Capitol Report Full Broadcast (Aug. 26)

Good evening and welcome to the Capitol Report on Entity Television. I'm Steve Lance, and coming up, President Trump unveiling a bold new step to keep the Capitol safe, touting sharp drops in crime, taking fresh aim at America's top universities. In an emotional moment during his seventh Cabinet meeting, President hearing firsthand from our White House correspondent Iris Tao, who was mugged at gunpoint right here in the nation's Capitol not too long ago. And Iris will be joining us in studio. Live from our global headquarters in our nation's Capitol, here's Steve Lance. And welcome to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. At the seventh Cabinet meeting of his second term, President Trump touting plunging crime numbers in Washington. In previewing a tough new step, he says his administration has no choice but to take. Entity's Mari Otsu brings us more from the White House. Anybody murders something in the Capitol, Capitol punishment. President Trump is saying that his administration will seek the death penalty in homicide cases in D.C. If somebody kills somebody in the Capitol, Washington, D.C., we're going to be seeking the death penalty. The president, at his seventh Cabinet meeting today, is calling this a very strong preventative measure that his administration has no choice but to implement in the Capitol, but that states will make their own decision. This comes as the White House is touting the results of the D.C. crime crackdown, announcing that carjackings are down 86 percent, homicides are down 60 percent, and that there have been zero murders over the past two weeks. So the line is that I'm a dictator, but I stopped crime. So a lot of people say, you know, that's the case. I'd rather have a dictator, but I'm not a dictator. I just died to stop crime. President Trump says he is looking to send the National Guard to other cities like New York, Chicago, and Baltimore, but that he wants local officials to request his help. This has met with pushback from local officials, with Maryland Governor Wes Moore calling the deployment unconstitutional. But President Trump is saying that the governor praised him in a private conversation before going on television to criticize him publicly. When I met this gentleman, I never met him before. Sir, you're doing a great job. You're doing an unbelievable job. Thank you very much. But then he goes on television and says, oh, Trump is a dictator. Meanwhile, the president is calling for Harvard University to pay a half-a-billion-dollar settlement to restore its federal funding. We want nothing less than $500 million from Harvard. Don't negotiate, Linda. All right. They've been very bad. This comes as the administration is seeking $1 billion from UCLA over campus anti-Semitism claims. Last month, the president secured multi-million-dollar settlements with Columbia and Brown universities. And earlier this month, President Trump signed a memo requiring universities to disclose admissions data on race. The secretary of education says that since negotiations with the Ivy Leagues began... I have presidents of universities calling every single week. They want to sit down and talk to us about all of the steps that they are taking because they would like to not come under the same investigation, you know, program. President Trump's Harvard comments come as the Ivy League has asked for a final decision before September 3. Reporting from the White House, Mario Tsu, NTD News. Our own NTD White House correspondent, Iris Tao, was covering the cabinet meeting at the White House. During today's meeting, President Trump asked Iris to share the story of how when she was mugged in broad daylight right here in the nation's capital not too long ago. You probably figured that he's going to pull the trigger because these are animals that don't know what the hell... they couldn't care less. The pulling the trigger to him is a very minor event and I'm sure he's done it before. So how did you... and you did refuse to give it, which would probably maybe somebody would say that was not the right decision, right? But you refused, but I understand that. So, and then he hit you real hard. It's really amazing that you weren't shot, that was. And we do have our own Iris Tao in studio with us right now to discuss both her experience as well as what transpired today at that cabinet meeting. Iris, walk us through sort of today's events. The president asked you about your experience. It's really quite amazing. He referenced the fact that you did not immediately give up your items, which, you know, we all thought when we heard about it, we were scared initially for your safety, but then did question that decision. Tell us what happened. So first of all, to your point, I actually did tell the whole cabinet that my friends did call me crazy and that's why they laughed actually at that moment, though you couldn't hear it. But right, it was after President Trump started his crackdown and then prompted me to write an op-ed published in the Times about my experience as a White House reporter around two years ago, getting robbed at gunpoint. And the guy uses the butt of his handgun to basically pistol whip me in the face before running away. And after my op-ed was published, the White House press secretary retweeted it and asked everyone to read it. And the president apparently has read it as well. And that's why today he brought up my story, which I really appreciate because having had that experience, which left me and my family deeply traumatized, as I told the president today, even to this day, I don't dare to walk in the streets of D.C. at night alone. Still, I still Uber home. And it's caused a big change in perspective for me and my family. So as I shared today with the whole room, I'm grateful, actually, for the opportunity to share my story. And hopefully it's going to shed light on more cases like these victims, not just in D.C., but across the country who have their stories untold or have experienced something like this and are now hopeful to see real changes. And to your point, this incident that took