Trump debuted a new affordability script. It’s unclear to advisers whether he’ll stick to it

Kraig Pakulski 0 67 Article rating: No rating

By Adam Cancryn, CNN

(CNN) — The White House is heading into a critical midterm year beset by economic challenges, as it tries to manage stubbornly high prices, a frustrated electorate and a commander-in-chief who struggles to show sympathy toward voters’ pain.

For one night, at least, officials addressed one issue: getting President Donald Trump to stay on a scripted message — in-part about affordability — in an 18-minute primetime address to the nation.

The question as he heads to another campaign-style rally on Friday: Can they convince him to do it again? And will any of it change his party’s increasingly dire political fortunes?

Some Trump advisers on Thursday cheered the decision to put the president in front of a primetime audience, crediting the official setting and tight time constraints for producing the more focused economic speech they badly needed him to deliver.

Trump during the address acknowledged Americans’ affordability concerns while blaming his predecessor for the cost-of-living “mess.” He highlighted specific signs of progress, like lower gas and egg prices, while vowing brighter days were still ahead.

And while far from perfect — Trump sped through the speech, abruptly switching topics and sometimes taking an angry tone — he avoided the digressions and off-the-cuff claims of an affordability “hoax” that had until now drowned out the economic message his aides are desperate for voters to hear.

“It was good,” said one Trump adviser. “And one of the reasons why it was good was because he was more on the script than he is otherwise with these things.”

But others in the GOP feared it won’t much matter in the long run.

“The president can’t happy talk his way out of what people feel,” said one GOP operative advising on a range of midterm races. “The White House staff around the president know what the message needs to be, and I wish that the president would listen.”

Trump’s rally in North Carolina Friday is likely to be far more freewheeling. As the president ramps up his travel, allies and advisers conceded it could be a challenge to figure out how to convince Trump to hew closely to the script.

Wednesday’s hastily organized primetime event underscored the urgency within the Trump administration to find fresh ways to combat the affordability concerns that are dominating voters’ attention — but that the president has been slow to similarly adopt as top of mind.

Trump’s approval ratings are mired at some of the lowest levels of his second term, driven by voters’ unhappiness with his handling of the economy and belief that their own financial progress has stalled.

That affordability backlash has already manifested in a series of state and city-wide electoral losses for Republicans, alarming GOP lawmakers and operatives who warn the party is on course for disaster in next year’s midterms. It’s a situation only likely to worsen come January, after Congress failed to avert a spike in health care premiums tied to the Affordable Care Act.

A new affordability script

Within Trump’s orbit, advisers have sought to revamp the administration’s messaging and demonstrate its focus on cost-of-living issues, amplifying its rhetoric on key pain points like groceries, energy costs, and pharmaceutical pricing.

But Trump has resisted the push to show more empathy, insisting that the economy remains strong and bristling at suggestions that his policies are contributing to Americans’ affordability anxieties. He’s also groused in public and private about the lack of attention being paid to other key priorities like immigration, complaining that his efforts to seal the southern border haven’t won him as much political credit as he deserves.

During a winding speech last week

Elogian al agente héroe que derribó al atacante de Bondi mientras las imágenes revelan cómo se puso fin a la masacre

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Análisis por Avery Schmitz, Isaac Yee, Teele Rebane y Helen Regan, CNN

Los medios australianos han identificado al detective superior Cesar Barraza como el agente de policía aclamado como un héroe por disparar y matar a uno de los atacantes responsables de la masacre de Bondi Beach.

Los videos de la tragedia brindan una imagen más clara de cómo se desarrolló el ataque antisemita que mató al menos a 15 personas y cómo Barraza, armado solo con una pistola, se movió para eliminar a los atacantes desde unos 45 metros (150 pies) de distancia, lo que ayudó a poner fin al peor tiroteo masivo de Australia en casi 30 años.

Se cree que Barraza disparó y mató a Sajid Akram, de 50 años, según The Sydney Morning Herald y 9News y 7News, afiliadas de CNN. Minutos después, Naveed, de 24 años, hijo de Akram y presunto cómplice, recibió un disparo y resultó gravemente herido.

De pie en una pasarela junto a Campbell Parade, la calle que bordea la playa Bondi de Sydney, el dúo de padre e hijo presuntamente utilizó escopetas y rifles para disparar indiscriminadamente contra docenas de familias que celebraban la primera noche de Janucá.

Los videos, publicados en las redes sociales y verificados por CNN, muestran diferentes ángulos del mismo momento y revelan cómo se desarrolló el ataque y la respuesta policial en poco más de seis minutos.

Los atacantes comenzaron su ataque el domingo cerca de Archer Park, a poco más de 100 metros de Bondi Beach. El video de la cámara de un vehículo muestra a los transeúntes Boris y Sofia Gurman, las primeras víctimas del ataque, muertos por disparos tras intentar valientemente desarmar a uno de los tiradores.

Se puede ver a la gente huyendo de la pasarela mientras los dos hombres se acercan, y el presunto atacante, Naveed, abre fuego en múltiples direcciones mientras Sajid se dirige al parque donde se estaba llevando a cabo una celebración de Janucá al aire libre.

Allí, Sajid Akram se enfrenta a un transeúnte desarmado, padre de dos hijos, Ahmed Al Ahmed, que lo aborda y logra arrebatarle el rifle.

Sajid regresa entonces al puente. Mientras se aleja, un video muestra a otro transeúnte, presumiblemente Reuven Morrison —quien posteriormente murió en el ataque—, lanzándole objetos.

Desde la pasarela, se ve a Naveed levantando su arma, apuntando y hacer varios disparos.

Aproximadamente un minuto después, Sajid se reunió con su cómplice en el puente.

