In a major breakthrough in the Middle East, the Hamas terrorist group says it will release all remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
For a fourth time, Senate Democrats reject a bill to keep the government open. Republicans are calling on rank and file Democrats to break from their leadership. We hear from Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.).
Sean "Diddy" Combs is sentenced to more than four years in prison. What does the judge say about the case?
Our panel with Theryn Bond and John Deaton discusses $2.1 billion in federal funding for Chicago's transit system being paused, as well as California Gov. Gavin Newsom saying universities will lose state funding if they agree to an offer from President Donald Trump.
Police accidentally shot a victim as they shot and killed a terrorist attacking a synagogue in Britain. The victim was barricading the door to stop the attacker from entering. His family is praising him as a hero who courageously gave his life saving others.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is exporting persecution to the West to conceal its human rights abuses, as a brutal persecution continues within its borders. How are CCP consulates surveilling and sabotaging on U.S. soil? We spoke with Maria Cheung about her recent testimony on Capitol Hill.
Good evening and welcome to CAPTURE Report on the NTD.
Here's what's coming up.
A major breakthrough in the Middle East.
The Hamas terrorist group says it will release all remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
How President Trump is responding.
For a fourth time, Senate Democrats reject a bill to keep the government open.
Republicans are calling on rank-and-file Democrats to break from their leadership.
And Sean Combs is sentenced to over four years in prison.
What the judge says about the case.
On our panel tonight, $2.1 billion in federal funding paused for Chicago's transit system.
Plus, California Governor Gavin Newsom says universities will lose state funding if they
agree to an offer from President Trump.
We'll discuss with Darren Bond and John Deaton.
This is CAPTURE Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital.
Here's Steve Lance.
I'm Iris Tao, in for Steve Lance tonight.
In a breaking development, the Hamas terrorist group says it will release all remaining hostages
held in the Gaza Strip.
The group says it has agreed to some parts of President Trump's plan to end the war,
and is ready to negotiate the details.
And it is Jason Perry has the update.
After almost two years of war in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas terrorist group said on Friday
that they agreed to release all remaining hostages held in the territory.
President Trump posted a copy of the statement Hamas issued in response to his plan to end
the war in the Gaza Strip.
This comes soon after Trump set a Sunday deadline for the terrorist group to accept the deal.
However, Hamas has not accepted all 20 points of Trump's peace plan, and they said they're
ready to negotiate the details.
In the statement, Hamas said it, quote, appreciates the Arab, Islamic, and international efforts,
as well as the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The group reiterated that the hostages would be released in exchange for prisoners.
Hamas also said it was ready to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a
However, the statement did not say that Hamas had agreed to lay down their weapons.
If Hamas follows through on its statement, families of hostages will finally reunite
with their loved ones, and residents in the Gaza Strip will have the opportunity to move
toward a peaceful future.
This breaking development comes just days before the two-year anniversary of the Hamas
in which they killed over 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages back to the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, in Israel, over 40 boats were recently intercepted, and over 400 pro-Palestine activists
were detained.
Israeli officials have been processing and deporting them.
The activists who were on board the flotilla said they wanted to break Israel's maritime
Organizers of the flotilla had rejected a proposal from the president of Italy to drop
off the aid supplies in Cyprus for distribution to Gaza by another organization.
And now that the activists have been detained, a spokesperson for the Israel police said
they will collect the aid from the boats and make sure it's delivered safely to residents
in the Gaza Strip.
And while processing, what he said was one of the largest boats in the flotilla.
He said this.
And while we're processing this boat, there's one thing missing, guys.
All this aid that they were supposed to bring into Gaza, which explains one thing to me,
I'm sure it explains to you, that when we and multiple other countries offered them
to take this aid and bring it to the Gazans, we could facilitate its safe arrival, they
flat out rejected it.
And now we know why, because it was never about bringing aid to Gazans, but it was all
about the headlines and the social media followings.
Jason Perry, NTD News.
President Trump responding to Hamas, saying it agrees to freeze all the hostages.
And the White House eyeing ACUS to Portland as it accuses the city of allowing anarchy.