place with you is in a relatively lower crime. High crime is everywhere in D.C. But there are a lot of people whose stories aren't told or aren't addressed. You did ask the president today about how the long term sustainability once crime is brought down, what efforts will be put in place to make sure that it stays that way. Right. So I asked the president as a victim like myself, we are worried about long term sustainability. And he called it a great question and told me that, one, they want to have the National Guard troops stay in D.C. for as long as they can, which is beyond 30 days. And if he needs, he says he would call for an extension of the national emergency, which would potentially allow for even longer period for them to stay. But beyond that, when I asked him what's the solution for not only months, but years to come, he did mention that right now they're putting a lot of the criminals in prison and also deporting a lot of the illegal aliens who are committing crimes. So he says that, in part, will hopefully prevent them from coming back into the streets and committing crimes. But also, he says the administration is working very closely with the police department and he says if they ever see a spike in crime again in D.C., they will immediately strengthen their presence and bring National Guard troops back in. And of course, there's also accountability. Today, we just heard the president seeking potential capital punishment for people who commit murder in D.C. And even for my case, fortunately, I didn't get shot. The guy pistoled me, but didn't open fire. But he even asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to actually look into my own specific case to find the person. And here's what he told the room. Let's take a look. Did they ever capture these people, by the way? I checked calling, but I haven't been back. It'd be really great if you could maybe give the information. She's very good at capturing people. You know, she's very good. If you could give that information to Pam, would be great. Would you do that? You'd love to see them. I would assume you'd like to see them. You can't. You just can't. Yeah. Thank you. Good luck. So whoever robbed me, they're watching TV. Be careful. Well, I'm sure you'd love to see a resolution to your case. I know we would. And he's our style. Please stay safe. And we look forward to seeing you more frequently at the White House. Thank you. And the Trump administration is now appealing to revive a lawsuit against all 15 federal judges in the state of Maryland. The case has implications for immigration and judges' power across the nation. First, Maryland's chief justice blocking immediate deportations for any illegal immigrants who are challenging their removals. The Trump administration then suing, saying that this will interfere with its authority to enforce the nation's immigration laws. But just today, Virginia federal judge Thomas Cullen dismissed that lawsuit, saying the administration could appeal any one of the individual immigrant cases or file a complaint, but not sue the entire judiciary. For now, immediate deportations will remain blocked, and immigrants will have two days to have their petitions reviewed. And in the 39-page ruling, Judge Thomas Cullen, who was appointed by President Trump, had harsh words for the administration's litigation path. Joining me now to assess is former Trump attorney and former federal prosecutor Jim Trustee. Jim, great to have you on with us. Sure. Good to see you. Jim, the Department of Justice was trying to sue all 15 federal judges in the state of Maryland, but a judge just tossed this whole case out. Essentially, the DOJ wants to limit a judge's ability to stall these types of immigration cases. What implication does today's decision have for deportation cases and really, quite frankly, judicial power in general? Yeah, I don't think it's anything gigantic. I mean, that's kind of the good news for the administration. I mean, this is a judge who used to be the U.S. attorney appointed by President Trump down in Roanoke for the Western District of Virginia. He does have some orderliness in this opinion, which we can talk about. But the bottom line is he says, look, if you want to challenge what's happening on an individual case, you can do that, Mr. Federal Government. You can either challenge the habeas proceedings that are taking place or go up to the Fourth Circuit on appeal from Maryland and fight what you want to fight there. You can even change the local rules if you want to. But you're not in a position to just have a blanket injunction over judges because the judges, among other things, have sovereign immunity and they're acting in their official capacity when they announce this two-day rule. Again, this is a rule that's only applying to people that have a pending habeas petition. And probably what your viewers ought to know is that most habeas corpus petitions in the district courts across this country, with some spirited exceptions, fall flat. There's not a lot of relief that's given to people that are ordered removed by the district courts. The problem is the volume has picked up. There's a lot of these petitions flying around. And what Judge Hazel wanted to do in Maryland was say, look, at least don't take them out of our jurisdiction during the first couple of days. Let us look at their petition and most likely deny most of them before you move them to another state. Because every time they move an illegal alien to a different facility out of state, the original court loses jurisdiction over the habeas. So it's kind of preventing a shell game. That's what Judge Hazel wanted to do with that ruling. The court came down hard against the federal government having any sort of basis for a lawsuit or jurisdiction over the suit, came down hard on sovereign immunity as protecting these judges. But in the real game of life, I don't think this is going to have a massive effect on the speed at which the government can get people deported. And Jim, to your point with regard to the judge's opinion in this case, who was actually the audience was appointed by the