Luego, en el fondo del video, se puede apreciar a un hombre vestido con pantalones oscuros, camisa clara y corbata negra avanzando, tomando una posición defensiva cerca de un árbol y apuntando.

El agente, detective jefe Cesar Barraza, levanta su arma y dispara el tiro que mata a Sajid.

El tirador superviviente devuelve el fuego en dirección al agente durante más de un minuto hasta que es abatido por otra bala. No está claro si el agente también disparó ese tiro o si las balas provinieron de compañeros que se enfrentaban al último tirador.

El análisis de las imágenes muestra que el agente estaba a unos 45 metros del pistolero, un distancia considerada difícil con una pistola, incluso para el tirador más experimentado.

Una multitud de policías y civiles se reúne rápidamente alrededor de los dos sospechosos. En otras imágenes se ve al detective mientras los socorristas practican RCP a uno de los atacantes.

Un análisis de audio posterior realiza

Prep results in basketball, soccer and water polo

Kraig Pakulski 0 70 Article rating: No rating
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Entenza Design
Dons hold off San Marcos in rivalry basketball

SANTA BARBRA, Calif. (KEYT) -

High School Boys Basketball:

Santa Barbara 58, San Marcos 50: Levi Oakes 20 pts for Dons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWvQDGZ3wdU

Thousand Oaks 54, Oxnard 34: Dylan McCord 17 pts for Lancers

St. Bonaventure 48, Buena 46: Adam Ayala 19 pts. 10 reb. for Seraphs

High School Girls Basketball:

Laguna Blanca 24, Santa Clara 17: Kira Rameson 10 pts for Owls

High School Boys Soccer:

Dos Pueblos 1, Buena 0: Owen Ribbens & Brandon Stock goals for Chargers

Rio Mesa 2, San Marcos 1: Carlos Ahara & Aiden Gonzalez goals for Spartans

High School Girls Soccer:

San Marcos 2, Rio Mesa 0: Zeina Matni 2 goals for Royals

Buena 1, Dos Pueblos 0: Tyler Hickerson goal for Bulldogs

High School Girls Water Polo:

San Marcos 10, Foothill 9: Charlotte Raisin 4 goals, 3 assists for Royals

Dos Pueblos 18, Ventura 1: Talia Marshall, Wynonna Shea, Charlotte Neushul 3 goals each

Santa Barbara 19, Oxnard 3: Luna Morancey 4 goals for Dons

The post Prep results in basketball, soccer and water polo appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Gauchos light up the scoreboard in 9th straight win

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Olivia Bradley registered a double-double in victory

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team bested Eastern Washington 89-61 tonight during their final game of the calendar year. The win avenges the Gauchos' 2024 loss to the Eagles and keeps the Gauchos undefeated at home for 2025.

FROM HEAD COACH RENEE JIMENEZ
"I've been trying to tell these guys all week, this was their last final. And I thought they aced it tonight, so I'm really, really happy with them and really proud of them." Jimenez said. "And it was all the things we've been talking about these last eight or nine weeks, that we've challenged them on, that they blew out of the water."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Eastern Washington made the first points of the game after 90 seconds of fruitless basket attempts by both teams. After a couple more empty transactions from both sides, Olivia Bradley got the Gauchos on the board with a head-on three pointer from the apex of the arc.

The Eagles pulled no punches in the first, scoring several buckets in a row with no response from Santa Barbara. The Gauchos fell victim to their longest trail in six games. They placed a couple points to get back in it, but finished out the first period behind by two 24-22.

The Gauchos exploded in the second, piling thirty points and ending the half ahead by 21. After establishing a tie at 30-30, Santa Barbara went on a seventeen-points scoring run. The revitalized Gaucho defense held the Eagles to just nine points. Zoe Borter scored 19 points in the half and went five for six in field goals.

The teams performed equally in the third, with each one only making six points through the first five minutes. By the time the quarter was over, both had scored 18 points, and Olivia Bradley was responsible for 11 of the Gauchos'.

Santa Barbara kept up the pace in the final period, locking in 19 points and wrapping the game 89-63. Skylar Burke made 10 points in the fourth and put on her best half of the season.

Borter piloted the Gaucho offense, racking up 24 points and shooting 64%. She also made a career-high nine field goals.

Bradley had a brilliant game, forging a double-double from 20 points and 13 rebounds. Both tallies stand as career-highs for the forward. She also made a career-high three three-pointers.

Skylar Burke logged her first double-double of the season, grabbing ten rebounds and scoring 14 points. Burke also led the team in assists with five.

The Gauchos had 50 rebounds, the most rebounds they have had this season by nine.

Dons not ready to play second fiddle as they hold off San Marcos in Channel League basketball

Kraig Pakulski 0 55 Article rating: No rating
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Entenza Design
The Dons stay undefeated in league with a hard-fought win

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - San Marcos boys basketball has designs on a Channel League title but Santa Barbara showed it's not going to relinquish the crown so easily.

Levi Oakes scored a game-high 20 points as Santa Barbara grinded out a 59-50 rivalry win.

The defending Channel League champion Dons are now 3-0 in league this year while San Marcos falls to 2-1.

Santa Barbara jumped out to a quick start and led 14-7 at the half.

Aidan Conlan cut the deficit to 18-17 with a baseline off-balance shot but the Dons finished the quarter strong and led 24-19 at the half.

Koji Hefner and fellow senior Brody Green were strong in the third quarter as the Royals pulled into a tie at 31. Hefner led the Royals with 19 points.

But the Dons Brent Sharpton scored on a short bucket and they led 33-31 heading into the fourth quarter.

Santa Barbara was able to hold the lead throughout the fourth quarter with Oakes and Blake Lee each hitting big shots down the stretch.

The post Dons not ready to play second fiddle as they hold off San Marcos in Channel League basketball appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

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