Meadows Gets Hearing to Move Case to Federal Court in 2020 election Case; Maui Death Toll at 110

Good morning. In today's headlines, Mark Meadows gets his request granted for hearing to move his racketeering case to a federal court. We have the latest on the Georgia 2020 election case from the Fulton County Courthouse. The Hunter Biden investigation. Some lawmakers say it's a distraction, while others say it's uncovering corruption. And will the special counsel bring justice after a questionable record on investigating the Bidens? We get some answers from a legal expert. Lawsuits filed against Hawaiian Electric for its alleged role in sparking the Maui wildfires, with the Maui death toll now at 110. Residents are looking for assistance and accountability. Is the death penalty off the table for several 9-11 suspects? Families of some of those killed in the terrorist attacks were notified about the possibility. Homeless people are reportedly harassing students near a high school in California. To address this, local officials are proposing a ban on encampments near schools and daycares. And an author who helps parents answer the question, is my child safe at school? We spoke to the former security advisor. Good morning, welcome to NTD, I'm Kevin Hogan. Good morning everyone, I'm Evelyn Lee. Today is Thursday, August 17th. And you know, Evelyn, there are gonna be a lot of challenges to this Georgia case. One is just finding jurors who can look at this case objectively without having very strong opinions toward former President Trump himself. And the other is, with 19 people on trial, how are they gonna keep the story straight for these jurors over the course of several months? And find a courtroom that's large enough to fit all these people. Yeah, good point. And we know your time is valuable, so we're gonna delve right into the details of one of the co-defendants in this case. Former President Trump's former Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, will have his request heard. To move his case to federal court, he was charged with two counts of racketeering and soliciting a public official to violate their oath. Meadows argued the alleged conduct would have occurred at the time he was a government employee. The judge said Meadows' request was sufficient enough to show that it shouldn't be denied without a court hearing. It's been set for August 28th. The Georgia court released its court date for Trump's arraignment and trial yesterday. What could this mean for the 2024 presidential candidate? Entities Melina Weiskopf has more from the Fulton County Courthouse. To be very clear, we did get confirmation from the Fulton County Sheriff's Office that arraignment and booking are two separate issues, so there is still an August 25th, that is a next Friday deadline, for all 19 of these defendants, including former President Trump, to come here and get booked by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office. But there is a newly proposed date for both a trial and the arraignments for these 19 defendants here in the state of Georgia. The DA just filed that motion on Wednesday. I'll read you exactly what it says. They want to avoid conflicting dates with former President Trump's other legal challenges, saying the state of Georgia proposes certain deadlines that do not conflict with these other courts' already scheduled hearings and trial dates. I do wanna point out the March 4th trial date that they're proposing here, because this is a day before Super Tuesday, which is the greatest, which is the day that the greatest number of US states hold primary elections. Now, just a quick update in case you missed it. Mark Meadows was the first person to respond to this indictment, filing a motion to move this case to federal court. And in another election case against Trump, led by the DOJ, there is a newly released transcript of a closed-door hearing that shows that Jack Smith, the special counsel in that case, actually got his hands on very personal information of former President Trump from his Twitter account. So this is so personal that Twitter actually called it confidential information. The things that Jack Smith got his hands on were records stemming from October of 2020 to January of 2021. These are things like anything Trump searched on his Twitter account, any posts, those are drafts or not drafts, and direct messages, whether they were sent or not, or only draft messages. Those were also obtained as well. There were also other things such as locations of any users that use that Trump account and people who Trump followed or blocked during that time period. And it doesn't just share information about Trump's data, but it also shares any information about any users who liked or shared the president's posts during those times. Now, Twitter did try to block this warrant knowing that this is confidential information, but ultimately the judge sided with Jack Smith and allowed him to obtain this personal information. And furthermore, the judge even ruled that Trump was not allowed to even know about it. Thanks, Melina, for the update. And now we turn to the Bidens. Lawmakers are split on the Hunter Biden investigation with Democrats saying it's a distraction, while the GOP says revelations in it prove corruption. