Trump Returns to DC Court for 3rd Arraignment; Tucker Carlson Releases Interview with Devon Archer

What's happening in the world, coming up on NTD News. First, our top stories. Former President Trump is set to appear in court in just a few hours. He was indicted for his actions after the 2020 election. We'll bring you the latest from outside the courthouse. Congress releases the full testimony for Hunter Biden associate Devin Archer. Could this mean trouble for the Biden family? Barack Obama allegedly tells President Biden that a lot of Democrats are underestimating Donald Trump's strength. Cyber villains creating fake images and videos of people to extort money from them. So-called deep fakes are on the rise and almost anyone can fall prey to them. Welcome to NTD News Today. I'm Chris Beers, our top news. Former President Trump is making his first court appearance today after being indicted on Tuesday on counts of conspiracy and obstructing Congress after the 2020 election. Joining us now live is NTD's Iris Tao from outside the courthouse. Iris, what's happening today? Hey, good afternoon, Chris. So you're right, just two days after this 45-page indictment document was handed down, former President Trump is set to be arraigned at 4 p.m. Eastern time today at this federal courthouse right behind me in Washington, D.C., which is down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. And what will happen is that Trump will first have to be processed, and that means having to be fingerprinted, but no mugshot will be taken. And then inside the courtroom, Trump is going to have the charges against him read to him by a judge, and then he's expected to plead not guilty. So we're now just a few hours away from Trump's expected arrival, and we do see a massive security presence both inside and outside of the courthouse. So inside the courthouse in the main hallway, reportedly there are a lot of heavily armed U.S. Marshals with long guns. And outside, of course, we're seeing a lot of police as well as security here stationed, of course, along with a lot of media outlets. So the Secret Service says it's working with Capitol Police as well as local authorities to try to ensure Trump's safety during the arraignment today. Certainly a lot to watch today. So, Iris, how has Trump been responding now that he's facing four criminal charges and this arraignment? So, of course, Trump's been maintaining that he's innocent and has not committed any crimes. And just this morning, Trump again lashed out at this latest indictment on True Social, saying, quote, this is an unprecedented weaponization of justice. And last night at 11 p.m., Trump said that he hoped to move the trial of this case out of D.C. to nearby West Virginia. He said that it's, quote, impossible to get a fair trial in Washington, D.C., which is over 95% anti-Trump. So the jury here, of course, is a big focus, but it's unclear whether the judge in this case is going to grant Trump's request to move this trial because we know that the judge in charge of this case, Judge Tanya Chukin, is known for her harsh sentencing of January 6th defendants. And we also know that past January 6th defendants who also have similar requests to move their trial out of D.C. all have their requests struck down. Chris. Is Trump gonna speak today? So that's a great question. So far, we know that the arraignment is set for 4 p.m. Eastern time, which is a pretty late time in the day, and it's unclear if Trump, after returning to New Jersey later tonight, will still have a speech coming up. But we do know that next Saturday, this Saturday coming up, Trump is going to speak in South Carolina, and the next Tuesday, Trump is speaking New Hampshire. So we do expect to hear from Trump a lot more in the coming days. And Chris. All right, thank you, Iris. NTD will have special live coverage of Trump's arraignment in D.C. later today. Tune in for real-time updates from reporters on the scene, analysis from legal experts, and reactions from lawmakers and presidential candidates. This is all from 3.30 to 5.30 Eastern time. Join us on NTD.com, EpochTV.com, or wherever you watch NTD. How formidable would former President Trump be in a matchup against President Biden? Washington Post reports that former President Obama on that issue, saying Trump is stronger than most Democrats realize. The comments reportedly took place at a private lunch in June between Biden and Obama. Post says the conversation was overheard by two people speaking on condition of anonymity. Obama reportedly said Trump's strengths lie in his loyal following, Trump-friendly conservative media, and a polarized country. And Obama said he would do everything he could to help Biden get elected in 2024. The White House lunch is described by Biden as a regular catch-up lunch between the two men. Obama is still highly popular among Democrats, who's very active in 2020 and 2022, campaigning for Biden and other Democrats. NTD couldn't independently verify The Washington Post's reporting on this story. New insight from Hunter Biden's former business partner, Tucker Carlson, released an interview with Devin Archer yesterday. Archer and Hunter Biden both served on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma, and later founded the investment firm Rosemont Seneca together. Carlson released the interview just two days after Archer's closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee. Archer testified that Hunter Biden put his father, who was then vice president, on speakerphone during business meetings over 20 times. That appears to contradict Biden's repeated denial of having any involvement in his son's business dealings. Here's a clip from Carlson's interview with Archer. To be completely clear on the calls, I don't know if it was an orchestrated