Comedian and pundit Bill Maher claimed that acts like “C Plus C Music Factory” dropping out of President Donald Trump’s “Freedom 250″ concert series makes Democrats look like they don’t love America.”

On Friday night’s edition of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, the interview guest was former Vice President Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States and author of “What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience.”

The panel guests were Senator Chris Murphy, Democratic senator from Connecticut and author of the new book “Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America”; and Susan Rice, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, former U.S. National Security Advisor, and former Director of the Domestic Policy Council.

During the panel discussion, Maher derided the acts who dropped out (C+C Music Factory [pronounced “C and C Music Factory”] declined but group member Freedom Williams expressed openness to performing) — but Sen. Murphy explained that the artists initially believed event was nonpartisan:

BILL MAHER: Okay, let me ask another issue. There is something called the Great American State Fair Festival that was planned. Now this is not the same thing as the UFC event on the White House lawn. Don’t get them.

AMB. SUSAN RICE: Or the race car track going around the city.

BILL MAHER: Yes, but there’s lots of exciting stuff in Washington going on. No, the UFC thing.

Look, we have a redneck president. I’m sorry. We’re just going to have to get used to–.

AMB. SUSAN RICE: From Manhattan.

BILL MAHER: From Manhattan, a redneck–. He just does redneck things. OK, this is one of the things I don’t give a shit about.

But this other thing was not planned as a specific Trump thing or a specific MAGA thing. And they had some acts lined up, not the greatest. The Commodores. Morris Day and the Time, they were pretty good.

AMB. SUSAN RICE: Commodores were good in the day.

BILL MAHER: Very good, very, yes, that’s sure, that, that is Lionel Ritchie, right?

AMB. SUSAN RICE: Yeah.

BILL MAHER: Okay. Well, he’s not with them anymore. Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Young MC, Cc, C plus C, Music Factory, Milli Vannilli, I would not have left them on.

SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I think it was just back — I think it was just Vanilli.

BILL MAHER: Right, yes, it was this, right, because the other member discredited for lip-syncing.

SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Vanilli’s the good one now.

BILL MAHER: They all pulled out. This is a question about what looks best for the Democrats, because I don’t think that looks good.

It looks like you are just what people say about you, you don’t really love America. It looks you think Trump is more important than the country itself.

Now it’s just a big MAGA rally, this whole thing, because they all pull out. So now it’s Trump and Lee Greenwood. Um, wouldn’t it have been better to play this gig? It’s a month-long gig, lots of people, like, just celebrating America. Can’t we all just celebrate America itself and leave Trump out of it?

SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Well, and listen, my kids are excited about the DC race, right? Like, I mean, there is stuff, listen, that’s obviously a ton of people love the UFC. There’s going to be people that are excited about this, but here’s what happened.

There was a nonpartisan, a political effort to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. And instead of just letting that effort go forward, Donald Trump took it over, right, to create a parallel set of events.

My understanding is these artists thought that they were going to the non-partisan effort. And then when they found out that it was just a predicate to a Trump rally, they didn’t want to be part of it.

I think this would have been a lot better for the country if Trump had decided to just let professionals, let people who just care about celebrating America with no political agenda be part this.

I agree there’s no reason to overly politicize this, but Trump decided to politicize it by essentially shutting down the citizens who were leading it and turning it into a big MAGA event.

Watch above via HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher.

The post Bill Maher Bashes Acts Like ‘C Plus C Music Factory’ For Dumping Trump 250 Event: ‘Don’t Love America’ first appeared on Mediaite.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Conservative commentator and Fox News host Mark Levin raised concerns Friday about a reported civil nuclear agreement being negotiated between President Donald Trump’s administration and Saudi Arabia, sharing an article outlining warnings from lawmakers and nuclear policy experts who fear the deal could weaken long-standing nonproliferation standards.

Levin posted a screenshot of the Jewish Insider report to X along with a simple question to his followers: “Everyone ok with this?”

The report detailed a proposed civilian nuclear cooperation agreement that is reportedly nearing completion and could soon be submitted to Congress. If approved, the arrangement would allow the U.S. to share civilian nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia as the kingdom expands its nuclear energy program.

The proposal has drawn scrutiny because, according to critics cited by Jewish Insider, it may not require Riyadh to adopt safeguards that have traditionally accompanied U.S. nuclear agreements. One major point of contention is whether Saudi Arabia would be permitted to enrich uranium domestically rather than agreeing to forgo the practice entirely.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who has long opposed U.S. nuclear cooperation with Saudi Arabia, expressed concern over the reported framework.

