Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper sharply rebuked Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton during a tense House Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday after the Massachusetts Democrat questioned "how many more Americans" would die because of what he called a failed Iran strategy.

"It doesn't seem to be going well," Moulton, D-Mass., said of the Iran war. "And I would like to know how many more Americans we have to ask to die for this mistake."

"I think it’s an entirely inappropriate statement from you, sir," Cooper responded.

Moulton shot back: "It’s not a statement, it’s a question."

TRUMP’S IRAN STRATEGY SHOWCASES ‘DOCTRINE OF UNPREDICTABILITY’ AMID STRIKE THREATS AND SUDDEN PAUSE

Fourteen U.S. service members have died in combat since the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28. 

Moulton, a Marine Corps Iraq War veteran and frequent critic of the Trump administration’s Iran strategy, pressed Cooper repeatedly on what he described as the widening consequences of the conflict, including instability in the Strait of Hormuz, rising oil prices and reports that Iran had rebuilt parts of its missile infrastructure.

Cooper pushed back on several of the claims, calling reports that Iran had reconstituted key missile sites "inaccurate" and repeatedly emphasizing that U.S. forces had achieved their assigned military objectives.

The hearing came just after Trump said he directed the military to pause planned operations against Iran for Tuesday at the request of Gulf allies who wanted negotiations with Tehran to continue. The U.S. has been adhering to a ceasefire since April 7. 

Gulf leaders asked Trump to pause strikes because "serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond," he wrote on Truth Social Monday. 

"This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!" he said.

DEMS SIDESTEP PAST ‘REFUSE ILLEGAL ORDERS’ DEMANDS AS THEY CHALLENGE TRUMP’S IRAN WAR AUTHORITY

The confrontation capped hours of contentious exchanges in which Democrats repeatedly pressed Cooper and Pentagon officials on whether the administration had a viable strategy beyond military strikes, whether ongoing operations complied with the War Powers Resolution and whether the conflict was making the United States less secure despite major battlefield gains against Iran.

Democrats also repeatedly challenged the administration over whether ongoing operations complied with the War Powers Resolution, arguing the continued blockade of Iranian ports and military exchanges in the Strait of Hormuz amounted to active hostilities.

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., pressed Cooper over continued military operations in the region, noting U.S. forces had fired on Iranian tankers and exchanged fire with Iranian forces even after the administration notified Congress that hostilities had ended.

"The fact of the matter is that hostilities continue," Garamendi said, accusing the administration of disregarding Congress and the Constitution.

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., similarly argued that the blockade itself constituted "an act of war," while several Democrats questioned whether the administration planned to seek congressional authorization for any future escalation.

Republicans on the panel, meanwhile, defended the campaign as a historic military success that dramatically weakened Iran’s ability to threaten the United States and its allies. 

Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., said U.S. operations had "rolled back 40 years of Iranian military investment" and argued the campaign had made both the United States and its allies safer.

Cooper later testified that Iran was "significantly less capable" than before the strikes and said U.S. military action had "derailed Iran’s strategy" across its nuclear, missile and proxy networks.

It was a crumby thing to do.

The owners of a popular cupcake shop in Washington's upscale Georgetown neighborhood are asking for the public's help identifying a man seen on surveillance video smashing their front window with a beer keg.

It happened around 11 p.m. Sunday at Georgetown Cupcake, located at the intersection of 33rd and M streets just a few blocks from the Potomac River.

The owners, Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Berman, are sisters and the stars of Discovery's "DC Cupcakes," which aired from 2010 to 2013 and highlighted how they quit their respective jobs in finance and fashion to open the business.

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For years, they also streamed footage from the shop around the clock.

Now, they're hoping someone recognizes the vandal from surveillance video so he can have his just desserts.

"Employees were on-site and could have been seriously injured," the shop owners wrote on X in a post that included surveillance video from inside and outside.

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It shows a man in a green T-shirt and tan pants walking up the sidewalk with a keg.

