Speaker Johnson Meets Trump at Mar-a-Lago Amid House GOP Gridlock

Good evening and welcome to the Capitol Report on Entity Television. I'm Steve Lance. Here's a look at what's coming up. Integrity in the 2024 election. That's what former President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are discussing today at Mar-a-Lago. How the meeting could help the embattled speaker at a critical moment. In the House, voting to reauthorize and reform a key government surveillance tool following a dramatic showdown on the House floor over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans' data. And the Biden administration announcing another round of student loan cancellation. We'll have more on the amount and how many borrowers it could affect. And the House of Representatives has approved a bill renewing a controversial section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, otherwise known as FISA, despite opposition from some of the more conservative and progressive members of the chamber. And today's Washington correspondent, Luis Martinez, has more. The House of Representatives just passed the Reforming Intelligence Securing America Act, a bill that would see the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, an intelligence tool that allows the U.S. intelligence community to intercept communications of foreign nationals abroad, even if those communications incidentally intercept also communications with U.S. citizens. Let's listen to what House Republicans had to say about this important caveat. When it comes to the bill, obviously, if it doesn't have the warrant provisions in there, I won't support a bill that's going to continue to violate Fourth Amendment rights. It has 56 reforms in it that are important, some real teeth, to kind of get a handle on what the three-letter agencies have been doing, spying on the American people. The left flank of the Democratic Party also drew a line on requiring probable cause search warrants in order to intercept or incidentally intercept communications or data of American citizens. Let's listen to what House Democrats commented on this warrant. I'm OK with the amendments that will guarantee that the FBI and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies will not be searching through our garbage without a warrant. I think it's important for us to pass the amendment that is supported heavily by many progressives as well as actual conservatives. It's a bipartisan amendment. Earlier this week on Tuesday, Freedom Caucus members voted against the procedural vote to advance the reauthorization of FISA. On Friday, those same members voted in favor of moving forward with the procedural vote. I spoke earlier today with Representative Bob Good, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, and he defended the change in strategy. It was a win to go to two years instead of five years, which is what we accomplished with voting against the rule a couple of days ago because that means hopefully a new government, a new White House, a new Senate, and hopefully a House majority will have a chance to reform the bill even further to protect Americans' constitutional liberties. Congressman Matt Gaetz, the Republican from Florida, did not see the compromise as favorable for Americans. Every one of these members who voted against a warrant requirement, they are the deciding vote, they own it, and some of them may see me showing up in their districts very soon to campaign against them and to stand for the Constitution. It is important to note that the amendment proposed by Representative Andy Biggs from Arizona that would have required a warrant in order to intercept or incidentally intercept communications and data of American citizens did not pass the House floor, but that the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was approved for another two years. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Luis Eduardo Martinez, NTD News. And to get some perspective on those reforms that went into the bill and what might happen if it lapsed, I spoke with Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon. Congressman Don Bacon, thank you so much for joining us. My pleasure, thank you. Congressman, just duked it out there in the House chamber, finally got FISA passed through. You're on the Armed Services Committee, former Air Force general. From your perspective, what would it have meant had FISA lapsed for United States national security? That would have been terrible for national security. FISA, the 702 program, that's different than the Title I FISA. A lot of people conflate it, and that's part of the problem in this debate. Title I's more investigating for DOJ and FBI against Americans. This was focused on foreign adversaries. So the 702 FISA has done more to stop terrorism, strikes against America, and we know more and more about what Russia and China, Iran, North Korea. So 702 FISA is critical for our national security. Now, Speaker Johnson urged members that were up in the air or against it to go into the SCIF and get that classified briefing to find out why it's important. Do you think that this played a role for some of the more hardliners once they maybe got that classified briefing, like Bob Good, to loosen up on it? Yeah, I heard a few said it made a difference in their vote. I think part of this was demagogued to a bit, or maybe I think there was confusion because of the Title I FISA. But I also want to remind your listeners that what the