call in or not. It certainly was powerful though, because if you're sitting with a foreign business person and you hear the vice president's voice, that's prizing up. And that's pretty impactful stuff for anyone. You're taking a call from the vice president and you put it on speaker. It's not just, hey, dad, I'm in a meeting with some buddies. Right. It's, let me put my dad, the vice president, on speaker. Yeah, yep, in the rear view. It's an abuse of soft power, I'd say. It's not clear if Carlson's interview was conducted before or after Archer testified before Congress. Carlson only released that part one of his interview with Devin Archer so far. But Devin Archer's full testimony is in front of Congress, is now public. Could its revelations be damaging to the White House? In his testimony, Archer says that President Biden was a component of his son's business dealings. He also said Hunter used his connections to his father and the Biden family name to further his business goals. Archer was sent a letter by the Justice Department on Saturday before his testimony to Congress. It ordered him to begin a prison sentence related to a separate legal situation. The Justice Department clarified that he would not be sent to prison before his congressional testimony. A deadly collision in Oregon. A freight train crashed into a car last night, killing three people. Fourth was seriously injured. The crash occurred Wednesday in Marion County, close to Oregon's capital of Salem. According to local media outlet KVAL, the injured person was airlifted to a hospital. County officials closed Keene Road Northeast for hours after the accident. The investigation is ongoing. A hazmat incident in Hurricane Utah yesterday. Authorities say roughly 180 gallons of unused motor oil leaked out of a transport truck. Responding crews discovered that a fitting on the truck carrying the oil had failed. As a result, the oil didn't dispense into the holding tank as intended and spilled over into a storm drain. No details about where the storm drain leads to were provided. Hurricane Valley Fire and Rescue is working with the city as well as state health and environmental authorities to monitor the issue. They called in a cleaning company specializing in hazardous materials to clean up the spill. Coming up, a pro-life activist and Pennsylvania father of seven whose home was raided by the FBI announces his run for Congress. And the IRS is allowing full digital tax submissions in 2024. You could get your refund faster. Your audits could also increase. More in just a moment here on NTD News Today. Did you know ESG is impacting every part of your life? From rising gas prices to global food shortages to out of control inflation, even losing your freedom of speech and being censored on the internet. It's all being driven by ESG ideology. Who's in control? What can you do about it? Find out in The Shadow State, the first documentary exposing ESG. The ESG movement of governments and corporations operates in the shadows. Only the light of truth can expose it. Watch The Shadow State documentary streaming now. Anyone who's ever sold a home can tell you it is really hard. That's why who you work with matters. Together with Homelite, we've helped thousands of people sell faster and for the best price. You're not gonna get it all right. Just make sure you nail the big stuff. Like making sure your kids are in the right seat for their age and size. Get it right at nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. To a child, this is what conflict looks like. Children in Ukraine are caught in the crossfire of war, forced to flee their homes. A steady stream of refugees has been coming across all day. It's bitterly cold. Lacking clean water and sanitation, exposed to injury, hunger. You've got to go to the police. Exhausted and shell-shocked from what they've been through. Every dollar you give can help bring a meal, a blanket, or simply hope to a child living in conflict. Please call or go online to givenowtosave.org today with your gift of $10 a month. That's just 33 cents a day. We cannot forget the children in places like Syria, born in refugee camps, playing in refugee camps, thinking of the camps as home. Please call or go online to givenowtosave.org today with your gift of $10 a month. Your gift can help children like Ara in Afghanistan, where nearly 20 years of conflict have forced the people into extreme poverty. Weakened and unable to hold herself up, Ara was brought to a Save the Children center where she was diagnosed and treated for severe malnutrition. Every dollar helps. Please call or go online to givenowtosave.org today with your gift of $10 a month. Just 33 cents a day. And thanks to special government grants that are available now, every dollar you give can multiply up to 10 times the impact. And when you use your credit card, you'll receive this special Save the Children tote bag to show you won't forget the children who are living their lives in conflict. Every war is a war against children. Please give now. Welcome back. The use of deepfakes is skyrocketing and it can ruin victims' lives. It only takes criminals a few hours to create a fake image of someone, but the outcome can be devastating. Here are the latest numbers. Deepfakes are hyper-realistic fake images created using artificial intelligence, or AI. The technology gives cyber villains an edge in the crime world. A company called SumSub recently found that between 2022 and the first quarter of this year, deepfake use in fraud catapulted 1200% in the US alone. Michael Roberts, a professional investigator, told the Epoch Times, "'I believe the number one incentive for cyber criminals to commit cyber crime is law enforcement and their inability to keep up.'" He said legal systems in the Western