Joining us now live tonight is NTD's Washington correspondent Mari Otsu.
Good evening, Mari.
What's the president saying tonight about the Gaza peace deal?
President Trump is now ordering Israel to immediately stop bombing Gaza so that the
hostages can be released safely.
This is coming as Hamas has agreed to release all hostages, both living and dead, under
President Trump's peace plan.
And Hamas' statement came just hours after President Trump this morning gave Hamas until
6 p.m. Sunday to agree to his entire peace plan.
Here's the president just minutes ago thanking the countries who helped make the deal.
Watch.
Very importantly, I look forward to having the hostages come home to their parents and
having some of the hostages, unfortunately, you know the condition they're in, come home
likewise to their parents because their parents wanted them just as much as though that young
man or young woman were alive.
So I just want to let you know that this is a very special day, maybe unprecedented in
many ways.
However, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham notes that Hamas fails to agree to disarmament
and is tying hostage release to further negotiations.
But President Trump says he believes Hamas is ready for, quote, lasting peace and discussions
on details are still being worked out.
Iris.
Well, definitely sounding like some major development tonight and a lot of keeping our
eyes on for the days to come here and moving to domestic issues at home.
What's the White House saying about the anti-ICE protest in Portland that we saw last night?
Sure, Iris, the White House is promising that law and order will prevail in Portland, Oregon.
A press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, in her briefing today says that she just spoke to
President Trump this morning about reviewing federal funding that could be cut from Portland.
She also says that a surge of ice and customs and border control of resources will immediately
be surged to Portland.
Watch.
The president has directed Secretary Hagseth to provide all necessary troops to protect
war ravaged Portland and any ICE facilities under siege from attack by Antifa and other
left wing domestic terrorists.
This is left wing anarchy that has been destroying this great American city for years, leaving
police officers battered, citizens terrorized and business properties damaged.
The Trump administration says that it will not fund states that allows for anarchy.
And last night, conservative journalist Nick Sorter was arrested while documenting violent
protests outside a South Portland ICE facility at the White House today condemns that arrest.
Take a look.
Instead of arresting these violent mob members night after night after night who are ravaging
this community, the police arrested a journalist who was there trying to document the chaos.
This incident is part of a troubling trend in Portland where left wing mobs believe they
get to decide who can visit and live in their city.
The Portland police responds by saying that arrests are based on observed behavior and
not on political affiliation.
Nick Sorter says that Attorney General Pam Bondi called him personally this morning and
the White House confirms that the Department of Justice is launching a full investigation
into his arrest.
Iris, back to you.
Thank you for the update Mari.
It's day three of the government shutdown and lawmakers have made no progress in negotiations
to fund the government.
Reductions in the federal workforce are imminent.
Our Washington correspondent Luis Martinez has the latest from Capitol Hill.
All around the country right now, real pain is being endured by real people because the
Democrats have decided to play politics.
We have troops and TSA agents and border patrol agents who are working without pay protecting
the country and you have FEMA services, health insurance policies for example that are being
stalled in the middle of a hurricane season because the Democrats want to play political
games and try to obscure the real facts at issue.
Senate Democrats have voted for a fourth time against a bill that would extend current levels
of government funding and end a shutdown.
Democrats who are in the minority in the House and the Senate have demanded that their health
care policy priorities be approved and parts of the Republican reconciliation bill be repealed
for them to support any effort to reopen the government.
The fact of the matter is that the big ugly bill as Trump has continued to implement it
is absolutely gutting health care research all around this nation.
Republicans have agreed to negotiate with Democrats on health care policy but not while
the government is shut down.
Republicans have rejected repealing parts of the reconciliation bill they passed earlier
this summer that closed the loophole that allowed for illegal immigrants to access taxpayer
funded health care.
We challenge them.
We challenge them to tell us why they're not trying to give illegal aliens health care
again when they put it in their own bill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is facing criticism for past comments he made regarding
government shutdowns as early as March.
Schumer rejected government shutdowns.
What if I persuaded my caucus to say I'm going to shut the government down.
