President Donald Trump was asked point-blank by a reporter, on Monday, why it wouldn’t be a war crime if the U.S. military were to carry out the commander-in-chief’s latest threats against Iran.

Speaking with a reporter outside the White House during the annual Easter Egg hunt, the president fielded a blunt question about his threat that he plans to target bridges and power plants in Iran if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened by Tuesday.

“Mr. President, how would it not be a war crime to strike Iran’s bridges and power plants?” A reporter asked.

Trump did not address the potential impact that attacks on infrastructure would have on civilians — instead focusing his response on the Iranian regime.

“Because they killed 45,000 people in the last month, more than that,” Trump said. “It could be as much as 60. They killed protesters, they’re animals. And we have to stop them and we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon. Very simple. They want a nuclear weapons, they’ve been trying for a long time. I stopped them with the Obama horrible Iran nuclear deal. I stopped him in a lot of different ways. The President is back. We got Soleimani. Evil genius, he was an evil genius. We got rid of him. And then we stopped them with the B-2 bombers not so long ago. And if we didn’t do it, Israel and the Middle East would have been extinguished.”

Many international law experts have said that attacks in Iranian power plants and bridges would constitute a war crime.

“International law protects from attack objects indispensable to the survival of civilians, and the attacks threatened by Trump, if implemented, could entail war crimes,” said a group of 100 international law experts in an open letter published Thursday by Just Security.

Watch above, via PBS.

The post ‘How Would it Not Be a War Crime?’ Trump Bluntly Confronted On His Iran Threats first appeared on Mediaite.

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Apple announced new products in March, including the new MacBook Air with the M5 chip. This MacBook comes in the 13-inch and 15-inch size, and with other upgrades to the hardware. If you're interested in the new MacBook, Amazon is the place to buy: It's the only major retailer offering both sizes with a $150 discount. The 13-inch MacBook Air is $949.99 ($1,099), and the 15-inch MacBook Air is $,1149.99 (originally $1,299).

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The M5 MacBook Air is tempting, starting at $949.99, but you shouldn't be swayed if you already own an M4; the rest of the laptop is virtually the same. Of course, the basic starting model doubles the storage to 512GB, which is nice and only $100 more than the listing price when the M4 was released. But considering the $150 discount, this is a great option for someone upgrading from the M2, M1, or getting their first MacBook.

The M5 chip is powerful and makes the performance much smoother, according to Mashable's review. The aluminum design is as good as you'd expect from Apple's most popular portable laptop, keeping it lightweight and thin. It comes with a Liquid Retina display, Touch ID, a 12MP Center Stage Camera, and Magic Keyboard. The speakers continue to be excellent, despite their small size.

The real question here is whether to go for the older M4 MacBook Air or pay for the newer M5 chip. Both are incredible laptops and likely have more power than you'll realistically need, so if you're getting money from your emergency fund to pay for the MacBook, go with the M4, but if money isn't an issue, the M5 will outlive the M4 for a few years, and the hardware upgrades are always welcome. Considering the price difference between them isn't that much, the M5 is currently a better deal.

ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos asked the same question multiple times to try to get Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) to answer whether ground troops would be needed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. 

On This Week, Stephanopoulos asked, “The president suggested that the Straits of Hormuz could open ‘naturally.’ Is that realistic or is it going to take ground troops?”

Turner, who sits on the Armed Forces Committee, answered:

In any conflict, certainly, Iran is going to have some things that they’re going to be able to do during the conflict. But if you don’t undertake the conflict, if you just step back and watch as the Obama administration was going to do while Iran became a nuclear power and they became North Korea, we wouldn’t be looking at the Strait of Hormuz, we’d be looking at what’s, you know…having Europe be at risk, you’d have the United States being at risk, you’d have all of our allies. And ultimately the continental United States at risk from Iran and the whole world being held hostage by a terrorist state. In this, as they in their last throes, you know, begin to do whatever they have left as a state militarily, they still are being significantly diminished and their ability to be able to be marching toward a nuclear state is being eliminated.

“Right, but what I asked you about was the Straits of Hormuz. The Straits of Hormuz are still closed to most traffic right now. Can it be reopened without American ground troops?” Stephanopoulos asked again.