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are alleging Republicans are using the Hunter Biden investigation as a distraction from Trump's indictments. They cite the release of the former FBI agent's transcript at the same time a Georgia DA was preparing an indictment against Trump. All the while, the Oversight Committee has shown money flowing from China, Russia, and Ukraine into accounts linked to Hunter Biden, and Republicans allege Hunter sold access to his then-VP father while paying Joe Biden's credit card bills. This accusation stems from a text in which Hunter claims to have paid his dad's bills for 11 years. The text conversation appears to show that Hunter either had an AT&T account or a Wells Fargo account shared with Joe Biden. And now the National Review is reporting that newly appointed special counsel David Weiss, who has supposedly been investigating Hunter Biden for years, buried an investigation into a $5 million scheme involving Biden and China because Joe Biden was running for president. We're bringing in a legal expert to unpack this. Paul Kamenar, the lead counsel for the National Legal and Policy Center, joins us live. Paul, thank you so much for your time. First, can you explain this allegation that Weiss buried the investigation of this $5 million scheme? Well, Weiss buried a lot of the investigation involving Hunter Biden. This is just only one aspect to it. This was a $5 million transfer from a Chinese energy company to one of Hunter Biden's LLCs. He had a network of these kind of strong businesses and corporations. And the real question is whether Joe Biden was involved in some of these transactions. We know that Hunter Biden was getting a sweetheart plea deal with the prosecutor at the time, David Weiss, who's now been elevated, so to speak, to special counsel. But you also have to remember the FBI informant who said there was a, has recordings of a $5 million a bribe, so to speak, to Hunter Biden and $5 million supposedly going to Joe Biden. So this is just another example of what's going on. And the House Committee already documented some $20 million altogether that Hunter Biden got that was distributed to 10 Biden family members, including grandchildren. And what did they do for that? So it's clear that there was influence peddling going on. And now, oh, we're gonna have to get to the bottom of this, not with David Weiss, a prosecutor who botched the deal altogether, but now with the House Committee going further with their subpoenas investigation. Yes, and there are a lot of aspects to this, as you mentioned. So Paul, if Weiss really did drag his feet and let the statute of limitations run out and not pursue justice over alleged extortion of Hunter Biden, by Hunter Biden to the General Secretary of China's Harvest Fund, who was connected to the CCP, how can we be sure that he's gonna fulfill his duties as special counsel? Well, we can't be sure. And that's the issue here. If Merrick Garland was doing his job, he would have appointed a special counsel, different from a David Weiss who took over five years and was basically having this sweetheart deal for a couple of misdemeanor violations. So we can't be confident. This is a sham that's going on, and it really is a perversion of justice and a two-tier system of justice, I might add. Let's look at Hunter Biden's criminal lawyer, Christopher Clark. He's asking to step down now from the case, and he may even become a witness. So what would he do as a witness? Well, what's going on here is they had this plea deal, and as we all know, a couple of weeks ago, that blew up in court where the judge looked at it and said, hey, wait a minute, there's no full immunity going here. And Hunter Biden's attorney said, yes, we've got full immunity for any other crimes going on. And David Weiss says, ah, no, I think we can still file charges. So the court said, well, I'm not approving this. So now there's gonna be another hearing in terms of whether they had a deal or not. And in that case, Chris Clark has to be a witness to that. And basically in any case where an attorney has to be a witness in his client's own case has to step aside, and that's what Chris Clark did. And they've got a new attorney, Abby Lowe, who will be representing Hunter Biden here. So the question is whether this deal is gonna go forward or not, but it looks like the thing is blowing up and we'll see what happens when they try to put it back together again. And of course, we have that recent ruling that says that people with a drug history are allowed to possess firearms. So we'll see how that plays into this. But is it a common for attorneys to step down and become witnesses like this? Well, no, like I said, it only happens when the attorney happens to be a witness in the case. An attorney can't represent a client, I'd say, in a criminal case if the attorney was a witness to the crime because there's a conflict of interest. So this happens on occasion. It's not unusual, but I think what's gonna happen here is that the whole investigation is not going to be going forward as it probably should. Statute of limitations has run on a lot of these charges. Our organization has argued that Hunter Biden should be charged with a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. That may still be on the table, but again, it looks like that one is being also squelched as well. Well, as always, I really appreciate your analysis. Paul Kamenar, lead counsel at the National Legal and Policy Center, thank you. Thank you very much, my pleasure. Coming up, will the government plea bargain with the suspected architect of the 9-11 and four others allegedly involved in the attack? That story coming up. And homeless people are reportedly harassing students near a high school in California. To address this, local officials are proposing a ban on encampments near schools and daycares. Get that story after the break. Anyone who's ever sold a home will tell you it's really hard. And it's one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make. That's why who you work with matters. Together with HomeLight, we take care of every detail. Looking for a healthy and smooth tasting brew? Drop by Day's Coffee Roasters today and explore our wide selection of specialty grade small batch roasted coffee. Home to North America's first enzyme fermented coffee. We source a wide selection of specialty grade coffee beans from around the world. And Ristas are ready to craft your customized brew. Visit Day's Coffee at 28 North Street, Middletown, New York. From experience, a brew like no other. Being prepared is a part of who you are, but it's especially important in the case of a disaster. 