Trump signals possible strike on Iran nuclear site; Pentagon reveals soaring war cost

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Unbiased updates off script coming this week at Straight Arrow. The price of war just jumped again

The Pentagon's new multi-billion dollar estimate and the senator accusing the defense secretary of gross negligence

Your fallback to the Biden administration is just a very, very obvious excuse

Plus, a Florida congressman facing new legal scrutiny, the reports of a Justice Department investigation, and how Corey Mills is responding

And thousands of non-citizens mistakenly registered to vote. The software error behind it and the governor taking responsibility

The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world

These are your Unbiased Updates from Straight Arrow. Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli

This morning, the war is spreading. Iran's military says it launched a new wave of drone attacks into Kuwait

expanding the conflict beyond Iran's borders. The attacks came after the 11th consecutive night of U.S. airstrikes inside Iran

targeting aircraft hangars, drone storage sites, and military logistics infrastructure. The latest barrage follows President Trump's warning that the campaign would intensify

He also threatened to strike Iran's heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility

It doesn't mean anything unless they have the material. We follow the material, that's where the action is

We'll be hitting that area probably pretty soon, and there's not a thing they can do about it

Normally I wouldn't say that. If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that

But we'll be hitting that area pretty soon and very heavily. The strikes came as Iran's interior minister, a key figure in talks with the U.S., visited Pakistan

which has been trying to broker a new ceasefire between Washington and Tehran

But Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran's demand to control the Strait of Hormuz

and charge tolls for shipping shows Tehran is not serious about reaching a peace agreement

We are open-minded and always willing to engage in negotiated settlements of differences

and that remains true in the case of Iran. Unfortunately as of now despite their direct outreaches and Iran has been reaching out to the United States both directly and indirectly to engage in talks about settling the differences with regards to what happening in that part of the world

Unfortunately, so far, even though we have reached agreements, they have not kept their commitments

The problem we're having right now is that they're not serious about talks. If they're serious, we're serious

If they're not, then we will do what is necessary to protect that, our interests and also the interests of our allies

Speaking at the Asian conference in the Philippines, Rubio said Iranian control of the strait would threaten the global economy and undermine freedom of navigation across one of the world's most important shipping routes

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has identified the third service member believed to have been killed in last week's Iranian attack on a U.S. airbase in Jordan as 28-year-old Army Sergeant Angel Rampersad

Later today, Trump will attend the dignified transfer of four U.S. service members killed in recent fighting

including two soldiers who were killed in that attack. In a related topic, the price tag for the war in Iran just got a lot bigger

Defense Secretary Pete Hagseth told Senators Tuesday the conflict has now cost an estimated $37.5 billion

up roughly $12 billion from the Pentagon's last public estimate just a few months ago

Lawmakers wanted to know whether that number is likely to keep climbing, especially as fighting between the U.S. and Iran continues

Do you have a new estimate about what the war has cost us so far in this

the fifth month of the first year of this war in Iran? Senator, the estimate we have as of today is $37.5 billion

And is the current activity, which we have been told about, the exchange of fire back and forth in Iran

an indication that that number is going to go up in the months ahead? Some of that number captures additional O&M, mill pay, and other that would be anticipated

through the fiscal year. So some of that anticipates what costs would be going out in

the future as well. So the new number you've given me is what? $37.5 billion. And that represents the cost of the war through what period of time

Through now for certain aspects of it, but also mill pay, O&M, other anticipated costs through

September 30th. The hearing at times turned tense when Hegseth blamed the Biden administration for

the Pentagon's growing funding request. Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed fired back. We had U.S

boats that surrendered to Iranian ships under the Biden administration. So their Navy was effective

in expeditial ways in the past. We're talking about a war you started, not a situation in which

Oil was flowing freely. There was no conflict. We weren't losing personnel as a result of Iranian

actions. So your fallback to the Biden administration is just a very, very obvious

excuse for what I think is probably as you described so often gross negligence Hegseth was interrupted multiple times by anti protesters The supplemental funding request is not a substitute