Intelligence Committee did and the Judiciary Committee, they added 51 reforms to the 702 FISA here to ensure that the Fourth Amendment rights are further protected to the point where if an FBI agent violates it, he could go to jail. So that was added in there. So I think they did a good job trying to tighten it up, but yet preserve the capabilities of FISA. So I thought it was a good, well-balanced bill. And on the other end, on the First Amendment, you know, the argument was, well, if you send a note to a terrorist, you still got to get a, you know, a permission from the courts. If you're sending a note to a terrorist, we should know pretty quick. You know, the Fourth Amendment's unreasonable search and seizures, right? To me, if you're sending a note to Osama bin Laden or you're sending a note to Putin or whoever it may be, I think that's not unreasonable about what you're sending to a known terrorist. So that was actually going to be my next question for you. If you could maybe elaborate a little bit on some of those amendments and alterations just to kind of put people at ease that may have been afraid that it would be misused, but there are some fail-safes, you're saying. Well, there was 51 added protections put in by the Intelligence Committee and the Judiciary Committee that they agreed to. So the baseline bill was already much better than what we had. In fact, the 51 changes would have prevented what DOJ did to President Trump four years ago. So we felt good. The abuses that we know of, the changes that were made in the bill, attacked those violations and would prevent that happening again. So I think we should be monitoring this. So I voted for the amendment that we should get updates every quarter just to see that the FBI and the DOJ are adhering to the law. But the main issue was if you send an email to a known terrorist, should our intelligence be able to read that email? Or do we have to go through a court three or four days later and get permission? I think that's not an unreasonable search and seizure. Send an email to a known terrorist. Now, if they say, OK, that's a bad note, that guy looks very suspect, now you need to get approval from the courts to look at all your other emails and anything else that may be out there. That's what's in this current bill. And I think that's a fair balance and it protects our country. If this would have gone down, we would have been much more vulnerable to a terror strike. And I think the citizens would rightfully be unforgiving on that, that we would have failed in our basic duties. And here's the other thing. If it would have gone down, we would have had to extend the last FISA, which had no protections on it, right? Because it's so important for our national security to have FISA, the 702 FISA. You're chairman of the Quality of Life panel. You've just launched an initiative to really try to improve service members' quality of life. This is a bipartisan effort. Tell us about some of the work that you're doing here. We targeted a pay raise for E1 through E4, a 15% pay raise, which would get them above the staff level. We're going to reinstate that 5% of their housing allowance so they'll get 100% of their housing allowance. We're going to put money in barracks and dormitories. We're also going to examine the housing allowance. It's going to be more transparent. If we hit what the cost of that area is and we right-size that up, that's going to help out the people living off-base. But that money also goes to the on-base housing. So more money goes to the on-base housing. So we have a great plan. And our military men and women should know that Congress has their back. And we've had to sort of force the military on this. They were telling us everything's all right. What we found, we opened up the hood, and we said, no, it's not. Congressman Don Bacon, really great work. Appreciate it. Thanks. The Biden administration is saying today it is forgiving yet another round of student loan debt to the tune of $7.4 billion. The move will impact some 277,000 borrowers. It's part of a program enacted by the White House to make it easier for some specific groups of borrowers, like public sector workers, to qualify for loan forgiveness. The program also includes a repayment plan that creates a shorter pathway to loan forgiveness for many lower-income borrowers. Republicans have sharply criticized this program, arguing the president is transferring the cost of student loan debt to taxpayers who chose not to go to college or who already paid for it themselves. In total, the Biden administration has authorized the cancellation of $153 billion in student loan debt for nearly 4.3 million people. That's more than 9% of all outstanding federal student loan debt. And coming up, fears of an all-out war between Israel and Iran rising. We have more on the expected Iranian attack on Israel. And how far has the Chinese Communist regime gone in infiltrating the United States? The government's response is part of an upcoming congressional hearing. We'll bring you one of the expert witnesses set to join. That and more when we return. The tempting online world is encroaching on our campus. Is unplugging cables and confiscating phones the solution to protect our children? No, we just need a clean multimedia platform. Join Ganjing Campus to leverage premium channel features, professional development courses, and kindness event toolkits tailored for teachers. Build a truly positive and interactive classroom community. Foster a pure and delightful learning environment for children. Hi, I'm Susan Lucci. I never thought about heart disease until I had my own heart event. I had heard many times that heart disease is the number one killer. 