Rep. Jim Jordan Confirms His Bid for House Speaker; 75,000 Kaiser Employees Start Historic Strike

What's happening in the world coming up on NTD News, first our top stories. The fight for House speakership coming into shape as the first congressman announces his bid. Who is he and how the former president responds to calls for him to be the speaker. Former President Trump returned to the courthouse today in the New York fraud trial and made some explosive comments before entering. Find out what he said. The largest healthcare worker strike in U.S. history, 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers walk off the job. Millions of COVID-19 test kits destined for American homes are made in China. Find out how we got here. Requirements for food stamps are changing. It's now more difficult for some to qualify. We show you how the changes can possibly affect you. Welcome to NTD News today. I'm Chris Beers, our top news. Congressman Jim Jordan this morning became the first lawmaker to publicly throw their hat in the ring to become the next House speaker. That's after a surprising twist last night when former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced he would not run again. Joining us now live is NTD's Iris Tao on Capitol Hill. Iris, who could be the next speaker and what are we expecting to see here? Good afternoon to you, Chris. So House Republicans have until next Tuesday to decide on the candidates to run for the speaker and they could have a vote on the next speaker as early as next Wednesday. And just this morning, Republican Congressman Jim Jordan told reporters that he would run for the next speaker and he became the first one to announce such a bid. He is a close ally to former President Trump and also the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. In fact, just yesterday, when he was first asked, he was undecided. But now, after McCarthy announced that he would not run again, there you go. He has the answer. And actually, there's another likely candidate right now that we're looking at. And he is the House Majority Leader, Congressman Steve Scalise, who's also started to make calls to gauge how much support he has among lawmakers. But one thing to note here is that he was recently diagnosed with cancer. But he said that was treatable, but it remains to be seen how much of that health factor could affect his chances here. Chris. It seems like we'll soon see a face-off between the two, if not more Republicans. Actually, some are also floating the idea of Trump becoming the next speaker. How is that looking? And, of course, another big question we're looking at here is whether former President Trump would run for the speakership as well. Even just this morning, he responded to calls asking him to run for speaker. And saying that, actually, he's leaving it an open question. For example, he said that he's still focused on running for the president, but it remains an open question about whether he would make such a step to run for the speaker as well. Let's take a look. A lot of people have asked me about it. I'm focused. You know, we're leaving. I don't know you. I'm sure you don't read too much. But we're leaving. My life. 50 points for president. You know, my focus is totally on that. If I can help them during the process, I would do it. But we have some great people in the Republican Party that could do a great job as speaker. Before I let you go here, Iris, can you give us a recap of what happened yesterday? So last night, eight Republicans voted with all Democrats to oust McCarthy from his speakership position. And that was Congressman Matt Gaetz, who initiated the motion to vacate McCarthy. And he told me that he believes McCarthy hasn't done a good enough job in cutting spending and that replacing him with another lawmaker could potentially strengthen the conservative cause. And McCarthy defended himself last night in a press conference where he also surprisingly announced that he would not run again for speaker. Let's take a look. I do not regret negotiating. Our government is designed to find compromise. I don't regret my efforts to build coalitions and find solutions. I was raised to solve problems, not create them. So I may have lost a vote today, but as I walk out of this chamber, I feel fortunate to have served the American people. So so far as of this morning, the speaker's office still bears McCarthy's name, but it remains to be seen how many or who, which lawmakers will jump into the race in the coming days. Back to you. All right. Thank you very much, Iris. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she was ordered to vacate her office in the Capitol Building. That seems to be the first move by acting House Speaker Patrick McHenry after taking over the gavel. The notice was sent last night via an email from McHenry's office to Pelosi's. It said the office will be reassigned for speaker use and told Pelosi to have her things out by Wednesday. Pelosi, who will maintain her regular office in the Cannon House office building, called the eviction a sharp departure from tradition. It's day three in the financial fraud trial of former President Trump. Reporter Arlene Richards is on the ground with the latest. Thank you, Chris. Former President Trump was shaking his head as Judge Arthur Engeron entered the courtroom. And outside of the courtroom, Trump said this. Under 6312, you are not entitled to a jury. It's the first time it's ever been used for a purpose like this. It's never been used. They used it on me, the former president, the leading candidate. I'm leading Joe Biden by a lot, which is probably why this is all happening. Not probably. It's definitely. They're coordinating with Washington. The state's first witness, Donald Bender, entered the courtroom today to resume his testimony. Bender is a certified public accountant who used to work for the Trump