“There’s only one reason not to have non-militarization safeguards, and that’s militarization,” Sherman told the outlet.

“The idea that allowing Saudi Arabia to move toward a nuclear weapon defies history,” he added. “A Saudi nuclear weapon leads to worldwide proliferation. Egypt and Turkey would feel that they need to match that, and then where’s Argentina and Brazil going to be?”

Elliott Abrams, who served as U.S. special representative for Iran during Trump’s first term, argued that civilian nuclear assistance should not include capabilities that could bring countries closer to producing a weapon.

“The U.S. should be helping other countries with nuclear power, but should strongly avoid helping them learn the fuel cycle and move closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon,” Abrams told JI.

The post Mark Levin Sounds Alarm Over Trump-Backed Saudi Nuclear Deal: ‘Everyone OK With This?’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Screenshot via YouTube

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) warned the Democratic Party against embracing candidates who “clearly are not in line with our values” when asked about Adam Hamawy’s Democratic primary win in New Jersey on Tuesday night.

Moskowitz spoke to The Free Press about Hamawy’s past and his likely November victory in a heavily blue district.

“The idea that we’ve expanded the tent to the point that we’re putting people in that clearly are not in line with our values, I think, is a real long-term mistake,” Moskowitz told The Free Press’s Audrey Fahlberg.

Fahlberg reported that Moskowitz also said the issue of what committees Hamawy should join is something to be addressed after the election.

Hamawy has sparked controversy and drawn intense scrutiny over his past associations with the so-called Blind Sheikh, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in 1995 as part of the investigations into the first World Trade Center bombing. Hamawy served as a defense witness during the trial.

Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and former U.S. Army veteran, has also come under fire for having volunteered in a Gaza hospital, which was later learned to be a Hamas operations center in the recent conflict there.

On Wednesday, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) called for Hamawy to be investigated by Congress, “How in the hell has a defense witness in the 1993 WTC bombing, with ties to Al-Qaeda been nominated by the Democrats to serve in Congress?”

“If elected in November, Congress should fully investigate his ties to terrorist organizations and determine whether he is fit to serve,” concluded Lawler.

The post Jared Moskowitz Sounds Off on Controversial Dem House Candidate: ‘Not in Line With Our Values’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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The latest AirPods Pro are a big step up. The third iteration of Apple's iconic earbuds come with a number of quality-of-life and software improvements that make them worth the typical premium over the AirPods Pro 2—and right now, the AirPods Pro 3 are even cheaper than the previous generation. They're $199.99 on Amazon as an early Prime Day deal, down from $249.99 and matching their second-lowest price ever, according to price tracking tools.

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The AirPods Pro 3 improve on already great earbuds with new features like a heart rate sensor, better automatic noise canceling (ANC), longer battery life for the buds (though the case's battery life is a bit worse), and an improved "Find My" experience. You'll get Personalized Spatial Audio (so you can hear sounds seemingly coming from different directions as you move your head) and the ability to use head gestures to tell Siri "yes" or "no" (this also works for answering or denying calls). Apple also added a live translation feature to both the second- and third-generation AirPods Pro when iOS 26 rolled out earlier this year.

Since these earbuds have rubber tips, they sealed your ear canal (as supposed to regular earbuds like the AirPods 4); consequently, the ANC is much better—but the ANC technology itself has also improved, as has the overall audio quality, thanks to the new H3 chip In its "exemplary" review, PCMag called them the best earbuds for your money—and now, you can spend 20% less of it.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

Surging fuel prices could leave the Defense Department with $1 billion in unplanned costs amid the Iran war, according to officials and documents.

ABC News’ Steven Beynon reported on Wednesday about the strain the military is feeling as they grapple with rising gas prices and an unstable market. Gas prices have risen to an average of $4.30 a gallon. They sat below $3 before the Iran conflict.

Unplanned costs have already led to “sweeping” cuts to training, leading to internal worries about military readiness.

According to Defense Department records, the average price they are paying for fuel per barrel has jumped 27% in six months.

ABC reported on the concerning impacts of the fuel price surge:

That surge could saddle the Pentagon with more than $1 billion in unplanned costs this year to power its jets, tanks and other military equipment, based on the department’s fuel consumption in recent years. The Defense Department purchases some 80 million barrels of fuel annually.

Commanders are also grappling with surging civilian fuel and commercial airfare costs, adding to the financial strain on a military that depends heavily on both. Troops typically use commercial flights and rental cars to travel to different training events, and are often compensated for miles driven in personal vehicles.

