NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 30)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story tonight, the FBI tells Congress it has yet to find a motive behind the attempted assassination of former President Trump. Luis Martinez brings us highlights from today's joint Senate hearing, dueling campaign ads and competing rally locations. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump rolling out new strategies. President Biden says he's involved in a key part of the Harris campaign. Iris Tao reports. President Biden has announced a plan to place more oversight on members of the Supreme Court. But can he accomplish his goals before his term ends? Arlene Richards reviews why Biden is pushing the plan and what it will take for him to succeed. Protests in Venezuela are escalating following allegations of a rigged election. How President Biden is now getting involved. Arian Pazdar is in South America with exclusively obtained footage, and the Israeli defense forces have reportedly struck the capital of Lebanon. Is a war now inevitable between the two countries? Jason Perry has the war update. This is NTD Evening News live from our NTD global headquarters in New York City. Here is Tiffany Meyer. Good evening, and thank you for joining us tonight. The Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees held a joint hearing to examine the security failures leading to the attempted assassination of former President Trump. Senators heard testimony from the Secret Service acting director and FBI deputy director. Our Washington correspondent, Luis Martinez, has more on this story. The Senate's Homeland Security Chairman Senator Gary Peters called the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump an attack on democracy. So let me let me be clear. This was an attack on our democracy. Americans should be able to attend a political rally and express their political beliefs without without fear of violence. The Republican ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham, insisted that accountability is necessary for change to be enacted. If this happened in the military, a lot of people would be fired. And if a lot of people not fired, the system failed yet again. We need to learn what happened, make corrective action, but somebody's gotta be fired. Nothing's gonna change until somebody loses their job. U. S. Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe uses opening remarks to debunk conspiracy theories and apologize for the lack of timely transparency. I regret that information was not passed to Congress in the public sooner with greater frequency. The Secret Service counter sniper neutralized the assailant within seconds after the assailant fired his weapon. That counter sniper had full discretion to use deadly force to stop an attacker and did not need to seek authorization to fire. FBI Deputy Director Paul Abate did not give any evidence of the shooter's possible motive, but did comment on possible leads that the investigation is following. While the investigation has not determined motive, the investigative team continues to review information. Something just very recently uncovered that I want to share is a social media account which is believed to be associated with this with the shooter. Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect anti semitic and anti immigration themes. Over two weeks after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the FBI has revealed that they have not been able to access all the information in the shooter's phone. Reporting from Washington D. C. Luis Eduardo Martinez N. T. D. News. The leader of Project 2025 is now stepping down amid criticism from former President Trump's campaign. It comes as both of Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris step up messaging efforts to define their candidacies. And he needs White House correspondent Iris Tao has the details. The Heritage Foundation led Project 2025 is a book of policy proposals that lays out a sweeping governing agenda for a potential second Trump term. Democrats have made it central to their attacks on the Trump campaign, labeling it as extreme. Former President Trump himself has also tried to distance himself from it. Today, the director of Project 2025 says he's stepping down and that the project will end its policy work. The Trump campaign welcomed that, saying in a statement that Project 2025 had nothing to do with the campaign and that his demise would be greatly welcomed. But Harris's campaign is insisting that Project 2025 quote is Donald Trump's policy agenda. And here's a clip of how the Hoppen issue has come up in just recent days. Watch. So Project 2025 is a plan to return America to a dark past. And they come up with this. I don't know what the hell it is. It's Project 25. And they keep saying he's a threat to democracy. I'm saying, What the hell did I do for democracy? Last week I took a bullet for democracy. It's not clear if Project 2025 would stop appearing the two campaigns back and forth arguments, but both campaigns are ramping up their messaging efforts. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump both launching dueling ad campaigns and battleground states today, with Harris is highlighting her experience as a prosecutor, while Trump highlighting Harris's record on the border. As a prosecutor, she put murderers and abusers behind bars as California's attorney general. She went after the big banks over 10 million illegally here, a quarter of a million Americans dead from federal brutal migrant crimes. And tonight Harris is holding a campaign rally in Atlanta. Former President Trump also announced that he's holding another rally with J. D. Vance, his VP pick at the same exact spot Georgia State University this weekend. Meanwhile, more news regarding Harris's potential VP pick Harris reporters today that she has not yet made her selection. And last night, President Biden said he's talking with Harris about it. And the pool for Harris's VP pick is narrowing. As Michigan Governor Gretchen Wimmer said, she's not part of the vetting. And as North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said he had taken himself out of consideration, Harris is