Capitol Report Full Broadcast (Aug. 12)

Good evening and welcome to the Capitol Report on NTD. Here's what's coming up. After President Trump declares a city-wide emergency, how the federal crackdown on crime in D.C. is unfolding. What the White House says on that, plus new inflation numbers and a billion-dollar UCLA settlement proposal from the administration. The Trump administration hashes out plans for the Trump-Putin meeting coming up this Friday. And the State Department releases its annual human rights report. What's in it? The White House says the homeless in D.C. will face jail if they don't accept help. Will other cities also follow suit? As Congress could require bail nationwide, we'll hear from our panel, Jason Palmer and Ryan Steubenrock. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. I'm Iris Howe and for Steve Lance tonight, arrests are rolling in a day after President Trump declared a city-wide emergency and took sweeping action to crack down on crime in the nation's capital. And it is Mariotsu who has more from the White House. Last night, approximately 850 officers and agents were surged across the city. They made a total of 23 arrests, including multiple other contacts. Press Secretary Leavitt told us the 23 arrests included homicide, possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute them, and driving under the influence. In addition, six illegal handguns were seized last night, and Secretary Leavitt said this is just the beginning. We also want to make D.C. safe and beautiful, and that involves removing mentally disturbed individuals and homeless encampments as well. The press secretary said D.C. homeless can be taken to a shelter and offered addiction or mental health services. If they refuse, they will be fined or face time in jail. Leavitt reminds us these are not new laws, but they have not been enforced, so we will be using these regulations and code that already exists to clean up our streets. And since the president signed this executive order in March, 70 homeless encampments have been removed by the U.S. In economic news, the White House says the America First agenda is working. The latest CPI report released today shows that inflation remains stable. In January, when this president showed up to the White House, the six-month annualized core inflation rate was 3.7 percent. Today, six months later, the six-month annualized core inflation rate is 2.4 percent. So we are trending in the right direction. Small business optimism has reached a five-month high. While critics of President Trump's tariff strategy have warned that tariffs will sharply drive up prices, the president this morning said tariffs have not caused inflation or any other problems for America other than massive amounts of cash pouring into our Treasury's coffers. President Trump also criticized Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon over a report claiming that Americans absorb the cost of tariffs. Meanwhile, the White House doubles down on its efforts to counter anti-Semitism. President Trump's administration is seeking $1 billion from UCLA over campus anti-Semitism claims. The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, called the $1 billion UCLA fine extortion, threatening that California will sue. Bring it on, Gavin. This administration is well within its legal right to do this, and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities are respecting the First Amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses, and UCLA has failed to do that. This comes after Columbia University agreed to pay more than $220 million in fines and Brown $50 million for failing to curb anti-Semitism. And Harvard is reportedly nearing a $500 million settlement with President Trump. Reporting from the White House, Mari Otsu, NTD News. The White House is gearing up for President Trump's face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this Friday. And this comes as the State Department releases its annual Human Rights Report. NTD's Washington correspondent, Jack Bradley, has the details. This is a listening exercise for the president. Look. The White House is characterizing the meeting on Friday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump as a listening exercise on the part of Trump rather than a negotiation. This is for the president to go and to get, again, a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end. And that's what has to happen. As Ukrainian President Zelensky won't be there, but still must agree to anything for a deal to be made. Trump said Monday that he'll know whether a deal can be made to end this three and a half year war after meeting with Putin. Probably in the first two minutes, I'll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made. Because that's what I do. I make deals. Trump added that he'll call Zelensky immediately after the summit and also call some European allies in NATO. As for what to expect, Trump says that he'll discuss territory changes with Putin, meaning that Ukraine may need to give up some of its land that is occupied by Russian forces in order to end this war. Zelensky has stated his unwillingness to cede any land to Russia and that he wants any peace deal to guarantee Ukraine's security from any future Russian attacks. Russia has annexed Crimea and has troops in control of the areas in the Donbass region. Now, Moscow has presented ceasefire conditions demanding Ukraine withdraw its troops and cede much of that territory and also wants Ukraine to renounce its bid to join NATO. Meanwhile, the State Department released its 2024 human rights report on Tuesday, scaling back much of its previous year's report and saying that the previous years included a long list of, quote, politically biased demands. As for the report's length, the administration holds that actions speak louder than words. We will have perhaps in this case, smaller reports, but I would suggest that you watch the actions that are taken by an administration and that commitment to human rights. Now, this report is congressionally required and offers accounts of all nations' human rights records. On China, which members of the administration and previous administrations have called the top adversary of the U.S., it details accounts of detaining political and religious prisoners all the way to transnational repression, in which the Chinese Communist Party violently represses dissent on U.S. soil and around the globe. Reporting by Jack Bradley, NTD