world are overwhelmed by online fraud cases. There are various ways of using deepfakes for fraud. One is voice cloning, where criminals recreate someone's voice. They then call that person's relatives, sounding distress and saying they've been kidnapped, asking their relative to pay money so they can be freed. Deepfakes are also used for blackmail, where criminals create a video of the victim in an embarrassing situation. They then demand a ransom, threatening to distribute the fake to the victim's coworkers, boss, family, and friends. And to create these realistic fakes, criminals only need to access material like photos, audio, and video. Roberts says, if someone gets into your private photos in your iCloud, that gives all the sampling, all the technology to make hyper-realistic fakes. He added that deepfakes might even affect the upcoming presidential election due to fake videos of candidates. Microsoft says Russia-linked hackers are behind dozens of phishing attacks. US and UK intelligence agencies say the group is linked to Russian foreign intelligence. The hackers set up domains and accounts designed to look like tech support. They tricked Microsoft Teams users into helping them get past multi-factor identification. The hacking groups behind the activity is known as Midnight Blizzard. It's been conducting attacks since 2018. Microsoft didn't reveal the names of the organizations victimized by these attacks. Researchers from Microsoft said they will investigate the matter. The Russian embassy has made no comment so far. In a rare move, a federal judge forced a reporter to reveal a confidential source. Judge Christopher Cooper issued his ruling this week. He serves the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Cooper ordered CBS News senior correspondent Catherine Harridge to be deposed on the confidential source. Harridge had used the information in a series of stories while working at Fox News in 2017. Right now, it's unclear if Harridge or Fox News will comply with the order, but the unusual decision has alarmed free press advocates. They fear it might set a chilling precedent impacting the entire news media. The case has renewed calls for Congress to pass legislation offering federal protections for journalists. Pennsylvania has a new candidate for Congress, Catholic pro-life advocate whose prior arrest by the FBI caused an uproar. 48-year-old Mark Auck is the father of seven children. His campaign website says he plans to restore faith, family, and freedom if he makes it into Congress. He writes that he has, quote, "'seen firsthand what an out-of-control government "'can do to its citizens.'" Auck was involved in an altercation with a volunteer escort at a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood clinic in October 2021. According to prosecutors, Auck twice pushed the escort because they were verbally harassing his 12-year-old son. At the time of the incident, law enforcement declined to pursue charges, but a year later, FBI agents raided his home. Auck's attorneys says 20 heavily armed agents went to his home, tried to break down his door, and at least five agents pointed guns at Mark's head and arrested him in front of his wife and children. A spokesman for the FBI Philadelphia field office told multiple publications that no agents pointed guns at Auck or his family members, but acknowledged they drew weapons when they approached his front door. Auck was ultimately found not guilty of the charges. Three Idaho residents were just paid $300,000 from their city after years of legal battles. The case started when their right to protest during COVID pandemic was violated. In September 2020, nearly 200 Christians assembled outside a city hall of Moscow, Idaho, protest a city mask and social distancing mandate. Maskless protesters stood shoulder to shoulder in an empty parking lot singing hymns. Three of them were arrested and cited for violating a public health emergency order that mandated masks and social distancing. Two of the three were also cited for resisting or obstructing an officer for not showing their IDs. The city decided to prosecute them, but a district court judge found there were exemptions that apply to the emergency order that were not taken into account. He says the emergency order still has to allow for any and all expressive and associative activity that is protected by the United States and Idaho constitutions, including speech, press, assembly, and or religious activity. The judge declared they should never have been arrested and found that the police officers were not given correct information from city officials and that the city officials misinterpreted their own legal code. 140 counts related to child pornography. That's what the former mayor of College Park, Maryland pleaded guilty to yesterday. Patrick Wyan entered the plea as part of a deal with county prosecutors. He will spend 30 years behind bars. Former mayor pleaded guilty to 60 counts of distributing child pornography, 40 counts of possessing it, and 40 counts of intending to distribute it. Wyan was the mayor of College Park since 2015. He resigned from his role in March before his arrest. A Connecticut DOT employee was arrested for stealing $200,000 in gift card and loyalty reward program money. Calvin Orteig allegedly stole the funds from the local Woodin Tap restaurant chain. Authorities say he started the scheme during the first year of the COVID pandemic. He allegedly redeemed around $20,000 of that money at restaurant locations, May 2020 to January 2023. Fox News reports that customers started noticing problems with their loyalty rewards balances in 2021. Authorities say they solved the case by discovering Orteig obtained gift and loyalty card information through a point of sale system. Pleas are continuing to