Organization. He has testified that the Trump Organization was solely responsible for all of the valuations on the financial statements that he reviewed and finalized. Earlier today, he testified that he also advised and oversaw several Trump properties for more than 30 years, and that he also helped the Trumps with several business matters. Chris, back to you. Thank you, Arlene. A federal appeals court has expanded the limits on the Biden administration's communications with social media companies. The court now says a ruling will also apply to a top U.S. cybersecurity agency. The ruling came last month from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, located in New Orleans. It severely limits the ability of the administration to communicate with social media companies, specifically on content related to COVID and elections that the government views as misinformation. The previous ruling applied to the White House, the Surgeon General, the CDC, and the FBI. Now, in a new opinion, the court says it also applies to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. That agency is charged with protecting non-military networks from hacking and other homeland security threats. Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Carrie Lake has filed papers to make a run for a U.S. Senate seat. Lake is an ally of former President Trump. She ran for Arizona governor last year, but lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs. Her year-long court battle to get the election overturned was also unsuccessful. Kyrsten Sinema currently holds the seat as an independent. Lake's entry into the race will make it a three-candidate election if Sinema runs again. Lake is expected to announce her candidacy officially next week. Violent crime is rising in D.C., and the carjacking of Congressman Henry Cuellar is the latest flashpoint. We speak to the president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, Jason Johnson, for his take on rising juvenile crime in the nation's capital. Jason Johnson, thank you for joining us. Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar was carjacked at gunpoint by three of what he called young pups. Violent crime is up in D.C., especially among juveniles, and especially carjacking. What's driving this? Well, you know, I think this is a narrative that we're seeing play out across the country. D.C., in particular, has been hard hit this year in crime, and in juvenile crime in particular. Carjacking is a crime that is really associated with juveniles. Most carjackings are committed by juveniles, typically groups of juveniles. The answer as to what is driving this, I think, is the general sense that those in public safety leadership, including prosecutors, attorneys general, and so forth, don't seem interested in cities, including the District of Columbia, in holding young people accountable for the crimes that they commit. They kind of dismiss it as kids being kids, but, you know, when you have a gun pointed in your face and someone taking your car from you or you're being assaulted or robbed, the age of the perpetrator doesn't much matter. And the idea that we can just sort of laugh it off and say it's just kids being kids or these are just young pups, I think it misses the mark. Now, this kind of builds on that Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwab said, I do not believe we make our city safer by arresting and locking away youthful criminal offenders. Your response? Well, that's exactly the problem. That helps me make my point that that's the general attitude we see in prosecutors in cities that are struggling most with crime. The District of Columbia, just this year, has seen an increase in homicides of 38 percent. It wasn't all that long ago the District of Columbia had fewer than 100 homicides in a year and now we find ourselves, you know, a decade later trying to keep it under 300. Robberies are up 68 percent this year in the district and motor vehicle thefts are up over 100 percent in the District of Columbia. So I would suggest to D.C.'s attorney general that he reevaluate his priorities and take a look at the impact on public safety that youthful offenders are having. Now, since in this case it was a lawmaker that was carjacked, do you expect that Congress will make tackling crime in D.C. a priority? I mean, is there anything they can even do about it? Well, you know, the District of Columbia is unique because Congress actually has oversight in the operation of the D.C. government in certain aspects. And so I think that there is an opportunity here to exercise some oversight. Congress has done it in the past. They've helped to hold the D.C. City Council in check when it attempted to impose very pro-criminal policies into the D.C. code. And it could do so again. I think, you know, members of Congress have a special interest because many of them live at times in the District of Columbia and they have their families visit them and so forth. And they must be paying attention to what is going on in public safety in the district. If they aren't, they really should, regardless of party. This is our nation's capital. It needs to be safe. The idea that we're projecting the image around the world, in addition to every other type of dysfunction that we may have in our country right now, that we have a nation's capital that just isn't even safe to visit. All right. Jason Johnson, thank you very much. Thank you. President Joe Biden is canceling another $9 billion in student loan debt. This comes just days after payments resumed following a three-year pause. The White House says it's conducting fixes to what it calls a broken student loan system. After an audit, it was able to use existing debt relief programs to help 125,000 borrowers, totaling the $9 billion. Since Biden has been in office, the White House says it has canceled $127 billion of debt for nearly 3.6 