News. Russia is reportedly demanding that Ukraine withdraw from its own Donetsk region before Friday as a condition for a possible ceasefire. Meanwhile, European allies are planning a call with President Trump before his Friday meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin. NTD's international correspondent Ariane Pastor has more. The EU is extremely active on all fronts to support Ukraine and put Ukraine in a position of strength. European leaders are set to hold a call with President Trump and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Wednesday. The European allies are expressing support for Ukraine ahead of Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. European leaders say Ukraine shouldn't lose any land as part of a possible peace deal with Russia. They also say that Ukraine has to be involved in the peace process so that it can decide its own future. Zelensky agrees, making the same point on Tuesday. It's impossible to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine, and no one will accept that. They can't agree on anything about Ukraine without us. He added that Moscow wants Kyiv to completely withdraw from Ukraine's Donetsk region before the Friday meeting. Zelensky says the withdrawal is a Russian condition for a possible ceasefire. Kyiv opposes the idea and says its forces won't withdraw from the Ukrainian region. And the Russian defense ministry published this video showing recruits signing military contracts. This comes just one day after Zelensky said Russia is preparing for more attacks on Ukraine, despite peace efforts by the US. Meanwhile, Zelensky says he's trying to make it easier for draft eligible men to travel outside Ukraine. Currently, there is an age cap of 18 at the border, and I propose raising it to 22 so that there are no restrictions on crossing. Ukraine first imposed travel restrictions on men of conscription age after the Russian invasion. Meanwhile, in Alaska, residents in Anchorage are preparing for the upcoming summit. Well, I think it's really a fascinating opportunity for Alaska to shine in what we can do for those kind of venues. I think it's a safe venue for both the leaders to come here. The state has historic ties to both nations. The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. Ariane Pazdar, NTD News. And turning now to the New York City mayoral election, a new poll suggests that Democratic Socialist candidate Zoran Mondani is leading by nearly 20 points in the five-person race. According to a Siena College survey, 44 percent of registered voters in the Big Apple support Mondani. That's followed by 25 percent for former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, has only 7 percent of the support. We'll take a deeper look later in the show at how what Mondani is proposing for New York City compares to what President Trump is doing here in D.C. How will the approaches have different results? Stay tuned for that. And for now, an update on the shooting near the CDC headquarters in Atlanta last Friday. A man fired 180 shots into the campus and broke about 150 windows. He killed a police officer in the attack. Officials said the shooter had documents in his home outlining his opposition to the COVID-19 vaccines. The documents are still being examined by law enforcement, including the FBI. Here's Chris Posty, the director of Georgia Bureau of Investigation, at a press conference this morning. A search warrant executed at the residence of the shooter revealed written documentation that expressed the shooter's discontent with the COVID-19 vaccinations. Evidence in this investigation indicates that the shooter had recently verbalized thoughts of suicide, which even led to law enforcement being contacted several weeks prior to the incident. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Further forensic testing of the firearms evidence will be conducted by the GBI crime lab. Officer David Rose was shot and killed here at the CDC Atlanta campus last Friday. Rose was shot while responding to the incident and was taken to a nearby hospital where he died of his injuries. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the suspect has been identified as 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White of Kennesaw. He was found dead with gunshot wounds. Posty says today that he believes the shooter used a mixture of guns, including rifles, a shotgun and maybe a handgun. He added that a shooter stole the weapons from his father's safe. Posty said that over 500 shell cast casings have been recovered from the crime scene area. A total of five firearms were also recovered from the scene. Some 200 rounds impacted six of the CDC buildings. Meanwhile in Austin, Texas, police have identified a suspect of a fatal shooting in the Target parking lot. Three people, including a four-year-old child, were killed in the attack. What happened yesterday was an unprovoked and deliberate attack, a deliberate act of violence. Our department is fully committed to seeking justice for these victims and their families, and this will remain a top priority for us as we move forward. The suspect is identified as 32-year-old Ethan Nynaker. Authorities said he had a history of mental health issues, along with several run-ins with law enforcement. Nynaker has been charged with multiple counts of capital murder and first-degree felony murder. He could face additional charges as the investigation continues. Meanwhile, two Texas Democratic congressmen appear ready to compete against each other on the newly proposed Texas congressional map. Our Washington correspondent Luis Martinez joining us now live to break down this story. Luis, thank you for joining us in the studio. So first, tell us more about these two Democratic lawmakers. Who are they and why are they competing against each other on the newly proposed Texas congressional map? Of course, these two lawmakers are Congressman Lloyd Duggett. He's 78 years old. He first got elected to Congress back in 1994. He's a senior member of the Democratic Caucus. He is the ranking member of the House Waste and Means Committee. And the other Democrat is Congressman Greg Casar, 36 years old, second term in office. He's the chairman of the House Progressive Caucus. And why are they competing? Because the newly proposed Texas congressional map is going to redraw the 35th district, where right now Greg Casar sits. But the redrawn district would now be in areas that Trump carried over by over 