investigate. The United States now has less credit worthiness internationally. Fitch Ratings downgraded the US from AAA to AA+, citing expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years. Here to discuss is Vance Ginn, president of Ginn Economic Consulting and former chief economist for the Office of Management and Budget. Fance, again, thank you for joining us. Pleasure to be with you today. Fance, what's the significance of this downgrade by Fitch Ratings? You know, this is significant in the sense that it is our entire debt from the federal government, which has reached more than $32 trillion. And so it also is gonna influence our interest rates and everything else. And what Fitch said basically was like, look, we're heading in a bad direction that is not going to have much sort of reprieve if we don't control our spending. And so I think this is a good opportunity for Congress to reevaluate what's in the budget. And the White House has blamed Republicans for the downgrade. Any of you paused it? And how far back do these causes go? These causes go for a while back. I mean, this has really been a bipartisan problem over time where Republicans and Democrats have been increasing spending by more than tax revenue. So that's led to the massive deficits and the forecast of deficits. That's really what this is about, is the forecast of deficits over the next decade are gonna be about $2 trillion a year. And net interest payments in the debt alone are gonna be about a trillion dollars. And the Biden administration has made this situation worse with all of its excess spending. And you kind of touched on this, but in its announcement about the downgrade, Fitch Gratings talks about how fiscal deterioration over the next three years in the US is expected. Why are they expecting that? Well, whenever you have slower growth, which they're expecting slower economic growth over the next few years from high regulations, high taxes, and some of the productivity and population changes, that means you're not gonna have as much in revenue. At the same time, they're expecting higher increases in spending, mainly from mandatory programs like Social Security and Medicare. And at some point, we've gotta get control over these spending or we're gonna have massive deficits and interest payments for the future. And that's why Fitch said, you know what, we're gonna downgrade to AA plus instead of AAA, which is gonna raise interest rates, which will also slow economic growth. And so all of these things are coming to fruition now. We really need Congress to get control of spending. Vance, what does all this mean for everyday Americans and their wallets? You know, everyday Americans have already been struggling over the last couple of years from the excess government spending, higher taxes, higher regulations, and more inflation, unfortunately, across the economy. And unfortunately, this sort of a downgrade means that we're gonna have higher interest rates. We've already seen interest rates go up. We saw the stock market tank of the last couple of days. This is something that I think we'll continue to see if Congress and the Biden administration don't do something about spending. We really must do that because we've gotta put America back on a path to let people prosper instead of this big government sort of poverty-stricken situation that we have now where we have debt for the foreseeable future. This is not a good situation. We've gotta overcome it quickly. And what do you think can be done to overcome it? Well, you know, I think what we really need to do is Congress needs to get in and do zero-based budgeting, performance-based budgeting throughout the government and do audits. I think independent audits of different areas of the government would help us to shine some light on where they should be cutting, which programs are working, which ones are not, and ultimately a spending rule, a fiscal rule is what I like to call it, based on population growth and inflation as a maximum. And if we had done that over the last 20 years, we would have only increased the debt by 500 billion instead of 19 trillion. That's a lot more easier to handle based on economic growth and forecasts and everything else. And instead, they're just spending one year after another just too much. And so we've gotta do something about that soon. Vance Ginn, thank you very much. Thank you, have a great day. You'll soon be able to file all of your tax files online. The Internal Revenue Service is beginning the program starting tax season 2024. Here to discuss is NTD Business' Don Ma. Have you ever had to submit a tax document by mail, Don? You know, I think we've all experienced that, you know, it's very troublesome for some, at least, to go to the post office, buying a stamp, buying an envelope, you know, and submitting it. How about you, Chris? Have you experienced that? Actually, no, I usually do my taxes online. This new change could really change things for a lot of people. Yeah, this initiative is part of a decades-long process, actually, a $60 billion program to modernize the whole system. I think this could benefit taxpayers. Yeah, it really could, and it could save a lot of paper, too. It could be good for trees. It looks like, on average, it could save about 125 million paper documents from having to be processed by the IRS every year. Yeah, I mean, that's always a good thing, but we'll see. There's a lot of demand for paper, not just in the US, but maybe on a global scale as well, so we might have to look at this holistically, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. Yeah, and Don, you did an interview about this recently, right? Yeah, earlier I talked to Dan Geltrude. He calls himself America's accountant, and he had some very interesting things to say, so