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I'm Naila Boodoo. It's the 1A Friday News Roundup. This week, U.S. inflation hit a new three-year high.

The consumer price index jumped 4.2 percent in May compared to a year earlier. When a reporter asked him about the latest report, President Trump had this to say.

I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation.

A striking reply, even from a president who has made it clear before that the economic pain caused by the war in Iran isn't his top priority. Trump later told the New York Post that he meant to convey he was glad

inflation wasn't even higher. But the price pains fueled by the war becoming impossible to brush off

for many Americans and lawmakers. We're going to talk about it. Plus, primaries in four states are

giving a clearer picture of what's ahead for the midterms, including just how far Democrats will go to defend a candidate plagued by scandal. And we'll, of course, save a moment to talk about a remarkable night of sports this week. We'll get to all of that with our expert panel. Joining me in studio, Megan Scully, Congress editor at Bloomberg News. Welcome back, Megan. Thanks for having me. Neftali, Ben David, politics and government editor at the Washington Post. Hi, Neftali. Good to be here. And David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief for the Guardian. Hi, David. Hi, great to be here. Let's begin with that May inflation report. David, can you break down the numbers for us? Well, yeah, this is inflation now at an annual rate of 4.2%, which is the highest we have seen for three years.

It was rising from 2.4% a year ago.

I think importantly, it's also outpacing wage growth for the second month in a row. The average

weekly earnings, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, decreased 0.2% last month and 0.7%

from a year ago. And this is very damaging, I think, to the Trump political brand. You know, he campaigned on bringing down prices.

That was crucial to many voters.

And again, we're seeing that disparity between what he would say is an incredibly successful stock market, breaking records all the time.

Other indicators that actually show a strong economy, but in people's daily lives,

they're not feeling it precisely because of these inflation and wage numbers and certainly

rubbed salt in the wound when they hear Trump in the Oval Office saying, you know, I love the

inflation. Especially at the pump, Megan, can I just ask about gas prices, which have been a key indicator of how the Iran war is directly impacting Americans' wallets? Where do gas prices stand in the CPI? Like, how does that factor in?

So the gas prices are essentially what's driving the CPI growth, gas and other energy costs.

You know, gas prices are down or we're down this week to $4.15 a gallon, which is lower than it was over $450 a month ago.

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