WATCH: Video shows man throwing beer keg through popular DC bakery window

He stops in front of the store, struggles to lift it over his head and then hurls it through the window.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact Metro police at 202-730-1903.

The incident comes amid an outbreak of youth crime that led U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to pledge to crack down on their parents. On Saturday, a mob of teens kicked off a brawl at a Chipotle restaurant in the city's Navy Yard neighborhood, throwing chairs, tables and punches.

The vandalism occurred about a half mile from where U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire on a group of carjackers near the home of former President Joe Biden's granddaughter in 2023.

People who regularly visit museums or participate in creative activities may be aging more slowly on a biological level, according to a new study from the United Kingdom.

Researchers from University College London analyzed data from more than 3,500 adults and found that people who frequently engaged in arts and cultural activities showed signs of slower biological aging in several DNA-based measurements.

The findings were published in the journal Innovation in Aging.

CREATIVE HOBBIES KEEP THE BRAIN YOUNG, STUDY FINDS — HERE ARE THE BEST ONES TO PURSUE

The study examined activities including painting, photography, dancing, singing, visiting museums and attending cultural events or historic sites.

Researchers compared participation in those activities with "epigenetic clocks," scientific tools that examine chemical changes in DNA over time.

Adults who participated more often, and in a wider variety of activities, tended to show slower aging scores compared to people who rarely engaged in arts or cultural experiences.

ANTI-AGING BENEFITS LINKED TO ONE SURPRISING HEALTH HABIT

The association appeared even stronger among adults over age 40.

Researchers also noted that the effect sizes were comparable to those linked to physical activity, one of the most widely studied behaviors associated with healthy aging.

Jessica Mack, a health and wellness expert and founder of The Functional Consulting Group who was not involved in the study, said the findings reflect a growing understanding that health is influenced by more than exercise and nutrition alone.

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"Arts and cultural engagement may be associated with slower epigenetic aging, with effects comparable in some measures to physical activity," Mack told Fox News Digital.

She said activities such as visiting museums and engaging with music or art may help reduce stress, improve emotional regulation and increase social connection.

"These are not ‘extra’ lifestyle activities," Mack said. "They may be deeply connected to how the body manages inflammation, stress hormones, mood and overall resilience."

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Mack added that people experiencing stress, social isolation, retirement or caregiving responsibilities may especially benefit from meaningful cultural engagement.

Experts cautioned, however, that the study does not prove arts engagement directly slows aging.

"This is an observational study, not an experiment," Professor Steve Horvath of UCLA, a longevity researcher and pioneer in epigenetic aging research who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.

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"So when researchers find that the people who go to museums have younger epigenetic age, we cannot tell whether the museum visits slowed their aging, or whether their slower aging is what allowed them to keep visiting museums," he said.

Horvath said both explanations may be true to some degree, though he described the research as "methodologically careful" and worthy of further study.

The findings remained consistent even after accounting for factors such as smoking, income, body weight and other lifestyle habits.

He added that regardless of whether arts engagement is directly slowing biological aging, staying socially and mentally active is still associated with healthier aging overall.

"The prescription is the same," he said. "Keep going."

There’s been a lot of talk about the pin locations at this year’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club. The windy conditions have made the course difficult enough. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler called Friday's pin locations for round 2, "kind of absurd" and "the hardest set of pin locations that I've seen since I've been on Tour."

It seems the greenskeepers and superintendent pulled a Michael Jordan and took those comments personally. Today’s pin locations are some of the most difficult, diabolical, insane, and any synonym of the word crazy you can think of. 

The PGA Championship’s official X account shared the pin location for Saturday’s round 3 and they are wild. Just take a look at holes 8 and 12. What a nightmare.

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ESPN, one of the broadcast partners of the PGA Championship and before Saturday’s round, and Ken Brown walked the audience through the difficulty of the 8th green. "It’s a huge green. It’s like Wrigley Field, but they missed most of it," Brown explained while walking the green and showcasing with small cones the minuscule circumference of the flat area around the hole. "I do not know how you can get close to [the hole]."