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The lead attorney in a lawsuit filed yesterday said Hawaiian Electric was, in his words, grossly negligent. He accuses the company of making conscious decisions to delay grid modernization projects that would have prevented the tragedy. Hawaiian Electric said last year it was on track to meet its goal of 40 percent green energy by 2030. The state has declared an ambitious push to be 100 percent green by 2045. The lawsuit against the electric company cites the utility's own documents on precautionary power shutoffs. It says they show the company knew they could be an effective measure to prevent wildfires, but never adopted them. It also states the company hadn't invested in wildfire prevention or power pole upgrades since 2020. The three other lawsuits make similar accusations against Hawaiian Electric. It serves roughly 95 percent of the island, according to its website. Hawaiian Electric has declined to comment on the pending lawsuits. The cases bear a striking resemblance to lawsuits brought against a California utility company after the Camp Wildfire in 2018. Right, but that was attributed as the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. before now. Eighty-five people were killed. That resulted in Pacific Gas and Electric and its former executives getting sued for negligence. It was alleged in those cases that the company had failed to properly maintain its equipment or turn off power to its lines in dangerous and windy conditions. The company ended up paying billions of dollars in settlements. President Biden is set to visit Maui on Monday to survey the damage. The White House said yesterday the president and first lady will meet with first responders and survivors, as well as federal, state and local officials. Officials in Maui are defending their decision not to sound sirens during last week's deadly wildfires. And today's Jeremy Sandberg has more on that and how locals reacted to news of Biden's planned trip. Maui Emergency Chief Herman Andaya says the island's sirens are meant for tsunamis, and that using it during the fire might have led people to evacuate instinctively to higher ground toward the danger. And if that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire. And so that is the reason why our protocol has been to use WA and EAS. By the way, I should also note that there are no sirens mauka on the mountainside where the fire was spreading down. The Grassland Fire swept down the base of a volcano sloping into the tourist resort town of Lahaina on August 8. Officials issued a cell phone wildfire alert. At least 110 people were killed. Over 2,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed. The state's emergency management agency tested its warning system on August 1. Hawaii Governor Josh Green also defended the decision not to sound sirens and said Tuesday some were broken. But the sirens, some were broken, and we're investigating that. He ordered the state attorney general to investigate the emergency response. We will bring outside reviewers also. It's not a criminal investigation in any way. Maui County Mayor Richard Bisson says property taxes for the year will be waived or refunded to those who've already paid. Our people have gone through so much in this tragedy to offer relief to those homes that were destroyed. President Biden is set to travel to Hawaii on Monday. Locals had mixed reactions to the news. We're all together in this and we just try to figure things out one day at a time. Any positive coming our way, we'll take it. Just still talking. What else can I say? We've gone through a lot. We're still looking for family members. Hundreds of people are still unaccounted for, and the identification of the remains has been slow. Officials expect the death toll to increase. Jeremy Sandberg, NTD News. Just devastating. And with schools closed, local parents left children at home while they worked. Now many fear that children make up a large share of the deaths. Meanwhile, the rebuilding process is expected to take years. And Hawaii's governor vowed to protect local landowners from being, quote, victimized by opportunistic buyers when Maui rebuilds from the deadly wildfire. And 9-11 defendants may avoid the death penalty under plea agreements being considered. Families of some of those killed in the terrorist attacks were notified by the Pentagon and FBI this week. It comes one and a half years after military prosecutors and defense lawyers began exploring a resolution to the case. The suspected architect of the attack and four other defendants were captured at various times and places in 2002 and 2003. They were sent to Guantanamo for trial in 2006. Some relatives of the people killed outright in the terror attacks expressed outrage over the possible deal. Prosecutors pledged to consider their views and present them to military authorities before making a final decision. One man who lost his son in 9-11 says he's deeply frustrated the case is still unresolved. The FBI had no comment Wednesday on the letter. The trial date has not yet been set. And an update on the raid on a Kansas newspaper. Prosecutors say there is not enough evidence to support the raid and that all seized materials will be returned immediately. Police searched the Marion County record on Friday after accusations the paper illegally shared sensitive information, which the newspaper denies. The paper's editor, Eric Meyer, says he's very pleased with the amount of support from subscribers and other media. Despite a lack of tools and equipment, the paper published a new edition yesterday focusing on the raid and the support the newspaper received. Meyer said all of the returned equipment will be forensically audited to make sure that nothing is missing or was tampered with. The incident caused nationwide attention over press freedom. According to a warrant, local police sought to gather evidence of potential identity theft and other computer crimes relating to a dispute between the newspaper and a local restaurant owner. The newspaper's lawyer suggested the raid was linked to its investigating circumstances involving the local police chief. A cyber hack has left Massachusetts residents with compromised data. It was part of a massive event exposing the data of millions worldwide. Massachusetts health officials were the bearers of bad news for over 130,000 residents. This week they began mailing warning letters to those enrolled in state-run programs. The data breach happened through a file transfer system called Move-It, used by the UMass Chan Medical School. Move-It is used globally by companies to ship large amounts of sensitive data, social security numbers, medical records and more. Cybersecurity firm MZSoft says the hackers have stolen data from nearly 700 companies and 14 million people worldwide. Massachusetts officials say hacked information included the person's name and maybe their address, social security number, financial account information and protected health data like diagnosis details. People affected by the hack are advised to review their financial accounts. If you notice any unauthorized charges or activity, it's recommended to promptly contact your bank. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan asked federal agencies yesterday to complete detailed plans for beefing up cybersecurity. He said agents failed to fully comply with critical security practices mandated by an executive order. And in New York City, the city is banning TikTok on government-owned devices. It's the latest local government action to take action against the China-owned social media platform. The office of Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday that TikTok poses a security threat to the city's technical networks. New York City agencies are required to remove the app within 30 days. Employees will lose access to the app and its website on city-owned devices and networks. New York State has already banned TikTok on state-issued mobile devices. Top security officials, including FBI Director Christopher Wray and CIA Director William Burns, have said TikTok poses a threat. TikTok has more than 150 million American users. More than half of all U.S. states have banned the app on government devices. And one of the big concerns around TikTok is that they can very easily just put a back door in the code that can quickly send all that information to the CCP. That's right. And so it's not just TikTok, right? It's multiple other apps that come out of China as well. So that's also important to know. Yeah, have to keep a close eye on those. Coming up, Asian stocks tumbled to nine-month lows on worries about China's slowdown. And an expert explains the troubles in China and tells us why it's critical to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. That story and more for you after the break. Shen Yun Creations, the streaming platform from Shen Yun featuring world-class dance, past programs, and all original music. Masterclasses, behind the scenes, comedy and more. Explore chinyouncreations.com. Did you know Dragging chains can spark a wildfire. Good to have you back. A record number for Asian stocks. Market shares slumped to a nine-month low today, while the dollar peaked at a two-month high. Some indexes across the continent hit their lowest levels since November last year. Among them, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded 0.12% lower. China's stock market has seen an ongoing slide over the past few weeks. A slew of economic data show a tentative post-pandemic recovery, along with a deepening crisis in the real estate sector. Investors are so far unimpressed with moves from policy makers, and Asia equity strategist at HSBC said the appetite to invest in China is very low. Bringing manufacturing back to the US has been a topic again recently, especially with China facing troubles in all corners of its economy and an anti-espionage law that puts foreign businesses there at risk. President Biden in his remarks this week also promoted the idea that tomorrow's products should be made in America. I spoke to Greg Copley, the president of International Strategic Studies Association in Washington, DC, and asked him why he thinks this is important. Well, there's a great risk in keeping business in China today because the Chinese economy has collapsed, local demand has collapsed. There are increasing threats to the economy from a variety of sources, and the government itself inhibits foreign as well as domestic businesses, and that's going to increase in scale. So investment in the PRC and the use of mainland China as an essential part of a supply chain is going to become increasingly risky. Would that make us more vulnerable in terms of national security as well? Absolutely. Every time you rely on the supply of foreign components from a fragile or volatile source, you are putting your national security at risk, even for such areas as if your countries are concerned about agricultural imports, for example, you can't afford to have food shipments delayed. In the case of components for vehicles, for example, you can't afford to hold up your entire production line because of a delay in a small component. So the entire supply chain has to be considered in that light. What can the interruption to a small item or component do to your ability to maintain profitable continuous production? So yes, it's a great risk to depend on a country which is mercurial in its plans to restrict imports and exports and in the conduct of business generally. Understood. Now, if we were really to move the manufacturers back, what challenges would we run into here, especially knowing about the worker shortage at the moment in the US? Well, it's not so much a worker shortage, it's a shortage of people who are prepared to work and who are capable of working. We've seen a great increase in bureaucracy regarding companies, startups in the United States and in the operation under health and safety regulations and the like. So for this reason, a lot of US companies, instead of moving their production back to the United States, as some of them are doing, a lot of them are moving to other destinations in Southeast Asia and in South Asia. Right. And that's a good point. Just because it's more, it's politically more advantageous to bring manufacturing better doesn't mean that businesses will do it because of the bottom