Welcome to the Beat. I'm Ari Melbert. We are following major developments tonight,

including some good news for American consumers. Democratic attorneys generals have won this key

antitrust case against monopoly markets today. It is the Ticketmaster Live Nation controversy

that's actually been going for many years. New York Attorney General, Letitia James,

is a key leader in this effort. And we have the exclusive interview on the night of this victory of hers. And that's coming up. So we're excited to talk to her. We're also, of course, going to have to ask and learn about her views on clashing with the Trump DOJ on several matters. So that's one of those interviews that, well, I personally think it's interesting. I think it's legally important, but I invite you to stick around for it. As for our top story now, we begin with

Trump's cascading problems from the war to a growing MAGA backlash. Americans are shouldering

the financial fallout in what is Trump's war of choice. He's floated differing, sometimes

obviously contradictory estimates for when the Iran

war may end, as well as what defines victory. He's said four to five weeks. He said as long as

necessary. Now he's saying it can end very soon. So if you look at this list, you don't have to

memorize it all. It's just obviously all over the place.

Four to five weeks was a kind of opening salvo. Perhaps he thought it sounded tough on Iran. Now he's saying very soon, suggesting he wants out.

Cost is massive. $740 annually for households paying gas alone, more for people with jobs and lives that involve,

of course, extra driving. A lot of parts of the country, people drive more than the average.

And they have to. Trump is also raising future debt and taxes with war spending. The war is costing

billions. Every week, we have a record-breaking Pentagon budget proposal from this administration,

of course, relating to war spending. Now, facing those kind of costs, House Republicans have vowed

lower gas prices soon. And when you're a politician, you are allowed to say things that might

sound unlikely. Gas prices are up, not down. And if we ended the entire war today, we'd still have a lot of

new problems that we didn't have economically before the war began. But you're allowed as a

Republican to go around and say, hey, that's what you hope, that's your plan. They've been saying

that it'll be down by the midterms. It's a message that Trump can't even stick to, though.

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