I'm going to not pay our bills unless I get my way.
It's a politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis.
Shutting down government over a policy difference is self-defeating.
We can never hold American workers hostage.
The pressure is now on rank and file Senate Democrats.
There have been already three Senate Democrats who have broken with leadership to support
Republicans to reopen the government.
Those are Senator John Fetterman, Angus King, and Catherine Cortez Mascos.
We have a majority of Senators, 55 Senators, have already voted for this clean, short-term,
non-partisan CR.
As the Speaker said, no policy riders, no gimmicks, nothing in here that benefits Republicans.
This is a straight-up, seven-week funding resolution, and we need it to keep the government
open.
The Senate will vote again on Monday on a continuing resolution to reopen government.
Reporting from Washington, D.C., Luis Eduardo Martinez, NTD News.
And next, NTD's Steve Lenz spoke with Representative Angie Craig from Minnesota to share the Democratic
point of view on the shutdown and the priorities for her constituents in Minnesota.
Congresswoman Angie Craig, thanks so much for joining.
Great to be here.
Great to have you with us.
So, Congresswoman, we're in the middle of a government shutdown, sadly.
No votes are planned over the weekend.
At this point, based on what you're hearing on Capitol Hill, how much longer do you think
this might go on?
Well, it's hard to predict because we can't even get the president or Mike Johnson to
call House members back to Washington.
Literally, my Republican colleagues just stayed home.
We all came back to Washington this week, of course, hoping that we would be at the
negotiating table, and Republicans weren't even in town.
Yesterday, the new rates for MNsure, which is the ACA in Minnesota, came out, and we
are looking at the largest increase in premiums since the first Trump administration.
So, Minnesotans know what we're fighting for as they receive their premium increases right
now.
Life is unaffordable, and this administration has done nothing to lower costs for my constituents,
and that's what we're fighting for.
You're running for Senate, obviously, in your home state of Minnesota.
You've talked about bringing the political temperature down right now.
What are you hearing from—because I'm sure you're speaking to people from all walks of
life, all parties—what are you hearing from the people as you travel around the state
and talk about the policies that matter to you, but also from the folks that you're trying
to appeal to?
What are some of the most important issues to them right now?
There's an affordability crisis in our communities, the likes of which we have not seen.
President Trump ran on the idea that he would lower costs, and in fact, the tariffs have
caused costs to go up for everyone in my communities, and I'm spending a whole lot of time talking
to family farmers right now.
And remember, we have a whole lot of corn and soybeans in Minnesota.
Business has disappeared for my soybean growers.
These are family farmers who are looking just to make it to the next planting season.
So I'm hearing a whole lot about the cost of groceries, the cost of health care, the
cost of child care.
And right now, in this moment in time, we have an opportunity to fight against the Republican
and Trump administration increasing the cost of health care for my constituents and those
across Minnesota that, of course, I would love to represent as their next U.S. senator.
And you better bet that we're taking this one to the mat.
We are going to fight this administration until they work with us to lower the cost
of health care in Minnesota.
I do want to get your thoughts on China.
A lot of China watchers talk about how the playing field is uneven when it comes to sort
of their access to our country and in terms of infiltration and espionage.
They're able to come here and take our technology when it comes to agriculture even.
Some of the tools in the toolbox are economic warfare like tariffs, particularly on China,
not universal.
What would you say would be the way that we would have to deal with the China threat if
you were to become senator?
Well, I think strategic tariffs are smart.
When China is illegally dumping steel into our communities, I think it makes a lot of
sense to tariff the hell out of their steel.
But when you have a policy of across-the-board tariffs, you drive your markets, i.e., other
countries away from you altogether.
And that is really what is so disastrous about this administration.
Look, I worked in the private sector for 22 years before I ever even thought of getting
into politics and running for Congress.
And my medtech companies that I worked for, we often had to protect ourselves from theft
of different blueprints for making pacemakers, for example, from China.
We refused to co-manufacture in China because we knew that they would steal our ability
to produce these products.
And so 100 percent, I agree that you have to be strong on China.