line. Now, what do you think is needed in terms of incentives? And how difficult will it be to convince people to move back to the US with that? Well, it's already proving to be gravely difficult because of tax laws and the like. I think it starts with the states and municipalities that really want to attract business. They have to make sure that they make this advantageous for people who had outsourced their production to Mexico or China in the past. They have to make sure that there's a minimum of red tape, there's a clear plan to provide an educated and committed workforce. And then the states themselves have to work on the federal government to reduce interference in that regard as well. There's still a grave deal of uncertainty about investment in the United States. Well, so to wrap up before we go, anything positive or anything to look forward to? There's no question that there is a great hunger in the US for a return to stable industrial manufacturing. But that also has to be coupled with a complete turnaround in the education industry to educate Americans for that kind of work, whether it's at a trade level or a tertiary level of education. The education program has to be restructured for this. And I think there's a great appetite for that. We're now seeing not only a rethinking of the US industrial capability, but a rethinking of the US and Western educational approaches to return them to a more practical approach to economic growth and the personal survival of families and the like. Well, that's reassuring to know. Thank you for leaving us with the good news as well. Greg Hoffley, I really appreciate your time today. Thank you very much. Well, so before we ended our conversation, I think that's good to add off camera, Greg actually weighed in again and said there wasn't much good news though. So I think probably he wanted to put things into perspective again. It is good to hear, you know, it is good to hear that there is a hunger in the US and that there is that rethinking of the industrial capability and approaches as Greg put it. But at the same time, we shouldn't lose sight of the enormous amount of work that has to be done to get there. So in this case, an appetite wouldn't be enough. You actually have to put in the work. Precisely, yeah. And now we're getting to some short headlines around the world. Firefighters on the Spanish island of Terre Rife battled flames late into the night yesterday with the rough terrain slowing progress. The fires broke out at a mountainous national park and spread to over 4,000 acres in 24 hours. Last week, a heat wave on the Canary Islands left many areas bone dry. A Hong Kong-flagged container ship set off from Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odessa yesterday. It's a test of Russia's threat to attack shipping after it abandoned a deal last month allowing Ukraine to export grain. The vessel had been trapped in the port since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. The Bank of Ireland apologized after a glitch in its app and website allowed customers to withdraw more than $1,000, even if it wasn't in their accounts. People lined up at ATMs trying to exploit the glitch. The bank did fix the problem and says it will debit the money from any account holder who withdrew money that did not belong to them. Chaotic scenes unfolded at Germany's Frankfurt airport this morning. Severe flooding on the tarmac from heavy rainfall caused delays, diversions and cancellations of dozens of flights. Frankfurt is the country's busiest airport and a major European hub. Well, you know, Evelyn, that is a brave Hong Kong ship to attempt to sail without a deal in place to guarantee safe passage. Right, but they were stuck for one and a half years, so who knows about the options they really had at that point. Right. And coming up, an appeals court rules on a common abortion pill and a pro-life advocate speaks out on a pregnancy center defunded in Pennsylvania. And in California, students are reportedly being harassed by homeless people near their high school. We hear from the mayor of San Jose on the issue. you Hey, I told you enough of that. But look, this is different. It's gone gene world. you Eugene Morley Friendly Entertainment. Good to have you back. A common abortion pill will remain on the market, but can't be ordered by mail. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Mifepristone yesterday. The pill is one of two used in roughly half of abortions in the U.S. The FDA approved it in 2000, but began loosening restrictions in 2016, including letting non-physicians prescribe it, allowing it to be mailed, and changing the limit from 7 to 10 weeks of pregnancy. The appeals court upheld a lower court decision that the FDA didn't follow the proper procedure for these changes, but it didn't ban the drug altogether. The court's decision won't go into effect yet. The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to take up the case. The high court issued a temporary order in April, allowing Mifepristone to remain on the market temporarily. Yeah, Mifepristone has been in the spotlight a lot lately. That's right, yeah. An alternative to abortion program has been defunded in Pennsylvania after 30 years. NTD's Daniel Monahan spoke with Maria Gallagher of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation. The Real Alternatives program provides pregnancy and parenting support services. Maria Gallagher is disappointed in the decision by Governor Josh Shapiro. I think the governor is greatly misinformed because Real Alternatives runs a program that's award-winning that served nearly 350,000 women across Pennsylvania, providing them everything from diapers to daycare referrals and from mentoring to maternity clothes. Gallagher says the program has also helped women find safe shelter, earn GEDs or finish up college degrees. According to Gallagher, the number one reason that women give for choosing abortion is because they feel as if they have no other options. There was a study that was done of women who had had abortions and who regretted them. And the study