By David Goldman, CNN

(CNN) — In its 50-year history, Costco has never seen such demand for gas.

Many of its stations have been so overwhelmed that they’ve had to call in tanker trucks multiple times a day to avoid running dry, Costco said this week during its quarterly earnings call. A growing number of customers are buying just enough to top up their tanks, concerned about what tomorrow’s prices may be.

As prices have surged above $4 nationwide – and above $6 along the West Coast – Costco has become America’s destination for cheap gas. Well, relatively. Costco routinely undercuts local gas stations by around 30 cents a gallon.

That’s an enticing bargain at any time, although long lines sometimes dissuade customers, especially when gas is inexpensive. Not now: A significant number of Costco members filled up for the very first time over the past three months, Costco said on that earnings call.

How – and why – does Costco sell gas for so cheap? It’s all about chickens. Well, kinda.

Not a ‘loss leader’

Costco actually makes a profit on gas – a few cents per gallon. That’s substantially lower than the 25- to 35-cent markup that most gas stations take.

Unlike most gas stations, which are small, independently owned and operated businesses – maybe with an attached convenience store or a repair shop – Costco can rely on its massive scale and membership model to drive profit.

Last year, membership fees accounted for roughly two-thirds of the company’s profit. Costco sells most of its products the same way it sells gasoline: at or just above cost – and sometimes below, like its famous $1.50 hot dog and soda deal.

Competing gas stations need the markup to pay for overhead and repairs. When gas prices rise, customers buy less of it, keeping a relative cap on the amount they’re able to charge.

That’s why, ironically, when gas prices are high, most gas stations struggle to make money.

Costco has a different problem: When gas prices are high, Costco sells more gas. But, because gas is among its lowest-margin products, the company’s overall profit margin gets squeezed. The opposite is true when prices are low.

Last year, when prices spent a considerable amount of time under $3 a gallon on average, gas added about a tenth of a percentage point to the company’s gross margin. Last quarter, gas subtracted two tenths of a point.

Nevertheless, it’s a good problem to have. Costco said it brought in $2.3 billion less in gas sales in 2025 than the year before because prices got cheaper.

Costco has 747 gas stations, which brought in 10% of its overall sales last year.

A chicken driver

Where do the chickens come in?

Costco says about half of its filler-uppers end up walking into a warehouse. As a record number of members visit Costco’s gas stations, foot traffic at stores increased around 5%. And customers are buying more when they shop, too.

“We believe this will drive even greater loyalty with these members in the future as members who use our gas stations typically spend more with us in the warehouse,” said Costco CEO Roland Vachris on a conference call with analysts Thursday, during which gas was mentioned 72 times.

Vachris said customers were stretched this past quarter, because they were allocating a higher percentage of their paychecks to gas. But that gave Costco an advantage: iIts competitive prices.

Among its best-selling how-can-they-sell-it-this-cheap products: rotisserie chickens, which Costco sells for $4.99 – way undercutting local supermarkets. And the

By Patrick Svitek, CNN

(CNN) — Shawn Harris is aware of the political bind he faces in northwest Georgia.

“Because I live in a ruby-red district, I can’t have every nationally known Democrat come here and support me because it doesn’t fit what we’re trying to do,” said Harris, who is running for a congressional district formerly represented by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene. President Donald Trump carried the district by more than 30 percentage points in 2024.

But after Pete Buttigieg reached out to Harris ahead of a March special election runoff for the seat, Harris made an exception and welcomed the former transportation secretary to the district. Harris lost in the runoff but significantly overperformed past Democratic margins there. He hopes Buttigieg will return this fall for the general election.

Unlike many potential 2028 contenders, Buttigieg doesn’t hold a government position. He’s instead become one of the most prolific midterm campaigners among possible presidential candidates, backing candidates in more than 30 races and traveling to over a dozen states.

Those endorsements give Buttigieg a record to tout on a potential future debate stage, especially as the party looks for leaders who can break through in Republican territory. Buttigieg is also quietly building a network of allies and working to address a key weakness that ultimately doomed his 2020 White House bid.

In a statement to CNN, Buttigieg said that he wants “to be useful to citizens organizing to fix broken systems, and candidates who represent a better version of our politics.”

