Newscast The Newscast Summer Tour
Recorded live at Hay Festival, Adam and Alex look at whether President Trump has changed his mind about President Putin and how politician's use statistics. Plus, Newscast continues trying to work out if the goverment's change of policy on winter fuel allowance counts as a U-Turn.
They are joined by Anne Applebaum, journalist, historian and author of Autocracy Inc, Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter statistician and author of The Art of Uncertainty, and comedian and broadcaster Marcus Brigstocke.
If you want to come and see an episode of Newscast recorded live you can find us at Crossed Wires on the 4th July, Latitude on the 24th July, and at the Edinburgh Fringe from the 4th August!
You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast'. It works on most smart speakers.
You can join our Newscast online community here: https://discord.gg/m3YPUGv9
New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bit.ly/3ENLcS1
Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming and Alex Forsyth. It was made by Anna Harris. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Huge thanks to the BBC team at Hay, as well as Chris the festival organisers.
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Daily Mail
3 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Democrat state rep admits she's in the US 'illegally'
Minnesota state Rep. Kaohly Vang Her admitted Monday she is in the US 'illegally' in a shocking confession that rocked the nation as riots unfolded in Los Angeles over ICE deportations. Her, a Democrat elected in 2018, was discussing illegal immigrant eligibility for public health care when she disclosed personal details about her own family. She revealed that her father misrepresented his familial relations when he filed her family's immigration paperwork decades ago. 'Because his mother had died, my father - as the one processing the paperwork - put my grandmother down as his mother,' she said on the House floor. 'And so I am illegal in this country. My parents are illegal here in this country.' State law requires candidates for the Minnesota legislature to be a qualified voter in the state, which includes being an US citizen for at least three months. Her was born in Laos and came to the US with her family as a refugee when she was just four years old, according to her campaign biography. Although Her is reportedly a naturalized citizen, making her eligible to hold office in Minnesota, the Democrat's remarks have sparked a wave of outrage online. Her admission, which has gone viral on social media, comes as several Democratic lawmakers have come under fire over the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots that broke out in LA over the weekend. Social media users were quick to demand Her be 'removed' from her position, despite it being perfectly legal for her to hold office. 'We've been told for years that illegal aliens don't vote in our elections. Now we find out that they RUN in our elections. How freaking rich is that!' one critic tweeted. Another wrote: 'This is exactly why Americans are fed up. Our laws must be enforced, no exceptions.' 'She needs not only to be removed from the House but also from the country! Illegal aliens out!!' one X user urged. 'Remove her from the office,' echoed another. The controversy surrounding Her's commentary comes as tensions over illegal aliens remain heightened across the country. Los Angeles faces a possible fourth day of protests over immigration raids in the city, as Democrats and Republicans clash over what has become the biggest flashpoint in the Trump administration's efforts to deport migrants living in the country illegally. Violent demonstrations protesting ICE raids broke out across the LA over the weekend, leading President Donald Trump to order deployment of the National Guard . California officials vowed to sue Trump on Monday to roll back the administration's National Guard deployment, saying the president trampled over the state's sovereignty . Gov. Gavin Newsom called the presence of troops on the streets of Los Angeles both 'illegal and immoral.' US officials said about 1,000 National Guard members were in the city under federal orders by midday Monday to respond to immigration protests. The full 2,000 members authorized by Trump were expected to be on the ground by the end of the day. Trump said in a post on his social media site that the city would have been 'completely obliterated' if he had not sent Guard members. ICE agents at least 44 people on alleged immigration violations over the weekend. And although the streets in Democratic-led Los Angeles were calm on Monday, t he White House and congressional Republicans contended the protests were a further reason for Republicans in Congress to pass Trumps 'One Big Beautiful Bill' that would increase border security and military spending. The bill, now in the US Senate after clearing the House of Representatives, would also slash taxes, cut Medicaid benefits and do away with green-energy initiatives.