showed that if just one person showed support for that pregnant woman, she would not have chosen abortion, just one person. And that's what the Real Alternatives centers provide, that one person who will walk with this woman through her pregnancy journey and beyond. Funding pro-life activities has been a priority in Pennsylvania since the mid-1990s. All of their services are free to the women who frequent them. So when we talk about canceling Real Alternatives' contract, what we are talking about is hurting women, hurting pregnant women. And that's uncalled for. Pregnancy care center provider Planned Parenthood endorsed Governor Josh Shapiro for governor. Shapiro hosted the group's leadership at a meeting at the Capitol about expanding abortion access on his third day in office. Gallagher says the abortion industry sees pregnancy care centers as competitors. We know that when women visit pregnancy care centers, they receive the support that they need for themselves and their unborn children. Planned Parenthood, unfortunately, is in the business of ending the lives of precious pre-born babies. The Pennsylvania Senate Women's Health Caucus held a meeting in October 2022 titled, Deceptive Practices of Anti-Abortion Centers. Pro-abortion witnesses testified that pregnancy centers try to steer women to choose life, magnify ultrasound pictures and influence women with the presence of baby clothes. According to Gallagher, such clothes are just material assistance to help those in need. Gallagher says the Real Alternatives program funding is a very small portion of the entire state budget. The only reason to eliminate that funding for Real Alternatives is for political reasons. And I don't think that pregnant women should be political pawns in Pennsylvania. Gallagher is calling on Pennsylvanians to contact their state legislators and let them know Real Alternatives is running an award-winning program that is life-saving and life-changing and should be protected. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. An entity reached out to Governor Shapiro's office, but we did not hear back yet. Students from a high school in San Jose, California say they're repeatedly harassed by homeless people near campus. Local officials proposed a solution, a ban on encampments near schools and daycares. Here's NTD's Jack Bradley with more. Good morning, Evelyn. Students in San Jose, California are complaining of homeless people setting up camp near their schools. To address this, the city's mayor, Matt Mahan, recently proposed an ordinance that would ban homeless encampments and people living in their vehicles near campus. To dive into this, I spoke with the mayor about his recent proposal. San Jose has about 4,500 people who are currently unsheltered, meaning they're living outside in tent encampments and vehicles. Recently, I announced, along with a colleague and a number of students we've been working with, an initiative to create buffer zones around our schools to ensure that we don't have tents and lived-in vehicles right next to school campuses. These students have reported being harassed walking in and out of school each day. They've had numerous break-ins on their campus. They've even found needles on their lunch tables. I want to help our homeless neighbors, whatever their situation is, and help them get into basic safe shelter. But in the meantime, as we have people out on the streets, we need to make sure our children are safe. So I've brought forward this proposed ban on tents and RVs within 150 feet of schools, which really is a pretty modest buffer zone when you think about a city of our size. So how did we get to this point today in San Jose? Why is it necessary now to implement this rule? What we've seen over the last decade or so is significant growth in the number of people living on our streets. The primary reason for this is the imbalance of job growth with housing growth. We have added six jobs in the South Bay for every home we've built. Many say that it's not a housing issue, it's a mental health and also a drug addiction issue. That can be evidenced by the needles found on campus, or some homeless individuals just turn down housing because along with that, they may have to give up their lifestyle of drug addiction, which is very hard to kick. There is a lot of overlap here. You can have folks dealing with addiction, with mental illness, who are stably housed when the rent is affordable, and it's when the rent shoots up quickly and unexpectedly, as we've seen over the last 10 years, as rents have far outpaced wage increases, those folks get displaced first. So that's, I think, the biggest thing we see happening is it's really that lack of housing. Second, when people become homeless, there is no doubt that there's a higher rate of essentially self-medicating. We see depression grow, we see drug use grow. I think people sometimes use substance, abuse substances as a way of coping with the incredibly stressful conditions of living on the streets. So I think it's hard to know which way the causality goes. Is it that someone becomes addicted to drugs, which I would still consider to be a health issue fundamentally? Now, on your final point, I just want to touch on this as well. People refusing shelter. That is certainly not the majority of cases, but it does happen. And my view is that we have a responsibility for providing basic, dignified shelter and services for everyone who needs that help. But individuals have a responsibility for taking advantage of that help when it's offered. Mahan says the proposal to ban encampments near schools is going to appear before the City Council in the near future. Evelyn? Thank you, Jack. Yes, definitely. And, you know, there's these drug-free zones that are designated around many schools, and now this idea of homeless encampment-free zones is appearing. It's definitely good that something is being done about that to ensure the safety for those kids. Yes. All right, coming up, a new analysis says retirees face an over $17,000 cut in Social Security. NTT's business correspondent Dawn Mott