10 points in 2024. So most likely any Democrat running for the 35th district next year's midterms will lose to a Republican candidate. Now, one would presume that a 78-year-old lawmaker would step down to give way for a 36-year-old up-and-coming star in the Democratic Party as Greg Casar. But today we saw a campaign email from Lloyd Duggett suggesting that Greg Casar should run for the 35th district and actually try and beat a Republican candidate. But Greg Casar tweeted today that he loves Austin, Texas, signaling that he's going to run for that 37th district, setting up a primary challenge for Lloyd Duggett. Sounds like an interesting race brewing up right there. Meanwhile, the Texas state legislature's special session ends this week. What are Republicans planning to do? How are they going to move forward with the congressional map there? So Iris, today the Senate in Texas passed the proposed new congressional map for Texas, but the House hasn't been able to pass the congressional map because the state legislators of the Democratic Party actually fled the state over two weeks ago. So they can't even have a session because there's no quorum. Now, the special session that Governor Greg Abbott called for ends this Friday. Governor Abbott already said that if they can't pass the new congressional map by Friday, he's just going to call another special session until they find the quorum and until they file, they've actually passed this new congressional map. I've certainly heard the governor threatening to call special sessions for years to come, actually. And right now, Luis, what are Democrats doing both at the Texas state level and also in other states across the nation? Well, as I mentioned, at the state level, we had Democrats who fled the state. They're now incurring in fines, $500 a day per each Democrat that is absent from the special session. And of course, Republicans are asking that the Democratic Party or the Democrats actually end up paying those fines whenever they do come back to the state. We also know that the national level, Governor Gavin Newsom of California has threatened to hold a special election to overwrite the independent districting commission of California to redraw the California congressional map. Similar things have been proposed in New York. The New York congressional map is a little bit more complicated. If they actually do go through all the constitutional amendments that they have to do in New York to do that early redistricting, it would only happen by 2028. And the other state is the state of Maryland. There's only one Republican in the state of Maryland, so if they redraw the map, they would only gain one seat. But it's an interesting seat. That is the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Andy Harris in Maryland, who could potentially be the second consecutive chairman of the House Freedom Caucus to be kicked out during a midterm election, like Bob Goode was last time around. Well, the midterms are heating up already early on. Thank you for that update. Appreciate it. And coming up, as the White House says homeless individuals could face jail if they don't accept help. Is that a step toward rehabilitation or a step too far? We'll discuss with our panel, Jason Palmer and Ryan Stuberok when we come back. And the Justice Department charges a Haitian gang leader, along with an American co-conspirator. Details on that after the break. Big things are happening at Mathis Home. Get Labor Day deals and save on everything for your home. They have hundreds of sofas and sectionals with styles you love at unbeatable prices. And they're the only place with top name recliners starting at just $199. Check out the latest looks in bedrooms and dining rooms and save big. Plus, you don't have to wait. They're all in stock with fast and easy financing and free delivery. Don't miss out. These Labor Day deals are happening now in every department at your furniture superstore, Mathis Home. I'm Jonathan Lawson. If you're 50 to 85, I have an important message about security. Write down the number on your screen so you can call when I finish. The lock I want to talk to you about isn't the one on your door. This is a lock for your life insurance. A rate lock that guarantees that once you're insured, your rate can never go up at any time for any reason. But be careful. Many policies you see do not have one. But you can get a lifetime rate lock from Colonial Pen. Call this number to learn more. This plan was designed with a rate lock for people on a fixed income who want life insurance that fits their budget and is simple to get. Coverage options start at $9.95 a month, less than $0.35 a day. Act now and your rate will be locked in for life. It will never increase. Guaranteed. This is lifelong coverage that can never be canceled as long as you pay your premiums. Guaranteed. And your acceptance is guaranteed with no health questions. You cannot be turned down because of your health. Call for your information kit and read about this rate lock for yourself. You'll also get a free beneficiary planner. Both are free with no obligation. Don't miss out. Call for information, then decide. Read about the 30-day 100% money back guarantee. Don't wait. Call this number now. Call now and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. Use this valuable guide to record important information and your final wishes. And it's yours free just for calling. So don't wait. Call 1-800-357-4821 for your free information. That's 1-800-357-4821. There's no risk or obligation. That number again is 1-800-357-4821. That's 1-800-357-4821. 