On top of travel being more scrutinized, pilots’ hours in flight are being cut to the minimum requirements. The Pentagon often purchases fuel well in advance, but prices can still be changed based on significant market shifts.

“Current energy market dynamics are increasing fuel costs, which can affect the costs of transporting personnel, supplies, and equipment,” Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Orlando Howard said.

The report on surging costs does note that the Marine Corps has not been affected like other branches, though it is a significantly smaller military branch.

The cuts in training are coming in a fiscal year when the Defense Department is already facing a $4-6 billion shortfall, which has been attributed to not just fuel costs, but also “expanding missions on the U.S. southern border, and the National Guard’s ongoing mission in Washington, D.C., which is aimed to double in size to some 5,000 troops for the summer.”

Reductions in training include eliminating dozens of training courses, including some for medical personnel.

According to an internal Army assessment from April, current financial strains could leave thousands of troops set to deploy to Europe with an “insufficient amount of training.”

“The review, which examined the Army’s III Armored Corps – a roughly 70,000-soldier formation headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas – concluded it could take more than a year to restore affected units to their pre-Iran war training levels,” ABC reported.

According to a recent CNBC report, Americans have spent an extra $59 billion on gas, diesel, and jet fuel since the Iran conflict began.

The post Surging Fuel Prices Saddle Pentagon With $1 Billion in Unplanned Costs as Military Makes ‘Sweeping Cuts’ to Keep Up first appeared on Mediaite.

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You need to use a lot of quotation when discussing AI. There's "intelligence," of course, but also "thinking," which these days usually refers to a specific type of model that breaks requests into multiple steps and takes longer to process (or "think through") them. Thinking models are nothing new, but if you use Gemini, you do have new thinking "levels" to choose from when using non-thinking models. Here's how it works.

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When you open Gemini, you'll notice a new "Thinking level" option at the bottom of the model selector in Google's Gemini app for iOS and Android. 9to5Google first spotted the feature rolling out just ahead of Google I/O 2026, but the option should now be available to all Gemini users, per Android Authority. "Thinking level" appears when using either 3.1 Flash-Lite, 3.5 Flash, or 3.1 Pro. Free users will see two options here: "Standard" and "Extended." Google says that Standard is best for most problems, while Extended offers more time for "complex topics." Paid users will notice a third option when using 3.1 Pro, too: "Deep Think." This is Google's existing thinking model for Gemini, and is still locked away behind its AI Ultra subscription.

But even with Deep Think access, this is all good news for free users. If you're using the default "Standard" thinking option, for example, you might not get the answer (or the quality of answer) you're looking for, since the model is designed to produce a response as quickly as possible. Therefore, you may want to dive into the Thinking level menu to switch to Extended: It may take a bit longer than usual, but you may boost your chance of getting the response you're expecting—all without having to pay for Deep Think.

Google AI subscribers get exclusive Gemini features

Paid Gemini users, of course, continue to receive exclusive features for their money. For example, Gemini Omni, Google's new powerful multimodal video model, now powers a new feature that lets paid users generate videos featuring their own likeness. All you need to do is scan your face and say a few words, and Gemini can drop you in a 10-second video of your choosing. It's impressive (and frightening), and, of course, limited only to Google AI subscribers.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz was pressed on why President Donald Trump keeps getting health checkups at Tuesday’s White House press briefing.

During the Q&A portions of the briefing following his opening remarks, The Daily Mail’s Elina Shirazi asked Oz, “This is the fourth checkup that the president has had. He’s supposed to have one a year. He has had several CT heart scans. What are the doctors looking for?”

She went on to ask which of the other substitutes for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt he’s been most impressed by. Oz took the second question first, heaping praise on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Vice President JD Vance.

He proceeded to ask Shirazi to remind him of the first.

“President Trump’s scans and checks — he’s had four already. The president’s supposed to have one a year,” she reiterated.

Oz replied:

So, I actually have talked to the president about what he’s sent to all of you, and I think it’s just a routine, regular exam. You remember I had the president on my show 10 years ago, and he also presented records, and at the time I was stunned at how well he was doing because so many of these numbers naturally over time will start going in the wrong direction. But if you look at these records, they’re spectacular. You know, his cholesterol, his blood pressure, all the numbers are in excellent parameters. His ability — and listen, I work with him frequently, many of you get to see him almost every day — that amount of energy, and that amount of mental acuity does not exist in a vacuum. You have to have a vessel to carry it, and the president has unique abilities just keep going at all hours of the day with remarkable strength.

Watch above via Fox News.

The post ‘He’s Had Four’: Dr. Oz Pressed on Why Trump Keeps Getting Health Checkups first appeared on Mediaite.