if you wouldn't mind, maybe we can take a look at that. And now joining me is Dan Geltrude, America's accountant. So the IRS allowing all digital submissions for 2024, maybe just to start off, tell us what does that mean? Well, the genesis of this is from the Inflation Reduction Act. There was $80 billion worth of funding going into the IRS. Now the IRS is taking a portion of those funds in an attempt to modernize their operations, and the way to do that is twofold. One, using artificial intelligence, and to really be able to make that work. They need to have submissions being done digitally, because once it's on a digital format, the IRS can process that information so much more quickly, and what a lot of people have found out there is when they've been filing paper, it's taking forever to get their refunds. So this is good news for a lot of people. And what they're doing is they're also converting paper tax returns to digital as of right now, right? Yeah, they are. They're gonna go through a process of all the historical data that they have on record, converting that over to a digital format. Now, why would they do that? Well, times the IRS, believe it or not, could not find paper. So now this is gonna give them the ability, particularly when it comes to audits, to be able to go back and historically look at tax returns very quickly, to look at trends and other things that may seem suspicious. And I want to focus on your point that this is a good thing for taxpayers. Maybe with some examples, how is this a good thing? Well, primarily, and I deal with the IRS all the time, it takes forever to get inquiries responded to. So as far as the IRS providing service to taxpayers, specifically with the speed in which refunds can now be done, is going to be an advantage for everyone. So you get a notice, it takes a long time to correspond with the IRS. That time should be cut down significantly as well as refunds. But remember, Don, there's another side to this. If you want to hear more. I mean, what is it? What is it? Tell us. The other side to this is what everyone fears, the IRS's ability to do more audits. What I believe is gonna happen here is the IRS is going to digital format as well as using artificial intelligence. They're gonna be able to shift personnel away from those, shall we say, lower level tasks of inputting information to now be able to focus in on the audit process. So how it all comes together here, the IRS gets everything digitized. They have all the historical information digitized. They use AI to sort through all that and then they start targeting people for audits. So that's the other side of the scale here. There's some good and there's some not so good news for taxpayers. All right, thank you so much, America's accountant. Great speaking to you. Thank you. After the break, does implicit bias training help doctors give patients better care or does it get in the way? Food doctors are suing California over the state's mandated training. When we return, I'll speak with an attorney about the case. Tiny checks of less than $1 are no longer a joke for Hollywood actors. Are they sticking with the ongoing strike? We'll have the details soon when we return. Coming up on our next installment of America's Hope, how the power of hope actually can save people from death by despair. And you'll see one man who walks across America for the purpose of raising hope and giving help everywhere he goes. That's on our next installment, America's Hope. NTD's Capitol Report. It's about getting answers, cutting through the fog of politics. It's about your questions and our chances to ask. We're speaking to those in power to find out what does this mean for the people. We're here so you're in the know. Back to the news. Implicit bias training is on the chopping block in California. Two doctors are challenging a mandate of this training in health care. Their lawyers say implicit bias training conflicts with their duty as physicians. To learn more, I spoke with Joshua Thompson, a senior attorney at Pacific Legal, firm representing the doctors. Joshua Thompson, thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Joshua, what is implicit bias training and what does this generally look like in the workplace? Implicit bias training is a mandate by the state of California that all doctors must receive training in how implicit bias affects their day-to-day work. So any CME, any training that a doctor receives in order to perform their job better has to now have an element of implicit bias in it. And Pacific Legal is representing plaintiffs challenging California's mandatory implicit bias training in healthcare. Tell us about the doctors who brought this case and why they brought it. We represent two doctors in one organization. The doctors are Azadeh Khatibi. She is an Iranian immigrant. She's an ophthalmologist out of Los Angeles. And we also represent Marilyn Singleton, who is an anesthesiologist. And both Marilyn and Azadeh, they provide medical trainings to doctors because they're experts in their fields. And California's implicit bias mandate requires when they're giving those continuing medical education instruction that they must talk about implicit bias and the effect any medical procedure that doctors must undergo must have some component of implicit bias discussion in it. And lawyers representing the plaintiffs say implicit bias training directly conflicts with their duty as physicians. How so? Well, the doctor patient relationship is sacrosanct. Doctors don't need California state legislators coming in and telling them how they ought to treat patients. They know what's best for their patients. And that's exactly what this mandate does. It says instead of treating the patients how you think is best, you now have to talk about race