1-800-357-4821. Call now. £6 prescription glasses from Select Specs are always of great value. There are no offer codes or first-time customers only. Anyone can buy them anytime. And you can upgrade to Select Specs Express for next day delivery. And with deferred payments, you can spread the cost. Be now, pay later with Select Specs £6 Specs. Next day delivery and deferred payment options available at selectspecs.com. Welcome back. I'm Iris Tao. According to the Consumer Price Index released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation is holding steady at 2.7 percent. What does it say about the economy? Joining us now live to discuss is Jason Palmer, co-founder of Together, and former Democratic presidential candidate, along with Ryan Suman Rush, attorney and government affairs advisor. Thank you both for joining us. Glad to be here, Iris. Thanks for having me. So first, Ryan, is this figure reflected in what consumers are actually paying today? Well, I think people are used to inflation, sadly, over, gosh, two, three years now. And so people are just used to living it. But what I think these numbers show you is that, you know, the predicted sky falling from tariffs that we heard from the left simply hasn't happened. And so I think it's highly likely that we're going to see an interest rate cut from the Fed here coming up. Otherwise, President Trump is going to continue to keep up the pressure on them, because, candidly, right now, there's no reason not to. The economy seems strong. Interest rates seem high. We are falling behind the Bank of England and other countries which have been cutting rates. And so essentially, Donald Trump was right. Jason, do you agree? How do you think Americans are feeling right now when it comes to the economy? And especially as President Trump is saying that a rate cut is now long overdue. It's kind of a mixed picture, actually. I mean, I partially agree with your other guest here. At 2.7%, inflation is not that high above the 2% target that the Fed is targeting. But if you look closer, there's something called core inflation, and that went up by 3.1%. And that's a little bit worrying, not terribly worrying. I'm more concerned about the jobs picture, that less than 100,000 jobs have been added to the economy over the last six months. That's concerning. But honestly, we're sort of in a wait-and-see. Let's see if these trends continue. Let's see how the tariffs affect other prices. Right now, we're in a wait-and-see mode, honestly. And another issue that also directly impacts Americans and also has a mixed picture with sometimes people saying their data doesn't reflect the reality, homelessness and crime. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt today addressing the plan here in DC, specifically where individuals will go when their encampments are removed. So here's what she said. Homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services. And if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time. Again, these are pre-existing laws that are already on the books. Ryan, do you see this as an appropriate way to enforce the law? And is your concern that some homeless individuals may not be open to actually receiving mental health or rehabilitation services? Yeah, these laws are on the books for a reason. And American cities, you know, Washington DC is not the first city to have this problem. We saw this in San Francisco, in California. We've seen this in Hawaii and other places. If policies are too lax, homelessness overruns and causes things, you know, tourism or people who live and work in the district just don't want to be there. And so nobody wants to round up the homeless people and put them all in jail. You know, that's not what anybody's advocating for here. What they need is some combination of mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, jobs, things along that nature. And that's not an easy problem to solve. But we have learned time and time again that the correct answer, I'm sorry, that the way to solve this is not to just allow it to go on unchecked. Jason, what do you think of the current approach here? Will it work? And will it fundamentally solve the issue, not only in DC, but just like we talked about in different cities across the US? Well, here's a place where I agree with what Ryan said there. What the administration should do is look closely at Houston. Houston, a red city in a red state, actually reduced their homelessness by 70%. And the way they did it is something like what Ryan was just saying. They went to people on the street, they talked to them, they helped get them into what's called housing first, very low income housing that actually helps them try to get a new job, try to get their life back together. And they coupled it with what's called integrated services, which is actually making sure if people have mental health needs, or they're addicted to drugs or alcohol, that you solve that problem. You don't just let it fester. So I do hope this means that the Trump administration will actually kind of lean into this problem and solve it the way that Houston did. And right now, President Trump is also pushing to overturn no cash bail policies in different cities, including, for example, DC, Chicago, etc. And now Representative Elissa Fonig is set to introduce a bill to do just that, require cash bail nationally. Adjacent, the president says that every place in the country where you have no cash bail is what he calls a disaster. How do you respond? I think there's a common sense middle position here, and I hope that the two parties work to find it. There should be cash bail for violent crimes, for robberies, for people who have a deadly weapon that don't have a license for that weapon. For anything that involves violence or threat to violence, there should be cash bail. However, for what are called victimless crimes, like people who are caught dealing drugs or people who are engaged in prostitution, there are a lot of times when people are rounded up, or homelessness is another good example, like we were just talking about, and they're put in jail and they have no means to actually pay the bail to get out. And then they end up, when they finally go to trial, they're found not guilty and they shouldn't have been in jail for six weeks or sometimes as long as six months. So there should be cash bail for violent offenders, and there should not be cash bail for people who commit victimless crimes. And Ryan, if President Trump is successful in getting congressional help and doing away with the no cash bail policies, as they call it, do you think it's going to help accomplish their goals? It is another example of states being labs of democracies. New York has had a policy and it's not working. I think even New York has admitted that. They've gone through and they've said, you know, we need to have better ways to keep people in jail before trial. And I'll agree mostly with what Jason said there. Violent criminals, of course, need to be held. Public safety needs to be a paramount goal of law enforcement in the court system. But I'll disagree with things like, drug dealers may not be violent criminals themselves, but people who are committing what I'll say are serious felonies. If you are a drug dealer, a drug trafficker, you're committing a violent crime, sex offenses, things like