brings us more. And new rules expanding the use of New York City dining sheds are stirring debate by supporters and detractors. Stay tuned for more on that. Stay tuned to get two rolls of Alien Tape free. You wouldn't stick your mother-in-law on the wall, but you could with Alien Tape. It just sticks. Just peel and stick to make anything stay in place quick. Brick, pavers, marble, tile, plastic, even leather. Nothing works better than Alien Tape. You wouldn't stick your fishbowl on a moving car, but you could with Alien Tape. The secret is nano stick technology that grabs and locks on to secure one side of the surface to the other. Alien Tape secures in seconds. Then twist, pull, and rinse to reuse. Call or go online to get your first roll of Alien Tape for just $19.99, plus shipping and processing. But to make this deal really stick, we'll give you two more rolls absolutely free. You get three rolls of Alien Tape for one low price. Order now. To order, call 1-800-490-1364 or go to tryalientape.com. So call 1-800-490-1364 or order online at tryalientape.com. Welcome back. Retired couples could see their Social Security benefits shrink by 23% in a decade. That's according to a new report from the Nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. This figure translates to over $17,000 cut in retiree benefits. Here to discuss is Entity Business Correspondent Don Ma. Don, good morning. Good morning, Kevin. How are you? I'm doing good. The average retired couple could see their Social Security benefits reduce by $17,400 in 2033. So why is that, Don? Right. The Social Security program is funded by the Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund. It's projected that this trust fund would deplete its reserves by 2033. Now, this is according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. So what that means is that 70 million retirees, dependents, and survivors, regardless of age, income, or need, will see their benefits cut by 23%, as you mentioned earlier. And that's quite unfortunate. On top of that, lower income, dual income couples that retire in 2033 could see a $10,000 reduction in benefits. And higher income, dual income couples could see their benefits cut by over $20,000. Kevin? Okay, so it's a good thing that they're able to see this coming. But what are some things that can be done to fix the problem? Well, you know, various measures have been proposed to keep the Social Security program healthy. You know, that's including raising the age of eligibility, increasing taxes, and relying more on general revenue to fill in gap in funding. You know, I think the core of the problem here is actually not that simple, and it's probably not that easy to fix either. Part of it is simply a demographic issue. You simply don't have enough people paying into it compared to people taking out of it. You know, because the American population is aging, the workforce is shrinking. So what we need to do is promote demographic growth and workforce growth. So you know, this ties into having a strong economy as well. If you want to have a strong economy, you have to have more births, more entrance into the economy. You need to have more entrance into the workforce. So you know, we're trying to solve that right now by having more immigration. But the thing is, the type of immigration we have right now is not the right type. You need to promote higher income earning classes. So they pay more into Social Security. You need merit-based immigration. But you know, Kevin, long story short, I think what we really need is population growth. There's some really good ideas there, Don. And of course, it's good to have a longer life expectancy, but it does come with challenges. So do you have anything else for us, Don? Yeah, sure. Just a couple of updates. Retail giant Target saw its sales decline for the very first time in six years. Data showed a 5% drop in sales at stores last quarter and a 10% drop online. Target stock down 27% yesterday over the last year. This drop is as consumers are cutting back on spending. The company also faced pushback over its annual Pride Month collection. In other news, but also staying in retail, Amazon is charging third-party sellers who choose to ship their own products starting in October. This applies to members of Amazon's seller fulfilled time program. So sellers will have to pay Amazon a 2% fee on each product sold, which previously was not charged. Amazon says in a notice that the move is to ensure prime experience for customers. So that's all from me today. Well, Don, that's some really great updates. Thank you. And on that topic of business, remember when COVID started and businesses were struggling to stay open, they started these dining sheds in New York City. Yeah, it was definitely a way for the residents to be able to get out and still enjoy a meal and for businesses to survive. The New York City Council recently approved a wider use of the practice, but the decisions has attracted supporters and detractors. Let's take a look. One of the perks New Yorkers enjoyed during COVID was the use of dining sheds. It allowed people to enjoy a meal outdoors and kept many restaurants open. City Council just passed legislation allowing the sheds seasonal placement from April through November. Restaurant owners warmly welcomed the move. We're okay with the ruling and we're happy that New York is moving in the direction of a bit more European where we have people sitting outside and it makes the street a bit more lively than they are normally. Many city residents are also in favor of the seasonal dining sheds. I love the sheds. It's one of the few silver linings of COVID, I think. I've lived in the village for years and I love eating outside. Although some residents are safering the move, it's leaving a bad taste in the mouth of many others. It's going to be dirty. It's going to stink and it's going to be a problem. And maybe people won't notice it when they go to eat in there because they've cleaned it up enough. As a resident, we see it every day. The processes for permitting, fees and licensing, as