and you have to be thinking about race and you have to be thinking about these feelings and subjective ideas that you may not even know you have, as opposed to giving your patient the best care that they could possibly get. Tell us about the significance of this case. The significance of this case is, is hugely important. Nobody wants the government coming in and telling them and teaching doctors stuff that has absolutely no, nothing to do with what may be ailing them. You want doctors to provide the best care possible. They don't, you don't want doctors to treat you differently because of this skin color, but that's precisely what this implicit bias training is asking doctors to do. It's asking doctors to be thinking about race and how their treatment may impact race, as opposed to giving each patient an individualized assessment and treating each patient, patient, how that patient ought to be treated. If the plaintiffs win this case, do you think the outcomes will have a wider impact on healthcare nationwide? I think it will have a wide impact on constitutional rights. What we're asking the court to do here is that the government can't mandate doctors instruct patients on things that they don't believe. And to have a court enforce that constitutional rights, a first amendment right not to be compelled to speak against your conscience would have a profound, uh, implications for not just California medical care, but medical care in other States that may try to impose such implicit bias requirements. Joshua Thompson. Thank you very much for your time today. It's one day away from talks between Hollywood and striking employees. We hear the voices of some actors on how meager pay affected their jobs, a major driver of the strike. For actors in Hollywood, it used to be a joke. A small residual check of under $1 would get you a few laughs. And if you presented it to one of the bartenders here at the Residuals Tavern in Studio City, it meant a drink on the house and the check would be stuck on the wall. But with Residuals now a pittance of what actors and writers used to receive, that joke isn't funny anymore. Actors like John O'Brien, who's appeared in shows like Grey's Anatomy and Pretty Little Liars, say penny payouts have become far more common. You could come in here and people would laugh and say, hey, I got one for 90 cents, and you'd get a free drink. But I would imagine over the last five to 10 years, this place would have gone out of business if they kept doing that, because now it is so common for these residuals to be coming in on these new platforms that are ridiculously low. How low? O'Brien says actors often find just 30 cents in the envelope. Residuals were created long ago to help actors and writers survive in between projects. They're doled out when a show or movie is aired after its initial release. But in today's TV streaming era, residuals have trickled to the point where actors and writers find it hard to earn enough just to live in LA. The paltry amount is one of the reasons why Hollywood is on strike. You know, when the pie gets bigger and bigger and bigger, but your sliver of the pie stays the same, you know, it's, after a while, enough is enough and you have to stand up for fair wages. Actor Michael Spelman says ongoing strikes have opened his eyes to the pay gap in Hollywood. And he worries if things continue as they are, fewer actors will earn enough to qualify for health insurance from the Actors Guild SAG-AFTRA. It surprised me to find out that for 22 years, I've been in the top 13% of actors, which blows my mind, because I feel like there are definitely years where I'm struggling. And the top 13% consists of the people that are earning enough money to make insurance, which is that $26,470. And I feel like it's shrinking every year too. It becomes harder and harder because of what we're striking for. One of the many reasons we're striking is because of the lack of decent residuals. With inflation and everything, I feel like their share is getting bigger and we're left with the scraps. With new shows tabled due to the ongoing strike, a growing number of crew members are out of a job. Kirk Dinsmore, who helps with construction and other tasks on set, was throwing darts on the day Reuters visited the tavern. He hasn't worked on a set since March. You know, there's a lot of family members that are being drastically affected by this. You know, there's people that gotta pay their mortgages. I know a makeup artist that comes in here. He lost his apartment. I know some other people that do sound, yeah, like a couple months ago, having to move back in with his parents. You know, so this, you know, really extends to a lot of different routes, you know, and it affects a lot of people, you know. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major studios, is under pressure to address demands on the picket lines. The group has posed substantial increases in residuals, but hasn't released a detailed breakdown of it yet. While payment formulas for actors may confuse people outside Hollywood, actor Arabella Field, whose credits include House and Seinfeld, explained it this way. We're you. We're the American worker. You know, we're the people working in the Amazon warehouse. It's the same thing. Everybody's getting squeezed. The actors tell Reuters work stoppages will continue until they get what they want. You know, if they think that they're gonna, you know, we're gonna quit because it's hot, or we're gonna quit because we're living check to check, well, because of the current system, we've all been living check to check, and we're used to that. So if anybody's a survivor, it's the actor, and I think that we're in it to win it. So we're out there as long as it takes. And if you have any news tips or feedback for