That's 2 of six, Use the link for all six reasons. Blanche is not qualified to be Attorney General and should not be confirmed. You can also refer to C.I.'s "Todd Blanche's refusal to follow the law" from Sunday night.
This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Monday:
Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, closed last week near $76 per barrel, about 5 percent higher than prewar levels. Although oil prices are far below the peak of nearly $120 a barrel during the worst of the war, the market moves that follow each round of strikes have shown Iran’s capacity to move energy prices.
A recovery in shipping traffic after the United States and Iran signed a preliminary cease-fire agreement last month had led to a “sharp” increase in global oil supplies, the International Energy Agency said in a report released on Friday. Oil exports from the Persian Gulf jumped by 6.5 million barrels per day in June, to around 16 million barrels per day, helping to bring down prices.
[. . .]
If ships become more wary of plying the strait after recent attacks, the talk among economists may turn from forecasts of an impending oil glut to worries about “demand destruction” as high energy prices squeeze businesses and consumers. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States remains 30 percent higher than before the war. It was $3.88 a gallon on Sunday, up from $3.80 a gallon a week earlier, according to the AAA motor club.
Although the price of eggs—a point of contention ahead of the 2024 presidential election—has decreased in the past year, other staples such as ground beef and sandwich bread have gone up. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said that “almost everyone has a food item that they’re focused on. They buy regularly that they use as a benchmark for the cost of living and their financial situation.”
“The war is just exacerbating all the angst around,” said Zandi. “It’s a real problem financially, but also it’s being supercharged in the minds of people because people are really focused on the cost of food and groceries.”
Even if the Trump administration returned to its brief truce with Iran, the consequences of the conflict will be long lasting. Zandi predicted that the cost of oil will remain high for the next several years, even with producers seeking ways to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
Millions of Americans are borrowing money or draining their savings to buy groceries, highlighting the financial strain many households face as the cost of living rises, new research has found.
More than a quarter of working-age adults who relied on credit cards to buy groceries were either unable to pay their balance in full or missed their minimum payment, according to the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. About one in 10 adults relied on so-called "buy now, pay later" loans to cover their groceries — of those, about a third missed a payment last year, the analysis found.
About 20% of working-age adults said they had tapped long-term savings that weren't intended for everyday expenses, such as an emergency fund, at least once in the last 12 months to pay for groceries, the researchers said.
"Families still need to eat. They will still need to pay for their basic needs," Kassandra Martinchek, a co-author of the study and public policy expert at the Urban Institute, told CBS News. "Now they have the additional burden of also needing to repay debt — it could constrain their ability to meet their basic needs in the future and get back on their financial feet."
An overwhelming share of Americans say everyday life costs too much, a feeling many tie most directly to food and fuel bills.
In the survey conducted for the Guardian, a whopping 95% of respondents said the country is in an affordability crisis.
[. . .]
Compared with earlier this year, far more Americans now say the economy is deteriorating. Roughly 57% describe it as getting worse, compared to 46% in February. The share saying conditions are improving fell from 28% to 16%.
Concern about basic costs was not confined to one political camp. According to the Guardian, about half of Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike said groceries and gasoline are difficult to afford, and now two-thirds of Americans say they have little confidence that the federal government will bring relief from the cost-of-living crisis.
Among the goods and services listed, gasoline was ranked as the good that most Americans had trouble affording, at 52%. Coming in second, groceries were similarly found to be unaffordable, with 51% of Americans saying they struggled to buy them.
According to the Economic Research Service at the Department of Agriculture, prices across all food categories are expected to rise 3.2 percent in 2026.
Today, Jessica Cheung, a senior audio producer for “The Daily,” talks with the general manger of a food co-op in Pittsburgh about how the store is being affected by the quickly increasing costs.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot dead last week by ICE in Houston, Texas. Robin Stein, Devon Lum, Sam Lerma, Mimi Dwyer, Alexander Cardia, Aric Toler, Dmitriy Khavin, Charlie Smart and Allison McCann (NEW YORK TIMES) report:
Shortly before 7 a.m. on Tuesday, immigration officers were trailing a white work van in the Magnolia Park neighborhood of Houston. Minutes later, the driver had been fatally shot in his abdomen.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement on X and again to The New York Times on Saturday that a federal officer had opened fire at the man, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in “self-defense” after Mr. Salgado Araujo “weaponized” his white van. The agency accused him of ramming one of their vehicles and trying to run over an ICE officer.