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Former President Trump meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson for the first time since Trump clinched the GOP nomination. The two discussing election integrity as well as other important issues facing the nation. This at a critical moment for Johnson's speakership. Joining us now live is NTD's White House correspondent, Iris Tao. Good evening, Iris. What can you tell us about their meeting thus far? Good evening to you, Steve. So right now, former President Trump and Speaker Johnson are holding a press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. And the topic is supposed to be election integrity. But Trump started off the press conference by talking more about the border, including migrant crime that we have seen, cases recently. And also, he's been also talking about election interference and why the two issues are connected. Speaker Johnson says that's because, like Trump says, the rise of illegal immigrants might have contributed to the result of the 2020 election. And that is why Speaker Johnson is saying now, the speaker now saying that election integrity is tied to the lack of border security at the UN southern border. He further says that some states actually are prohibited from making a rule that makes people prove that they are a citizen before they get to vote. And that is exactly what Speaker Johnson this morning told reporters, that election integrity is the most important issue on Americans' mind right now. And also because this is the issue, and that's why we are trying to focus on it more. Meanwhile, all this is as former President Trump and Speaker Johnson are meeting at this crucial moment for Speaker Johnson's leadership. And that is as he's facing an ongoing threat from Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene to remove him. And tensions are growing, both over Speaker Johnson's handling of government funding, but also over the recent controversial FISA bill that just got passed today with Johnson's backing. And now that's a moment when Speaker Johnson really needs that public support from former President Trump. And the two now appearing together on the same podium shows some of that. And meanwhile, we're also seeing President Biden's campaign responding to today's meeting between Trump and Biden. Biden's campaign put out a statement citing the chairman of the House's January 6th committee saying that today's meeting is a sham meeting that again should remind the American public that Trump is a threat to democracy. And Biden's campaign also released a video saying that both Biden and Johnson hold extreme MAGA agenda, especially on abortion. Meanwhile, former President Trump today also responding to that, to a Biden attack, saying how Democrats are actually more extreme. Trump posted on True Social saying, quote, Democrats are the extremists. They support abortion up to the moment of birth. So we are now seeing this intense argument playing out between Trump and Biden over the issue of abortion from again today. Again, stating his stance on the Arizona Supreme Court ruling on a near total abortion, saying it went too far, adding that there should be at least three exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Steve. And Iris, tell us what President Biden and former President Trump are going to be up to next week. Sure. So both of them are really trying hard to win over some working class Americans. Trump will be campaigning in the battleground state of Pennsylvania tomorrow on Saturday. And that's exactly where President Biden will spend most of his next week campaigning as well. And right now we're also expecting Trump to be sitting in a courtroom in New York next week for his hush money trial next week. Steve. NTD's Iris Tao reporting live from the North Lawn of the White House. Thank you, Iris. And turning our attention now to the Middle East, where Israel is preparing for a potential direct attack on its homeland by the Iranian regime. President Biden today said the attack could come, quote, sooner than later, and warned Iran not to carry out the attack. We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel. And Iran will not succeed. Thank you very much. Two officials have told CBS News that the attack could include more than 100 drones and dozens of missiles. They would target Israeli military sites. Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel after an airstrike on its consulate in Syria that killed seven Iranian military officers, including a top general. The U.S. State Department issued a security alert telling its government personnel in Israel not to travel outside of major cities. Three U.S. officials also told Axios that Iran has warned the Biden administration not to get involved in the fighting. And back on Capitol Hill, Congressman Bob Good has introduced a bill called the Iran-China Accountability Act, which would prevent the Biden administration from entering into a nuclear agreement with Iran until Iran cuts its financial ties with China and proxy terrorist groups. Next week, a government commission on China will hold a hearing on the Chinese regime's involvement in the Middle East. In the Chinese Communist Party's relentless asymmetric