In the hours before a wildfire engulfed the town of Lahaina, Maui County officials failed to activate sirens that would have warned the entire population of the approaching flames and instead relied on a series of sometimes confusing social media posts that reached a much smaller audience

Former President Donald Trump made his first live CNN appearance since 2016 on Wednesday as he sat down with the network’s Kaitlan Collins in the early GOP primary state of New Hampshire. What transpired over the nearly 90-minute broadcast was almost nostalgia-evoking as Collins was largely unable to make fact checks of the former president stick amid a seemingly unending cascade of lies put forward by an unrepentant Mr Trump. Let’s take a look at exactly why Wednesday’s return to mainstream cable news by the former president was so significant, and why CNN was facing ridicule on all sides before the evening ended: Trump steamrolls Collins Kaitlan Collins made a serious attempt to make sure that the truth got as much airtime as Donald Trump’s falsehoods during her moderation of the event on Wednesday, but sometimes a serious attempt still falls flat. That’s what happens when a journalist is set up to fail by their network; Collins, battling a raucous crowd that appeared to be almost exclusively in the former president’s corner, was often overshadowed by cheers and jeers as she attempted to shoehorn in last-second corrections after Mr Trump’s various spiels. She also found herself with no backup from the control room or CNN’s production team in general, who left her without any way to pull up examples of factual information, statements by Trump appointees, and other useful bits of media that would have greatly aided her fact-checking endeavors. As a result, the town hall at many times resembled the first Joe Biden-Donald Trump debate of the 2020 cycle, when moderators were sharply criticised for allowing Mr Trump to constantly talk over his opponent. By the end, the CNN host had been labeled a “nasty person” by Mr Trump on her own network while his supporters roared their approval. The production was roundly criticised by other journalists and by Democrats especially as the interview continued, with Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling the programme “irresponsible”. Trump steamrolls the truth, too There seemed to be no end to the whitewashing which Mr Trump engaged in Wednesday evening. He called the deadly January 6 attack a “beautiful day”, his supporters supposedly throwing themselves against police barricades and shields with “love” in their hearts. He repeated his long-debunked conspiracies about 2020, despite Collins’s reminder that he had failed to prove any of his claims in court (no mention by the CNN host that Mr Trump’s own lawyer had admitted to not having any evidence). He even lied about supposedly issuing an order to deploy thousands of troops on January 6, an order his own defence chief later testified never came. E Jean Carroll faces furious attacks and an accusation of racism from Trump The former president made no secret of his displeasure regarding a New York jury’s decision this week to find him liable for sexual abuse in the case brought by author E Jean Carroll. He repeatedly denounced her as someone he had supposedly never met, while accusing her of calling her own husband a word with racist connotations. Little of this was “fact-checked” by CNN; Collins instead asked him if he regretted not testifying in the trial himself. Mr Trump described Ms Carroll’s lawsuit as “election interference” — despite the election being more than a year away. The Access Hollywood tape returns In easily the most surreal moment of the night, Mr Trump gave perhaps his longest philosophical defence yet of his infamous “grab ‘em by the p****” comment. That remark, which surfaced in the fall of 2016 just weeks before voters elected him to the White House for four years, was made during a conversation on the set of an Access Hollywood taping. It would go on to haunt Mr Trump long afterwards. But on Wednesday, Mr Trump went into excruciating detail about that comment: He wasn’t talking about his own personal behaviour, he claimed, nor was he talking (supposedly) about non-consensual encounters. Instead, the former US president argued, he was merely making an observation about the power of money and how rich men use it to attract women, albeit in the crudest possible manner. Whether that explanation was believable is another story entirely, but it was nonetheless remarkable to hear out loud. Trump cheers default as debt ceiling deadline looms The ex-president gave a hefty piece of ammunition to his furthest-right allies in the US House of Representatives as he talked about the economy on Wednesday. Asked by Collins about the GOP’s debt ceiling negotiation strategy on Capitol Hill, Mr Trump responded that Republicans may need to force the US to default on its loan obligations in order to rein in spending. And he made the bizarre prediction that such a decision may not have real negative effects, calling the possible economic catastrophe nothing but “psychological” problems. "We have to start paying off debt ... I say to the Republicans out there — congressmen, senators — if they don’t give you massive cuts, you’re going to have to do a default, and I don’t believe they’re going to do a default because I think the Democrats will absolutely cave because you don’t want to have that happen, but it’s better than what we’re doing right now because we’re spending money like drunken sailors,” he told CNN. Expect Republicans to hunker down and be more willing to risk passing the 1 June deadline after which the federal government may be unable to pay obligations to its creditors with the former president’s encouragement, knowing that their party enjoys only a slim majority in the House. Read More Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement Trump snaps and calls Kaitlan Collins ‘nasty’ in tense exchange at CNN town hall LOCALIZE IT: Migrants adapt to shift in border enforcement AOC blasts CNN’s Trump town hall as she brands it ‘shameful’