“Well, I think, you know, certainly you’re seeing that even as this conflict evolves, that that is being put in place. And I don’t think U.S. ground troops are going to be necessary in any direct conflict,” Turner said before focusing on eliminating Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“And that was the goal,” Turner said. “And that is an incredibly important goal for the safety of the United States.”

Stephanopoulos said, “So, I guess, are you saying that as long as the nuclear capability is diminished, it doesn’t matter whether we open up the Straits of Hormuz?”

“No, the Straits of Hormuz are going to be open, and it’s it certainly is important to occur, but you can’t say, well, as long as the straits are open, we don’t, we can let them continue to be a power that marches toward being a nuclear power that continues to develop missile technology that can threaten the United States and threaten Europe and continue to perfect long-range missile technology.”

Stephanopoulos bluntly asked one last time: “Will it take ground troops or not to open up the straits?”

“I don’t believe so,” Turner said. “I think that certainly that this is going to be, again, a diminishing regime as as it’s ongoing.”

Watch the clip above via ABC News’s This Week.

The post House Republican Waffles Under Pointed Questioning from ABC’s Stephanopoulos On Next Steps In Iran first appeared on Mediaite.

NBC News’s Kristen Welker pressed Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) on which party is to blame for the partial government shutdown that’s left some government workers without paychecks for more than 40 days.

Despite the Senate passing a funding bill last week, the House did not vote on it before recessing for Easter break.

On Sunday’s Meet The Press, Welker said, “The Senate did pass a bill. Now it appears as though House Speaker Mike Johnson is on board with trying to get that passed. But Congress is not back until April 14th, Congressman. Is that acceptable to wait that long to fully fund the government? Or should House Speaker Mike Johnson call everyone back this week and get the government reopened?”

Instead of answering the question, Lawler said, “Kristen, what’s not acceptable is that for this fiscal year, Democrats have shut down the Department of Homeland Security for over 90 days, not paying FEMA, not paying the Coast Guard, not paying the Secret Service, and not paying critical operations within the Department of Homeland Security. The fact is, Democrats made a very calculated decision to shut down the department because they do not want to enforce our immigration laws.”

Lawler went on to tell the tragic story of 18-year-old college student Sheridan Gorman who was allegedly killed by an undocumented migrant in Chicago last month, and to accuse Democrats of allowing criminals like the suspect into the country.

“Let me just get back to the question though,” Welker said. “Republicans are in charge of all three branches of government. House Speaker Mike Johnson has the capacity to call everyone back. Does he have a responsibility to do so, to bring everyone back to get the government reopened? Does this not fall to Republicans to do this?”

LAWLER: No, Kristen, we have passed Homeland Security funding four times in the last few weeks. And every Democrat —

KRISTEN WELKER: But the Senate passed a bill unanimously —

LAWLER: — has voted against it.

WELKER: Congressman, but the Senate passed —

LAWLER: Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer —

WELKER: — the bill unanimously.

LAWLER: Hakeem Jeffries —

WELKER: But the Senate passed the bill unanimously.

LAWLER: Kristen, they’re not funding the full Department of Homeland Security. They’re not funding ICE. They’re not funding Customs and Border Patrol. They say that, “Oh, we passed funding during reconciliation.” And we did for much of the operations. But many people within ICE and Customs and Border Patrol, civilians, are not being paid.

Watch the clip above via NBC News’s Meet The Press.

The post NBC’s Welker Pushes Back On House Republican Blaming Dems for DHS Shutdown: ‘Republicans Are In Charge Of All Three Branches’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Bill Stepian defended the president’s profane Easter Sunday Truth Social post where he threatened to send the Iranians to “hell” if they don’t open the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump’s post read, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Stepian, “So you heard [diplomat] Brett McGurk earlier saying that he sees this as President Trump trying to escalate the language so as to get a deal, but he doesn’t know that it will work necessarily. What’s your take?”

“I think that could be the case,” Stepian said. “Do I agree with the language or the deadline setting? Not necessarily. But if we’re going to do this, let’s do this. Like, let’s not be here for a long time. Let’s not prolong this. We see polling is not in the favor of a prolonged conflict. We’re seeing, to your point, shooting down our airmen. This is not a place we want to be. If we’re going to do this, do this, offer the same threat to Venezuela. That was a successful incursion. Let’s make the threat. Let’s get out as soon as possible.”