But the way that this administration has gone about it, we knew from the start it was going
to decimate family farms across the Midwest.
And that's exactly what's happened.
Bankruptcies, farm bankruptcies in Minnesota are up nearly 100 percent.
We are looking at essentially a marketplace that could, if this continues, look a lot
like the 1980s farm crisis when my grandfather, who was a farm foreman, lost his job when
the farmer lost the farm.
Congresswoman, lastly, you have said that Democrats need to listen to the voters who
have departed the Democratic Party while not compromising on key issues like, say, SNAP
and Medicare, you know, platform issues for the Democrats.
What are you hearing and learning from those voters?
Well, in running for reelection to my congressional district, I'm running my U.S.
Senate campaign in exactly the same way.
People want you to focus on the issues that they care most about and the issues that they
care most about at this moment in time really are how are you going to lower cost or put
more money into my pocket by reducing taxes?
Ideas like eliminating taxes on federal Social Security income.
How are you going to keep my community safe?
Investing in local police departments or safe from violence of gun violence in our
communities, which Minnesota, of course, has seen firsthand this summer.
And then finally, people want you to stand up and try to change Washington.
They don't like the way things are working right now.
If Democrats would focus on those three things, how do you lower cost?
How do you keep our community safe and how are you going to change the status quo in
Washington? I think Democrats would see a lot more success across the board.
Minnesota congresswoman and candidate for Senate Angie Craig, really appreciate you
joining us. Thank you.
Thank you. The U.S.
carried out another deadly strike against a speedboat in the Caribbean today.
War Secretary Pete Hexhead said intelligence confirmed that the vessel was smuggling drugs
and he posted footage of the strike on X video showed a small boat moving in open water
before it suddenly explodes.
Hexhead said that the vessel was destroyed in international waters off the coast of
Venezuela. The war secretary added that four men were killed in the strike.
President Trump said in a social media post that the boat was, quote, loaded with enough
drugs to kill twenty five to fifty thousand people.
The operation marked the fourth strike since President Trump deported U.S.
naval forces to the region this summer.
And it comes after the president notified Congress that the U.S.
and a quote is in a, quote, non-international armed conflict with drug cartels.
And the Supreme Court today again allowing President Trump to end deportation
protections for Venezuelans, this will make it easier for the Trump administration to
remove them from the country.
Former President Biden granted temporary protective status to around 300000 Venezuelans
living in the U.S.
The Trump administration plans to end that status, and it just got another green light
from the Supreme Court.
The court had reached a similar outcome back in the same case in May.
Three justices dissented.
And Sean Combs will be spending more time behind bars.
A federal judge in New York City has sentenced him to 50 months, that's four years and
two months. The sentencing was for two charges related to prostitution.
Combs got credit for the 13 months that he already spent in detention.
That means he will spend just over three years behind bars.
The rapper also got five years of supervised release and must pay a $500,000 fine.
The judge said that the evidence against Combs was, quote, massive and that deterrence
requires a significant sentence.
Combs was found not guilty of more serious charges, including sex trafficking and
racketeering conspiracy.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 11 years and three months, while the defense
argued for one year and two months.
Coming up, police accidentally shot a victim as they shot and killed a terrorist attacking
a synagogue in Britain.
The victim was barricading the door to stop the attacker from entering, his family
praising him as a hero who courageously gave his life, saving others.
The Chinese Communist Party is exporting persecution to the West to conceal its human
rights abuses.
This is as brutal persecution continues within its borders.
We spoke with Maria Chang about her recent testimony on Capitol Hill.
That and more when we return.
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Welcome back.
I'm Iris Tao.
Police accidentally shot and killed the victim when responding to a terrorist attack against
Jewish people in Manchester, England.
The man was helping to barricade the door to stop the attacker from entering a synagogue
and was hit when police shot and killed the terrorist.
And it is international course when a Malcolm Hudson has more from Manchester.
British police said they accidentally shot dead a victim and injured another victim in the
terrorist attack on a synagogue yesterday here in Manchester.