Neither Mr. Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant who had lived in the United States without authorization for 35 years, nor the three passengers in his van were the initial targets of the operation, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman told The Times.
Footage from bystanders and local businesses obtained by The Times, although incomplete, provides a window into the events that unfolded on Canal Street.
[. . .]
Mr. Salgado Araujo’s white work van — closely followed by two unmarked S.U.V.s driven by ICE agents — is heading south on Wayside Drive at 6:46 a.m. Neither of the S.U.V.s appeared to have emergency lights activated.
Mr. Salgado Araujo’s van abruptly makes a tight left turn onto a residential block of Canal Street that is partially blocked off by construction. The change of direction is apparently too sudden for the agents in the lead S.U.V. — a Nissan — to follow. The second S.U.V. — a Jeep — follows the van onto Canal.
Footage shows the Jeep, driven by an ICE agent, initially speeding up along the driver’s side of Mr. Salgado Araujo’s van, overtaking it.
But two seconds later, a security camera at a medical office filming from the opposite direction shows the Jeep on the passenger side of the van. The Jeep appears to veer sharply toward the van, possibly making contact. Both vehicles swoop into a U-turn. An agent appears to exit the Jeep.
So it would appear that ICE struck Lorenzo's car first. That would implode DHS' claim that they killed him because he used his vehicle to ram into them.
Another lie from DHS. Markwayne Mullen would be well advised to get ahead of this and to announce this. If he wants to be boxed in as a liar this early in his tenure, he better get ready for being seen with the same disgust that his predecessor Kristi Noem is. Kristi's scandals continue to be exposed. For example, Julia Ornedo (THE DAILY BEAST) reported earlier today:
Kristi Noem’s alleged lover is still facing scrutiny for his short-lived stint as “shadow secretary” of the Department of Homeland Security.
Investigators have uncovered evidence that Corey Lewandowski, 52, may have been involved in the improper awarding of government contracts in his time as Noem’s right-hand man, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal.
A potential criminal referral to the Department of Justice is being considered, the outlet reported, adding that both the White House and new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who took over after Noem’s ouster in March, have been briefed on the matter.
DHS officials were stunned to discover how involved Lewandowski was in the contracts signed during Noem’s 14-month tenure at DHS, according to The Journal. Sources told the outlet that Lewandowski personally signed certain contracts or had knowledge of the approvals despite not being a full-time federal government official.
Markwayne Mullen was brought in to be a change. Yet ICE continues killing people and continues claiming that they were the victims. When they weren't. Christina Morales and Jacey Fortin (NEW YORK TIMES) note:
At the time of the stop, Mr. Araujo was on his way to work at a construction site. Three men were in the car with him, including Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, his younger brother. As of Friday, they remained in immigration detention in Conroe, Texas, outside Houston.
On Thursday, the three men told a lawyer, Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, that Mr. Araujo did not use his vehicle as a weapon or try to run over the immigration officers, and that no agent had been positioned in front of the vehicle, the lawyer said.
The authorities did not provide video footage of the encounter. The ICE agents were in unmarked vehicles and were not wearing body cameras, according to the area’s congresswoman, Representative Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat. Ms. Garcia said she had spoken to the acting director of ICE, David Venturella.
Surveillance and witness videos obtained by The New York Times show two ICE vehicles tailing Mr. Araujo’s white van and trying to cut it off. The van can be seen doing a U-turn before stopping alongside the road, with several immigration agents running toward the van as it comes to a halt. Video of the moments when shots were fired has not emerged.
At least two of the passengers in a van driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at the time he was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Houston this week are disputing the federal agency's account of the incident, according to an attorney representing the men.
Hugo Balderas, the lawyer for two of the three passengers, said Friday he had spoken with his clients, who say ICE's account is inconsistent with their experience.