Earlier in the day, Hegseth appeared alongside President Trump in the Oval Office

where the president dismissed the idea of direct talks with Tehran for now

I will tell you, they want to desperately meet, and until they're ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in even

The administration is also asking Congress to approve roughly $70 billion in additional emergency military funding

saying the money is needed to sustain operations, replenish weapons, and prepare for what could become a much longer conflict

To politics now, Trump-backed Congressman Andy Biggs has captured the Republican nomination for Arizona governor

A staunch Trump ally, Biggs refused to certify the 2020 presidential election and echoed the president's false claims that the election was stolen

Biggs will face Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs in November in what is expected to be one of the country's most closely watched midterm races

Meanwhile, Republican State Representative Alexander Colliden has won the GOP nomination for Secretary of State, the office that oversees Arizona's elections

He will face Democratic incumbent Adrian Fontes in November. Colliden has repeatedly questioned past election results and helped lead legal challenges seeking to overturn Arizona's 2020 and 2022 elections

Republican State Senate President Warren Peterson also won his party's nomination for attorney general

He will face Democratic incumbent Chris Mays, who won the office four years ago by just 280 votes out of more than two and a half million cast

And this story is getting a lot of attention. A software error and thousands of people who should not have been on New Jersey's voter rolls

State officials say more than 6,600 non-citizens were mistakenly registered to vote in 2023 and 2024 because of an error in the state's motor vehicle system

even after they identified themselves as non-citizens while applying for driver's licenses or state IDs

A preliminary review found that fewer than 400 of them actually cast ballots

New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill says those registrations are now being removed

the software vendor replaced, and an investigation is underway. In a statement, Sherrill said

I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time

This failure didn't occur under my watch, but accountability starts now. I am taking action to prevent anything like it from occurring in the future

The revelation comes just days after President Trump renewed his claims that non voting is a widespread problem in American elections Sherrill says there is no evidence any election outcome was affected and says the people who were mistakenly registered did nothing wrong

The Justice Department is reportedly now investigating and battled Florida Congressman Corey Mills

According to reports from NBC News and MS Now, Mills is the subject of a criminal investigation

Sources tell NBC News investigators are examining Mills' money, including alleged overseas business dealings. Meanwhile, one source told MSNOW that the FBI

contacted at least one person last year about Mills' finances, allegations of misconduct

and people in his orbit. Mills, who is running for re-election, is already under investigation

by the House Ethics Committee over allegations that he violated campaign finance laws

misused congressional resources, and engaged in sexual misconduct. He has denied any wrongdoing

In a social media post, Mills dismissed the reports as fake news and a witch hunt, writing, quote

even the DOJ has not confirmed or made any official statement of such an investigation existing

The Republican lawmaker is running for a third term this November in Florida's 7th district

Finally this morning, talk about tedious work. In Poland, volunteers are carefully chipping away at the fossil of what might be one of the largest amphibians ever to roam the Earth

The Mastodontosaurus lived about 240 million years ago, around the time the earliest dinosaurs were just beginning to appear

Paleontologists say it had a flat, crocodile-like head, long jaws filled with sharp teeth, and grew to about 20 feet long

It spent most of its time hunting fish and smaller amphibians underwater

Two researchers with the Polish Academy of Sciences discovered the skeleton in 2023

and they say there's no other mastodontosaurus specimen of this size anywhere in the world

Now, about 2,000 volunteers are helping clean and reassemble the massive fossil

at a science lab in Warsaw, where visitors can watch the work up close

Volunteers spend about two hours at a time on the delicate project

When it's finished, the restored skeleton will weigh just under 3,000 pounds

and go on display this October or November. Boy, what a spectacle that will be, right

All right, no noise, no signs. Unbiased updates gives you the facts straight

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So join us tomorrow afternoon only at san.com or on the app

Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Wednesday. We'll see you back here tomorrow. For all of us here at Straight Arrow, I'm Craig DeGrelli

Have a great day