NBC News
5 minutes ago
- NBC News
Republicans focus on trans athletes in their early attacks against Jon Ossoff in Georgia
Republicans seeking to unseat Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff in one of the key races of the 2026 midterm elections are leaning heavily into attacks over transgender athletes in women's sports in the early stages of the campaign. In recent weeks, two GOP-aligned outside groups have launched ads on the issue. And GOP Rep. Buddy Carter hit the airwaves with an ad prodding Ossoff on the issue soon after launching his campaign. Republican candidates and campaigns have frequently leaned on culture war issues in recent years as a way to excite the base and frame Democrats as out of touch, particularly in red-leaning states. And they're even more emboldened after President Donald Trump bombarded then-Vice President Kamala Harris with an onslaught of ads that attacked her support for transgender people during the 2024 election. But while Democrats are gearing up for a difficult re-election fight for Ossoff in a state Trump won narrowly in 2024, they think the issue will be drowned out by voters' concerns about the economy, particularly Trump's handling of it. Even so, it's an issue for which Democrats lack a consensus about how to respond to GOP broadsides, as prominent members of the party grapple with whether to embrace protecting the transgender community as part of their values, deflect the question or come out against including transgender athletes in women's sports. Ossoff is the only Democratic incumbent defending a seat in a state Trump won last year, making him far-and-away the top target for Senate Republicans. Still, some Republicans admit that Ossoff will be difficult to beat, particularly now that Gov. Brian Kemp decided not to seek the seat. The early Republican criticism of Ossoff points to the Democratic senator's vote on legislation in February that would make it a Title IX violation (jeopardizing federal education funding) for states to allow transgender women and girls to participate in female sports. The bill failed to get the 60 votes it needed to advance in the Senate. One Nation, the nonprofit aligned with Senate Republicans' main super PAC, has spent at least $400,000 airing an ad reminiscent of a key tagline from one of Trump's anti-Harris ads from last year: 'Man to man defense isn't woke enough for Ossoff, he's playing for they/them.' Carter's opening salvo of ads included a spot touting the congressman's MAGA credentials while a person purporting to be a transgender woman holds sports trophies and stands in front of a transgender pride flag talking about how Ossoff has been an ally to the community. Asked about the GOP criticism of that vote, Ossoff campaign communications director Ellie Dougherty told NBC News in a statement that 'American parents don't need federal bureaucrats confirming our children's genitalia,' a reference to how a state might enforce the mandate in the Republican bill. Scott Paradise, who managed Republican Herschel Walker's losing Senate campaign in 2022, told NBC News that Ossoff's first Senate run in 2020 provided a 'perfect storm' that allowed Ossoff to position himself as a 'centrist' by narrowing his focus to 'bread-and-butter issues.' 'If he's talking about the economy or he's talking about moments where he has stood with the right — whether it's Middle East, to the extent he has on immigration — it's easier for him to muddy the waters. But this is such a black and white issue in a center-right state' that allows Republicans to try to frame him as out of step, he said. Polling broadly shows the American public doesn't support transgender women playing in female sports. Last month's NBC News Stay Tuned Poll, powered by SurveyMonkey found 75% opposed it and 25% supported it. Other national polling has found similar trends. That's one reason why Trump's campaign focused heavily on the issue in ads, arguing that Harris was outside the mainstream and pointing to her past support for gender-affirming treatments for prison inmates. After the election, Democrats have disagreed over whether the party's position on transgender rights, particularly in women's sports cost them electorally. Asked about the attacks last month during an interview on "Political Breakfast," a podcast hosted by Georgia's public radio affiliate, Ossoff said the big early spending is a signal to him that "demonstrates the national GOP understands the strength that I'll be bringing to this re-election campaign." The Democrat called Republicans, particularly GOP political consultants, "obsessed and preoccupied with this issue." Thinking ahead about "top of mind" issues for voters in 2026, Ossoff added, will it be "whether or not federal bureaucrats are investigating the sexual biology of adolescent athletes? I don't think so," he added. Amy Morton, a Democratic strategist in Georgia, elaborated that she believes the midterms will instead be a "referendum on the economy" and Trump's handling of it, emphasizing the Democratic attacks on the GOP's broad policy bill that's working its way through Congress. "They're going to continue to lean into that issue