that, you ought to be withheld from the community. Keep the community safe. And so here I'm talking to you here from Ohio. Ohio went through this a couple of years ago, and they put it on the statewide ballot. And by an 80 to 20 margin, residents in Ohio in every county, whether blue or red, voted overwhelmingly for what I'll call common sense, which is public safety should be the foremost decision point when it comes to setting bail or setting bond amounts. Nobody wants to keep somebody who gets a ticket in jail or anything along those lines, but community and public safety has to be the first priority. And another topic that has gotten a lot of scrutiny and actually debates among voters and officials is marijuana. President Trump on Monday said he's also considering reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. So of course, no final word yet, but he says he's looking into that. Jason, what would the impact be potentially if that happens? And does it matter to distinguish medical versus recreational marijuana? Yeah, at this point, we're up to 40 out of 50 states in the U.S. have decriminalized marijuana, either for medical purposes or for personal use. And I do think we're two decades overdue in making it legal at the federal level as well. But at the same time, we need a common sense middle ground, sort of like what Ryan was just talking about with regards to crime. We don't want people lighting up their joints in the middle of the street or at schools or in public spaces. But we actually already went through this with cigarettes. At the same time, we legalize it at the federal level. We should make it clear that these are not drugs that should be used by people under the age of 21. They should be heavily taxed. And it should be clear that you can only use them in designated areas. And it's very hard to find places if you are a smoker to smoke these days. And it should be very hard to find places in the public to smoke marijuana as well. Ryan, just briefly before we let you go here, your response to that. This might be one of the few panels I've done where largely I agree with my counterpart here from the left on just about everything. The states are decades ahead of the federal government on marijuana. Like you said, almost all but 10 have legalized it. We shouldn't legalize it such to the level that anybody under the age of 15 can buy one at the corner store or anything along those lines. But marijuana is here. I think we all know that. What's going to need ironed out is that President Trump alone cannot fix the laws on the books that require drug testing and prohibit marijuana in truck drivers and factory workers and all sorts of things like that. So Congress will have to get into the fight and help clean this up finally. Jason Palmer and Ryan Stuberash, thank you so much both for a civil and informative panel. Appreciate your insight. Thanks, have a good night. The Justice Department indicts a Haitian gang leader. The DOJ says it also indicted a co-conspirator for financially supporting gang activities. NTT correspondent Jason Blair reports. Violent actors like Shazir and the rest of his criminal associates must understand there is no safe haven for them and the people like them that traffic violence in our communities. The Justice Department on Tuesday announced the indictment of Jimmy Sharazir, also known as Barbecue. The U.S. has sanctioned him since 2020 under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. He both planned and participated in the killing of approximately 71 Haitians. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Janine Pirro says that Sharazir's co-defendant Razir Richardson was also indicted for sending money to Sharazir. Sending money from the Haitian diaspora in the United States to Theresia. Pirro also has a warning for others who sent Sharazir money to support his quote violent acts in his home country. They will be prosecuted and we will fine them because they are supporting an individual who is committing human rights abuses and we will not look the other way. Pirro says that a lot of violence has been happening in Haiti. She referred to a recent kidnapping of 16 American missionaries in the country. There is incredible violence going on there which is why the State Department has gotten involved and why we have made the decision to make it very clear under the Magnitsky Act that we're coming after you if you give money to Theresia. Authorities also announced a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of Sharazir and key members of his gang. We know someone has information that can help end this violence and we want them to come forward and know that they are safe in doing so. Reporting in Washington D.C. Jason Blair, NTD News. Coming up with President Trump's federalization of D.C. police lower crime. We'll hear from one of the youngest nationally syndicated columnist Greg Gregory Lykoff. The first time seeing my son I feel like my life didn't 180. I was already trying to change my perspective of life and really just be a father figure that I never had. Being present is the most important part. I'm still growing every day. Becoming a better version of myself. To be the better mirror for my son. I mean he's just growing. He's becoming his own person. Man, first I saw him dance. Bro, he brings the vibes. You know what I'm saying? He brings the party no matter what. He's really a definition of life. Why he loves the body. And I love him to the death of me. I debate all day. It's what I do. But there are some things that are undebatable. Like your mental health. My own mental health. I was in a dark place when my brother passed away in a car accident. I've never been more devastated than the day I lost my mom. I was depressed. Miserable. In ways I never imagined. I reached out. My sisters came. My pastor. My therapist. They helped me get through it. I found that the more I spoke up, the healthier my mind became. The chaos that was in me began to subside. I was more focused. Clear. When you love your mind, you can go so much further. It's not up for debate. Find mental health resources at loveyourmindtoday.org Here you go. Thank you. Welcome back. I'm Iris Tao. How do Americans feel about President Trump's federalization of the D.C. police force? And does it will lower crime and combat the homelessness situation here in the nation's capital? Joining me now to discuss these developments is Gregory Lykoff. He's one of the youngest nationally