Brown went on to say that the surface area that players would be expected to hit without the ball rolling off is equivalent to a "postage stamp" comparing it to the 15th hole at Augusta National Golf Club where The Masters is held every year. 

And in an unsurprising move, Rory McIlroy, who seems to love to complain any chance he can get, seemingly threw the groundskeepers under the bus after round 2 claiming, "I think a bunched leaderboard like this, I think it's a sign of a not-great setup."

No matter what the players think of the pin locations and overall course setup, these guys will need a little bit of good luck the rest of the way, because I don’t think the constant complaining and shade thrown will make the setup crew want to make things easier on them.

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Best of luck, fellas. You’re gonna need it.

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As Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James' NBA future hangs in the balance, the "greatest of all time" debate has continued to rage on across all parts of the internet and beyond.

Some are questioning whether LeBron really is the GOAT, while others (such as myself and a few Basketball Hall of Famers) seem to think the crown has already been transferred to San Antonio Spurs freakshow Victor Wembanyama.

One man who is often at the center of these debates is none other than FS1's Nick Wright.

Wright has been a champion of LeBron's accomplishments for quite some time, declaring James the GOAT over Michael Jordan nearly a decade earlier, after the former's improbable Finals win over the Golden State Warriors.

While the argument has usually been a two-horse race between LeBron and MJ, some fans have opined that former Lakers legend Kobe Bryant deserves a seat at the table, a premise that Wright roundly rejected in a clip from his show, "What's Wright? with Nick Wright."

"From '99-2002, Shaquille O'Neal was the best player in the world. From 2003-2007, Tim Duncan... he was the best player," Wright claims.

He goes on to say that LeBron James became the best player the minute he dropped 48 points in his double overtime win against Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2007, and stayed there until 2018, when Giannis Antetokounmpo rounded into form.

ESPN'S STEPHEN A SMITH LEVELS UP LEBRON JAMES FEUD; PUNDIT TALKS KOBE BRYANT, DWYANE WADE HOF CEREMONY

The shocker was who he left off that list of players.

"Kobe's the eighth greatest player and he was never the best player in the world."

Listen, I like Nick Wright and I think he has had a ton of good takes in the past, but I have to push back a little on this narrative I see LeBron fans go with when discussing his GOAT status.

LEBRON JAMES' LAKERS TEAMMATES WEIGH IN ON GOAT DEBATE

No, Kobe isn't the GOAT, and I don't think anyone outside of the most hardcore Lakers fans would even make that claim.

He is, essentially, a watered-down version of Michael Jordan.

I don't want that to sound like a pejorative, and he's still one of the best players of all time, but everything he was great at, MJ did before him and better.

With all that being said, this idea that Kobe Bryant was NEVER the best basketball player in the league is dumb.

Even before Shaq was sent packing from Tinseltown, there was an argument that Kobe was starting to become the dominant alpha on the team.

That became even more evident when the Lakers' front office chose Kobe over Shaq in the duo's now infamous split.

Saying that Tim Duncan was the best player in the world from 2003-2007 is insanely clouded by hindsight bias.

Duncan is a legend and probably the best forward of his era (though an argument could easily be made for Kevin Garnett), but Kobe was the guy in the NBA for nearly a decade.

No one was saying Tim Duncan was the best player in the NBA during that time frame, and although he had plenty of accomplishments to his name, including the three championships and two MVPs that Wright mentioned, he didn't even come close to Kobe's impact, star power or individual talents.

MICHAEL JORDAN'S AGENT ACCUSES LEBRON JAMES OF CHERRY-PICKING TEAMS TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS

A lot of what Duncan accomplished can be tied to team success.

While the Spurs had a great supporting cast around Duncan, Kobe was left with scraps after Shaq was dealt to Miami.

And if LeBron became the GOAT in 2007 after his 48-point performance against the Pistons (a year in which the Spurs won the title again), why wasn't Kobe considered the best player in the league after winning back-to-back scoring titles in 2005 and 2006 and winning MVP in 2008?