well as design requirements, still need to be decided. Full compliance is slated to go into effect in November 2024. Some of these ripple effects on how COVID shaped the way that people dine out. Right, good point. That's true. I have to say I understand the residents issue, of course, but I am happy to see some European style outside dining in New York City. Dining al fresco, right? So coming up, how can parents make sure their kid's school is prepared for the unthinkable? We speak to a former security advisor and author after the break. Hey, Bobo, do trees tell each other stories? I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know that. Hey, why don't we go find out? Listen. Can birds draw pictures? I don't have an answer for that. Dad, do stars visit their friends? Look! Regardless of where you are on your path to retirement, you can still take charge of your financial future today. Visit aceyourretirement.org and answer a few questions from Albo, your friendly digital retirement coach. For free tips, resources, and advice customized for your situation to help you feel confident and prepared for retirement. Retirement looks different for everyone. Make sure you're prepared for your financial future at aceyourretirement.org. Good to have you back. As a parent, how can you make sure your child is protected and safe at school? I spoke to an author that tackled this exact question, and he shared with us what he came up with. Joining me now is Wayne Black. He's the founder of Wayne Black and Associates, a security consulting firm. He is also the author of School Insecurity. It's great to have you this morning, Wayne. Now to start, tell me more about your book first. It says it provides a comprehensive guide for parents and educators on school security. So give us a quick breakdown, Al, on how you do that. It's really a guidebook for parents and grandparents to give them an idea of how to have children protected in schools. That's really what it's about. It's really parents and grandparents to stand up, depending on where they are in the country, to make sure their kids are safe. And that's the reason I wrote the book. It has my assessment guide list in the book. So tell me more about the guide list. And when you say stand up, how do you suggest parents should do that? Well, they need to ask questions. The first thing is, you know, school's ready to start. And they need to ask, who's responsible for my child's security? Who by name? Not some amorphous committee, but who by name? And what are you doing to protect my child? Are you doing these things that are in the book? Are the doors locked? Do you have a plan with the local police and things like that? Now, well, unfortunately, we have had way too many school shootings. But is there anything that you think we were able to learn from them? We've studied all the shootings from Columbine up until current. And I predict in the book, unfortunately, there's 100% chance we're going to have more school shootings. We just had the one in Memphis at the Jewish school. And I think we're going to have more. The trick is making the school a harder target. And by doing that, checklist, locking the doors, having a plan, having a lockdown plan. I travel around the country. I see different, depending on different political issues. For example, Texas and Florida require armed security at all schools now because of what happened in the past. Colorado and some places in Delaware want to take away guns from schools, take away police officers, defund them. So that doesn't really work. So the trick here will be to have parents know what's going on. When they send that child to school, they want that child to come back home. And this book will allow them to know what's going on. When you said these things that the schools are, the changes that the schools are implementing are not working, why do you think that? Well, oh, I know that. In Colorado, if you want to take away a police officer from a school, I mean, that's like a last resort, you know, perimeter protection. In Texas and Florida, for example, they're required to have officers at schools. So we know from what's happened in the past that school shooters typically go to some place that's a soft target. Now, when you make those security assessments, what other common issues do you see those schools have? Any examples? I see normalcy bias, which is a four aisle. It's not going to happen at our school. It only happens at the other school. And we must be doing something right because we haven't had a shooting here. So I see that a lot. The trick for me is to get the staff engaged. And for parents, the goal would be to get the school board engaged and make sure they're doing the right thing. That's the whole purpose of the book. Now, also, maybe when it comes to parents choosing schools, is there any, let's say, must-haves in terms of security when people are choosing schools that they should look at? Well, if I was putting a child in a school, I would talk to the school and ask those questions that are in the book. What are you doing to protect my child? Are the doors locked during the day? Can someone walk into the school from the street? Those kinds of things. And parents even test that. They're looking at a new school, they should park in the parking lot and try to walk right into the school. And if they can walk into a classroom, that's a huge problem. All right, I think those are very valid points. So thank you so much, Wayne Black. Some points that are very much needed. I appreciate it. Pleasure, thank you. It does sound like a good read, Evelyn, especially the part about the very personal approach to ensuring student safety. Right, yeah, exactly. So better to make sure before you put your kid somewhere that the school is safe. All right, that's all for today's program. We have to leave it here. Write us if you would like at goodmorningatntd.com. That's our email address. Thanks for watching. I'm Evelyn Lee. And I'm Kevin Hogan. 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. 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