president previously. He said that the Trump administration is trying to damage the reputation of the justice system. Do you think that the administration's criticisms are valid? And what do you think is the risk to taking it too far? Well, you know, as a lawyer who's been in the criminal justice system for 35 years, I was a prosecutor for 27. We're kind of trained to be very circumspect about criticizing judges. We respect the robe, even if we don't necessarily respect the person. So I'm not one that's quick to jump on the bandwagon of completely trashing judges. That said, there's been an extraordinary amount of lawfare, an extraordinary amount of willingness of judges to go out on a limb when President Trump is one of the parties to hurt him. So the frustration with activist judges with nationwide injunctions is something I completely understand. So, yeah, this judge came off, I think Judge Cullen came off maybe a little thin skin, talking about how, you know, there's, this is a kind of an unnecessary confrontational move by the executive branch. And then he has a footnote using all those kind of descriptive terms that have been thrown at judges across the country. But I think in some instances, maybe it's overblown, but in a lot of instances, it's fair to criticize his judges for being activists at the expense of President Trump. Now, Jim, it's no secret Washington, D.C. votes over 90%, at least in the presidential, for the Democratic candidate. President Trump now announcing today that he's seeking the death penalty for murders in Washington, not something that you typically see in a, what you would call a blue state, calling it capital punishment. First of all, legally, do you think that this will be able to be put into practice? And if so, just how big of an announcement is this today? Well, I think it's a big announcement because of the messaging in general. You know, it's telling people that these traditionally blue cities that have been plagued for many years with violent crime have a new sheriff in town. And so I think that message may resonate beyond political parties. I think there's people that live in the shadow of fear that go through things like Irish went through that are welcoming a more aggressive federal government. Now, I assume when you're talking about the death penalty, and I haven't read through the executive order, but I assume what he's talking about is in federal cases as opposed to superior court cases, because D.C. has both the local component and the pure federal component. And look, on the federal cases, the U.S. government has a lot of discretion. They have a process they go through. If they want to view D.C. as something that's kind of inherently vulnerable, inherently important to send the right message about pursuing the highest level of accountability, then they're going to be in a position to do that. I don't think you're going to see dozens or hundreds of cases or suddenly death penalty cases out of D.C., but it could certainly make a difference for people like the guy who murdered two Israeli embassy personnel who had the temerity of going to the Israeli museum. So, you know, there are cases where that's telling you if you're part of the community, if you're a defense attorney, for instance, that if it happens in D.C., you're facing a new sheriff. Speaking of a new sheriff, we're seeing it in D.C. There's talk now of sending federal troops and, in particular, the National Guard to other cities. How do you see this playing out? Will it be challenged legally? And what case can the administration make to defend it? Yeah, I think it will be challenged. We've got a taste of this in California when the president had the National Guard roll out to shut down some of the protests that were happening in L.A. And, of course, Gavin Newsom says, we don't need any help from you. And eventually the protests did, in fact, fizzle out and the National Guard returned home. So even though D.C. is different because of the home charter rule, I think there is an ability to activate the National Guard when he declares emergencies in these situations. The devil's in the details, Steve. The reality is, if the National Guard is out there to just create a deterrent effect by standing in front of Union Station, for instance, that's kind of unassailably helpful. And I think that's something we see a lot of in D.C. over the last couple of weeks. If they are also backfilling, and this is what the president mentioned the other day, or Tom Holman mentioned, if they're basically going in to help federal resources free up from the desk from the detention center and get out on the streets, in other words, National Guard does the processing. Agents get out on the street and make the arrest. That's a force multiplier. And I've lived and breathed, when I was a prosecutor doing gang cases, where it was always the right technique to have a task force, to have federal agents working with local police, to have kind of that marriage of skills and resources to bring the best cases, to bring violent crime to heel. So I think that despite all the political wailing from places like Chicago and Baltimore, that at the end of the day, a lot of the rank and file people that live there would love to have more of a distinct federal presence to both deter and then ultimately prosecute some of the worst of the worst. To your point, the president in the cabinet meeting today referencing some of the black folks in Chicago wearing red MAGA caps and embracing that in a city that's really been plagued with so much crime over the past decades, really. Just lastly, Jim, in your assessment, Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, the Salvadoran national who has picked up a lot of headlines, do you think that he'll ultimately be deported again? They were trying to send him back to Uganda. And legally, that's not back, not where he's from, but legally, where does this case stand in your opinion? Good question. The wind that the defense had with him in the early days of his immigration travels was to forbid him from being sent to El Salvador because he's an MS-13 member, that he