expected to make her announcement sometime next week. Reporting from the White House, Iris Howe, A. P. D. News. President Biden on Monday announced a plan for sweeping changes to the Supreme Court, but implementing the plan doesn't seem to be under the president's control. N. T. D. S. Arlene Richards reviews the origins of the plan and where it may be headed on Monday, President Biden proposed sweeping changes to the U. S. Supreme Court to include an 18 year term limit instead of a lifetime tenure and a binding code of ethics that would require the justices to make disclosures about gifts and more actively recuse themselves from cases. This idea by President Joe Biden is bad. Dante Mills, a left leaning political strategist and attorney, said Biden needed to leave the Supreme Court alone. He needs to leave the Supreme Court alone. That's just the bottom line. The framers of the Constitution made sure that there was separation of powers that no branch of government can have oversight or supersede the other. And that's how the Supreme Court is set up. Going into the last stretch of his presidency, Biden is determined to complete what he started during the 2020 presidential campaign, just as Amy Coney Barrett was on track to becoming the sixth conservative justice. Then candidate Joe Biden came under pressure from his own party to consider increasing the number of justices if elected. Democrats were concerned that the court's conservative majority was considering blockbuster changes such as overturning Roe v. Wade and placing greater restrictions on voting. They wanted to expand the number of justices to bring more balance to the court. Biden at the time wasn't in favor of the idea, but he didn't completely rule it out. In an interview with 60 Minutes in October 2020, Biden explained what he would do if elected. If elected, what I will do is I'll put together a national commission of bipartisan commission of scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal conservative, and I will ask them to over 180 days come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system because it's getting out of whack. By executive orders signed in April 2021, Biden formed the bipartisan commission as promised, which culminated in a December 2021 report that made a number of proposals, including term limits and legislative overrides of Supreme Court decisions. The commission unanimously approved the report but failed to make specific recommendations, which forced the Biden administration to face the question of what to do about the court on its own. The question languished until in 2022 independent nonprofit newsroom ProPublica began publishing a series of investigative reports critical of Supreme Court justices. One article published in 2023 accused Justice Clarence Thomas of accepting lavish all expenses paid vacations but failing to report these gifts in annual financial disclosure reports. Another report accused Justice Samuel Alito of also accepting lavish gifts. Reports from different news outlets highlighted the millions Justice Sonia Sotomayor received in book sales. The reports prompted Democratic leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee to launch an investigation. It is critical to our democracy that the American people have confidence that judges cannot be bought or influenced and that they are serving the public interest, not their own personal interest. The committee voted for a binding code of ethics as well as transparency and disclosure. Republican members of the committee agreed that there should be more oversight of Supreme Court justices, but some believe that Democrats had an ulterior motive. The goal of these efforts is to cast doubts on certain judges and justices, all because the left is opposed to recent court rulings. That's what this hearing is all about. Undermining the American people's trust in our judicial branch of government. Following the hearing, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts announced a new code of ethics, but the committee rejected it, saying the code lacks any meaningful enforcement mechanism. Democrats now say there is an ethical crisis. President Biden has called on Congress to pass binding and enforceable rules. But could it happen? It could. But first, a majority of Congress would have to vote in favor of new legislation that would impose term limits and an ethics code on the Supreme Court, which seems unlikely to happen before President Biden leaves office, given the current division in Congress. But the proposed changes may impact who voters choose in elections for the U. S. Senate and House control for each is up for grabs in November. Arlene Richards, NTD News. President Biden now taking steps to respond to Venezuela's election results. That's his protests in the country are starting to escalate with citizens toppling socialist statues. Entities area and passed our house. The story from Brazil. President Biden had a phone call with the president of Brazil on Tuesday afternoon. Now, this comes as U. S. officials keep raising concerns about the elections in Venezuela. They say that the incumbent socialist government might have committed election fraud. Brazil was supposed to oversee these elections, but withdrew from the committee just last week. Protests have erupted in Venezuela after the Electoral Council declared that socialist President Nicolas Maduro won the election against challenger Edmundo Gonzalez. These videos exclusively obtained by NTD show protesters taking down a Maduro campaign poster and burning it on the street. A group of people also took down a statue of former socialist leader Hugo Chavez. Maduro on Tuesday denounced the protests against his leadership. The extreme right planned this. They were screaming fraud 15 days before the elections. They didn't sign the agreement to recognize the election results. Venezuela's Electoral Council never released the actual voting results. The country's biggest opposition party still hasn't accepted the outcome, saying it gathered over 70% of the voting tallies and claims it won the election against Maduro. And a smaller opposition party on Tuesday said that its national coordinator has been detained. The