(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Iowa Gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand (D) isn’t eager for help from former President Joe Biden or former Vice President Kamala Harris, he told POLITICO in an interview published Wednesday.

Sand said that’s true even if Harris runs for president in 2028.

POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin said on X that Sand is the “first high-profile Dem to answer this question directly.”

He asked, “Would you want to have Joe Biden here campaign for you?” and followed that up with “How about Kamala Harris?”

Sand declined both, saying of Harris: “No, thanks. Let’s move on. We need some new leadership.”

After he was asked if Harris should run in 2028, Sand answered, “No.”

Martin also asked, “What is your view as to what the best option is for Democrats in 2020? You don’t have to name names. You can if you want. But should there be a governor, somebody not from D.C. as your nominee?”

“I just… you got my gut reaction on a couple,” Sand replied. “I don’t know what the answer to that is. I mean, I got an election in 75 days.”

Sand’s campaign in Iowa has grown contentious in recent weeks.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch reported the candidate was followed and booed by “activists with the conservative organization Turning Point USA” last week. While speaking to reporters at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox Saturday, he said those who followed him were “kids.”

“I mean, I don’t know why they’re doing what they’re doing, or how they think that’s effective,” Sand added. “I felt bad for all the people around us who were trying to enjoy the fair and having their experience disrupted. So that’s all I had to say about that.”

He also said his message for his supporters at the event and beyond is, “Don’t behave like the kids from Turning Point USA.”

Sand is running against Republican Zach Lahn, whose opponents have described him as a “part-time Iowan” because he frequently visits Kansas to see “some” of his children.

Watch the above via POLITICO/X.

The post ‘Move On!’ Iowa Democrat Goes After Biden and Harris — Bluntly Rejects Their Help in His Campaign first appeared on Mediaite.

Part of the fun of upgrading your phone is digging into all the new features and functions it offers, and it's no different with Google's recently unveiled Pixel 11 series. While there are hardware bumps in these phones, many of the most notable selling points are on the software side, with a bunch of upgrades related to AI and Android 17.

If you've invested in a Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, or Pixel 11 Pro Fold, then these are the best tricks to try out first. All of these hacks are exclusive to the 2026 flagships, though we might see some of them trickle down to older handsets over time (for now, Google isn't saying one way or the other).

Install this app to take full control of HiLight

HiLight is new to the Pixel 11, and uses a rear LED light to alert you to incoming calls from the most important people in your life—the idea being that it helps you cut out the rest of the noise associated with owning a smartphone in 2026.

You can configure HiLight from Settings by choosing System > HiLight, but there's not actually much configuring to do. It only works for Gemini chats and calls from contacts marked as favorites, with a simple toggle switch in both instances. You can choose different colors for different contacts, but that's about it.

To do more with HiLight, though, you can install HiLight Studio. This third-party tool unlocks HiLight for use with more apps on your phone, and gives you full control over the colors displayed, making HiLight much more useful.

Use Camera Looks filters to add imperfections to your photos

One of the Pixel 11 exclusives in the Camera app is what Google is calling Camera Looks. They work like subtle filters, similar to the Photographic Styles on iOS, with gentle adjustments to contrast and colors that give your images a different feel (and can remove the ultra-clean, over-processed vibe of Pixel photos in general).

Open the Camera and tap the controls button (lower right), then Looks. This gives you access to the four different options you can apply by default when snapping images: Original (the usual Pixel processing), Natural (for "relaxed details"), Shadows (for "deeper contrast"), and Vanilla (for "a warm, golden glow").

There are four Camera Looks to choose from. Credit: Lifehacker

Limit zooming to avoid AI-generated imagery

Here's a tip about not using a Pixel 11 feature. If you have the Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro Fold you can go up to 30x with Super Zoom, while on the Pixel 11 Pro and the Pixel 11 Pro XL there's Pro Zoom up to an incredible 120x.

The Pro Zoom levels get you closer to the action, sure, but they also use generative AI to enhance what's in the photo. It's not just sharpening and enhancing; it's actually inventing new details based on the pixels that are already there (which is why you have to download a generative AI model the first time you use Pro Zoom).

The 30x Super Zoom uses AI too, but of a different type: Rather than generating details, it's combining photo frames and analyzing colors to sharpen up an image, like a traditional image editor filter. This applies up to a 30x zoom level, Google says, so you know where to stop if you don't want any AI elements being added in.

With Pro Zoom shots, Google Photos will save both the AI-enhanced version and the raw digital zoom version—you can switch between them in the app and choose the one you like best.