faced some sort of retaliation if he returned. So it's kind of ironic to have ACLU lawyers saying, how dare you call him a gang member, how dare you send him to El Salvador, when they're the ones that set up that regime with the immigration court for him to avoid going to that one particular country. When a home country won't take somebody, you don't get to say, well, I'll take my pick of either the French Riviera or somewhere in the Caribbean. They're going to send you where they're going to send you. I think that day will come for him eventually. I actually have to tell you, I kind of hope that the case in Tennessee that was indicted for human smuggling is a real case and that they let that case play out, even though that means he's on the streets for a while because of the Tennessee judge ruling that he's not a danger to the community or a risk of flight. I think you let that case play out to show that it was a real indictment, get the conviction if you're going to get it, and then let him serve a sentence before he gets removed. I think that's the most appropriate way to play it if that's a real case. And a lot of the defense attorneys out there are saying, oh, the indictment was just a mask to try to get him locked up again. It's not a real case. I'd like to see indictments be real indictments. And if that's the case, that they let him go through the process and hurry up and try the case rather than worrying about removal to Uganda right this minute. Jim, trustee, appreciate you joining us to share your insights. Coming up, President Trump today announcing that the administration will be seeking the death penalty in all DC murder cases. Is this feasible and could it deter violent crime? We'll discuss more with our panel, Colin Reed and Mally Smith when we come back. Big things are happening at Mathis Home. 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It's definitely an inner peace in the midst of something very chaotic and for a lot of people right now, the whole world is very, very chaotic. So I guess that's another reason why so many people are very drawn to this. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. President Trump holding his seventh cabinet meeting since taking office in January, lasting over three hours. So how is the president addressing his critics on his efforts to combat crime? Joining us now in studio to discuss is Democratic strategist and former Harris campaign North Carolina political director Molly Smith, along with co-founder of Self and Hill Strategies, Colin Reed. It's great to have you guys both in studio. Thank you for having us. We are actually going to come back to our in-studio guests in just one second. We're going to go right now to a protester who set an American flag on fire right across the street from the White House. This was on Monday evening in protest of President Trump's new executive order against flag burning. The man was arrested and charged with setting a fire in a federal park. President Trump ordering the establishment of a special National Guard unit aimed at tackling crime across the country. So do everyday Americans support the move? NTD Sam Wong was out on the National Mall right here in D.C. to hear from the people. What are your thoughts on President Trump's decision to send in the National Guards to D.C. and federalize the D.C. law enforcement? I'm for it. I wish they had it in St. Louis, Missouri. I would be for it no matter who was in office. It's actually crazy because it's like, you know, you shouldn't be terrorizing your own people. I shouldn't be walking around feeling fear, you know, like this is our country, we're not the threat. It doesn't ever hurt. It's not anything bad. It's not like they're, you know, like causing a problem with the average person. They're just keeping people safe. I'll put it this way. We're walking down on the other side and there's a maybe 30 National Guard doing gardening. Go from there. Make your own decision. And do you think that this is necessary for perhaps some of the less safe areas in D.C.? Possibly. They're here to protect the monuments and also getting these criminals off the street. They seem very peaceful and quiet and they're in groups. They're not hassling anyone or anything like that. So I believe it's a good thing. President Trump called for the creation of a special unit that is basically designed to tackle crimes across American cities. What are your thoughts on that? That I support. That I definitely support because in a lot of these areas, crime's getting a little out of hand and people are kind of, kindness isn't there as well and it has to be some sort of structure. It feels like we're targeting cities on purpose instead of just trying to solve everywhere, you know? Because Chicago and Baltimore and places like that aren't the only places with crime. There's a lot of red states that have a lot of higher crime rates. Well, you think about Little Rock, Arkansas and all these places. So why are we not mobilizing to these spaces as well? We need it in St. Louis. Agree. Definitely need it. Agree. It's crime ridden. And we hear gunshots all the time. And there was a guy carjacked alongside of a building. He was shot. He wouldn't give him his car. And there was a guy laying dead in the street about a year and a half ago. I think our National Guard is capable of doing what they do. I don't think you need a special unit. I mean, if it's a certain area like we want to do right here in D.C., I could understand it. I guess we should clean up. We have to clean up. If this catch and release with no bail and all of that is happening, you know, who's paying for this? The American citizens, right? States could lose federal funding if they don't enforce English language proficiency requirements for truck drivers. That's as the Trump administration today further defunded the California high speed rail project. Entity's Washington correspondent, Jack Bradley, has more. This is not just about saying we have some obscure rule that we want them to comply with, that truck drivers speak English proficiently. This is about keeping people safe on the road. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is giving California, Washington state and New Mexico 30 days to comply with English proficiency standards for commercial drivers. If they don't, they could lose tens of millions of dollars in federal funding. Duffy signed an order setting the standards back in May and it went into effect in June. But he says all of these three states failed to enforce the new rules. Then earlier this month, an illegal immigrant truck driver licensed in California allegedly made an illegal U-turn that killed three people in Florida. Officials later found the driver couldn't pass the English proficiency test to read the sign that says that the U-turn was for official use only. We tested this individual after the crash, but no doubt could not speak English language and could not understand road signs. Federal law prohibits illegal immigrants from getting commercial driver's licenses, but several states like California issue licenses regardless of immigration status. In another development, Secretary Duffy says he's canceling $175 million in federal funding for the California high-speed rail project. That money is mostly for design work, but that's not a lot compared to what the Trump administration canceled just back in July, about $4 billion in federal grants for this project. California is suing to challenge this withdrawal. The high-speed rail was approved by voters back in 2008. They were promised a train that went from Los Angeles to San Francisco in under three hours for $33 billion and to be completed by 2020. But after being nowhere near completion, the goal has been set to make the train travel from Bakersfield to Merced, which many say is in the middle of nowhere. It's set to cost nearly $130 billion now and to finish that project by 2038. This comes a day after California state lawmakers say that they would pass an added $1 billion per year investment into the project to keep it running. Reporting by Jack Bradley, NTD News. President Trump holding his seventh cabinet meeting since taking office in January, lasting over three hours. So how is the president addressing his critics on his efforts to combat crime? Joining us now in studio to discuss is Democratic strategist and former Harris campaign North Carolina political director Molly Smith, along with co-founder of Self and Hill Strategies, Colin Reed. It's great to have you guys both in studio. Thanks for having us. Great to have you. So President Trump, obviously in this cabinet meeting, wide-ranging meeting, we saw him talking to the press for a real long time, addressing DC crime. He criticized Democrats for opposing his efforts. Let's have a listen. They're against crime prevention. You can't do that. I say, is this some trick to this? When they say Trump is in Washington, DC, stopping crime, he's a dictator. And people are being mugged like your brilliant associate here. So Molly, is this a difficult position for Democrats to be in, to so not appear as being soft on crime and how to navigate this? Well, it's certainly a complicated one, because the reason President Trump is doing this is he's strategically trying to shift away from us having a conversation on tariffs, us having a conversation on the fact that jobs numbers were slowing. They were slowing so much that he fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner because he didn't like the numbers. So he's doing this to try to put Democrats in a position where they are taking stands that might not be very popular with Americans. But I think Democrats need to be able to articulate a few things at once, which is first off, even though Trump is exaggerating the statistics and sometimes just lying about the statistics when it comes to DC crime, that this is an issue that voters care about. So they can't just play it off and say, well, statistics are down. This isn't something we should care about. Democrats need to have a proactive answer on how they're going to make communities safer. And I think that includes talking about how they want to fund police officers, how they want to fund school community programs to make sure kids have things to do in the summer so the community is safer and just have a holistic approach. And you could counter that with Trump's approach that seems more for show by having the National Guard deployed than actual solutions. Colin, is this just political genius or is it actually necessary? Or he could be doing it because crime spiraled out of control the last five years. As anyone who lived in this city, if they're being honest, would tell you it's true. And just because it's come down from a record high does not mean it's at a place where it should be. People should be able to walk around this city. This should be the most beautiful, the safest city in the world. We shouldn't have curfews in the Navy Yard. We should be able to walk to our trains in the shadow of Union Station here without fear of our lives. And it hasn't been great. And the idea that we should just accept the fact that this is the way it is, is just wrong. Especially in not only the capital of America, but the capital of the free world. So the same people who now are telling you that we shouldn't pay attention to what Trump is doing on crime because he's doing it for ulterior motives, are the people who told us the border was secure, Biden wasn't senile, Kamala was brat, and inflation was transitory. It's just not true. And people understand that. You can't convince people to believe things that they don't believe. And to Colin's point, you know, we just had our White House correspondent Iris Tao here, who was mugged. The president has been talking about when he addresses the media that many of you have been mugged. She had the courage today to talk about her experience. And we can tell you that there are others, many others within, you know, the White House, you know, grounds that have been mugged, sadly, and just aren't speaking about it. The president also mentioned that he'd love to have these governors from high crime states singling out Illinois, mostly Democrats. Reaching out to him. He would like to see