syndicated columnists. Gregory Lykoff, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. So first, President Trump has now placed a D.C. police force under federal control and also sending a National Guard to address crime issues here in D.C. Do you think such a move is justified? We know that some say that it's long overdue, but others say that data shows that crime is coming down. Yeah, well, first off, of course, it's justified. Look at D.C. where a former DOJ staffer just got attacked by a mob. And this is just one out of the several events where officials in government have gotten attacked by the mobs in D.C. And D.C. has increased its homicide rate by over 40 percent in just the last few years. So, of course, it's justified to clean up the capital city, the city that's supposed to represent the entire U.S. Not only that, but it's funny how Democrats point to the decreased statistics in crime, because the truth is, is that if crime slightly decreases, but is still very high, it's not any better. Look at the residents in D.C. How many of them are complaining of the high crime? I think it's most of them because the crime is getting ridiculous. And thank God the federal government is finally stepping in to put an end to it. Meanwhile, shifting gears to New York, which we know the president has also talked about addressing various issues there. In there, New York mayoral candidate Zoran Mamdani has backed spending on things, for example, like racial equity and education and also in housing. What would the impact of such policies be on the city where you live? Yeah, of course. So, first off, Zoran Mamdani is clearly a candidate that values policies that look good on the surface more than policies that actually work. He has advocated to remove CCTVs cameras out of schools in New York City. It's in the DSA charter, the Democratic Socialists of America charter, that he endorses. And for no good reason. I can't find a good reason why security cameras are bad in schools. They protect students, not harm them. And in general, his policies on racial equity, on equitable housing, all of those are ridiculous. They do not actually hold up to what they claim to work. And to be honest, they are just identity politics that Zoran Mamdani wants to implement because of the radical left that is influencing him to do those things. Meanwhile, we do know that a lot of New Yorkers, let it be young New Yorkers or the elderlies, they're all concerned about such urban problems like crime, violence, and homelessness, which really affects everyone in the city. How do we fundamentally address these issues? Exactly. That's a wonderful question and the million-dollar question. So, a few weeks ago, I actually was hosting a rally with Brandon Straka, the founder of the walkaway campaign movement. And there we organized about a thousand New Yorkers who came in to support any other candidate other than Mamdani. And at that rally, we also had Jim Walden, who is currently running for mayor of New York City. And then later, I interviewed him. And his policy is wonderful because what he values is not necessarily the big numbers saying that, oh, we're going to create 100,000 affordable housing units in New York City. That's completely unrealistic, completely not viable. But what he values is the small changes, like increasing charter schools, which benefit students all around the city, like increasing affordable housing to the ones who really need it, rather than having rent-stabilized apartments to people like Zohan Mamdani, who he himself lives in a rent-stabilized apartment for no good reason. Those are the policies that we need to see. Also, we need to see more policies like the Big Beautiful Bill on a local level. The Big Beautiful Bill cut spending in areas that did not need it. For example, in Medicaid and Medicare, it set a work requirement for, I believe it was 50 hours, if I'm not mistaken, a week, I'm sorry, a month for individuals who are on that program. And it was really implemented there to make sure that if you're on a government service, you're not taking it and taking it for granted. We have a big culture in New York City and all around the U.S. in general to take these social programs and overuse them and live on them. That's the big issue. And that's why we have an overwhelming amount of poverty in communities and a repeated cycle of almost cultural poverty in certain communities. And speaking of the dependence on such social programs and cultural issues, how do we really improve this in the short and long term? We know that it's not just specific to New York City. It's a phenomenon that many say exists in many cities across the U.S. right now. Exactly. So I'm going to point back to the Big Beautiful Bill, because what it did was it set a work requirement. And that work requirement did not require for people with disability, with dependents to work, none of that stuff. It actually had specific clauses to allow those people to be exempt from the work requirement. What it did was it targeted specific individuals who were sitting in their houses all day, just reliant on Medicare and doing nothing, really. And it targeted them and said, OK, you have to work half as much as the regular everyday American works and you have to go find a job or do some sort of community service or something like that. So Democrats are fundamentally opposed to these work requirements, but I still can't understand why, because there's no negative side to them. It makes, it forces people who are impoverished and reliant on social programs, it forces them to actually go work and contribute to society and get out of their current situation. If anything, the work requirement should have been higher in the Big Beautiful Bill. It should have been double the amount of normal everyday American works. If you're someone in poverty, you should be working. And that's what we need to be implementing all around the country, especially on social services in cities like New York. Well, definitely something remains to be seen if that Big Beautiful Bill and new policies and new requirements would lead to a cultural shift. Gregory Langhoff, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your insights. Thank you. As President Trump announces measures to combat crime in D.C., he's also issuing a warning to cities like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Baltimore. Would everyday Americans support the president's efforts if he decides to