million borrowers. Millions of made-in-China COVID test kits are making their way into American homes. The White House is offering free COVID-19 test kits for the fifth time. The program allows each U.S. household to order up to four free tests online. The Department of Health and Human Services says it has awarded $600 million to 12 domestic COVID test manufacturers. HHS hopes to produce 200 million tests to replenish government stockpiles, but more than half of the funding has flowed to companies connected to China. Test manufacturer iHealth won a $167 million contract from HHS. The company is the California subsidiary of Andon, a medical device supplier based in China. California-based CoreDx also got an HHS contract. Parent company CoreDx Union is part of the Beijing Entrepreneur Culture Group. Two businesses are being sued for firing workers who sought religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. A government agency alleges that both denied the requests without explanation. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing UnitedHealthcare Services and Hanks Furniture. The agency says both businesses violated federal law when denying the exemptions and firing the workers. Businesses are required by law to accommodate a worker's religious practice, as long as there's no undue hardship for the employer. The government said in 2021 businesses could impose COVID-19 vaccine mandates, but added that they would need to prove religious and medical accommodations to employees. The Supreme Court is hearing a dispute today about the Americans with Disabilities Act. The landmark legislation aims to shield individuals with disabilities from discrimination in public accommodations and other settings. The justices will consider whether a self-appointed tester can sue hotels over alleged violations of the law. Disability rights advocate Debra Laufer brought hundreds of lawsuits against hotels for not complying with ADA rules. The complaints are in an effort to force the hotels to act. Legal experts say this strategy, known as testing, is necessary to ensure enforcement of the law, but the company involved says that the executive branch is duty. The federal government allegedly dropping off immigrants in Tennessee. The state attorney general is now suing to get more information about the plan. We have that and more after the break. And Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pushing for a new tax on the top 5% of New York earners. More in just a moment here on NTD News Today. Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra coming to Lincoln Center, David Geffen Hall, October 22nd. Tickets at ShenYunSymphony.com. Don't be screwed by lesser spine institutes who bait you with minimally invasive procedures. 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Visit AceYourRetirement.org and answer a few questions from Avo, 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. You've been lied to, but here's the scary part. It's not going to stop. Let's just take the amino acids, the fats, from another source and recreate those. We're taking the animal entirely out of the equation. The vegan diet is everywhere. Now we're being told that having a fake product is better than a natural product. And this is coming from the people who used to tell you natural is better. Follow the science. Yeah, I'm cherry picking only the science that exists. You don't change your ways right now. The planet is going to end in two years. We're going to have to change the way we eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Do they care about the environment or our health or is this just purely economical on their part? We love animals. We love Cecil the lion. Because you became vegan, because you're eating fake meat, does that mean a sentient being didn't die? Well, guess what? There's no free lunch. Welcome back. In the largest health care worker strike in U.S. history, tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers walk off the job. Here with us live is NTD Business' Don Ma. Don, what's the latest here? Yeah, so just a few hours ago, unionized employees of Kaiser Permanente started the strike. And this strike could involve more than 75,000 employees. Negotiations between the union and Kaiser Permanente continued into Wednesday. But it seems like no deal has yet been reached. The striking employees total about 40 percent of Kaiser Permanente staff. The strike will target Kaiser hospitals and medical offices all across the country. You know, that's places like California, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia, District of Columbia and Washington State. Kaiser Permanente health care workers are expected to strike at dozens of locations across the U.S. So the strike is temporary. Kaiser Permanente workers will return to work on October 7th at 9 a.m. Eastern time. Chris, which states will be impacted the most, Don? Or the union has workers in hundreds of hospitals across California, Oregon, Washington State, Colorado, Virginia, Washington, D.C. You know, but even so, about 60 percent of Kaiser's workforce would remain on the job. In fact, this is because Georgia, Hawaii and most of Washington State would not be affected, though in Virginia and Washington, D.C., only optometrists and pharmacists would go on strike. Now, the impact on patients in California, Colorado, Oregon and part of Washington State would actually be more substantial compared to others. And what will be the impact on patients? The health care company Kaiser says that hospitals and emergency departments will actually stay open and that the company has made contingency plans in place before this to ensure members actually continue to receive safe, high quality, high quality care for the duration of the strike. Now, during the strike, it may expand its network to include non-Kaiser Permanente hospitals. If patients need or