Trump Agrees to Debate Harris Under CNN Debate Conditions: Muted Mics, Standing Format | Capitol Rep

Good evening and welcome to the Capitol Report on Entity Television. I'm Steve Lance and coming up the debate is on. Former President Trump confirming he will proceed with his first scheduled debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. What Trump says about potential rule changes in which former Democrats are now joining Trump's transition team. Mark Zuckerberg speaking out admitting that the federal government leading up to and following the 2020 election. We'll tell you what he told lawmakers in a letter to a key congressional committee. And while National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is in China for talks with his counterpart, tensions between the two countries may be simmering down. Meanwhile, U.S. officials are condemning the CCP's aggressive tactics in the South China Sea. And breaking news this evening. Special Counsel Jack Smith slimming down the election related case against former President Trump. The goal to give prosecutors a better chance of winning the case after the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling. Smith filing the new adjusted indictment today preserving the same four charges against Trump, but removing some of those allegations of Trump's conduct. For example, it drops the allegation that Trump tried to use the Department of Justice to challenge the 2020 election results. And the debate on debates seems to be over at least for now. Former President Trump confirming he will debate Vice President Kamala Harris on September 10th, given new assurance by ABC about the rules. It comes as Trump's bringing two former Democrats to his transition team. After a fresh round of tussling, former President Trump says he has reached an agreement with Democrats to now proceed with an ABC news debate scheduled for September 10th in Philadelphia. That's after he said on Monday, We agreed to the same rules, same rules and same specifications. And I think that's probably what it should be. Earlier this week, Trump questioned the credibility of the ABC network as his team But Trump made clear on Tuesday that quote, the rules will be the same as the last CNN debate. He says ABC assured him that it will be a fair debate in which both candidates will need to stand, cannot bring notes and will not be given questions in advance. While Trump didn't specify it, the same rules will also mean that both candidates' mics will be muted when they're not speaking. The Harris campaign, meanwhile, has accused Trump of trying to back out of the debate due to fear. He has not responded to Trump's latest statement. Meanwhile, both candidates are now trying to expand their base by showcasing cross-party support. Trump on Tuesday announced that he's now bringing in Narv Kaye Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team which will help him pick policies and staff for a potential second administration. The two former Democrats just endorsed Trump in recent days. I invite you to join me in doing all that we can to save our country. And don't you want a president that's going to make America healthy again? The Democratic National Convention also features several prominent Republican speakers. And on Monday, over 200 former GOP staffers endorsed Harris over to former president. Reporting by Iris Tao, NTD News. And a Harris campaign spokesperson and Marmosa indicating that Harris hasn't necessarily agreed to the rules that Trump said in his Truth Social post saying quote, both candidates have publicly made clear their willingness to debate with unmuted mics. Vice President Kamala Harris is continuing her focus on swing states. Her campaign has released a new ad highlighting her plan to lower housing costs. Her team also hitting several spots on the East Coast this week. NTD's Jason Blair has the latest. The Harris-Walsh team announced a new one-minute ad campaign to quote, communicate her plan to lower Americans' housing costs. It's part of a previously announced $150 million media blitz running in August. Harris-Walsh Battleground States Director Dan Kananen said quote, Vice President Harris knows we need to do more to address our housing crisis. That's why she has a plan to end the housing shortage, calling for the construction of three million new housing units and cracking down on corporate landlords and Wall Street banks, hiking up rents and housing costs to bring prices down for our families. For most of my childhood, we were renters. The ad highlights Harris' mother's story of saving up to buy a home when Harris was growing up. And on the campaign trail, the team says it's hosting nearly 20 events across 12 states this week. Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff was in New York Tuesday afternoon speaking at a campaign reception. And Governor Tim Walz will speak at a convention in Boston on Wednesday. He'll also join Harris in the battleground state of Georgia on the same day for a bus tour. This will be their first time campaigning together in the state, according to the team. And on Thursday, Harris will give remarks at a rally in Savannah as the bus tour goes through South Georgia. And also in Georgia, Democrats have sued to block state election certification rules. They say they want to make it clear that election superintendents must certify results by 5 p.m. November 12th, one week after election day. