War Notes: Always Escalate ⚠️

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NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 p.m. ET show, delivered straight to your inbox.

Alert 🚨: Our friend Jillian Michaels joins us for her first TV interview since being accused of racism by CNN anchor Abby Phillips after Michaels' comments on slavery.

It's not Jillian's only controversy this week.

'The Biggest Loser' 📺: You probably remember the popular reality television series founded in 2004 where obese contestants faced off against one another to see who could lose the most weight.

🏋️ Participants on the series would partake in intense workouts, strict diets and weekly weigh-ins.
- 💵 The contestant who lost the most weight by the end of the season would ultimately win a cash prize and be declared "The Biggest Loser."
Back on the big screen 🎥: Now, two decades after the show's debut, Netflix has released a documentary, "Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser."
- The documentary is supposed to expose the ugly truth behind the popular weight loss series.
- ⚠️ It also makes some explosive claims against the original production, including allegations of banned caffeine pills and calorie restrictions from one of their star trainers, Jillian Michaels.
  - 📱 Michaels pushed back against the documentary's allegations and provided screenshots on her social media to dispute the claims she provided banned pills to contestants.
Watch tonight 📺: Jillian Michaels joins the program to set the record straight on what really happened while filming "The Biggest Loser."

New Cracker Barrel 🍽️: Evidently, DEI isn't quite dead – just look at the new Cracker Barrel logo.

Best tweet: Sydney Sweeney in jeans as the old logo.
Money talks 💰: The company's stock tanked after the news.
- "Cracker Barrel loses almost $100 million in value as stock plunges after new logo release," headlines CBS News.
- Thought bubble 💭: What CEO changes things when they are working?!

Hitting the Streets 🚔

🚔 President Trump joined federal law enforcement earlier tonight on the streets of Washington, D.C.

Look back ⏪: Remember Trump's walkthrough of Lafayette Park after the Black Lives Matter riots of Memorial Day weekend in May of 2020.
🎤 "I'm going to be going out tonight, I think, with the police and with the military, of course. So we're going to do a job," Trump told radio host Todd Starnes.
🚔 Just yesterday, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took an unannounced trip to D.C.'s Union Station, where they spoke with National Guard troops.
- Note 📝: The administration's public appearances are not meant for the people of D.C., who are overwhelmingly against the federalization of the district's law enforcement.
  - ✅ Rather, Trump is sending a message that he is strong on crime to the rest of the nation.
Few things show the hatred of Donald Trump more than nearly 80% of D.C. being against his crime crackdown.
- This goes to show that Democrats keep on trying to fight Trump, even when he does something beneficial for them – keep reading for more.
AND 🥊: Trump loves the fight.
- Democrats reflexively take the unpopular side of common-sense issues just because Trump is for common sense.

Attacking Trump 🥊

Breaking 🚨: President Donald Trump just got another major win:

📰 "NY appeals court throws out $500M penalty against Trump in Letitia James civil case," headlines Fox News.
- ✍️ "An appellate court has thrown out the $500 million civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump in the high-profile case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The New York Appellate Division overturned the penalty, ruling the disgorgement was an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment. … The ruling leaves liability intact but eliminates the massive financial penalty of $364 million plus interest, which rises to around $500 million."
  - Reality check ✅: A first-year law student could have told you that this was going to happen.
📝 In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump took aim at Letitia James and name-dropped judges of two additional cases that he calls corrupt.
- ✍️ "TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case! I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision that was hurting Business all throughout New York State," the president wrote.
- Trump also posted an image of himself in the New York courtroom during the trial with the song "All I Do Is Win" playing over it.
Appeal 🏛️: Letitia James also reacted to the decision in a statement, saying that her office will appeal:
- 📝 "The court upheld the injunctive relief we won, limiting Donald Trump and the Trump Organization officers' ability to do business in New York. It should not be lost to history: yet another court has ruled that the president violated the law, and that our case has merit. We will seek appeal to the Court of Appeals and continue to protect the rights and interests of New Yorkers."
Thought bubble 💭: Really – James hasn't lost enough?!

Zoom out ❌: This is further proof that Democrats' current strategy of attacking Trump – at all levels, all of the time – is a losing proposition.

⏪ Just like we told you last night about Newsom fighting Trump, it's not going to work.
🗳️ If the 2024 election showed us anything, it's that you can't defeat Trump using lawfare.
- Say cheese 📸: A picture of Trump's mugshot now hangs outside the Oval Office.
🤷‍♂️ Maybe Democrats should try to win an election based on policy, for a change.
- Look back 👀: Every time a campaign has been centered around fighting Trump, they have lost.
  - ⚖️ Every time a legal battle is brought against Trump, it backfires on the Democrats and rallies Trump's base.
- Follow the money 💰: Democrats should be talking to average Americans about how they are going to improve the economy – not about how bad Donald Trump is.

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"Interesting Times Ahead" 💣🤝

Sending a message 💣: "Russian missiles hit US-owned factory in Ukraine days after Trump-led peace talks," The New York Post reports.

Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, condemned the attacks in a statement on X:
- 📝 "One of the missiles struck a major American electronics manufacturer in our westernmost region, leading to serious damage and casualties. A fully civilian facility that has nothing to do with defense or the military."
Following Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine, including the above, Trump encouraged Ukraine to fight back:
- 📝 "It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country. It's like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia," the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.
But 🤔: Trump continued his post without mentioning the status of peace talks or sanctions:
- 📝 "Regardless, this is a war that would have NEVER happened if I were President - ZERO CHANCE. Interesting times ahead!!!"
Zoom out 🚨: There's a growing demand for Trump to show Putin that he is serious in his threats.
- Look back ⏪: Trump promised that Russia would face severe economic sanctions if it did not reach a peace deal by August 15.
- 🤝 On August 15, Trump and Putin met in Alaska and walked away without any solid plans for an end to the war.
- ❌ But no sanctions were imposed upon Russia.
Watch tonight 📺: Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor and Joel Rubin on where peace talks stand between America, Russia and Ukraine.
- We'll ask: What does "interesting times ahead" mean?
  - ❓ How long does President Trump have to broker a peace deal?