need to be redirected to or transferred, a non-emergency and elective services may have to be rescheduled, though. But it will contact patients in advance if it's needed. So on top of that, doctors, hospital managers and registered nurses will not be taking part in the strike. The striking workers include vocational nurses, emergency department technicians, radiology technicians, x-ray technicians, respiratory therapists, among others, and hundreds of other positions as well. Kaiser Permanente currently services nearly 13 million patients and operates around 39 hospitals and more than 600 medical offices across across states and the District of Columbia. So there's definitely going to be impact, it just remains to be seen what the severity will be, Chris. All right. Thank you very much, Don. Thank you. Food stamps are now harder to get for some. The government is raising the age limit, making it harder to qualify for certain ages. It used to be that people 52 years old and older had easier requirements. Now that's only for people 54 and older. This is for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The younger age group has to prove they work at least 80 hours per month, are in school, or are involved in a training program. That's if they are able-bodied without dependents. Before those criteria only applied to people under the age of 52. At the same time, people who already get SNAP and still qualify will see their benefits increase. The maximum allotment for a family of four in the lower 48 states is now just over $970. Picking up illegal immigrants in Louisiana and dropping them off in Tennessee. That's what Tennessee is accusing the federal government of doing. The state has now filed a lawsuit against immigration agencies. ICE allegedly plans to transport thousands of immigrants from detention facilities in Louisiana and release them into Tennessee. Tennessee filed a Freedom of Information Act request to learn more about the plan. However, both ICE and Homeland Security allegedly ignored the request. Tennessee's Attorney General on Monday filed a lawsuit alleging failure to comply with the request. The AG says the reported plan poses a safety risk to the people of Tennessee. That's because some of the immigrants might have a criminal background. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is advocating for a new tax on the top 5% of New York earners. AOC and the New York City Democratic Socialists aren't just targeting billionaires and millionaires anymore. According to an Empire Center public policy analysis, the proposed 7.5% tax would hit households earning $250,000 or more. New York's current tax rate for those earning between $160,000 and $320,000 is a little over 6%. New York already has some of the highest taxes in the country. The Empire State has lost a large chunk of its tax base in recent years. Hundreds of thousands of residents have left the state for places like Florida and Texas. A suburban Detroit mayor faces federal bribery charges. He allegedly demanded $50,000 to facilitate the sale of city property. The indictment says the mayor of Inkster, Michigan, Patrick Wimberly, accepted the bribes from September 2022 to April 2023. Prosecutors say the bribes began at $5,000 per month until Wimberly demanded more when they increased to $10,000. Wimberly faces up to 10 years in prison. A $250,000 fine is convicted. He's running for re-election this November. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs says she is terminating state land leases for a Saudi-owned farm. The lease has provided the farm with nearly unfettered access to pump groundwater in the dry southwestern state for years. Hobbs said yesterday that the state had canceled Fondamonte Arizona's lease in western Arizona, Butler Valley. Fondamonte Arizona is a subsidiary of Saudi dairy giant Alamari. The company grows alfalfa in Arizona that feeds livestock in the water-stressed Gulf Kingdom. The company acquired the land in 2014. The worsening drought in Arizona has brought renewed attention to the company's water use and broader issues surrounding foreign-owned farms and groundwater pumping. Current Arizona law permits almost unlimited pumping from underground aquifers in rural areas. A spokesperson for the company said it would appeal the decision. Netflix may raise prices a few months after the Hollywood Actors Strike ends, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources. The journal reports fees are likely to go up in the U.S. and Canada, followed by several global markets. It's unclear when that could happen or what the revised plans might cost. Netflix says it's already making more off customers by cracking down on password sharing and ending its Basic Plan. For now, customers can stream with ads or pay up to $20 a month. They have to pay extra to put a non-household member on an account. Have you watched TV with your kids lately? That may be getting harder to do. The Parents Television and Media Council found mature content significantly outweighs PG-rated content on TV, making it harder to find programs suitable for the whole family. We speak with the vice president of the organization about their new report. Melissa Henson, thank you so much for joining us. The Parents Television and Media Council just released a report looking at original TV programming on streaming platforms. What did you find? Well, I think if you talk to any parent, there's a perception that there just isn't a lot out there that they can watch with their families. And what our report found is that that is not just a perception problem. That is the reality. If you look at the major streaming services out there today, and that includes things like Netflix, Paramount+, Max, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Peacock, we find that there's almost 270% more mature-rated content than there is content that's suitable for