They said they did this as they acted to stop the attacker, who appeared to be wearing an
explosive belt and was targeting Jewish people on Yom Kippur, the religion's holiest day.
Officers shot dead the attacker, 35 year old Jihad Alshami, at the scene on Thursday in a
statement. Police said two of the victims were also tragically shot as an unforeseen
consequence of the urgent action officers took to end the vicious attack.
Rabbi Daniel Walker described the scene as the terrorist tried to batter his way into
Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue.
A number of us were holding, trying to hold, were holding the doors and making sure that we
couldn't get in.
And we did that until the police arrived.
And then at some point after the police arrived, another two people were hit inside.
53 year old Adrian Dalby was accidentally shot by police as he helped barricade the doors.
His family called him a hero who died in the courageous act of saving others.
Alshami, an immigrant born in Syria, drove a car into pedestrians and then began stabbing
people. He was heard to shout, this is what they get for killing our children, as he tried to
get inside the synagogue.
Sixty six year old security guard Melvin Kravitz was murdered in the attack.
Three more victims are in hospital, one stabbed, one hit by the car and another accidentally
hit by a police bullet.
Alshami was reportedly on bail after an alleged rape.
During a vigil for the victims, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was heckled by some in
the crowd.
You are all guilty.
We don't want you speaking here today.
Shame on you.
The crowd accused the government of allowing anti-Semitism to grow in the UK and called
for an end to ongoing regular pro-Palestine marches.
Speaking, Lammy made the same request for marches planned for this weekend.
I ask them to reflect with all human dignity, grace and understanding and to stop and to
stand back.
Thank you.
A Jewish community leader expressed worries over the future of Jews in Britain.
What we cannot get away from is that over two years now, these hate marches have been
chanting lines alongside revolution into father, globalising into father, talks about hunting
down Zionists in the street.
And this is what that has always meant to the Jewish community.
And yesterday, our worst fears came true.
He said many Jewish people are actively questioning whether they have a future in the UK.
In response to the attack, the British government has vowed to redouble its efforts to tackle
anti-Semitism.
Malcolm Hudson, NTD News, Manchester.
The long arm of the Chinese Communist Party reaching into the West to hide its human rights
abuses and persecutions.
NTT Steve Lam sat down with Maria Cheng, Professor Emeritus at the University of
Manitoba, to talk about her recent testimony on Capitol Hill.
Professor Emeritus Maria Cheng, thank you so much for joining.
Thank you for inviting me.
It's an honour.
You were invited to be a panellist at a forum on Capitol Hill this week.
The theme of that forum was faith under siege, particularly with a focus on China.
You've been studying human rights abuses for the past few decades when it comes to
China. A lot of people, they think, you know, China's economy is growing.
We're seeing the architecture grow there and the skyscrapers going up.
But yet there is still a tremendous problem when it comes to human rights.
What have you found in your research?
I have done two major research projects, especially on Falun Gong practitioners.
So one was in Canada and another one was across continents in the US, in UK and in
Canada. And I looked into their lifted experiences of being persecuted in China and
also the implications of the torture that they experienced.
So I looked into the psychological impacts of what they have experienced over the
persecution in China.
Talk to us about the scope and the scale of this persecution against the Falun Gong.
And is this something that is still taking place as we speak?
It definitely is taking place as we speak.
In 1999, Jiang Zemin ordered a crackdown of Falun Gong.
And the dictator at the time, the dictator at the time.
And he ordered a complete eradication of Falun Gong practitioners.
The scale is large and the scope definitely has a wide variety of tactics and ways to
eradicate the group.
And it is not only eradicating the group in China, but also the Chinese communist
regime, the CCP, wanted to eradicate a group overseas, like outside China.
You talk about eradication, we're talking about forced labor, but also murder and
torture. So with that said, have you seen sort of the extension of the long arm of the
Chinese Communist Party coming into places like the United States?
Oh, absolutely. In North America and all over the world.
And we know that.
What are they doing?
From the consulate, there is a special unit that particularly surveillance over
Falun Gong practitioners and also sabotage their activities.
So these are seen in affidavit of high level Chinese officials who were working at the
embassy, like in Australia before.