them reaching out to him to tackle crime. Let's have another listen from the media. But I would love it to have these governors, mayors call me and say, we'd like to invite you into our community, because we have a problem, and you can handle the problem. And we can't. One other thing, sanctuary cities, they should be terminated. There's sanctuary for criminals. There's safety and security for criminals. Colin, what do you make of the arguments that some Democrats are throwing out there that these methods like activating the National Guard should be applied not just in Republic, excuse me, Democratic led cities, but Republican states, say, take a city, a dangerous city like Memphis, Tennessee. Well, Washington, D.C. is unique in that it's a federal territory. So it's going to be of its own unique set of circumstances. Ultimately, though, whether it's a red state, blue state, regardless of who's running it, if people don't feel safe, if the population doesn't feel like they can live their lives without fear of their well-being, then government is failing. And those elected leaders should be held to official, held to account. So whether it's in Baltimore or St. Louis or Chicago, if those are the places where crime is high, then those elected leaders who are elected by their people, then their people should, their constituents should make their voices heard. Same deal in red states. We don't need to have the National Guard going into all of these various jurisdictions. But here in D.C., things weren't getting done. And it's clear, like you had the mayor of Chicago today on a different network, unable to answer the question about whether having more police in the streets would be a good or bad thing. So until we start addressing common sense things like that, you can't have these wide, esoteric conversations that some of the left want to have about root causes or what we really can do, because many of these Democrats won't even acknowledge that crime is a problem, let alone begin to have a conversation about solutions. Mally, to Colin's point, is there a path where Democrat, Democratic-led cities and states can work with the federal government and not be pigeonholed into a situation where if they do and crime comes down, it's going to reflect badly on the Democrats for not addressing it? I think it's tough in that President Trump has kind of poisoned the well with how he's approached this and started this initiative. If it was coming with an open hand saying, hey, how can we together work to bring down crime, that potentially could work. But given how they've started with these, with the arguments we're seeing, I don't think we're going to get there. But on the question of red states, we have not seen President Trump say he's going to send the National Guard into red states. And this is just a fact. It's a fact that Trump will probably dispute and say is made up. But red states have higher murder rates than blue states. It's just a fact. You can argue, well, it's the blue cities and the red states. Well, still, it's the red states that have the higher murder rate. Is he sending in the National Guard there? No, he's not. So it begs the question of why is he doing this? Well, he's first doing it for show. Second, he's doing it to pick a fight with Democratic governors that he doesn't like, potentially folks who are going to run in 2028. You saw with Wes Moore, he also not only is trying to pick a fight with him. He's threatening to defund a bridge, the Francis Scott Key Bridge, its repairs, because Wes Moore said some negative things about him. This is a government built on being vindictive and punishing his enemies. He said revenge was going to be a success. But when you don't have as many successes as you'd hope, you have to just go to old fashioned revenge. I don't know if he said revenge was going to be his success, that his success would be his revenge. Well, he said that. But then, you know, Cash Patel has an enemies list and he's talked about a lot of people he would actually like to get old fashioned revenge on. So just briefly today, the president announcing the administration will be seeking the death penalty on all murders that take place in the in the District of Columbia, the nation's capital. How do you think Democrats are assessing this? Again, I think it's another evidence, another piece of evidence that he's doing this for show. He's trying to show that he's a tough guy. None of the evidence shows that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime, violent crime that is statistically not the case. I think there are much better ways to make the district safer. One of them would be restoring the billion dollars in funding that Trump and congressional Republicans cut so we could actually have police, teachers, community programs to help prevent gun violence. Another one is actually doing something about gun violence. The Republicans are too scared to take on the NRA to do that. Well, Democratic solution is always to throw more money at a problem. Conveniently forgetting that Joe Biden was the president for the last four years when crime hit all times highs and people were telling us to stay safe here, drive in the middle lane, roll up your windows, don't stop at red lights when carjacking spiraled out of control. So, look, I do agree, though, with one point here, which is this is a political winner for the president. It might not be why he's doing it, but this idea that the Democratic Party is against getting tough on crime, is against securing the border, is against ending these endless wars overseas. These are all issues that play into the president's common sense abilities. And those are political winners. Before long, the Democratic Party, if they're not careful, they'll be down to people who can fit in a phone booth the way their approval ratings and their financial standing is going. Colin Reed, Mally Smith, really appreciate both of you joining. Thanks for having us. Thank you. And the U.S. Coast Guard making history with a record seizure of illegal drugs in the Caribbean. That's as data shows how many states gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13 