family viewing. Wow. That's significant. Now, I'm too young to remember Little House on the Prairie, but those who do tell me that it's a very wholesome show. Are there any programs out there like this right now? There are very few and very far between. In fact, you could probably exhaust the entire inventory of family-rated or content that's rated appropriate for family viewing across all the major streaming platforms in a matter of weeks. I mean, you could count the number of programs that are available for family viewing on two hands and two feet, and that's about it. There's just a real lack of interest, unfortunately, on the part of these streamers in programming for family audiences. And it's to their own detriment, I believe, because you see survey data that indicates that families do view watching TV together as an important way to bond, as a valued way to spend time together. What does the fact that we have so much content aimed at mature audiences say about how we value children and families in society? I think it shows that we undervalue families, and I think it's to the streamer's detriment that they're not programming with families in mind, because what we know is that families do tend to hang on to these subscription services longer than single adults, for example. Single adults will tend to subscribe to a service, binge watch their favorite show, and then drop it within a matter of days or weeks. So there's a high rate of churn among young single adults. You don't tend to see that as much with families. They will hold on to those subscription services longer because they value being able to find content that their kids can watch. Now, what will it be like if we continue devaluing families? I mean, what's the impact of this on society? Yeah, well, I think we're already starting to see the impact of this. We're seeing more fragmentation within the home. You know, you will often have, you know, if the family's all together in the house of an evening, kids are on their phones doing one thing, maybe mom and dad are watching the news in another room. So the family is spread out. They're isolating. They're not spending that time together. They're all doing their own thing instead of spending time together. And I think if you look at the current mental health crisis facing teens in America in particular these days, I think a lot of this could be linked to a sense of disconnectedness within their communities, within their households, within their families. So I think programming for families could alleviate a lot of these social problems that we are seeing right now. All right. Melissa Henson, vice president of the Parents Television and Media Council. Thank you. Americans shouldn't have to wait as long for their passports anymore. The State Department reports its processing time has been reduced by about two weeks on average. But that doesn't mean you can wait until the last minute. It still takes eight to 11 weeks to get a passport, but that's down from 10 to 13. Expedited service has gone down to five to seven weeks from seven to nine. The reason is because the State Department has boosted staffing by 10 percent. All that extra help enabled the agency to break a record by issuing 24 million passports since last October. It's also hiring hundreds more workers. And if you have any news tips or feedback for the show, please feel free to email us at news.today at ntd.com. Coming up, are Chinese authorities implicit in Latin American crime? A report says criminals from the country are backing cartels, drugs and trafficking in the region. And NATO's weapons stockpiles are depleting. It's now calling on the arms industry to significantly ramp up production. We'll have the details soon when we return. When I drink it, the first thing was it, I feel the warmth in my, in my tummy. 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Toddlers are suffering from acute malnutrition, which stunts their growth. Kids are forced to drop out of school so they can help support their families. COVID, conflict, inflation and climate have ignited the worst famine in our lifetime. And we're fed up. Fed up with the fact that hunger robs children of their childhood. Fed up with the lack of progress. Fed up with the injustice. Help us brighten the lives of children all over the world by visiting GetFedUpNow.org. For as little as $10 a month, you can join Save the Children as we support children and families in desperate need of our help. Now is the time to get fed up and give back. When you join the cause, your $10 monthly donation can help communities in need of life-saving treatments and nutrients. Prevent children from dropping out of school. Support our work with communities and governments to help children go from short-term surviving to long-term thriving. 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Taiwan will elect a new president in January. The Chinese regime has been accused of trying to boost the chances of pro-Beijing candidates through media campaigns. Meanwhile, three fishermen died when a Philippine fishing boat collided with an oil tanker. The accident occurred near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, a flashpoint for tensions between the Philippines and China. The Philippine Coast Guard suspects the tanker was a Marshall Islands-registered vessel. Authorities will investigate and contact the vessel, which was en route to Singapore. Over to Indonesia, TikTok is suspending its online shopping service there following the country's new ban on social media e-commerce. TikTok first piloted its online store in Indonesia in 2021. The new ban aims to protect merchants from predatory pricing on social media platforms. It's unclear whether TikTok will create a separate e-commerce platform, as Indonesia is one of its largest markets. India has told Canada to withdraw 41 of its 62 diplomats, that's according