White House briefly commented on the arrest. Any political repression or violence against protesters or over the opposition is obviously unacceptable. Maduro has now recalled diplomats from seven different Latin American countries who asked to see the tabulated voting results. The State Department said this on Tuesday. It demonstrates the Maduro regime's intolerance for dissent and a lack of commitment to the basic democratic principles. The U. S. Might now consider imposing more sanctions on Venezuela, but has not made an official decision yet. Reporting in Brazil, Arian Pastor NTD News. The White House has just released the readout of the call between Biden and Lula. It says they agreed that Venezuela must release the full, transparent and detailed voting data at the polling station level, and they pledged to remain in close coordination on the issue. Tensions have been high since terrorists in Lebanon recently fired a rocket into northern Israel that killed 12 Children and teenagers. Now, the Israeli defense forces have reportedly struck back in the capital of Lebanon entities. Jason Perry has the details. On Tuesday, smoke was seen rising in the capital of Lebanon, and emergency crews in Beirut responded to the scene where the explosion happened. The Israel Defense Forces or the I. D. F. Reported using an airstrike to kill the commander who was responsible for the recent attack in northern Israel that killed 12 Children and teenagers. A Lebanese TV station operated by Hezbollah said an Israeli airstrike hit near a governing body of the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Israel's defense minister posted on X shortly after the strike that Hezbollah had crossed the red line. His words come just after Iran's president said there would be serious consequences for any Israeli hit on Lebanon, according to Iran's state run media. And the foreign minister of Lebanon also said prior to this attack that militias from other Middle Eastern countries would join in the war against Israel. If Israel attacks Lebanon, Israel has been threatening since day one off the crisis in 10 months that they want to turn Lebanon to the stone ages. They will return to stone ages as well. He also added that the Lebanese government does not have control over Hezbollah in Lebanon, but he said they communicate with them. Israel's government spokesperson said this about Lebanon's foreign minister speaking with reporters over the weekend. They didn't ask the simple question. How is it that you have another army? The Lebanese army is essentially a useless organization. How is it that you do not have any control of Hezbollah? It's another army. It's almost a separate government within Lebanon. That is a symbol of a failed state. So is a war between Lebanon and Israel inevitable? U. S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin doesn't think so. You know, we'd like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion, uh, as to whether or not, uh, Israel can manage a war in Gaza and a fight in Lebanon. At the same time, Israel will do what it needs to defend itself and has demonstrated that time and again, Austin added that the U. S. is committed to helping Israel defend itself by doing whatever it takes. Jason Perry and T. D. News. Vice President Kamala Harris said this afternoon that Israel has the right to defend itself, in particular against a terror organization, which is what Hezbollah is. Israel identified the man killed as Hezbollah's most senior military commander, who is also wanted by the U. S. Firefighters say the largest wildfire in the U. S. Grew to nearly 600 square miles today. That's an area larger than the city of Los Angeles. More than 5000 firefighters from California and other states were working to put out the park fire. The blaze is burning in the state's Central Valley, about 90 miles north of Sacramento. The fire is now the sixth largest wildfire in California history. Cal fires that the flames are moving rapidly, fueled by dry grass, brush and timber. According to the National Weather Service, there's only a slight chance of thunderstorms today. Temperatures will reach 100 degrees tomorrow. Helicopters were also deployed today to battle the Nixon fire. That blaze is scorching Riverside County in southern California. Coming up, Mehta agrees to a record settlement with Texas to end a privacy lawsuit. What were officials in the Lone Star State alleging? And how much is the tech giant paying? We'll bring you that after the break. Are you ready to help your family get prepared for the unexpected? Everyone in here? Ladybug and Cat Noir know how important it is to be ready because you never know when Hawk Moth is going to strike or a disaster will hit and you don't need miraculous powers. Just put those planning skills you already have to good use. Know who to call, decide on a safe meeting location and create an emergency preparedness kit. Make a plan that will help you and your family be ready when emergencies happen. Ready kids can help. Get started at ready.gov slash kids. When I drink it, the first thing was it I feel the warmth in my in my tummy. It's kind of like gently radiating out, you know, kind of a very comforting warm and it was really good. Actually, I felt much better. I did feel actually an effect and I find that it is actually better when I take it regularly. It's actually steamed and dried nine times and so it's really the essence is really extracted. Then the second time I tried it really like on a empty stomach and just just to teaspoon of it and over a few times. Wow, that was a big difference because suddenly I could feel why I was very good energized. I didn't have to eat. I could work outside in the garden for a couple of hours and I still felt very well and I was impressed by that. So I think it's a good product. Here you go. Thank you. Thank you. We are only 80 years removed from countries that killed 60 to 70 million people intentionally. And we have people been like, Oh, it can't happen here. Yeah, I can. And it these people, they're not interested in the backs. They're not interested in anything except crushing people that are in their way. There needs to be a formal deprogramming of the cult members. A strong church can stop this. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. The Senate has passed two significant child online safety bills, the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children's and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act. One would require social media companies to provide better protections for users under age 17. Companies would be required to provide guardians with more control over minors using the sites. The other would create stronger online privacy protections for anyone under 17. It also bar targeted advertising and allow users to delete information. Critics argue that the bill's definition of harm is too broad and could lead to censorship of content. The bills head to the House next. Metta has agreed to a record $1.4 billion settlement with Texas to end a privacy lawsuit. Officials in the Lone Star State had alleged to the tech giant used biometric data of users without their permission. Entities Andrew Thomas has more. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the settlement is the largest secured by a single state. In 2021, a judge approved a $650 million settlement with the company over similar claims in Illinois. That same year, Metta announced that it was shutting down its facial recognition system. The tech giant also deleted the face prints of more than 1 billion people. Metta said in a statement that it was pleased to resolve the matter. The company added that it looked forward to exploring future opportunities in Texas. The $1.4 billion settlement is unlikely to make a dent in Metta's business. The California based tech company made a more than $12 billion profit in the first quarter of this year. Revenue was over $36 billion, a 27% increase from a year earlier. Metta is scheduled to report its second quarter earnings on Wednesday. Andrew Thomas, NTD News. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander announced today that he will be challenging Mayor Eric Adams in next year's mayoral election. Top on his agenda are the city's budget, affordable living and child care entities. Fiona G brings us the details. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released a campaign video Tuesday morning highlighting problems New Yorkers face and saying that the city deserves a leader who can solve those problems. Nothing can replace New York City, but we can replace a leader when they fail the basic tests of the job to be honest with us, to keep our families safe, to make sure our kids learn. The announcement comes as Mayor Adams approval rating has dropped to 24% according to a poll from April. He's also facing a federal investigation over alleged illegal campaign funding. Lander has focused on the city's budgeting issues. Protests arose earlier this year when proposed budget cuts impacted New York City public libraries and public schools, though those cuts were later rolled back. Last year, the Comptroller limited Adams emergency spending powers, saying the mayor's administration lacked transparency over illegal immigrant spending. Lander has been openly critical of Adams handling of the crisis. The mayor responded briefly to Landers candidacy at a press briefing. I think we need to be focused on one mission. The mission is electing V. P. Harris, and that's what I'm focused on. Adams became New York City mayor in 2022, right on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has been running on a platform of lowering crime and increasing jobs. Meanwhile, Lander has focused on defunding and retraining police over the course of his political career. Currently, two other Democrats have also joined in the mayoral race. If Lander wins, he will be the first New York City Comptroller to become mayor in five decades. An expert has said that this may not necessarily be the end for Adams, despite low ratings. That is, if he takes this chance to readjust and improve Fiona G. N. T. D. News. Coming up, Israel takes out a Hezbollah commander in Beirut, Lebanon. Two Middle East affairs analysts join us to discuss the rising fears of a wider war in the region. A Chinese doping scandal looms over the Olympic Games. U. S. Lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation to hold the Chinese regime accountable for its players who test positive for performance enhancing drugs. That's coming up, presenting the heritage of traditional Chinese martial arts, fostering martial ethics and reviving the true tradition. The 2024 NTD International Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Competition will be held August 30 to September 2nd at the Village School in New Jersey. Semi finals and finals tickets are on sale. To buy tickets, please call 18884779228. 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 Shen Yun Creations dot com. So I don't know, I guess. I don't know. I don't know. The road. Don't want him. No, I mean, I don't have to be here. But in a bus, I'm a man. Conflict is raging across the world, and millions of Children's lives are being devastated by war, hunger, disease and poverty. We urgently need your help to reach Children in crisis. Please call or go online to give just $10 a month, only 33 cents a day. We need 1000 new monthly donors this month to help Children in crisis around the world and right here at home. You can help us provide food, essentials and life saving medical care to Children in the most need. In the darkest times, Children suffer the most. You can help by calling right now and giving just $10 a month. All we need are 1000 monthly donors. Please Please call or go online now with your monthly gift of just $10. Thanks to generous government grants, every dollar you give can have up to 10 times the impact. And when you call with your credit card, we will send you this Save the Children tote bag as a thank you for your support. Your small monthly donation of just $10 could be the reason a child in crisis survives. Show them they're not alone. Please call or go online to give2save.org to help save lives. I'm Jason Perry in New York City, and we are NTD News. Welcome back. If you're just joining us now, here are some of today's top headlines. The Secret Service Acting Director admitted failures and promised