methods to infiltrate and influence, the United States could be reaching a boiling point. From TikTok to Confucius Institutes, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is calling on federal agencies to allocate energy and resources to combat this infiltration. There will be a hearing next week on this very issue, and one of those witnesses who will be testifying is retired Lieutenant Colonel Grant Newsham. He joins us now. Grant Newsham, thank you so much for joining. Glad to be here. Thanks for having me. Happy to have you, Grant. Back on March 14th, Chairman of the Oversight Committee James Comer announced a government-wide investigation into the efforts of the CCP to infiltrate and influence the United States. You are actually going to be one of the expert witnesses in the first hearing next Wednesday. Tell us what you plan to bring there and raise at this hearing. Well, since it's the first hearing, what I'm hoping to get across is the extent of the Chinese political warfare influence effort in the United States to get across just how many fronts we are being attacked on. And this has been going on for 30 years at least, and it's good that now attention is being paid to this. To talk about some of those fronts, just two of them that come to mind right off the bat is our education system. Whether you talk about the Confucius Institutes, the United Front, we hear this word, it comes across as one of those inconspicuous names, the United Front. If you could break that down, as well as the threat from TikTok. The United Front refers to a really systematic Chinese government effort, communist Chinese government effort, to put together the various organizations in foreign countries that basically have been either suborned, subverted, or willingly go with the Chinese Communist Party and promote communist Chinese interests. And you will find these in the business world, education, community groups, just all over the place. And this is why it's referred to as the United Front. You're using these front organizations to sort of promote Chinese interests. As for TikTok, that is just a Chinese propagandist dream. And considering that you're trying to influence people mentally, you're trying to cognitively attack them to get them to think the way you want them to think, which is what good psychological operations or psychological warfare is, and that's one of the fronts on which the Chinese attack, TikTok is perfect. You have the ability to transmit 24-7 the message that you want to your target. And it's just ideal. And what you're also seeing as part of this is that U.S. government efforts in both the Trump administration and the Biden administration to rein in TikTok, even to shut it down, have been stymied and been stymied by American lobbyists and lawyers lined up right behind the TikTok CEO when he's testifying before Congress. And the Chinese are able to use lawfare, use the legal system, and the best lawyers, the best lobbyists to defend themselves against efforts to control the Chinese attacks on us. I just came back from Chicago, where I was investigating an incident that took place at Chicago O'Hare. The Shen Yun Performing Arts Group, who just returned from Europe to the United States. They're New York-based, many of them U.S. citizens, all of them here legally, if you will. And upon their return, there was what appeared to be a Customs and Border Protection officer of Chinese descent who started to give them a real hard time, saying that they were illegal here in the United States, just very hostile toward this group. Does this potentially speak to another level of infiltration, if indeed this person, this CBP officer, was acting at the behest of the Chinese Communist Party? No, definitely. If he was doing it directly or if he has been influenced to think this way, really to get them to behave in just a despicable way that would deserve firing that would have been done in any other situation. Suppose that another ethnic group working for Customs said this about a racial minority. He would be fired the next day. But it shows just how thoroughgoing the Chinese influence effort is. And to date, it has not been addressed very effectively. And hearings like this one that are coming are very good in the sense that they shine light on it. They expose what's going on. And that is often a good first step to dealing with it. And particularly in the case of the upcoming hearings, the idea is also to eventually, in subsequent hearings, to understand what U.S. government agencies are actually doing to combat Chinese influence, Chinese political warfare. Thank you so much for joining us. No, thanks very much. A former U.S. diplomat is waiting to be sentenced today. This coming after he admitted to serving as a secret agent for communist Cuba for decades. 73-year-old Manuel Roca was arrested in Miami last December. He reportedly worked for the State Department from 1981 to 2002. By the year of 2000, he began to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia. Prosecutors say Roca had traveled to Cuba several times to meet with intel operatives while there. They allege he's been acting as a spy for over 40 years. Roca is expected to plead guilty. And for around-the-clock original news coverage, visit us at NTD.com and download our NTD app. That is all we have for you this evening on The Capitol Report. Thank you for watching. From the nation's capital, I'm Steve Lance. Have a great weekend. See you back here Monday.