas prices when Biden was president."Scott, that's actually not the question," Phillip intervened, which is when Jennings made his claim about gas now being lower since Trump took office. Meanwhile, Tanden said that gas was $3.20 a gallon under Biden."Gas is not lower today than when Trump took office, and it's not lower today than it was before Trump started the war" with Iran, Phillip said, continuing her point."So look, you can dismiss the gas thing, but it's a real thing that people are going to the gas pump, filling up their tank, and it's costing them 70 bucks," Phillip said.

President Donald Trump responded to a reporter's questions about Iranian threats against Air Force One by telling them they were at risk, too.While taking questions from a press gaggle on Air Force One on Wednesday, one reporter asked why the plane's blinds were closed and whether Trump was aware of any credible security threats from Iran."I have a threat all the time. I'm number one on their list — before you," Trump said. "But if I go, you go. So perhaps one day we want to change professions."Another reporter mentioned that they had to change planes and asked, "What were the security concerns that caused us to change planes?""We sent this one in so that the Air Force base here is on the same exact line," Trump said. "Did you see the picture with hundreds of people? You can't see it too well, but there are hundreds of people on there. So they came a little bit early, and we switched planes."Another reporter said, "They had us close our window blinds. That was unusual.""Well, yeah," Trump responded. "You're probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags we have to deal with."On CNN, anchor Erin Burnett explained that Trump, heading home from the NATO summit in Turkey, was switched from the jet gifted by Qatar to the old Air Force One, but "the switch doesn't make any sense."Former Sen. Barbara Boxer described Trump's "if I go, you go" remarks as "inappropriate," but said, "The biggest issue here is the plane" from Qatar because "the experts on security said, 'What are you doing? We have to have these planes made in America.'"

A national security expert tore into President Donald Trump's latest responses to questions about the Iran war and an embattled ceasefire.In a Wednesday piece for The Atlantic, national security scholar Tom Nichols reacted to Trump's comments in the wake of renewed hostilities with Iran. Trump was asked on Wednesday morning whether the memorandum of understanding with Iran was dead."That's a very interesting question," Trump responded, according to Nichols. "To me, I think it's over. I don't wanna deal with them anymore. They're scum, you know what scum is? They're scum." However, Trump also said on Wednesday that he plans to "give them a little warning" about attacks and "we'll see how it all works out." Trump is "unable to give sensible answers to questions about the renewed hostilities," Nichols noted, arguing that Trump doesn't know what to do and is waiting to see how Iran will respond to more strikes."This is not the approach of a president who's running a war," Nichols wrote. "This is the flailing of a man who's in over his head and is reacting to events, rather than guiding them."Nichols also pointed out how Trump's recent comments contrasted with the praise he gave Iranian leaders last month, when he called them "very rational people," "strong people, smart people," and "nice to deal with." He also pointed out Trump's recent gaffes, like confusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Russian President Vladimir Putin and saying "Tic Tac" when he meant "TikTok."Trump has also floated two "terrible ideas," Nichols added, referring to a possible invasion of Iranian territory and a "campaign of probable war crimes."

A new analysis estimated that President Donald Trump racked up a $103 billion bill for the Iran war in 120 days.According to an analysis by Popular Information, the Trump administration has no plan to pay for the Iran war, and neither do congressional Republicans.The analysis found that over four months, the U.S. spent more than $103 billion on the war in Iran, based on budgetary costs such as operations, personnel, and matériel. It also noted that Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, told the House Appropriations Committee last week that the U.S. has spent $30 billion on the war.According to Popular Information, expenses for weapons such as missiles, interceptors, and bombs total about $46.7 billion, making it the highest cost. The other major expenses included operations such as mobilization, administration, and combat, which cost $28.5 billion, and losses such as damage or destruction of military assets, which cost $20.3 billion, per the analysis."The Trump administration has offered Congress lowball war cost estimates," Popular Information noted. In May, Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified that the war cost only $29 billion. In April, the estimate was $25 billion.The Trump administration and congressional Republicans are declining to pay for the war costs through tax increases or spending cuts, according to Popular Information, which included a quote from House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) saying, "War is never paid for when you fight it."However, taxes were levied to pay for the costs of World Wars I and II, Popular Information noted.