expand the policies? Kennedy's Dan Wong was out on the National Mall in D.C. to hear from the people. President Trump just announced that he's federalizing D.C. law enforcement due to the ongoing crime issues here in the city. He also sounded the alarm for some other U.S. cities like Oakland, Baltimore and stuff like that. So would you be in favor of him potentially expanding that policy to somewhere else? Absolutely. Safety first. I mean, why not? I mean, if it's going to bring crime down in any state, I mean, I'm all for it. No, I'm not for him federalizing the police forces across the whole country. He's already started with D.C. and I don't know what's next. I don't know. I think if the cities aren't taking care of it, somebody else has to. If it's the federal government, then I'm for it. Hypothetically, I'd support it depending on where, like how much damage is being done and how much crime is going down. A federal takeover is like draconian, I think. So I would rather have, make sure that the people are getting what they want versus the federal government jumps in and overreaches and does too much. You look back at the BLM riots that we had before, should have stepped in during that time, right? We saw cities burning, right? We saw violence. We saw people killed, right? And so I think the government should help out in those cases. So I applaud his efforts doing that. What are your thoughts on ending no cash bail? Because we've seen this in D.C. We've seen this happening in New York City as well. Like, what are your thoughts on that? I think that people who commit crimes should be held accountable to the law. Judicial systems changed in the last five or 10 years. All of a sudden, you know, certain crimes seem to be acceptable. And in my time, when you make them acceptable, then you're going to get more of them, right? Yeah, I mean, not everybody has that money to, you know, to put up and cover their bill. So why not? Give them a chance. I heard the whole thing, like in San Francisco, when they said, you know, if it's under $900, we're not going to, you know, prosecute things. And what happened? You had, you know, huge groups going in there, just looting stores. So you have to have a balance of law and order. How do you do that in the cash bail question? I don't really know that I have the answer for that. Stopping it? I think it should be stopped. I think it's stupid that if you commit a crime that you don't have to pay for it. You get bailed out too easily, then there's no deterrent involved there. So whatever it takes to make people pay the price for what they've done. I think if you're committing crimes, you have to pay for your crimes. And if we shouldn't just throw people back into society, if they're clearly screwing things up over and over again. And coming up, could ultra-processed foods become the new cigarettes? We'll speak with Jennifer Gilardi with the Heritage Foundation about how to improve America's nutrition. If joint pain from aging is slowing you down, Omega XL can help you get back in the saddle, just like it did for John Walsh. Today, I'm here at my ranch exercising some of my polo ponies. Got to be really fit to ride these horses. So as you get older, it gets tougher. I was starting to suffer some of that business. And then I ran into somebody who said, look, you should try Omega XL. And look what it's done. I feel better than I've felt in the last 30 years. I'm Revae Walsh. I'm John Walsh's wife. I ride fox hunters. And sometimes I'm in the saddle for three, five hours at a time. A lot of work out here. I wouldn't have been able to do this. Muck a stall, throw hay, do all the things that need to be done on a ranch a couple years ago. But Omega XL gave me the ability to get back in the saddle. It works great. Once you try it, you don't want to be without it. It makes a huge difference. It does. Take it every single day. And you know, there's a benefit. It's made you a lot nicer to me. If you've been living with pain, it's time to get this special offer. Omega XL. The joint health supplement that millions have trusted for more than 20 years. Omega XL. It's sourced from the green-lipped mussel. Exclusively found in the pristine waters of New Zealand. Some of the cleanest waters on earth. Omega XL. It's natural, drug-free, and it's backed by more than 40 years of clinical research that show it really works. Try Omega XL today. Pick up your phone and call the number at the bottom of your screen right now for a special offer. Buy one, get two free. Two bottles of Omega XL plus Vitamin XL D3. A value of more than $100. But call today and you pay only $39.95. That's a savings of more than 60%. Plus, it's backed by our 60-day money-back guarantee. Try it. You got nothing to lose. Call or go online right now to get this special offer. Two bottles of Omega XL plus Vitamin XL D3 for only $39.95. Call now. Boxes everywhere. And this is gonna be Addie's room. I think you're really gonna like it. I hope so. Yeah. First night here, but Amy seems cool. I got this. Welcome back. I'm Iris Tao. More states are now taking sugary drinks off snap food programs. With the Trump administration approving more waivers. Last week earlier, I sat down with Jennifer Ghilardi, a senior policy analyst for restoring American wellness at the Heritage Foundation. Jennifer Ghilardi, thank you so much for joining us. Oh, it's such a pleasure to be here. Thank you, Iris. So first of all, this week, Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rawlins and Health Secretary, R.K. Jr. signed six new waivers restricting the use of snap benefits to buy sugary drinks as well as candies. And you've been vocal about how, for example, obesity as well as poor health are really hurting America, even costing the country billions of dollars every year. So talk to us about how you're sensing new efforts by this new administration to really bring up this issue and address it. Are they working? Will they be effective? I think the snap waivers are one of the biggest wins so far in the Maha movement. They are going to have the biggest amount of impact. And I think they're the biggest real world results. You know, when it comes down to it, obesity is a chronic disease. It's a metabolic dysfunction, meaning your cells are just not metabolizing well. They're relying on sugars instead of actual nutrients to function. And it's been a disaster for America. So limiting the amount of money that can go towards those types of foods, sugary