the show, please feel free to email us at news.today at ntd.com. Still to come, doctors and nurses are heading to the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea. Young participants are reeling from the summer heat. And demand for egg freezing has been surging in Taiwan. Women there are hoping for a change in fertility law. Stay tuned to find out why. Hey, BowBow, do trees tell each other stories? Sorry, I'm afraid I don't know that. Hey, why don't we go find out? Clouds take naps? I couldn't tell you. Dad, do stars visit their friends? Look! My dad's name was David. He always talked about getting life insurance, and now it's too late. No one was expecting my husband, Dave, to suffer from a heart attack. We didn't have life insurance. We thought we had more time. Don't be Dave, and don't wait until it's too late to get the life insurance coverage you need. And if you don't have enough insurance to cover funeral costs, credit card debt, and other expenses, your family is gonna get stuck with the bill. Call now to get affordable life insurance. Just call 800-494-1562. If you're over 50, you can't be turned down for this insurance, regardless of your health. Plus, there's no medical exam, no health questions. Your rate will never go up. Your coverage will never go down. And rates start as low as $5 a week. Remember, don't be Dave. Call now. 800-494-1562. William Bouguereau's staggering work, both in quantity and quality, numbered over 800 exquisite paintings during his lifetime. Bouguereau was the most famous artist in all of France, possibly all of Europe. These are emotionally powerful works, amongst the most powerful in art history. When I first saw Bouguereau's paintings, I was very surprised. I thought, wow, someone can paint so perfectly. Everything is perfect. This episode, we'll investigate the talent of a genius and a true master in his field who was first highly praised and recognized, but later destroyed. What was it about him or his art that made an entire society turn against him and banish both his name and his works? Thanks for staying with us. A sports scandal has led to the suspension of a key Somali official after a female sprinter ran too slowly at the World University Games. In a video that went viral on social media, the untrained runner wasn't even in the frame when the rest of the field crossed the finish line. She ended up completing the 100-meter dash in over 21 seconds. Investigations showed that she was neither a sportsperson nor a runner. Somalia's sports minister suspended the chairwoman of the country's athletics federation, accusing her of power abuse, nepotism, and defaming the name of the nation in the international arena. The World University Games are currently being held in the western Chinese city of Chengdu. One dead and a dozen injured in a stabbing incident in South Korea. The tragedy occurred today near the capital Seoul. Please be aware that some viewers may find this video footage disturbing. The stabbing occurred after a man rammed his car into passersby. Video footage shows police amid bloodstains inside a department store. Police said the assailant was arrested after apparently hitting people randomly. The suspect is described as a man in his 20s, a delivery worker with reported mental health issues. A heat wave is battering the World Scout Jamboree camp in South Korea. Teenage attendees are struggling to cope with the extreme temperatures. Dozens of military doctors and nurses have been sent to the rescue. At least 600 people at the World Scout Jamboree have been treated for heat-related ailments as the country swelters in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit in some parts. South Korea's government has issued its most severe heat warnings in four years. More than 43,000 participants from around the globe are at the Jamboree in the southwest of the country, most of them between the ages of 14 and 18. Korea's Prime Minister Han Deok-su ordered 30 military physicians and 60 nurses to go to the camps to handle emergencies, while the Interior Minister called for more ambulances, air conditioners, and shuttle buses to remain on standby. Thermal imaging cameras on the streets of Seoul showed objects absorbing the heat, with this statue reaching 131 degrees Fahrenheit. British adventurer Bear Grylls, who kicked off the Jamboree as cheap scout, urged attendees to stay hydrated. The scorching sun is blazing down on Japan too, but there's still one way to save the day. Go out and grab a big bowl of shaved ice. Tourists in Tokyo are flocking to a special restaurant as they look for a getaway from the summer heat. The restaurant, called Saika, serves shaved ice desserts with toppings like a popular strawberry sauce. Japan has been battling a heat wave lately. Temperatures have hit over 95 degrees in many parts of the country. Women in Taiwan are turning to freezing their eggs, hoping to hold on to the chance to have kids. The expensive procedure is becoming more popular. 