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, Entity News. Mark Zuckerberg admitting that he bowed to government pressure to censor certain posts on MEDA's platforms, a decision he says he now regrets. Now Zuckerberg saying he's changed MEDA's fact-checking policy, the comments written in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee. Zuckerberg wrote that the Biden administration, quote, repeatedly pressured, end quote, MEDA to censor COVID-19-related posts and expressed frustration when the platform didn't comply. He said in hindsight he wouldn't make the same decisions today. As for the platform's choice to demote content about corruption allegations against the Biden family leading up to the 2020 election, Zuckerberg says the FBI warned him about a, quote, potential Russian disinformation operation. Zuckerberg said the platform has changed its policy and will no longer temporarily demote content while waiting for fact-checkers. Additionally, Zuckerberg responding to accusations that he used tens of millions of dollars to get out the vote in Democrat-leaning communities in 2020 and said he would not be making similar contributions this year. And now we welcome David Keating, president of the Institute for Free Speech, to join us for a deeper dive on what Zuckerberg's letter means for social media and free speech this election cycle. Thank you so much for joining us. You're welcome. So I want to get your thoughts. In Zuckerberg's letter, he admits in retrospect he says we shouldn't have demoted the Hunter Biden laptop story. Will his letter change how Americans view or use social media? Well, probably not. I think the average American hasn't heard of this letter and I'm not sure would trust Facebook or other social media companies to follow through on the pledges. So, you know, I think people will continue to use social media and hope for the best. Let's face it, the way the feeds are curated is a black box to most people, may even be to the companies themselves. So I think people will continue to try to communicate with fellow Americans and hope they reach as many of them as possible. Now, David, we also saw the arrest of the founder of Telegram, another social media platform, Europe, accusing the platform of not regulating criminal content, among a few other allegations. What is the significance of the timing of Zuckerberg's letter and how will the ownership of Twitter and the lack of involvement from Zuckerberg impact this political landscape? Well, there's a lot to unpack there. I think the timing of these two is just coincidental, but I think it brings up a very important issue here in the United States. We have the First Amendment, which obviously is a great thing to protect our right to free speech, but European countries and even the UK have nothing of the sort. And there's all kinds of regulation there that would be unconstitutional and clearly unconstitutional here in the United States. And the real problem is these platforms are international and they're trying to juggle laws in different jurisdictions. And this is raising some really tricky issues, both for the platforms, but it can also affect us as Americans if the platforms try to respond to these foreign laws. So it's a very difficult and tricky question. And what's going on in France is very concerning, but we don't have much in the way of detail yet. Now, David, in the letter Zuckerberg sent, he said, quote, I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any administration in either direction. And we're ready to push back if something like this happens again. What do you expect to see going forward in terms of how social media moderates content? And with regard to motive, what do you make of the timing of this? Is he potentially concerned of another administration? Well, look, I mean, you have to keep in mind this. This letter was to House Republicans. The Republicans control the House now. Zuckerberg, I'm sure, is concerned about the political ramifications of what the Republicans might want to do to Facebook. So, look, I think he's just responding to political pressure. And I wouldn't really put a lot of stock into anything that he's saying right now. We don't know what this fall's elections will bring. We don't know who will be in control of the White House or either branch of Congress. And if the political circumstances change and a new administration puts pressure on Facebook, I think there's a good chance they'll respond to that pressure. What we really need is some legislation putting limits and disclosures on what the government is doing behind our backs, pressuring these social media companies. David Keating, president of the Institute for Free Speech, really appreciate your insight. Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you. And White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is in China speaking with Chinese officials. This comes just after the U.S. condemned the CCP's recent actions in the South China Sea. And to these Washington correspondent, Jack Bradley has more from the White House. The U.S. may begin escorting Philippine vessels across the South China Sea to avoid Chinese aggression. Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Samuel Paparo said so in Manila on Tuesday. That comes a day after the Philippine Coast Guard said the Chinese Communist Party used 40 vessels to illegally block the Philippines from carrying out humanitarian resupply missions. Watch. Certainly within the context of consultations, every option between the two sovereign nations in terms of our mutual defense, escort of one vessel to the other is an entirely reasonable option within our mutual defense treaty among this close alliance between the two of us. On Tuesday, a State Department official doubled down on condemning the Chinese regime for its aggressive behavior in the South China Sea. Rear Admiral Andrew Sugimoto, deputy commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area, condemned the Beijing's aggressive behavior. He said, quote, I think most nations out there see that as unsafe and unprofessional conduct, which only highlights and further emphasizes the bullying that's going on. Now, this is just ahead of closed door meetings between National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the top foreign diplomat there. They'll be talking