Use Magic Capture to automatically take photos while recording videos

It's the perennial problem of the modern age: How do you make sure you've got photo memories of an event while still staying present in the moment? Of course you'd like snaps of your kid's birthday party, but you don't want to spend the whole time glued to your phone.

This is where Magic Capture comes in: You can enable it from the Camera app by tapping the icon to the left of the photo icon, just under the main shutter button. You then tap the shutter button to start a video capture, and then let it record. You can focus on what's happening rather than looking at the Camera app and taking individual photos.

When you stop the recording, AI swings into action to pick out still images that look like highlights from the footage—so presumably someone blowing their candles out, raising a toast, or reaching the crest of a wave, depending on the scenario.

Use Pause Point to block distractions on your pixel

Every phone maker has come up with multiple ways to try and keep us from getting too addicted to our devices, and the latest digital well-being idea from Google is the Pause Point feature for the Pixel 11 phones.

It's pretty simple, which means it just might work: For the apps you specify, you get a mindfulness prompt every time you open them up. Those few seconds of thought and self-reflection could help you realize that no, you don't actually need to open up Instagram or X again today.

To set this up, go to Settings, tap Digital Wellbeing, and then Pause Point to pick the apps you'd like it to apply to. This doesn't seem to be live yet, however, despite Google announcing it and including it in its official support documentation. Keep an eye out for it appearing in updates over the next few weeks.

The Pixel 11 lets you set specific vibrations for specific contacts. Credit: Lifehacker

Set custom vibration patterns to identify specific contacts

Another way to reduce screen time is to create unique alerts for each contact, so you know who's getting in touch with you just from the way your phone pings or buzzes. The Pixel 11 phones help with this by letting you customize vibrations in a couple of handy ways.

First, you can set specific vibrations for specific contacts, as well as specific audible ringtones (which has long been an option). From the Contacts app, tap on a name, then Contact ringtone, and you can choose a vibration pattern as well as a sound.

You can also change the default vibration patterns for calls and notifications, which you couldn't before—though not on a per-app or per-contact basis. From Settings, pick Sound and vibration, then Ringtone or Notification.

Use the built-in teleprompter to create content directly on your pixel

Attention, content creators! If you're using your Pixel 11 to record video for public consumption, you can make use of a built-in teleprompter to read your scripts—no third-party app required.

From the Camera app, tap the video icon (to the right of the photo icon, under the shutter button), then tap the settings button up in the top left corner. If you switch to the Creator tab, you'll see there's a Teleprompter toggle switch you can turn on.

Once it's enabled, tap the Teleprompter icon on the capture window to enter your text (you can of course paste it in from somewhere else if you want). When the video recording starts, as you begin to talk through the script, it'll automatically advance for you.

Use the Pixel search bar to find your stuff faster

This is one of the more well-hidden new features on the Pixel 11 phones. Pixel Search is designed to make it easier to find stuff on your phone (like messages and files) from a single search bar, but it's not the search bar on the home screen.

Instead, it's the one above the app grid. Swipe up on the home screen to get to the app grid, then tap in the search box at the top. The first time you do this on your Pixel 11, you'll see an introduction to the feature, together with a Go to Settings link.

Follow that link, then Apps in search results, and you can choose the content that Pixel Search will dive into—across Google Calendar, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Photos, and Settings, for example.

You can choose which apps are included in Pixel Search. Credit: Lifehacker

Ask Rambler to edit dictated text

There's an exclusive Gboard add-on for Pixel 11 devices called Rambler, which Google has positioned as a super-smart upgrade on voice dictation. Phones have been able to turn speech into text for a long while now, but Rambler is better at dealing with natural speech rhythms, filler words, and pauses.

It's also better at editing. If you say "the meeting at 2pm... or rather 3pm" in your ramble, the "3pm" will make the finished transcript. If you're reviewing text Rambler has transcribed, you can launch Rambler again to make edits to it with natural prompts, too—something like "change the day from Friday to Saturday."

Load up Gboard on your Pixel 11 (any text input box will do), tap the microphone button, then read through the Rambler introduction and tap Get started. Once it's set up, it can be launched at any time through the microphone button.

You can go back to the standard voice dictation at any point, if you prefer it: From Gboard tap the menu button (the four squares on the left), then pick Settings > Voice typing.

Use this screensaver to turn your Pixel 11 into a bedside clock

You can use StandBy mode to turn an iPhone into a bedside clock, and the Pixel 11 handsets have something similar—sort of. From Settings, choose Display and touch > Screen saver, and you'll see there's a new Charge option there.