33-year-old Vivian Cheng is injecting herself with hormones to freeze her eggs. But under current laws here in Taiwan, she can only use them if she gets married or man. Despite the law, demand for egg freezing in Taiwan has surged. According to a study by the National Taiwan University Hospital, the number of women aged 35 to 39 opting for the technology is up 86% over the past three years. I'm buying an insurance policy for my future self since I'm getting older. It might be difficult to get pregnant. My friends and I also care about the health of our children. Some data has indicated that the quality of eggs is important for the development of babies. That's why we think this is something worth investing in. Taiwan has one of the world's lowest fertility rates behind South Korea and Hong Kong. Dr. Lai Sing-Hua is the founder of Taiwan's first egg bank, the Stork Fertility Clinic. He says new patients have surged 50% year on year. The frenzy comes after two local governments started subsidizing egg freezing. However, only a combined 1,400 spots are available annually, and an average annual salary of less than $19,000 means egg freezing is out of reach for many women. It costs up to $3,900 for the extraction, medicine and clinic visits, coupled with up to $320 in annual storage fees. The market demand is there, and I think the government should address issues related to the declining birth rate. In 10 years, the issue of the declining birth rate could be resolved through egg freezing. A lot of women aren't able to have children because they don't have the eggs when they want to get pregnant, nor do they want to use donor eggs. So there is a transition period that becomes a pain point. Even if you can rustle up the money, though, it's only legal to use the eggs if you're in a heterosexual marriage, meaning unmarried women like Vivian or those in homosexual married couples are excluded. Doctors in Taiwan say because of the restrictions, only around 8% of women are using their eggs after they've been frozen, compared with around 38% in the US. Vivian, though, says she's hopeful that authorities could change regulations in the future to allow unmarried women to use their frozen eggs. I do have greater peace of mind. At least I don't have to worry too much about what would happen if I want a child four or five years from now, or that I won't be able to conceive a child, or if my eggs aren't healthy then, I would have an option. After the break, a major discovery in Peru. Ancient giant whale that may replace the blue whale to become the heaviest animal that ever lived. Details to come on MTD News Today. Hey, I told you enough of that. But look, this is different. It's gone gene world. you Beijing World Friendly Entertainment Say goodbye to arch bitter coffee and hello to a just smooth brew. With specialty quality beans expertly roasted in-house, you'll taste the difference with every sip. Fermented with a blend of 50 enzymes, Day's Coffee delivers a rich brew like no other. Made with the highest grade specialty beans available, you're sure to taste the difference. Elevate your morning with Day's enzyme fermented coffee. Does this look familiar? You probably think this is what owning hearing aids would be like. Let me tell you, there's a better way. The Atom by Audion Hearing. The all-new Audion Atom is the world's first wireless charging hearing aid under $100. The Atom comes with an easy-to-use wireless charging dock. Plus, the Atom has a 22% smaller design so it's nearly invisible when worn in the ear. That's why we have over 250,000 happy customers. Each pair has a 45-day money-back guarantee so there is zero risk in trying them. Call 1-800-918-3109. That's 1-800-918-3109. Call 1-800-918-3109 or go to AudionHearing.com to get your pair of Audion Atom hearing aids for only $99. I am Li Ching-Yung, the founder of Kwai Shan Fang. In Taiwan, we have the world's largest cypress forest. My father especially loves the forest scent emitted by the cypress forest. To bring the forest fragrance to my father and family, I founded Kwai Shan Fang. We aim to provide you with the most natural cypress forest essence. Welcome back everyone. We're heading now to Mexico to the 18th annual Torta Fair, where almost 100 cooks gathered to prepare what could be the longest torta sandwich. Yesterday's gathering in Mexico City drew in large crowds. This year's extra-long sandwich measured 246 feet. That's nearly four feet longer than last year's record. The sandwich is traditionally filled with a variety of meats, vegetables, and cheeses. Attendees were able to take a bite of the huge creation or simply try out different kinds of snacks from the over 70 Mexican and international sandwich vendors. It is excellent because there are even some international exhibitors. The flavors are delicious. We hope this event will continue to be held. Families can come here to enjoy, to bring joy to the tastebuds, and to try different sandwiches from different places in the country and of the world, as is our case. What distinguishes the Mexican torta sandwich from a traditional sandwich is that it's much bigger and has a large variety of different fillings. A group of young German tourists came under fire after toppling a valuable statue at a villa in northern Italy. The villa's manager said two of the renters climbed into the fountain on Monday. They embraced the five-foot tall statue by artist Enrico Buti. Another pushed it with a stick before it fell to the ground. The statue was around 150 years old and valued at around $220,000. The incident was caught on surveillance cameras. The manager said he's filed a complaint with local police. The blue whale might lose its crown as the heaviest animal in history. This comes after fossils of a massive marine mammal were recently discovered in Peruvian deserts. According to a team from the University of Pisa, Parasitus colossus may have tipped the scales at over 370 tons. A massive animal has been extinct for centuries. By contrast, the blue whale is a shintzy 200 tons. However, the researchers involved with the dig admit they didn't have a full skeleton and that more fossils are needed before a better weight estimate is given. More on this story is available in an article published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Thank you for tuning in today. I'm Chris Beers. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Did you know YouTube only keeps selected videos on its platform? So if you want to make sure you get the full picture, just subscribe to our newsletter. Go to newsletter.ntd.com and sign up. It's free.