because they don't want to talk about the issues that are really impacting Georgians," she said, adding, "They made a strategic decision to wrap their arms around Donald Trump so there won't be a degree of separation between his failure as an executive and their failure." A Democratic strategist who worked on Sen. Raphael Warnock's successful re-election in Georgia in 2022 added that like their former boss, Ossoff's high-profile elections have helped to define him in the state, making them skeptical that a GOP attempt to brand him as extreme will stick. They added that while Warnock's 2022 Republican opponent, Herschel Walker, leaned heavily on social issues during his unsuccessful bid, Kemp won comfortably with a very different message on the same ballot, showing how a campaign can focus on the issues it wants and leave others to the side. "You saw Brian Kemp run an extremely disciplined race on the economy. You were hard pressed to get Kemp on the record about abortion in 2022 — the man was laser-focused on small businesses, jobs and the economy. That was the consistent message you heard out of Brian Kemp. You compare that to Herschel Walker and, you can do the math: 300,000 votes," the Democrat said. But the economy was also a top issue in the 2024 election, and Trump and the Republican Party still managed to turn their attacks on trans issues into a memorable tagline that stuck with some voters. That's why one national Republican strategist told NBC News that the attack isn't a "replacement" for a cogent economic argument, but "part of the equation. 'It's an issue that obviously had a massive impact in 2024. The Trump campaign's 'Harris is for they/them' ad is one of the greatest ads of our generation in that it's so simple and was so effective,' the strategist said. Ads about transgender participants in women's sports can run "on top of: Oh, he also voted to help ensure that illegal immigrants get government-paid health care and he voted against the Laken Riley amendment in 2024 before it was convenient," the strategist added. While the transgender sports attacks are drawing headlines, both sides have been running ads focused on spending in Washington too. Democrats have attacked the GOP's policy bill working its way through Washington, and Republicans hit Ossoff for backing former President Joe Biden's signature spending bill in 2022. Tharon Johnson, a Georgia Democratic strategist who worked for Biden's 2020 campaign in Georgia agreed that Republicans are "going to be hard-pressed to make Jon Ossoff into this radical" in part because of his work both in office and on the campaign trail. And while he believes the situation Harris found herself in last year isn't the same one Ossoff finds himself in now, he said Democrats can still draw a lesson from it: "Respond sooner, and more effectively." So far, Ossoff's response has been to stay focused on the economy and try to frame the debate as about local control.
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump says 'strange' liberal activist Greta Thunberg needs anger management training after Gaza aid stunt
President Donald Trump called liberal activist Greta Thunberg 'strange' and suggested she needed 'anger management' therapy. Earlier Monday, Israel intercepted the boat that 22-year-old Thunberg and other pro-Palestinian activists were floating toward Gaza, to bring food aid and push for a Palestinian state. During a Monday afternoon White House event, Trump was asked if Thunberg was brought up in his call earlier with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 'Well she's a strange person. She's a young, angry person. I don't know if it's real anger. It's hard to believe. But I saw what happened,' Trump said. 'She's certainly different.' He then floated the idea of 'anger management' for Thunberg. 'I think she has to go to an anger management class. That's my primary recommendation for her,' Trump advised. Trump was also asked if he thought Thunberg was 'kidnapped' by Israel, as the Swedish climate change activist claimed. 'I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg,' Trump said. 'Is that what she said, she was kidnapped by Israel?' Trump later asked a reporter. Thunberg was on board a civilian vessel called the Madleen that was being operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which was intercepted Monday morning by Israel forces. Israel's Foreign Ministry characterized the activists as attention-seeking, calling the boat a 'selfie yacht' filled with 'celebrities.' Trump was also asked about the current status of food aid going into Gaza. 'Gaza right now is in the midst of a massive negotiation between us and Hamas and Israel and Iran actually is involved. And we'll see what's going to happen with Gaza,' Trump said. 'We want to get the hostages back,' he said referring to the Israeli citizens who were kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 terror attack. The U.S. was able to get the last American-Israeli hostage back last month, ahead of Trump's trip to the Middle East. The president skipped Israel on his first major international swing, traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