This displays a progress bar showing charge status, and a clock. Enable it, and if you hook your Pixel up to a magnetic wireless charger overnight, you've got a decent, minimal bedside display that works in portrait or landscape orientations.

(Photo by Michael Nigro/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is reportedly considering charging an ICE agent accused of a shooting in Minnesota.

The agent as the center of the saga was identified as Christian Castro. In May, state prosecutors in Minnesota charged him with second-degree assault and falsely reporting a crime. He was then arrested in Texas, but state officials there — namely Gov. Greg Abbott (R) — refused to extradite him to Minnesota.

A report from CNN added:

The person familiar told CNN federal prosecutors could move forward as soon as Tuesday with charges. According to a lawsuit filed by the Minnesota attorney general seeking Castro’s extradition, Castro could be released from custody in Cameron County, Texas as soon as Wednesday. The tight timeline puts pressure on both federal and state prosecutors to keep Castro in custody.

A federal judge in Texas will hold a hearing on Tuesday to consider Minnesota’s request that Abbott send Castro to Minnesota immediately. CNN has reached out to Castro’s lawyer for comment.

Castro’s charges stemmed from an incident this past winter in which a Venezuelan immigrant was shot in the leg.

As noted in CNN’s report, the fact that federal prosecutors were even considering charging him was a stunning turn of events. In response to previous high-profile shootings, Trump officials have declared that agents were only doing their jobs and that they operate with some level of immunity.

The post DOJ Reportedly Weighs Charges Against ICE Agent in Minnesota Shooting first appeared on Mediaite.

Sipa USA via AP, AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

House Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) denounced controversial streamer Hasan Piker on Monday for claiming American Jews are “making antisemitism worse” by supporting Israel.

Piker made the comments during a nearly seven-hour Twitch stream last week.

“In his stream, Piker directly discussed and targeted Michigan State Senator Jeremy Moss, showing his picture while stating that, ‘eventually someone will come around and take action not against Israel, but against American Jews,'” Scholten wrote on X.

“Hasan Piker’s calls for violence against American Jews, and directly naming a Michigan elected official (and future Congressional colleague) Jeremy Moss are unacceptable. Full stop,” Scholten wrote. “Piker is a hack who thrives on hate, shock and awe because he lacks substance. It’s dangerous for everyone. We should all be calling out this disgusting rhetoric so it loses it’s [sic] grip on our politics once and for all. It has no place in Michigan, and no place in our country.”

According to Jewish Insider, about two hours into his stream, Piker said, “People don’t f*ck with Israel any longer. If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action, not against the State of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.”

“I don’t know how people don’t recognize how dangerous this predicament is, how dangerous this is for Jews,” Piker said. “You’re running around basically tying your entire identity to a country that inevitably will be seen as Jewish ISIS and you’re saying, as Jews, this is all we care about. You’re making antisemitism worse.”

Piker, who has a history of inflammatory antisemitic rhetoric, was recently seen campaigning with Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.

When asked about Piker’s reputation, El-Sayed told CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe, “Look, I want to reach out to his viewers,” adding that he “disagrees” with Piker on some issues, including the streamer’s comments that he had “no issue with Hezbollah.”

Piker has also justified Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks on Israel, and said that he would “vote for Hamas over Israel every single time,” describing the terror organization as “a thousand times better than a fascist settler colonial apartheid state.”

The post House Democrat Denounces Hasan Piker’s ‘Calls for Violence Against American Jews’: ‘Unacceptable. Full Stop.’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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Amazon has a four-pack of Apple’s second-generation AirTag for $79.99 (down from $99)— its lowest price so far, according to price trackers. That brings the cost down to $20 per tracker, which is a better deal than buying them individually—a single AirTag is currently listed on Amazon for $24.

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The biggest upgrade you’ll find over the first-generation AirTag is Apple’s newer Ultra Wideband chip, which the company says gives Precision Finding up to 50% more range than before. That means your iPhone can start pointing you toward a nearby AirTag from farther away, using on-screen arrows, haptic feedback, and sound as you get closer. Apple has also made the built-in speaker 50% louder, which can be especially helpful once Precision Finding has guided you into the right area—a stronger sound makes the AirTag easier to pinpoint when it is buried under clothes, tucked inside a bag, or wedged between couch cushions.

Apple Watch owners get a nice upgrade too, as Precision Finding now works with the Apple Watch Series 9 and newer and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and newer, allowing you to track down a nearby AirTag directly from your wrist without reaching for your iPhone. Once your trackers are set up, you can get even more out of them with a few lesser-known tricks, which we cover in our AirTag hacks guide.