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Russia has admitted to losing occupied territory on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river in a significant victory for Ukraine, but has warned “a fiery hell” awaited Kyiv’s troops. War-time president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff had earlier said Kyiv had “gained a foothold” in the Kherson region “against all odds”, in a fresh blow to Vladimir Putin’s troops, who have been facing a gradual counteroffensive since the spring. A Ukrainian breakthrough across the Dnipro could open up a new line to attack Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Ukraine’s forces have crossed the river, said Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of Kherson under Moscow’s control. He, however, said Ukrainian troops were taking heavy losses as more of Mr Putin’s soldiers were being poured into the battlefield to stop Kyiv’s advance. Mr Saldo said Ukrainian forces were seen operating in small groups spread over a distance of around 20km, covering an area from a railway bridge to the village of Krynky. “Our additional forces have now been brought in,” he said. “The enemy is trapped in Krynky and a fiery hell has been arranged for him: bombs, rockets, heavy flamethrower systems, artillery shells and drones.” Mr Saldo, citing Russia’s “Dnepr” military grouping, said Ukrainian troops were pinned down in basements during the day. Kyiv said its troops were moving forward to push Russian forces back from the eastern bank of the river. The frontline is “fairly fluid”, said Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern military command. She said Kyiv’s forces had been putting pressure on Russian troops. “The pushback from our side is taking place on a line from 3-8km along the entire bank from the water’s edge,” she said. “For now, we will ask for informational silence ... which would allow us to report later on great successes.” Both the accounts could not be immediately verified. Kyiv has frequently resorted to informational clampdown on its military moves along the 1,000km long frontline and asked spectators to await news of breakthroughs. Kyiv’s counteroffensive that was launched months ago has yielded incremental results. Moscow has maintained a consistent silence on the number of casualties its troops have faced during the war. The growing area of contested control on the eastern bank of the Dnipro “significantly reduces the mobility and capability of the Russian occupiers”, military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko said. Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak had, in remarks published on Tuesday, said Kyiv’s counteroffensive was “developing”. He also said Ukraine knew “how to achieve victory”. In the eastern theatre of the war, Ukrainian officials said the city of Avdiivka was “being wiped out” because of a month of continuous Russian bombardment. The pre-war population there of 32,000 people has come down to fewer than 1,500 residents. The Institute for the Study of War cited Russian sources on unconfirmed claims that Russian forces continued advancing around Avdiivka on Wednesday. “A Russian milblogger claimed that Russian forces pushed Ukrainian forces from their positions near the waste heap north of Avdiivka and that Russian forces seized at least 60 per cent of the industrial area south of Avdiivka,” said the US-based think-tank that is monitoring the war. It cited a Russian source as saying that the Ukrainian forces counterattacked in the Avdiivka direction on Wednesday, but did not advance. Read More Major breakthrough for Ukraine but troops face ‘hell fire’ - latest updates U.N. Security Council schedules a vote on a resolution urging humanitarian pauses, corridors in Gaza EU moves closer to imposing a new set of sanctions on Russia for its war on Ukraine Ukraine troops pressuring Putin’s forces along Dnipro River NATO to buy more ‘eyes in the sky’ planes to monitor Putin’s war on Ukraine Bombs and betrayal: Plight of one Ukraine village highlights toll of Russian invasion

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