Later in the interview, a visibly skeptical Tapper told Stepian, “So you you’ve always been someone who speaks softly and carries a big stick. This is not how you negotiate things, in my experience covering you.”

“Yeah, and that’s my personal — But this is also the first cold war fought in this age of social media with this president,” Stepian said. “I think he does things very differently. I think he does things in his own way, different than Biden, different than Obama. And I think we’re seeing this playing out this morning.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

The post WATCH: Trump’s Former Campaign Manager Defends President’s ‘Open the F*ckin Strait’ Post to a Skeptical Jake Tapper first appeared on Mediaite.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) made an extraordinary claim Saturday that the Democratic base in the Senate is made up of “extreme” anarchists, marxists, and socialists.

Emmer appeared on Fox News Saturday with Aishah Hasnie who asked about the status of the partial government shutdown due to squabbling over Department of Homeland Security funding.

The Senate passed its funding bill during a pro forma session around 7 a.m. on Thursday that would have provided money for DHS and paid TSA agents, while creating a separate budget bill for the sticking point — funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.

But the House didn’t take up the bill when they met the same day, leaving the issue unresolved until they meet again on Monday.

“Frankly, what is happening here is the Senate — it was a bad look,” Emmer said. “You don’t pass something at three in the morning with only six people on the floor and literally defund everything — fund everything but the Immigration, Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. It just doesn’t work that way.”

He continued, “The House, frankly, with our speaker, has negotiated that the Senate will move this as quick as they can when they get back to town after the Easter recess, and the White House has assured us that the relevant agencies have money they need to do the job that they’re required to do to over the period of time.”

“But don’t you want to get these people paid?” Hasnie asked of the TSA agents who have gone some 44 days without a paycheck. “Don’t you feel it’s necessary to to get this done as quickly as possible instead of waiting for the break to be over?”

“Aishah, the House has done this,” Emmer argued. “We’ve passed complete funding four times. By the way, a bill that was agreed to on a bicameral, bipartisan basis, Republicans and Democrats. It’s just because an extreme, anarchist, marxist-socialist base that Chuck Schumer has to deal with that he reneged on the deal, yes. Republicans have been trying to do this since the beginning of the year.”

Emmer added, “The problem we’ve got is the precedent that has been set is not going to to be good going forward, and that precedent is, if you’re going to be able to pull out whatever piece you don’t like in an appropriations bill, where does this end, Aishah?”

Watch above via Fox News.

The post Republican Lawmaker Claims Senate Democratic Base Is Made Up Of ‘Extreme’ Anarchists, Marxists, and Socialists first appeared on Mediaite.

Joe Rogan hit back at critics and offered a correction after some on social media noticed he told a story about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk that never happened.

On The Joe Rogan Experience podcast this week, Rogan had a three hour-plus discussion with fellow comedian Theo Von and at one point claimed he heard about Kirk’s September assassination while he was elk hunting. Viewers and listeners were quick to point out that Rogan was actually on the air when he heard about the assassination.

Rogan chose to respond to one X user who put the clips from both episodes together and commented, “What a weird thing to lie about.”

Rogan explained that he simply remembered the story wrong, and he was actually elk hunting when his phone blew up about Jimmy Kimmel’s temporary suspension by ABC following a joke about MAGA after Kirk was assassinated.

“Honestly I just remembered it wrong. I was elk hunting when Jimmy Kimmel was getting people angry at him for joking about the assassination and blaming it on MAGA. I would never ‘lie’ about that. I just had a dumb memory moment,” Rogan wrote.

During an episode of his podcast in September, both Rogan and guest Charlie Sheen learned of Kirk’s death during the episode. Kirk was shot and killed during an event on a Utah college campus.

“So this just happened, we just found out that Charlie Kirk got shot,” Rogan told Sheen at the time.

Sheen called it “awful,” while Rogan said it didn’t feel “real.”

“You think when something happens in the current, like right now with this one with Charlie Kirk, it doesn’t seem real. It seems like it’s gonna take a long time before we reference this as something that happened,” he said.

On his episode with Von, Rogan misremembered the story and claimed he was in Utah at the time Kirk was killed.

“I started getting all of these text messages from people wanting me to comment on things,” he said. “I was like, what are you talking about?”

Watch above via The Joe Rogan Experience.

The post Joe Rogan Lashes Out Over Accusation He Lied About Charlie Kirk Assassination first appeared on Mediaite.