to a report by Britain's Financial Times. It follows a recent row between the two countries over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader. Canada says it wants private talks with India to resolve the conflict. Canadian officials didn't respond when asked if the report was accurate. Heading to mainland China, authorities are turning a blind eye to corruption between their country and Latin America and the Caribbean. And the officials could even be reaping benefits from it. That's according to a recent investigative article from Dialgo Americus, a magazine published by the U.S. Southern Command. NTD's Tiffany Meyer has the story. The paper cites the region's high rates for violent crime and corruption. Those issues are linked to transnational criminal organizations. But the paper suggests one group has far more influence there than the rest, Chinese criminal networks. It outlines four main illegal activities committed by the China-based groups over the past decade. Including fentanyl precursors to Mexico, using the flying money laundering method, convergence or illegally trafficking wildlife alongside other serious crimes, and smuggling illegal Chinese immigrants through Latin America en route to the U.S. The paper says the evidence does not directly link the Chinese regime to the activity. To help fight the crimes, the report offering up several suggestions. Urging lawmakers in Latin America and the Caribbean to reconsider visa policy for Chinese nationals. Urging Beijing to take down websites that sell fentanyl precursors. And block social media platforms that promote illegal migration. And encouraging the U.S. to boost police cooperation with the region and use A.I. to get ahead of traffickers. And now some short headlines from around the world. EU lawmakers are reining in big tech on Tuesday. They voted for draft rules targeting Google, Meta, and other large online platforms. It says they can only take down content after 24 hours. And they must notify users of the intention to delete or restrict content. That's if the content breaches moderation rules. This comes after some media outlets complained about the online platforms making arbitrary decisions. Over in Russia, a court has sentenced a former state TV journalist to eight and a half years in jail. That's for protesting the Ukraine war on television just after the invasion began. She burst into a news broadcast with a placard that read, stop the war and they're lying to you. The journalist and her daughter left Russia for an unspecified European country a year ago after escaping house arrest. NATO is sounding the alarm about depleted weapons stockpiles that's as concerns grow over Ukraine's weapons supplies. NATO says prices for weapons went up before the war already, but now it's gotten worse. We started to give away from half full or lower warehouses in Europe and therefore the bottom of the barrel is now visible. And we need the industry to ramp up production in a much higher tempo. Ukraine is currently pressing on with a slow moving counter offensive it launched three months ago. That's as uncertainty grows over the scale of the future supply of weapons and ammunition from its Western allies. Over the weekend, the U.S. Congress voted not to provide any new aid to Ukraine in the temporary funding bill. Staying on the topic of military aid, France has agreed to supply Armenia with military equipment. French officials say that's to help ensure Armenia's defenses. Armenia is in conflict with the country of Azerbaijan. Russia backed Armenia in the conflict, however, Russia appeared to abandon the country over the last few weeks. France and its Western allies now fear that Armenia and its government could be destabilized. And lastly, tragic news out of Italy. 21 people are dead and more are injured after a bus crash. The incident happened last night in Northern Italy near Venice. The bus was carrying tourists from all over Europe when it veered off the road and fell close to railway lines. Officials said the vehicle fell around 50 feet onto electricity lines and caught fire. The driver, who also died, was reportedly feeling sick before the crash. Coming up, does artificial intelligence have a place in the classroom? It seems students and teachers have different expectations. And artificial intelligence is behind an art exhibition in Kuwait. Artists debate how to use the technology and if it's as good as handmade works. More shortly here on NTD News Today. 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. 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Politicians make laws, CEOs make profits, but now that's all changing. A movement has been growing to unite corporations, governments, and global institutions. Its purpose is to deal with issues like climate change, racism, inequality, and gun control. It is called ESG. How does it work, and how will it change our lives? Are we bending Wall Street to our will, or are we the ones who will be manipulated? Life doesn't always give you time to change the outcome. Pre-diabetes does. With early diagnosis, pre-diabetes can be reversed. Take the one-minute pre-diabetes risk test today. Go to doihaveprediabetes.org. Welcome back. If you're just joining us now, here are some of today's top headlines. Representative Jim Jordan announced his candidacy for Speaker of the House after Kevin McCarthy said he wouldn't run again. Another expected candidate is House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. It's day three of Trump's financial fraud trial. The former president's accountant returns for a second day of testimony. He said he was involved in overseeing numerous Trump properties, and that he advised the Trumps on several business matters. In the largest healthcare worker strike in U.S. history, tens of thousands of workers walk off the job. More than 75,000 employees of Kaiser Permanente