changes. Senators pressed him and the FBI Deputy Director at a hearing to examine the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. The Senate passed two major online child safety bills in a nearly unanimous vote. The Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act would ban targeted advertising to minors and data collection without their consent. And the Kids Online Safety Act would make explicit a duty of care that social media companies have when it comes to minors using their products. President Biden called Brazil's President Lula da Silva to talk about the election results in Venezuela. The U.S. says possible fraud might have taken place as protests challenging the country's socialist regime grow. The Israeli military said they killed a senior commander of the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon's capital city, Beirut. The military said this was a retaliatory airstrike targeting the man responsible for the deaths of 12 Israeli children in Golan Heights over the weekend. And joining me now to discuss Israel's latest actions against Hezbollah and how they impact tensions in the region are two guests. Gabriel Nirona is a former State Department advisor on Iran, the Executive Director at Polaris National Security, and a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. And retired Lieutenant Colonel Darren Gobb was a Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army and is now an international military strategist. Thank you both so much for joining us. Great to see you both again. Darren, I want to start with you. Israel says its strike on Beirut has killed a senior Hezbollah commander who was responsible for Saturday's attack that killed 12 kids and teens in Israel. What do you see happening next in this conflict? Yeah, yeah. Good evening. Thanks for having me on. I think what you're going to see next is Israel will probably keep its word about this being it for them. This is a strike against a specific target. We call it a precision strike. And that will likely be the goal and the end of it for Israel unless Hezbollah seeks to expand this because of what Israel has done here. So there's a couple of messages here that need to be sent, though. First of all, goes to Nasrallah, the head of the Hezbollah, and that he should know that the Israeli intelligence is very good, and they've been good at this for a very long time. And if they want to find him, they will. And so right now, it's best for Hezbollah to back up and probably not get more involved in expanding the conflict to the north. But ultimately, they do answer to their masters in Iran to a point. The question will be, will Iran activate them to do more? And if they do, will Hezbollah listen? That remains to be seen. But there is a significant concern to the expanded conflict with the north of Israel now that we've been expecting for a while. On that last part, Darren, is there a path to de-escalation? The path to de-escalation largely lives outside the borders of Israel. I know the Israeli people and young, frankly, would like to see this end with the destruction of Hamas and have that be the end of it. But I don't anticipate that being very successful, given the current mindset of Hezbollah and Iran. But again, we all hope that it can stop. On that note, Gabriel, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran and Russia have condemned Israel for the attacks. Given that 12 minors were killed in Israel, how do you read Israel's response? Was it proportionate here? Well, I think that's a great catalog of individuals and terror groups that have condemned it. It kind of shows you that Israel is on the right side here. Look, this was, I would say, even not fully proportional yet. Fuad Shakir, who's the commander that was killed, was Hezbollah's number two. It's also important for viewers to understand that he was one of the masterminds of the 1983 Marine barracks bombing that left 241 U.S. service members dead. So the United States actually had a $5 million bounty on its head. Israel's completed that now. But I hope Israel actually goes further. Again, an unprovoked attack, killing 12 children and teenagers, is really uncalled for. And I think Israel has the ability and the right to go much further. Israel could go attacking IRGC operatives in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon as well. I think they would still be sort of fully in their right, but also in their strategic right to be acting sort of proportionally there. So I hope this is actually just the beginning, not the end. Israel has to demonstrate clear deterrence here. Otherwise, these rocket attacks will continue. Just this morning, there was another Israeli citizen killed by a Hezbollah rocket or missile strike. So Hezbollah believes that it can continue doing this. Israel needs to demonstrate that they won't let that happen. And Darren, how do you see this strike on Beirut impacting the Israel-Hamas war? Are we looking at a wider regional conflict? Just on the surface of it right now, I don't think it will change anything with regards to Gaza and Netanyahu's goals there. This is a way to make sure that Hezbollah does not do more than they're already doing. And to Gabriel's point, I agree that there's more that Israel has the full right to do, given what Hezbollah has been doing since October 7th, frankly, and even before that. So that option remains to be opened. In fact, I would be very cautious and I would watch what's happening in Iraq right now. We're getting some reports about some activity there that may come to light and be true. If that happens with regards to some of the things that have happened with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, then that could significantly change some things in the region as well. But just this strike, with what you see right now, I don't see it significantly change in the course of what Israel is currently doing. On that note, Gabriel, you're a former State Department advisor on Iran. What is Iran's role in the ongoing Middle East conflicts? Well, Iran provides Hezbollah about 70 percent of its funding. They've been training Hezbollah into producing these missiles and these rockets. They are their main