He appears to be looking to help Black Democrats in particular, a constituency with whom he struggled mightily in his 2020 presidential campaign. His dearth of support among Black voters was a glaring weakness as he otherwise rose from the mayorship of South Bend, Indiana, to become a top-tier candidate in the 2020 Democratic nominating fight.

Now, he is supporting up-and-coming Black Democrats in the midterms such as Harris, Aaron Ford for Nevada governor and Jasmine Clark for an open House seat east of Atlanta. Buttigieg also supported another Black Democrat, Chedrick Greene, who won a hard-fought special election for Michigan state Senate earlier this month where the party’s majority in the chamber was on the line.

Buttigieg, who passed on a US Senate run last year from Michigan — where he now resides — enjoys more political freedom than most other possible 2028 contenders. Some have focused on the midterms in more targeted ways, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who led the redrawing of his state’s congressional map to favor Democrats. Others must balance their national ambitions with reelection campaigns in November.

Buttigieg has his own political group, Win the Era, that grew out of his 2020 campaign, but several of his midterm endorsements are also aligning with The Bench, a new group run by some of his former aides, including top 2020 campaign spokesman Andrew Mamo, that says it is “recruiting and supporting the next generation of Democratic leaders.”

Buttigieg has appeared with candidates in more traditionally competitive states such as Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Hampshire, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio. But he’s also gone to Republican strongholds like Montana and Oklahoma.

Jaime Harrison, a former Democratic National Committee chairman from South Carolina, said Buttigieg has been “extremely active and I think that’s a good thing.” But he also name-checked other potential contenders who he said have be

By Kareem El Damanhoury, Todd Symons, CNN

(CNN) — The Israeli military has captured the Crasader-era Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, a site it hasn’t held for 26 years, as it expands its incursion deeper into its neighbor’s territory.

The capture of the castle, near the city of Nabatiyeh and roughly 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) from the Israeli border, comes after days of fierce fighting in the area.

“The operation is focused on establishing operational control of the Beaufort Ridge and the Wadi al-Saluki area,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement said Sunday, adding that it sought to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure in both areas.

The castle, which was built by the Crusaders on a high cliff overlooking the Litani River some 900 years ago, has long been considered a strategic site in southern Lebanon and has been occupied by Israeli forces during previous conflicts.

“The operation began several days ago, during which a significant number of IDF ground soldiers commenced offensive operations aimed at expanding the Forward Defense Line,” the IDF said.

“From Beaufort Ridge, Hezbollah terrorists managed military and combat activities and carried out numerous attacks,” it said.

On Saturday, the Lebanese state news agency NNA reported Israeli air raids and “intense bombardment” in the area surrounding the castle. Hezbollah also claimed to have destroyed an Israeli tank near the castle.

Three days ago, the Arnoun Municipality denounced Israeli bombing in the area and urged international organizations to protect the castle, NNA reported.

“This is a clear message to our enemies: anyone who threatens Israeli civilians will lose their strategic assets one by one,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday.

And Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would “continue to demand and advance a doctrine of permanent territorial control and exceptional military aggressiveness…For every explosive drone, ten buildings in Beirut must fall.”

The Beaufort Castle has been described by UNESCO as “as one of the best-preserved examples of medieval castles in the Near East.” It was also one of 34 Lebanese cultural properties that UNESCO granted provisional enhanced protection—the highest level of immunity against any attack or usage for military purposes—in late 2024, after Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon.

The castle was the site of intense fighting between the Israeli military and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1982 when Israel occupied southern Lebanon. It sustained “significant damage” during the 18-year occupation before the Israeli military withdrew in 2000, according to UNESCO.

Despite the US-mediated ceasefire agreed by the Israeli and Lebanese governments in April, clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have intensified.

Israel has in recent days expanded its operation, pushing deeper into Lebanese territory, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israeli forces have crossed the Litani River, which runs around 15-20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Israel’s border.

The IDF said it had “expanded its operations against Hezbollah targets north of the river” and in “additional areas,” in its statement on Sunday. It has issued a series of evacuation orders for villages north of the Litani in recent days.

The intensifying combat between Israel and Hezbollah may put at risk any agreement between the United States and Iran, which is insisting that it include a ceasefire in Lebanon. US President Donald Trump told Netanyahu last week that he supported its “freedom of action against threats on all fronts, including Lebanon,” an Israeli official told CNN.

CNN’s Eugenia Yosef, Eyad Kourdi and Tim Lister c