"They confirmed that at no point was there ever an ICE agent directly in front of the vehicle," Balderas said. "They also confirmed that the shots came from the sides, not from the front, which is inconsistent with the ICE statement."
Edgar Sandoval (NEW YORK TIMES) notes:
On Saturday morning Ronaldo Salgado glanced, his smile bittersweet, at a photo of his father projected on a large screen and found the courage to address dozens of people crammed at an indoor vigil in his native Houston.
Mr. Salgado and a younger brother moved the room to tears as they spoke about the love their father, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, had for soccer, and the passion he had for the American dream. When the brothers renewed calls for accountability in the fatal shooting of their father at the hands of immigration agents, the crowd erupted in applause.
Mr. Salgado Araujo was a 52-year-old Mexican immigrant who had been living in Houston for 35 years. He was driving to work with three other men Tuesday morning when agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement began following him and later shot him after they said he had failed to stop his vehicle.
“I just want to continue pressuring, continue the pressure, to continue obtaining a full independent investigation,” said Mr. Salgado, 29, a public-school teacher, as he addressed the crowd at an event organized by the Service Employees International Union. “To continue preserving the evidence, and for his van to be returned to us.”
Jeremy Wallace (HOUSTON CHRONICLE) covers the silence from Texas Governor Greg Abbott on the death of Lorenzo:
Gov. Greg Abbott's radio silence on the ICE shooting in Houston is even more jarring given he was on the radio this week for hours after the shooting.
Abbott had White House Border Czar Tom Homan on during his guest hosting duties on The Sean Hannity Show on Tuesday, where they celebrated ICE ramping up its deportation activities nationwide. But neither said a word about Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
"Well, you guys are doing a great job," Abbott told Homan after the border czar bragged about ICE rounding up 10,000 people in less than 5 days as part of a stepped-up enforcement push.
Salgado was shot early Tuesday morning in Houston's East End after ICE agents attempted to pull over the van he was driving with three other passengers, including his brother, as the work crew was on their way to a construction site. Salgado is a Mexican national who did not have U.S. citizenship. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, told reporters that Salgado wasn't the target of the stop when his vehicle was pulled over.
Abbott didn't talk about the shooting during the radio program or on his social media accounts since. As of Friday afternoon, he'd posted about his family dog passing away and promotions of his radio program from earlier in the week.
It's a very different reaction than Abbott had in January after ICE shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minnesota. After that shooting, Abbott was on a conservative radio program where he said the White House needed to "recalibrate" how it was using ICE to make arrests.
Another death that Donald Chump's responsible for. How many more murders is he going to be allowed to carry out? At what point, do the courts step in and say, "Enough." Tell him that's enough, that he clearly doesn't know how to oversea this operation and that -- for public safety reasons -- it needs to be shut down?
Yet his story is only one sad part of a much larger tragedy for immigrants without legal status. Thousands are being held in ICE detention facilities across our nation.
Reports indicate that roughly 70% have no criminal record. Many accounts describe overcrowded conditions, inadequate food, poor medical care and unsanitary facilities. More than 50 people have died while in ICE custody.
We can debate immigration laws, but we should never debate the value of a human life or the obligation to treat every person with dignity.
If we lose our compassion, we lose something far greater than our politics. We lose our soul.
Sen. Murray Calls for an Independent Investigation; Demands ICE Release all the Footage Related to Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s Filling
*** WATCH HERE***
Washington, D.C. – In response to the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by ICE, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a video statement demanding that ICE release all of the footage related to this tragedy and calling for an independent investigation. In the video, Senator Murray draws attention to the fact that ICE has provided no evidence to back up its dubious claims that the officer fired in response to Salgado Araujo “weaponizing his vehicle” and the agency has a history of lying about using extreme force against innocent civilians.