Kobe had 81 points in a game against Toronto, surely that qualifies him for "best in the world" consideration, right?

Is it the personal accolades of LeBron in his early years in Cleveland or the team championship success of Duncan in the mid-2000s?

Because Kobe Bryant had both during the decade.

LEBRON JAMES REVEALS TRUE FEELINGS ON RING CULTURE IN NBA, HOW IT AFFECTS ALL-TIME RANKINGS

I'm not picking on Wright either, because as I alluded to before, he's not the first person that has made this argument.

This weird erasure of Kobe Bryant's time as the best basketball player on the planet is kind of odd.

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Even if you go back and watch broadcasts of Kobe during the playoffs in the mid-to-late 2000s, you'll hear announcers talk about how Kobe is "the best in the game right now."

Players from that era almost unanimously agree, too.

Is Kobe a threat to LeBron or Jordan as the greatest basketball player who ever lived? No, I don't think so.

But saying he wasn't, at one point, the best player in the NBA just feels like revisionist history.

The feud between Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) star A.J. Francis and KC Navarro will come to a head on Thursday night as the two will compete in a SacTown Street Fight in Sacramento, California, at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.

Navarro returned from an injury to help Nic Nemeth defeat Francis at Rebellion. And since then, the two had been at each other’s throats. Navarro pinned Francis three weeks ago in his first match since July 2025. Ahead of the two-day "Thursday night Impact" special on AMC, Francis spoke to Fox News Digital about his fight with Navarro and made a blunt prediction.

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"If it wasn’t for me, KC wouldn’t be in these opportunities," Francis said. "I saw him on his little interviews, KC came out and said that he took the hard bumps from me and he did all these things for me … The only thing KC did for me was be a shadow. KC learned a lot from me. KC is in this position because of me. KC was just another guy in the back they had nothing for until I needed somebody to stand next to me.

"I’m happy KC is finally getting an opportunity to show what he can bring to the table. But unfortunately for him, he’s doing it against me. And I’m going to beat him within an inch of his life. Anytime you give me an opportunity to prove that I’m exactly who I say I am in a big match I always show up. I always deliver. It’s going to be crazy. I’m going to put KC out of his misery. When I’m done with him, he might try to dye his hair green or orange or something else just to wash the stench of that pink off of him."

Navarro cut an impassioned promo last week on "Impact," saying Francis took advantage of him. He also said that he vowed to his "sick" uncle that he would return to the ring sooner than later after he suffered a torn ACL.

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But Francis was having none of that.

"You know what’s crazy? All these wrestlers come up with all these excuses for why people should feel sorry for them," Francis told Fox News Digital. "KC sits there and cries about his sick uncle and Mike Santana talks about his dad passing away. My mom passed away and nobody gave a s---. My grandmother passed away and nobody gave a s---. My grandfather passed away nobody gave a s---. My pop-pop passed away, nobody gave a s---. So, why do I care about the family troubles of all these losers?

"Nobody cares when it’s me going through something but I’m supposed to care because KC’s got a sick uncle. I hope his sick uncle has AMC in his hospital so he could watch me beat his nephew within an inch of his life."

Francis added there was no chance of making up with Navarro.

"Not at all. I wish KC nothing but the worst. I hope that going forward he learns a lesson after this a---whooping I put down on him on Thursday and that he realizes to never cross me again," he said. "He cost me an opportunity at one of the biggest wins of my career at Rebellion. He cost me an opportunity at one of the biggest wins of my career at Slammiversary last year when he got hurt and cost us the tag team titles. He cost us an opportunity at the NXT tag team titles because he got hurt when we were doing our crossover matches with them.

"He’s been nothing but a disappointment. He lost our only singles tag team title match in his debut match with First Class. He was the one who got pinned and lost it for us. He’s been nothing but a disappointment since the day that I met him and I’m very much glad to be done with him after Thursday."

Francis and Navarro’s match will take place on Thursday night. "Impact" airs each week at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.