are involved. The White House offers free COVID-19 test kits once again. But millions of made-in-China COVID test kits are going to be part of the supply. Eligibility requirements for food stamps are changing. People between the ages of 52 and 54 now also have to prove that they're working part-time or going to school. previously only applied to people under the age of 52. Artificial intelligence in the classroom is causing controversy among students, teachers, and principals. British technology experts say teachers need guidance to understand what qualifies as cheating. NTD's Andrew Thomas has more on AI in academia. These high school students are prepping for a new school year. Most have few or no concerns at all about using AI for homework and other assignments. But a survey by UK firm RM Technology says teachers aren't so sure. The education and tech advisory company surveyed 500 high school teachers. 9% of teachers couldn't tell the difference between student and AI-produced work. 41% of educators said they wanted better regulation of AI. Just over a third wanted government intervention. At leading Swedish university Lund, professors decide which students can use AI. So we didn't want a ban, so instead we've got permissive approaches which you can use it as long as you're certain that the assessment is valid, which by that we mean it tests the outcomes that we meant it to test, and that it's secure. Tools like ChatGPT use AI to generate anything from essays to videos to mathematical calculations. The tech is so good that its products mimic human work. And I think we just have to have more discussion with students now about what is it that we want to assess, why we want them to learn how to do something, and we're not actually that worried about that snapshot piece of work that they hand in, it's how did they get there that's important. UNESCO has just launched the first global guidance on generative AI in education and academic research. As AI evolves, policies will likely have to change to keep up. Andrew Thomas, NTD News. Is AI art stifling creativity or enabling it? An exhibition at an art and culture center in Kuwait is showcasing artwork entirely created by artificial intelligence. NTD's Andrew Thomas has the details. In Kuwait, artificial intelligence is behind all of these paintings on display. The AI takes sentences or words, then creates a picture. Yaber Al-Qadari is the owner of an AI app behind the exhibition. It is just text that you enter. You enter the text into the program, whatever text you want, and whatever comes to your mind. The AI application creates it and shows you the result, whether it is a drawing, design, fashion, or anything you have in mind, in terms of content in general or art. But this artist isn't convinced AI-generated art is as good as the real thing. There are people who support it, and there are people against it. I am neither for nor against. I have an opinion, which is if this revolution comes, it means we will dispense with creativity, and there will be no creativity, because creativity does not come from technology, but rather comes from the human being himself. Mohammed believes AI is an effective way to create lots of paintings, but he doesn't believe it represents an artistic process. Let us talk about Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Picasso, and other artists who created and left many impressions, colors, art, and creative leaps for their era, and for the ages to come. These did not require technology in order for works or ideas to be created to these levels and standards. The organizers of the exhibition believe that AI enhances, rather than stifles, creativity. Currently there are many artists who use artificial intelligence with their art and ideas, and come up with things in which they can be creative, because sometimes you have an idea and want to draw, but you cannot implement the idea. Artificial intelligence is currently helping you with the subject, and vice versa. AI technology is improving rapidly in a range of areas, and the debate about its role will be on the minds of artists and creatives. If you're suffering from an enlarged prostate, these tips may help. Here's NTD's Gina Marie with Strong Mind and Body. If you're a man over 50, you almost surely know someone living with an enlarged prostate. Maybe that someone is you. For reasons still not completely understood, the walnut-shaped gland under the bladder grows gradually in adult men. Throughout life, that growth can be considerable, and many may even get large enough to obstruct the bladder. When this happens, it can create a host of symptoms. An enlarged prostate can lead to weak urine stream, difficulty completely emptying the bladder, frequent trips to the bathroom, and urgency to get to the bathroom. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, it's advised you speak with a doctor about how to proceed. A physical examination and a blood test can help to determine the best way forward. Regardless of how you choose to proceed with your doctor, there are always ways to manage the symptoms. Here are some options. Avoid drinking any fluid within two hours of bedtime. Limit fluid intake before going out in public or taking a trip. Head to the bathroom when the urge to go first arises. Try going to the bathroom on a timed schedule, such as every three hours, and take the time to empty your bladder regardless of how long it takes. This will reduce the need for follow-up trips to the bathroom. Pay attention to medications you are taking. Typical over-the-counter drugs, such as antihistamines or decongestants, may slow your urine stream. They may even block your ability to empty your bladder. Doing your best to manage an enlarged prostate may help you to get better sleep and have more control over your life. And that's all for today's news, thank you for tuning in, I'm Chris Beers.