about fentanyl, as well as China's support for Russia's war machine and a range of other topics. Take a look. President Biden has been very clear in his conversations with President Xi that he is committed to managing this important relationship responsibly. And the outcomes of the Woodside Summit and the work we have done since then demonstrate that, that we are working to ensure the competition does not veer into conflict, and that we find ways to work together where our interests align. Now, this all comes after the Biden administration last week announced that it's imposing over 400 new sanctions on companies and individuals, many of which based in China, for supporting Russia's war against Ukraine. The talks between Sullivan and the Chinese officials will continue on until Thursday. Reporting from the White House, Jack Bradley, NTD News. Trump and Harris hitting the campaign trail with dueling claims on the economic effects of tariffs. What is the data to support those claims? We'll talk to a chief economist at the Coalition for a Prosperous America. That and more when we return. Will radical lies determine your child's future? Or will timeless truths fathom the good, equips children with wisdom against the world? Our homeschool curriculum teaches high schoolers to think critically. We provide primary texts, original content, reasoning tools, and mentoring videos to help them transform America. Teach your children to navigate the world's woke confusion. Teach them to fathom the good. I didn't ask to lose my mother or to be abused at five years old. I didn't ask to be kicked out of my house with nowhere to go. I didn't ask for any of this. But I did ask for help and Covenant House was there. Thanks to their love and support and to generous people like you, I got what I needed to take control of my life. For the young people who didn't ask to be put in unthinkable situations, Covenant House is there providing safety, hope, and a brighter future. Call or go online now for a gift of only $19 a month, just 63 cents a day. You can provide hot meals, safe shelter, medical care, and love to more than 2,000 young people who sleep at a Covenant House every night. One in 10 young adults will experience homelessness this year. Your gift can help reach them when they need it most. I didn't ask for my parents and my family to disown me. I didn't ask to end up in a homeless shelter. The beauty of it all is that I found Covenant House. The need is overwhelming, but your monthly support will make sure no young person is ever turned away. Call or go online right now to safeplacetosleep.org with your gift of just $19 a month. With your monthly donation, you'll receive this soft, comforting blanket as a reminder of the warmth and safety your gift will provide a young person tonight. Covenant House really helped me and really helped mold me into the woman I am today. If it wasn't for Covenant House, where would I be today? Your monthly gift is urgently needed to reach young people in communities like yours who didn't ask to be put in unthinkable situations. Show them they're loved and not alone. Call the number on your screen or go online to safeplacetosleep.org. And a Biden administration executive order has hit a roadblock. A Texas judge has placed a two-week pause on the parole program that would allow illegal immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens a pathway to citizenship. Spouses can still apply to the program. While the legal challenge plays out to be eligible, applicants must have lived in the United States continuously for at least 10 years, not pose a security threat, and not have a disqualifying criminal history. The lawsuit was brought by 16 states, which argued that the order would encourage more illegal immigration and cause harm to those states. I am not interested in playing politics with the border or immigration. I'm interested in solving problems. And Democratic lawmakers are publicly praising Vice President Kamala Harris' economic agenda, while Republicans criticize her policy proposals and lack of specifics. Our Washington correspondent, Luis Martinez, has more on this story. Vice President Kamala Harris has promised to build over 3 million housing units during her administration if elected president. As president, I will work in partnership with industry to build the housing we need both to rent and to buy. Harris has also promised tax incentives for home builders and up to $25,000 down payment support for first-time home buyers. Publicly Democratic lawmakers have praised the proposal. I'm one of the first congressional offices on a college campus, and one of our top requests for constituent services is on housing insecurity because we don't have enough affordable housing, we don't have enough inventory near opportunity, and we don't have enough opportunity for renters to become homeowners. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan watchdog group, estimates that Harris' housing plan would cost the federal government over $200 billion. And I will work to pass the first ever federal ban on price gauging on food. On social media, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson called Harris' price gouging ban a new Soviet-style economic plan that has been tried many times before and it has failed miserably. Speaker Johnson also highlighted that Harris bears responsibility for crippling high prices Americans are paying for everyday items like gas, groceries, and car payments in reference to Harris' tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. Democratic Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey defended Harris' price gouging plan as sensible and ordinary. She let out specific plans that really relate to like 40 other states' plans to stop price gouging, excuse me, 40 other states' actual laws to stop price gouging. Republican Senator Marco Rubio compared Harris' price gouging plan to the price controls imposed by the Venezuelan and Cuban regimes, while Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell defended the lack of details of Harris' economic plan. She knows what she's going to have to do. She's going to have to spell out her position and talk about policies more. According to reporting by Politico, at least six Democratic lawmakers believe that the proposals have no chance of passing through Congress, even if Democrats flip the House and maintain the Senate after November 5th. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Luis Eduardo Martinez, NTD News. And on the campaign trail, former President Trump has been promoting his plan to raise tariffs on imported goods, while Vice President Harris and some economists are claiming those proposed tariffs could raise prices for American consumers. Joining me now to discuss is Jeff Ferry, Chief Economist at the Coalition for a Prosperous America. Jeff Ferry, thank you so much for joining us. Pleasure to be here, Steve. It's great to have you back with us, Jeff. So before we get into your analysis, could you sort of explain for us why some economists are arguing that higher tariffs would ultimately hurt the American people? Sure. There's a lot of scare campaigns going on around tariffs at the moment, Steve. Economic theory that makes a lot of false and misleading assumptions. What our economic model shows is that if you levy a tariff on a segment of the U.S. economy, what it does is it stimulates domestic production, creates more production, more jobs and more investments, which are all good things. The price impacts are very, very small. So the overall economic impact is actually positive, not negative. And that's why, by the way, both President Trump and President Biden have used tariffs on a broad range of products, EVs, solar panels and so on. Now, to that point, you did write an article saying that a 10 percent tariff on all imports would actually help lower and middle class people in America. Talk to us about how that works and walk us through it. Yeah, it would actually create 2.8 million jobs and raise household incomes after inflation by I think our number was about 6 percent. And the way that universal tariff would work is it would impact all imports, which would make imports less competitive. It would allow domestic production to rise. And as domestic production rises, and we're talking now about industrial goods like, you know, steel or pumps and compressors and consumer goods, all those products would rise. You get a productivity boost because these companies are now working at a higher level of output that restrains the price impact. And so you get more. You get a larger GDP and people are able and companies are able to pay people higher wages, higher real incomes after tax. Is there a possibility of some short term pain that some of these economists are focusing on? And then once we get over that hump, things do get much better, as you mentioned. And some economists also criticize President Biden's expanded tariffs on China. A lot of people don't realize he expanded the tariffs on China. But you cite findings from the U.S. International Trade Commission last year that contradict this criticism. Tell us about that as well. Yeah, the U.S. International Trade Commission study was the most detailed and authoritative study of the impact of tariffs on 12 sectors of the U.S. economy, ranging from things like steel to apparel. And what they found was that the price increase in a sector was on the order of one tenth of the headline value of the tariff. In other words, a 25 percent tariff would lead to 2.5 percent price increase within that product segment. On the other hand, there would be a stimulus to domestic production within each of those segments, which would lead to more revenue, as I say, more jobs, more investment and a productivity benefit as well. So a lot of our economic modeling work is based on that detailed U.S. International Trade Commission study. And when you asked about is there short term pain, in most cases there isn't. I mean, there's short term media hullabaloo. You know, a great example is to look at the 2018 steel tariffs, which Trump imposed in the early part of that year. The auto companies reacted by saying, oh, no, this could raise the steel price and this could be a serious impact on our profitability. That was in 2018. In 2019, they reported higher profits. And when they were asked about the tariffs impact, they said there is no material impact of steel prices in our financial results. Why was that? There were a couple of reasons. One was because the steel prices briefly rose and then fell back to a normal level. And the second reason was that the auto executives actually favored the steel tariffs because they created greater supply of a more secure source of supply, in other words, within the U.S., coming from the large steel companies that they were used to working with. So in many cases, the steel consumers favor the tariffs, although they will also complain about prices if prices surge. And you get short term surges for a couple of months that quickly go away. And economists' models, most economists' models are unable to cope with these sudden changes in prices that are very short lived. And they're unable to forecast the increases in domestic production. What our work is aimed at doing is taking these rigid economic models and making them more closer and more faithful to reality so we can actually forecast these changes. Jeff Ferry, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks, Steve. Always a pleasure to speak to you. And that is all we have for you this evening on The Capital Report. For round-the-clock original news coverage, visit us at NTD.com and download our NTD mobile app. From Washington, D.C., I'm Steve Lance. Have a nice evening. See you back here tomorrow.