That said, the rest of the experience is largely unchanged—it still uses a replaceable CR2032 battery, carries the same IP67 water- and dust-resistance rating, and keeps the same dimensions, so holders and keychains should continue to fit. Owners of the original AirTag probably will not find enough here to justify an upgrade, but for first-time buyers, this $79.99 four-pack is an affordable way to get the newer model without spending much more than older AirTag multipacks have typically cost.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he had no idea what was going on when Fox News anchor and senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked him about Jared Kushner covertly meeting with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Sunday, hours after The New York Times reported it.

The Times report said Kushner — President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser — had met privately with Jeffries in recent weeks to discuss “potential areas of common ground” as the 2026 midterms approach. Johnson said he was clueless and had just heard about it for the first time on Sunday, before downplaying Kushner’s role within the Trump Administration when Doocy asked him about the story.

“Does any part of you think the White House might be trying to figure out which Democrats they can work with, if Democrats win the House, and that is why they would send Jared Kushner to meet with Jeffries?” Doocy asked.

“I don’t know what that’s about,” Johnson said. “I know Jared has interests and lots of other things going on, he’s not really directly involved in the admin, at least in the day-to-day, of the White House.”

Johnson then pivoted to talking about his push to help Republicans campaign and keep their House majority.

His answer seemed to dismiss Kushner has been one of Trump’s go-to negotiators, with Kushner and Steve Witkoff playing a key role in the Israel-Hamas peace deal signed last year; Kushner has now been helping the administration try to hammer out an agreement with Iran — although the president recently contradicted him and said talks were toast, one day after Kushner said Iran’s theocratic leaders wanted to “finish” a deal.

Doocy brought it back to the NYT report one more time, saying perhaps Trump was using Kushner to talk to the “really hard people to deal with.”

Johnson took it as a chance to skewer Jeffries a bit, saying that was assuming Jeffries does not get pushed out by the democratic socialists who are rising within the Democratic Party.

Watch above via The Sunday Briefing.

The post WATCH: Fox’s Peter Doocy Grills Mike Johnson on Secret Jeffries-Kushner Summit first appeared on Mediaite.

NBC News’s Kristen Welker repeatedly noted to Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) that the Trump administration has been in charge of the economy for the past 19 months, after he continued to blame Joe Biden for the nation’s financial woes.

“Let’s look back at the original sin of cost in America in the last eight years,” Scott said when talking about Trump’s tariffs and affordability on Sunday’s Meet The Press. “It goes to Joe Biden, who took inflation up 21% while he was president.”

“Wait! President Trump has been in office for two years!” Welker interjected.

“Let me finish, let me finish!” Scott said, pushing back. “President Trump has brought inflation from a sky-high 21% over the Biden years down to under 5% and right now hovering near 4%.”

“Wait, inflation was at 3% when President Biden left office. It’s at 3.4% right now,” Welker spoke over Scott. “And the average household as paid $1,000 more in 2025 due to the tariffs, Senator.”

“Let’s not forget. Let’s not forget the truth,” Scott shot back, continuing:

The truth tells a great story. On the first piece of legislation in 2021, the Inflation Reduction Act that we should all laugh at, took inflation to 9% in July of 2021. Cumulate the weight of inflation at the end of the Biden years, over $1,100 of lost spending power. President Trump inherited a weak economy and has built a resilient, strong economy with our wages going up and our costs flattening, finally. Every single Democrat in the Senate voted — this is really important, Kristen — voted to take money out of the pockets of senior citizens last year. Voted to stop helping people working over time by letting them keep more of their money. Voted to take money — not out of the rich people, but out of the working-class waitresses.

“But, hold on, Senator. These are the facts. When President Trump took office, inflation was at 3%. It’s now at 3.4%. Gas prices are over $4 a gallon, up over a dollar from a year ago. President Trump’s tariffs have cost American households nearly $2,000. He promised he was going to bring prices down on day one. Did he break that promise? Prices have gone up!”

“The good news is you don’t disagree with the fact that Joe Biden brought 21% extra cost on the American families. We —”

“But we’re not talking about Joe Biden, though,” Welker maintained. “The Biden administration is over! This is the —— we’re two years into the Trump administration!”

Watch the clip above via NBC News.

The post ‘The Biden Administration is Over!’ Kristen Welker Calls Out Tim Scott Blaming Economic Woes on Trump’s Predecessor in Heated Exchange first appeared on Mediaite.