This blog is now closedTelstra outage: Telco apologises for major time-keeping issue that hit mobiles, trains and triple-zero callsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTelstra outage reported to be cause of Victoria train stoppageThere is a long list of cancelled trains on the official V/line site, but the TL/DR is that Victoria’s regional train network has ground to a halt.Due to a radio network fault affecting the network, services are currently unable to operate …Passengers are advised to defer travel where possible. Continue reading...

A military expert is warning about the path ahead for the U.S. as it begins new strikes on Iran.Retired Admiral James Stavridis, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, said during a Tuesday appearance on CNN that the U.S. "launched pretty significant strikes here," and cautioned, "This is the last turn before the tunnel for the Iranians in terms of Trump's patience."Stavridis suggested that the strikes came after the Trump administration "just got tired" of Iranian attacks on merchant shipping, which must have been "a bridge too far." He described the Trump administration's retaliation as "a pretty strong set of strikes for this stage" in negotiations for a ceasefire, but Stavridis held out hope."Let's hope the Iranians kind of get the signal here and stand down from striking merchant shipping," Stavridis said. "Bottom line, the ceasefire can still be salvaged."However, Stavridis described the ceasefire as being on "life support."Former GOP congressman Adam Kinzinger, who appeared on CNN alongside Stavridis, agreed with Stavridis, even though "this has kind of been the way from the first so-called ceasefire." Kinzinger argued the first ceasefire only gave the U.S. time to negotiate the memorandum of understanding that was meant to stop hostilities."Now, the Trump administration has a decision to make," Kinzinger said. "And that decision is simply, you have to basically escalate to try to compel some answer or some negotiation that actually works out, or do you just walk away and give Iran the Strait [of Hormuz]? Basically walk away from the nuclear material?"

A former U.S. diplomat went off on President Donald Trump and the way he's dealing with American NATO allies.During an appearance on CNN on Tuesday, Nick Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO and China, discussed Trump's relationship with NATO and how he ignores what concerns them the most, which is the threat of Russia."NATO is important for the United States, and the threat now is Putin and Russia," Burns said. "So when the president says somehow the Atlantic Ocean is going to protect us in the 21st century from Russia, he's just badly mistaken."Burns was responding to comments made on Tuesday by Trump in which he said he wasn't concerned about the threat of Russia because “we have a thing called the ocean in between us.""He's living in some other century," Burns said, reacting to Trump's comments. "But not the century we're living in."CNN anchor Erin Burnett noted "how easy it is to get drones off the coast" and how the world has seen warfare change."The world has changed dramatically," Burnett said. "So has warfare even in recent months. We've seen that."Burns also talked about how Trump doesn't talk about how European NATO countries have increased spending on their military infrastructure, and in dealing with NATO, "it's as if he's talking about a Europe of three or four or five years ago, not the Europe of today."However, when speaking about Trump's feuds and bickering with NATO leaders like the Italian prime minister, Burns suggested Trump should be like the American presidents of the previous century."You catalog the abusive comments he's made, the sarcastic comments, the critical comments personally about a number of NATO leaders; we've never had an American president do that," Burns said. "Can you imagine Truman or Eisenhower or John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan criticizing, in personal terms, the Italian prime minister, the French president, the German chancellor, the British prime minister?"

Celeste Amarilla could face charges after French Football Federation complains about social media posts over World Cup matchProsecutors in France have opened an investigation into the racist attack on Kylian Mbappé by a Paraguayan senator, with officials weighing whether to demand that the senator be charged with aggravated public insult or incitement to hatred or violence.The Paris prosecutor’s office told the Guardian on Tuesday it had launched the inquiry after the French Football Federation (FFF) filed a complaint with the national unit for combating online hate. Continue reading...