drinks, candy, I believe. Iowa's gone much further with it with some of the foods that are restricted. But at the very least, kind of the sugary energy drinks that are really of no nutritive value. They don't do anything to sustain good health. And it's one thing if you're spending your own money on that and making your choices, but these are taxpayer dollars. So essentially, we're funding, we're subsidizing their purchase, and then we're subsidizing the health costs as a consequence of those purchases. So it just doesn't make any fiscal sense. It's not fair to the American public to continue to do this. So I think this is a huge win. And we'll see. I mean, enough states are doing it. It may happen on a federal level. Another measure the administration is pushing is, for example, launching an initiative to create a federally recognized definition of ultra processed food. And how do these food really contribute to the rising chronic disease across the U.S.? We're going to have to have some definition for it. We're going to start legislating it and creating policies, or you can't create policy around something you don't really know how to define yet. You know ultra processed food when you see it. It's the cheese crackers with peanut butter in the middle. It is the ice cream with 50 ingredients in it, as opposed to just milk, cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla bean. Not that those things are great, but what happens when you eat real ingredients, your body gets nourished. Even if it's real sugar or real whole milk, it feels like it's getting nutrients. With a lot of these ultra processed food, as I mentioned before, there's no nutritive value in them. The body's not actually being nourished. It might be considered food, but it's not doing what it's supposed to. You know, it's a substitute, not the sustenance we should live on. And, you know, again, it'll be interesting to see how they define it, because cottage cheese can be considered a processed food, but maybe not an ultra processed foods. Are they going to define it by how many steps it has to take before it goes into the package? By how many ingredients are in it? Because you consider, like I said, cottage cheese a processed food, but it's pretty much milk and maybe cream and salt, right? I'm okay with that. I'm okay with buying a processed food like that. The other thing with ultra processed food is that people say, oh, it's cheap and that's why people buy it. But when you think about the true cost of it, there's a lot of hitting costs that people aren't seeing. One, the subsidies that go into the ingredients in ultra processed food, like corn, wheat and soy, which most ultra processed foods have in them. Those are subsidized by the government. Farmers get subsidies to grow a lot of those foods. So without those subsidies, they probably, farmers wouldn't have been kind of incentivized to grow those foods. What if we incentivize broccoli or cucumbers and lettuce and kale? We'd have a completely different system and probably more of a true fair market price. But then there's also the price of what we're paying in health costs. So they do come at an extremely high cost. What other measures do you think can be in place? What changes can be implemented to really solve the fundamental issues like the production of these foods in the first place? We've already now got this proliferation of junk food. Our kind of constitutional republic doesn't, or at least Republicans, conservatives don't really favor bans on things, right, like cigarettes or anything like that. I like what we did with cigarettes, which was a huge educational campaign, right, even a little scare tactics, telling people what the true costs of these cigarettes are. We can roll back these subsidies, but we have got all these farms. We're going to have to help farmers transition to a more sustainable model of agriculture that is more of a biodiverse ecological system that has cows and grains and all these different things that work in harmony with each other, kind of the way nature intended it. It's going to take some compromise. It's going to take some nuance. I think these kind of pure definitions of organic and regenerative, that will be hard. But when it comes down to it, I think the more local we can get, the closer we become to our farmers, the more local our food supply is, the better off we are, because the left is always concerned about carbon neutral, right? Well, this is a win for them because a more local farming supply, a more local farming system reduces the number of trucks on the road, reduces the amount of food imports. That's another consideration is national security. If we're relying on China for a lot of our agricultural land, this is not good. So we really have to make sure we protect our farmers. We protect our farmland. We find uses for it that we enrich the soil and make it viable to grow our own food supply. A large consideration for Americans would be cost. We source these organic ingredients, but we know that they're more expensive. What are the challenges to really make the farming practices healthier? We're also still providing Americans with affordable options. If you do have a truly free market, right, and you're not subsidizing corn, wheat, and soy and the overproduction of all this junk food, you might have funds available to help more farmers transition to regenerative agriculture model, more sustainable, which in the long run, and then you think about the money that goes into crop insurance, because we've degraded the soil so much, it gets destroyed very easily with a bad rain or winds like the Dust Bowl. So sustainable models of agriculture and regenerative agriculture tend to keep more nutrients in the soil, tend to keep them more resistant to kind of these natural disasters, but it takes some time. How do we farm in a way that's consistent with the way God has, like the blessings God has given us, the way farmers kind of did in the past? And that doesn't mean we have to go back to the 1920s and hand-moved plows and everything. There's technologies that can help, and there's technologies that can measure success. Jennifer, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much. And that's all we have for you tonight on The Capital Report. For round-the-clock original news coverage, visit us at ntd.com slash live or download our NTD app. For One Nation's Capital, I'm Iris Tao. Have a nice evening, and we'll see you back here tomorrow.