patron. Now, Iran wants to keep Hezbollah intact for one key important part, and that is to protect its nuclear program. Hezbollah is basically an insurance policy that says anytime Israel attacks Iran, Hezbollah could be deployed in response. So if Israel goes and they defeat Hezbollah now, Iran will no longer have that shield. So Iran has been very persistent over the last couple of years now, trying to bolster Hezbollah's defenses, funneling more weapons, more money. In terms of Hamas, they provide about 90 percent of that military budget. So when you look at all the terror, all the conflict around the Middle East, it really has one cause and one cause only, and that is Islamic Republic of Iran that's behind this. I think if we had a sanctions program to actually enforce these sanctions, we'd be able to destroy Iran's resources and oil revenue, and they wouldn't be able to do much of this funding and support for these terror groups that are causing so much havoc these days. And Darren, how do you view this? What is Iran getting out of this? I agree with Gabriel on this one. If you hadn't removed the sanctions from them in the first place, they wouldn't have all the money to be able to continue the funding. So now they're selling their oil to China, they're taking that money and they're flipping it into Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi rebels, and who knows what else throughout the region. You never stop it entirely, but if you break the bank in Iran, you do stop a significant amount of what these proxy or insurgent forces can do around Israel. So we do have to focus on them. It doesn't mean we put boots on the ground or necessarily directly attack, but let's just start by putting the sanctions in place, and I guarantee you that will have at least some effect, but it will take some time. Staying on Iran, Gabriel, U.S. intelligence says Iran is using covert social media activity and other influence operations to undermine a second Trump candidacy. What do you think is Iran's motive here? Well, when you look at the first Trump administration, we imposed the maximum pressure campaign on Iran, really tied up their economy, limited their oil revenue by about 90%. The Iranian regime is very afraid that that will happen again, the maximum pressure will come back. And so they're trying to bolster basically a Kamala Harris presidency and undermine Trump, who's one of their, frankly, one of their greatest adversaries. Now Iran's capabilities in the information space, in the election interference space are fairly limited. They are certainly not on the level of Russia, but it's still very concerning that they're deploying what appear to be bot accounts, bot farms. They're also, what we've learned, is they're funding protests on college campuses, funding and organizing anti-Israel protests here in the United States. So they're getting a lot more bold and brazen. This is the most we've seen them do ever. And I think this is only the start if we don't respond decisively to this internal interference. And Darren, to Gabriel's point, the intelligence statement went on to say that Russia remains the predominant threat to U.S. elections, adding that China probably does not plan to influence the outcome of the election. Do you think that's a fair assessment? Well, I think the fairest assessment is that they're going to try to influence within the realm that they can. But we have plenty of problems in the United States with the ways our, the way our laws are written, with the way the system of elections work in some of our key locations, especially in the swing states. We need to look at the home front first. But we can't ignore what Russia, China, Iran, maybe even North Korea, would be seeking to do through different means to influence this election, because ultimately what they're looking for is a president much like Biden, and you can say that would be Donald Harris, who would follow the same policies that allow them to continue operating the way they have, almost unchecked, because we have no strength and will within our administration in Washington, D.C. to use the power and leverage that we have. That's not just military. That's economy. That's diplomacy and other things that we can do. We're not using any of it. And they're happy with that, and they want to see that continue for at least four more years. Gabriel Narona, Lieutenant Colonel Darren Gaub, thank you both so much for joining us. Thanks, Sherry. Thank you. Have a good night. Key races tonight in Arizona that could shape which party wins the majority in Congress. Polls close at 10 p.m. Eastern, and as the Veep stakes heats up on the Democratic side, will Arizona Senator Mark Kelly be selected as Kamala Harris' running mate? NTD's Melina Weiskopf reports. Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema's decision to leave the Democrat party and become an highlights the unpredictable nature of politics in the state of Arizona. Sinema was oftentimes an outlier in the Senate, and now her decision to leave Washington altogether makes way for a heated race to fill her seat. Democrat Congressman Ruben Gallego is running unopposed on the Democratic side. I am the proud son of immigrants, and I am running to be the first Latino senator for all of Arizonans, our hardworking Arizonans. He previously identified as a progressive, rallying alongside Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders. And upon making his run for the U.S. Senate, he discreetly left the progressive caucus. He's now rebranding himself as an Arizona member of Congress who works across the aisle with everybody. On the Republican side, a showdown between Penal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and former news anchor Carrie Lake. Fake news wants us to believe we're 50-50 at each other's throat. They're creating division and anger. Americans are actually much more united than people believe. She's endorsed by former President Trump and likely to win the primary. In Congressional District 2, Trump's endorsement put to the test again. Trump-backed Congressman Eli Crane faces Kevin McCarthy back to Jack Smith. Also on the radar in Arizona, a possible VP contender on the Harris ticket, Senator Mark Kelly, the first-term senator staying open to the opportunity. Would you accept the test? Senator Kelly's name recognition could help Harris carry the battleground state come November. But now there's a question of if that support is even needed, considering the fact that Harris recently won endorsements from several Arizona mayors whose cities line the border. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Melina Wisecup, NTD News. The Paris Olympics are well underway. That says U.S. lawmakers are working to defund the World Anti-Doping Agency. This comes after a recent doping scandal involving members of the Chinese Olympic swim team. NTD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has the details. What we're seeing here is bipartisan, bicameral legislation, meaning both the House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats are introducing legislation that would withhold funding to the World Anti-Doping Agency. The U.S. funds about $3.7 million every year, and it's the largest funder of WADA. This stems from a dispute just months before the 2020 Olympics, where over 20 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug called TMZ, which increases stamina and shortens recovery time. WADA was told by Chinese officials that the swimmers were food poisoned by bad hamburger meat. WADA took the claims at face value and allowed the swimmers to compete. But news of this didn't emerge until years later, and that's what has lawmakers so upset. WADA failed to follow its own rulebook here. These positive tests were hidden from the public and remained secret for three years. Instead of working with us to ensure an even playing field, WADA has worked against us at every turn. Athletes, you know, deserve, just like we've heard here, they deserve to show up knowing that the rules have been applied consistently across the globe, as they are supposed to be applied. And they need that so that they can have faith that their dedications, hard work, sacrifices are going to mean as much as they should. Now, WADA came out issuing this response, saying, quote, as we've seen over recent months, WADA has been unfairly caught in the middle of geopolitical tensions between superpowers, but has no mandate to participate in that. The 2028 Olympics are scheduled to be held in Utah, but the International Olympic Committee said that if WADA isn't respected, that could be revoked. Lawmakers' response were that these international bodies were attempting to cover up an investigation. This brazen attempt by the IOC and WADA to force Utah to interfere in an investigation would win the gold medal in blackmail. I feel like that threat was somehow written in Beijing. That seems like something that the CCP would say, which they routinely say, to try to coerce others to get their way. We're not going to back down. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into this incident. Eleven of the Chinese swimmers who tested positive for that performance-enhancing drug TMZ are now performing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Jack Bradley, NTD News. Coming up from the Olympics, it's a shot at redemption for the U.S. women's gymnastics team. Dave Martin joins us to break down their performance, and students are getting a head start on back to school. David Lam visits a local center that's trying to do just that, one backpack at a time. Stay tuned for that after the break. According to ancient Chinese medicine, purslane is considered a medicinal herb and is used to help lower cholesterol, improve vascular functions, and prevent diabetes. Perilla seeds can nourish the lungs and spleen. It is used to treat asthma and improve pulmonary functions. Prairie thyme green vegetable Omega-3 is made from purslane and perilla seeds from Hwangmae Mountain in South Korea. It contains over 90% of Omega-3, 6, 7, and 9, the highest concentration possible without chemical additives. The soft gel is made of natural seaweed. It is 100% organic and vegan. Both adults and children can take it with peace of mind. Ancient recipes were passed down from heaven to bring prosperity and longevity. Prairie thyme green vegetable Omega-3. Freedom is not free. And neither is the truth. In order to bring you the facts, our reporters are out there on the front lines getting the true story. Some of them served 10 years of prison in China. We've been censored on social media. Our Hong Kong printing offices were set on fire. And we've been repeatedly attacked by the Chinese Communist Party. But no matter what, we believe that you deserve the truth. And so we continue to bring the truth to life. Head on over to GetEpic.com and try honor journalism that is based in truth and tradition. We'd love to have you on board. Where nature embraces you and fills you with invigorating joy. Treasuring every little moment as these romantic memories gather up to complete our blissful memories together. Mokpo. Come to Mathis Home for the monumental savings event and get big values on the latest dining sets. Here's a hot buy. This table and four side chairs is only $442. Shop and compare. Nobody beats Mathis Home. Or this 72-inch table is a great value at just $670 with a genuine white marble top. Check out this mid-century modern set. You get the table and four chairs all for just $698. Shop now and save during the monumental savings event at Mathis Home. If you need to do something to feel okay to drive, you're not okay to drive. Don't drive buzzed. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Now for your sports news, we're joined by NTD's Dave Martin. Dave, plenty going on today, especially in the Olympics. So let's start right there. As the U.S. women's gymnastics team won gold today. Now, was there a turning point in this event or did they lead from the outset? I mean, they really led from the outset. Jordan Child started them off strong on the vault. They extended their lead after each of the four event rotations. By the time Simone Biles got up there for the final floor routine, they had a nearly insurmountable lead. She delivered really the exclamation point. Now, this is a bit of a redemption for her. You know, three years ago at the Tokyo Games, the U.S. was a two-time defending champions. Settle for disappointing silver. Biles removed herself from that competition, citing not feeling mentally right. And there were questions whether she would compete this year. I mean, she's now 27, which is actually not very young for Olympics gymnastics. But she was clearly the star today, though. This is her eighth Olympic medal. That's the most decorated U.S. gymnast in American history. And there's still the individual events to go. So she could come away with some more here. And outside of women's gymnastics, there are plenty of highlights today, including a thrilling finale in women's rugby. What can you tell us about that? Yeah, that was thrilling. The women's rugby team, which has never won an Olympic medal before, scored as time expired against Australia in a bronze medal game. Now, Alex Cedric of the U.S. broke away from the Australia defense and scored a very long try, then drilled the conversion for a thrilling 14-12 win. I mean, this is like the equivalent of a 95-yard run in touchdown, with, like, almost no time left. It was really incredible. Now, meanwhile, men's soccer. The U.S. beat Guinea to advance to the quarterfinals. This is the farthest they've advanced in the Olympics since 2000 now. They'll play Morocco on Friday. Now, over to women's soccer. There was that drone spying scandal last week where the Canadian Olympic Committee ended up removing their head coach over it. That's Bev Priestman. Now, last night, the IOC ended up docking Team Canada six points over this. That's equivalent to two wins in the group stage, and there's only three total games. That's a pretty big penalty there. Canada has appealed. They had the hearing today behind closed doors, but the ruling is scheduled for tomorrow. So this is going to be an ongoing story. Now, one of the events, the triathlon, was delayed today due to concerns over water quality in the Seine River. When is the event expected to happen, and is there a contingency plan in case water quality doesn't improve? You know, the contingency plan was the first delayed. I mean, it's rescheduled for tomorrow. If that doesn't work, they would just run the triathlon without the swimming part. So it would be a biathlon, which would be pretty disappointing given how long they've had to prepare this. I mean, since 2015, they've reportedly invested $1.5 billion to clean it for these games and ensure they have a cleaner river afterwards. Now, swimming has been banned in the Seine River for over a century over these same water quality issues. It seems certainly like they're close. Mayor Anne Hidalgo swam in it two weeks ago herself to show how safe it was. Apparently, when it rains more, then the water quality gets worse, and apparently it's been raining a lot. Now, they're also planning to use the Seine River for major swimming events next week, but they can move those, at least, to a different venue. Looking ahead to tomorrow, what are some major events to look forward to? And who is ahead in the medal tracker? Well, tomorrow, Katie Ledecky is going to swim in the 1500-meter finals. Now, she swam in the preliminary today, did very well. She won by over half the length of the pool. She's heavily favored to win gold in this tomorrow. Women's soccer, the U.S., which is 2-0 so far, plays Australia in group play. That'll be at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Then USA men's basketball, see, plays South Sudan tomorrow. Now, South Sudan actually nearly beat them just 10 days ago, despite the U.S. being 43-point favorites. They took a LeBron James layup at the buzzer to win. That'll be at 3 o'clock tomorrow. We also have the men's all-around gymnastics final at 11.30 a.m. There could be some medals in there. I mean, the team took bronze in it just yesterday. Now, as far as the medal tracker, the U.S. leads in total medals with 26, but Japan has the most gold medals right now with seven. Well, Davis Almas, thanks for joining us. Well, thank you, Tiff. We're getting close to back-to-school time for many kids. That means new classes and potentially new supplies for some students. And it is David Lam hears from people at Pack-a-Back Donation Center in San Jose, California. Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, California, already has 4,000 bags to give out starting Tuesday. But they're asking for more help to send children to school with all the school supplies they need, as some families may not have funds for them. We know that a lot of families stress, especially at the beginning of the school year, to make sure their students are ready for school. Perez says the donations come from all over, and they start preparing the backpacks as early as this January. I knew when I was little, I didn't want to go to school if I didn't have the materials. And I know this gets them motivated because they're getting backpacks, they're coming and picking their own backpack, and they're getting a bag full of content with all the things they need, notebooks, pencils, color markers. Anthony Ajaku says he's excited to go into 6th grade in August. Because it's like a fresh start for another grade, and I'm going to a new school and stuff. I got this black backpack with the brown details and stuff. The final day of the program would be on Thursday. Unfortunately, there's a shortage of backpacks for the teenage-style ones from 6th to 12th grade, because Sacred Heart says people tend to donate more of the flashy and children-style backpacks with Super Mario and the likes. Today is day one, and at present, we're still about 500 backpacks short. We're really in need of backpacks for teens and older youth, and so there's still opportunity for folks to either come to our 1381 South 1st Street location in San Jose to donate over the next two days, or you can go to sacredheartcs.org, and there's information on how you can donate or buy something from our Amazon wish list. I'm really grateful for it. Ajaku says he's good at math and hopes to become a doctor one day. Just stay in school, get your grades up. David Lam, NTD News. And that's all for today's news. For around-the-clock coverage, visit us at NTD.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Good night.