*** Watch here***
Senator Murray has spoken out forcefully and consistently against the Trump administration’s cruel and counterproductive mass deportation campaign and the egregious treatment by ICE and DHS of American citizens, legal immigrants, and undocumented immigrants. As Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee, she led Democrats’ efforts fighting tooth and nail to secure meaningful reforms in law to rein in ICE and Border Patrol—which Republicans ultimately refused altogether and chose to skirt Democrats by delivering another massive blank check for the agencies with no accountability. Last month, at a Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing on the FY27 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—Murray pressed Secretary Markwayne Mullin on the conduct of ICE and Border Patrol and Republicans’ refusal to enact reforms into law.
In March, Senator Murray released a video about the numerous violent shootings we are seeing from Trump’s reckless ICE and CBP agents across the country—and the urgent need to rein in these rogue agencies. Senator Murray highlighted the stories of Marimar Martinez, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, Carlos Jimenez, Francisco Longoria, and Carlitos Ricardo Parias—all of whom were shot by ICE or CBP agents. Throughout the video, Senator Murray calls out the egregious use of force from federal agents, their lies that don’t hold up in court, and the extreme danger they are putting families and communities in by recklessly using firearms. Senator Murray also called out Republicans for refusing to negotiate serious and common sense measures to rein in ICE and CBP.
In December 2025, Murray called attention to the violent assault of Wilmer Toledo-Martinez in Vancouver, Washington and she successfully advocated for his release from the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC). Wilmer was lured out of his home under false pretenses, violently detained by federal agents, and mauled by an attack dog despite not resisting arrest or attempting to flee. Not long after, Murray also called attention to the case of Jose Paniagua Calderón, whose foot was run over by agents in Vancouver.
In November 2025, Senator Murray joined 48 of her colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives in introducing the Restoring Access to Detainees Act,
which would mandate that DHS allow people who have been detained to
contact their legal counsel and families. In February 2025, Senator
Murray signed onto a letter demanding that DHS end wrongful searches and interrogations of Tribal members, and continued to push for answers from DHS on the matter last December. In March 2025, Murray also reintroduced her Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act. She and Senator Richard Blumenthal led 27 of their Senate colleagues last year in a letter expressing concern with prevalence and the treatment of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in ICE detention.
In Washington state, Senator Murray has been conducting oversight of the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC), despite the Trump administration’s efforts to block Congressional oversight of federal immigration detention facilities. After a protracted legal battle over Washington state’s ability to enforce health and safety standards at NWIPC, a federal appeals court ruled in August 2025 that the state should be allowed to enforce such standards at the detention center, and that failure to comply could result in fines of up to $10,000 per violation. In December 2025, Senator Murray led Members of the Washington state Congressional delegation in a letter to Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons expressing grave concerns with conditions at NWIPC in Tacoma, Washington and demanding answers to a long list of questions regarding overcrowding and lack of access to medical services, food, and legal counsel for individuals detained at the facility.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“That is Ronaldo Salgado. On Tuesday morning, an ICE agent shot and killed his father, Lorenzo—a construction worker with no criminal history who spent 35 years in Houston building homes and raising three American sons.
“Now here is ICE’s version: they say Lorenzo ‘weaponized his vehicle,’ so an agent fired in self-defense.
“Of course, ICE has provided no evidence to back up its claims. And
we know ICE lies. How? That is almost word-for-word what DHS said after a
federal agent shot Carlitos Parias in Los Angeles—right up until the
body cam footage showed the agent’s gun went off while officers were
smashing in his windows, and a judge threw the whole case out.
“It
is the same story they told about Marimar Martinez in Chicago—until the
video showed the agent was the one doing the ramming.
“Look, we saw the videos of officers killing Renée Good and Alex Pretti.
“We know that ICE lies. Yet Republicans still refuse to require ICE to follow the same basic rules your local police follow every single day.
“That is what Democrats are fighting for—and it should not be a fight.
“I’m
still pushing for accountability in the law, but I am also demanding an
independent investigation and that ICE release all of the footage
related to Lorenzo’s killing.
“We also need to hear from the witnesses at the scene they detained and shipped to God knows where.
“If you’re wondering what you can do, you need to understand that your voice matters here. When America spoke up for Alex Pretti and Renée Good, Republicans felt the pressure.
“Keep sharing Ronaldo’s words. Use your voice and use your vote. We do not have to accept this as our new normal.”
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