are active in. That and more when we return. Being a cowboy, I don't know anything different from when I was three or four years old. I did tough things. I thought everybody needed to do tough things. And if you didn't, I didn't have time for it. I had a very successful career at a very young age. And life was fast. I was preparing physically. I wasn't doing anything mentally on the inside. And then I got hurt. I wanted to be better as a person. And I really dug into mental health. I start my day with 20-minute workouts. I live life eight seconds at a time. Horses are so therapeutic. They know what you're feeling. When you're nervous, they're nervous. You won't say it back, but we're pals. I take a lot of responsibility in taking care of my kids, my family, being there for them. You're going to have tough days. Everybody does. Find a place to stop and just breathe. Love, you're mine. Remember how it started? Our back and forth. Victory. Fumble. Repeat. It always came back. You probably don't remember what you told me. We said we'd never give in to a meltdown. We'd never babysit with a screen. We said we'd never let the toys take over. Leave the house looking, well, out of our sight. Cars get hot fast and kids can be at risk. Before you leave the car, always stop, look. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance, the United States Coast Guard, making history just for the largest seizure of drugs all during operations in the Caribbean alongside U.S. Navy vessels. Our Washington correspondent, Louise Martinez, brings us more. For the first time in the modern era, we are truly on offense against organized cartels that are pumping poison, killer poison, into our cities. And that's a team effort. It's Christie's team. It's Pete's team. It's Pam's team. And obviously, it's under your leadership. The United States Coast Guard was responsible for the interdiction of 11 vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the seizure of more than 47,000 pounds of cocaine, the most cocaine seized by any ship during a single deployment in the U.S. Coast Guard's history. Well, many of these vessels were emanated from Venezuela. As you know, that there is that is now a hub for the Atrente de Agua for their narcotics trafficking. They hire crews there, and they begin to move those narcotics into various other locales. The USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship, is now on its way to join three U.S. destroyers in the South Caribbean Sea to combat cartel operations in Latin America. The elements that are in Venezuela and Colombia work in tandem. The cartels that are in Colombia work closely with TDA and other elements in Venezuela. The White House has stressed the link in between drug cartels and crimes in U.S. cities. Narcoterrorist organizations like Atrente de Agua or TDA are present in at least 22 U.S. states and MS-13 in 42 states and Washington, D.C. And all of these organized street gangs that are terrorizing these cities, that are dealing these drugs, that are trafficking weapons, that are engaging in organized theft, armed robbery, carjacking, all of them are doing business with, at some level or another, the transnational narcotrafficking organizations. So these street crews are engaged in material support for terrorism. Earlier this week, the co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, Ismael El Mayo Zambada, pleaded guilty in a U.S. court after being extradited from Mexico. El Mayo's crimes have been so prolific that in the past two decades, he's been indicted in no fewer than 16 federal courts across our country. Sixteen. In 2024 alone, some 3,000 murders were linked to drug trafficking here in the United States, and some 80,000 Americans died from overdose from illegal drugs. Illegal drugs are the number one cause of death for Americans ages 15 to 45. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Luis Eduardo Martinez, NTD News. President Trump sounding the alarm about events taking place in South Korea. This just before meeting with the country's president, Lee Jae-myung, Trump saying there's been, quote, vicious raids on churches in South Korea. Joining us now to discuss these developments, Greg Scarlato, executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. Greg, it's great to have you back with us. Good to see you, Steve. Greg, beyond the comment the president made about the churches, he also said on that Truth Social saying that the situation in South Korea seems like a, quote, purge or revolution. What is the state of politics like right now, big picture, in South Korea? And what was your assessment of that meeting, that bilateral meeting in the Oval Office? South Korea has been in a state of ideological civil war for many years. This was President Trump's way of saying, I know what is going on, I am concerned, and I want to hear from President Lee Jae-myung. He made it very clear, my intel people are telling me that your law enforcement has raided churches, your law enforcement has raided U.S. military bases, which is true. What was President Lee Jae-myung's response? There was this attempted coup d'etat by the previous president. He declared martial law, so they were there to investigate not U.S. personnel, but Korean personnel. Well, they still raided U.S. military bases. These were churches on the conservative side, churches that oppose Lee Jae-myung and the left-leaning side of the Korean political spectrum, progressives. There is a lot of concern over an ongoing purging of conservatives in South Korea. The former president, Yoon Sung-yeol, is in jail. He is being treated very harshly. The former first lady, Kim Kong-hee, is in jail. The former prime minister is being interrogated. He's a wonderful man. I know him very well. He was ambassador in Washington, D.C. I used to run this program called the Ambassadors Dialogue, traveling with the two ambassadors, the U.S. ambassador to Korea, the Korean ambassador to the USA, all over the United States. The true gentlemen, diplomat and statesman, these people are under tremendous pressure. This was President Trump's way of saying, look, this doesn't sound like South Korea. That's what he said. We're very concerned. You're our ally. Get your act together. There does, Greg, seem to be a concerning pattern, not just in Korea, but we've seen other countries where the leader is that populist, pro-Trump, really anti-China as the Korean president who's in jail right now was. A lot of those elections coming into question, Brazil comes to mind, for instance. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich echoing President Trump's statement on X saying that the situation in South Korea could become a real crisis in a country that we, the United States, have been protecting for 75 years. Greg, do you share that same concern? Is there some form of subversion happening there, perhaps from the Chinese Communist Party? Regular South Korean people may not even notice that that is happening. Let's look at the facts. South Korea is heavily dependent on trade with China, investment in China. There are a lot of young South Koreans who study in China. There are a lot of South Koreans who work in China. The companies controlled by the CCP have hired a lot bright South Korean engineers and other experts. There is no doubt about that. This was perceived as somehow controversial in South Korea that President Trump, during the summit meeting, said, well, we have this, he called it a fort, the army base in Pyeongtaek. It's the largest military facility, the largest U.S. military facility outside the United States in South Korea. He said, we're leasing. Why are we leasing? We should just purchase the land. Oh, goodness, outrageous. No, it's not that outrageous, actually. China has been purchasing real estate in South Korea. 65% of real estate purchases in South Korea have been Chinese. Moreover, the embassy of the PRC has purchased 11 locations in Yongsan, in Seoul, within 1 to 1.5 kilometers of the South Korean presidential office, and the future location of the U.S. embassy, which is being relocated. So if the Chinese are purchasing all of this land in key locations, why not consider this issue? I'm not sure that he was so serious about purchasing the land in Pyeongtaek, but it was again a way of signaling that he is aware of what is going on in terms of Chinese infiltration. It's just my reading. You're reminding me of how much real estate and land and farms, the largest pork farm in the United States that China has invested in. And each company we all know in China, whether it's state run or not, is affiliated, has a Communist Party, a branch of the Communist Party built into it. With that said, President Trump did say that he is willing to meet with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. Could this pull both North and South Korea close to the United States and further away from China? What is your assessment of this? President Trump is a peacemaker. That is his basic instinct. He simply doesn't like war. He doesn't like loss of life. He has stopped. He has put a stop to a lot of wars all around the world. He's trying hard in Ukraine. It's not so easy, of course, we have found out by now. And I think he's very sincerely dedicated to bringing the two Koreas together. His personal relationship with Kim Jong Un has been a good one. What the South Korean president should not be doing is playing facilitator between the United States and North Korea. This is what South Korea did under President Moon Jae-in. Then his representative or representatives, I will not name any names, irrationally increased expectations, unreasonably increased expectations, both at our end, the US end, and the North Korean end as well. So after a moderately successful meeting in Singapore, we ended up with Hanoi, where the talks completely collapsed. So I think that the best thing that South Korea can do here, the government of President Moon Jae-in, is to stay out of it and just let the United States and North Korea deal directly, which what I've said is very controversial. Neither conservatives nor progressives in South Korea would like this idea of being left out of it. Of course, they will be brought into it at a later stage. But Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, has signaled very clearly that they have very little interest in talking to South Korea. I think that their interest is in talking to the United States of America. So I think that we should take the point, we should take the lead. Then the South Koreans can follow, of course, with allies, with friends, allies, partners, blood brothers and sisters, no doubt about it. If past is prologue, perhaps some valuable advice. I have no doubt. Well, there are several, again, I will not name names, but there are several brilliant foreign policy experts in the current Trump administration, also in the Trump 45 administration, who know and remember very well what happened back then. So I'm very confident that any type of engagement with North Korea will take into account past history and will be based on our fundamental strategic objective, which continues to be CVID, complete verifiable irreversible denuclearization, FFVD, full final verifiable denuclearization. That is truly key to any type of normalization in North Korea. And remember, in Singapore, President Trump presented Kim Jong Un with this video that showed him the two alternatives. Give up your nuclear weapons, you will develop economically. Keep the nuclear weapons, you will be in trouble. That sounds much more rigorous than trust, but verify. Absolutely. Yes. For good reason. Yes. Greg Scarlatoiu, really appreciate you coming in studio. Thank you. Thank you. And tensions over China's critical rare earth exports are back in the spotlight. President Trump addressing this issue again. So why he says the US holds incredible leverage against China. You can find out more tonight on China In Focus with Tiffany Meyer at 9 p.m. Eastern. And that is all we have for you this evening on the Capitol Report. For around the clock original coverage, be sure to visit us at ntv.com and download the NTV mobile app. From Washington, D.C., I'm Steve Lance. Have a great evening. See you back here tomorrow.