And so transnational repression for the Falun Gong community is not new.
It started at the very beginning of the persecution, started with very defamative,
demonizing propaganda messages against Falun Gong all over the world outside China.
And the consulate themselves came out to hand out booklets and defaming and
demonizing the group.
But later on, they got stronghold with the Chinese organizations.
So there are proxies who are already helping them to do these things.
And the Chinese consulate just stay at the back and being more clandestine and more
sophisticated strategies.
So is it fair to say because Falun Gong was relatively new, very unfamiliar name to, you
know, especially the American culture, that it's sort of when the CCP launched the
persecution and the propaganda, it was sort of a race against time to who was going to,
you know, get the message out first?
Yeah. Nowadays, we talk about narratives.
It's just like a competing narrative.
And the CCP definitely has its own narrative against Falun Gong because they do not want
Falun Gong to exist.
And over the years, after they committed a lot of crimes, they try to hide their crimes.
The CCP?
The CCP, yeah.
So in your own terms, what is Falun Gong?
Falun Gong is a peaceful spiritual practice that uphold truth, compassion and tolerance.
So it's a mind, body, meditation practice and have a practitioner upholding these
principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance in their daily life.
So it's very nonviolent and very peaceful and apolitical.
So what would lead the CCP to go after a group that practices truthfulness, compassion and
tolerance peacefully?
Yeah, that reflects a lot of the nature of CCP that first, when they found Falun Gong grew
exponentially in the 90s, that exceeded the Chinese Communist Party members because their
official count, even though Falun Gong did not, and even today there is no membership, but
they send undercover people to all the open sites in China and counted how many
practitioners and their official figure said 70 million.
And the Falun Gong community said there were 100 million people were practicing Falun Gong at
that time. So definitely it's a big group of citizens who are practicing something to change
their heart. And CCP is based on Marxist-Leninist ideologies.
And the leader, Jiang Zemin, when he learned that Falun Gong practitioner exceeded the CCP
membership, he definitely was very jealous.
I mean, that's a staggering number of 100 million.
That's more than a quarter of the United States population all practicing this Buddhist-based
meditation.
It's very popular.
And because there's no membership, people just go out to the square and practice it after the
work or before they went to work.
So lots of people found it is really healing, healing their physical health, their mental
health and help them to be better person.
So they really like it and becomes what's about many people practice it.
So what was the reaction on Capitol Hill when people heard your testimony and what you had to
say about the human rights abuses taking place?
They definitely came to thank me because they said, we haven't heard about this a lot because
they have heard a lot about other human rights issues, other groups that were targeted by
CCP, like Tibetan or Uyghurs, now Hong Kong, but not really about Falun Gong.
So they really resonated with my remark that the Falun Gong issue is really underreported.
Professor Emeritus Maria Chung, really appreciate you joining us.
You're very welcome.
Mexico is stepping up trade pressure on China, is launching new anti-dumping investigations
targeting Chinese imports and move many see as siding with the U.S.
Beijing fires back and targeting Mexico's actions and threatening to take all necessary
measures. Find out more tonight on China In Focus with Tiffany Meyer at 9 p.m.
Eastern time. Coming up, billions in transit funding for Chicago and New York are now on
hold. Is the administration using this leverage in the government shutdown?
We'll hear more from our panel tonight, Theron Bond and John Deaton.
The first time seeing my son, I feel like my life didn't want 80.
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 grown, 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 really a definition of life, why he loves his body.
And I love him to the death of me.
My 15 year old son, Ethan, and I had a fun and relaxing morning, we returned home and
Ethan walked to his best friend's house an hour later.
I heard the ambulance scream by the street carrying my beautiful boy.
Ethan was shot in the head in his best friend's house with an unsecured gun.
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The father of the gun owner, he stored his three guns and bullets in a shoebox.
How do you feel?
That has to be the most horrific experience that a human could ever have.
David, would you give any advice?
First thing you do is not keep your ammunition with your weapons and that your
weapons need to be locked at all times.
Welcome back, I'm Iris Tao.
The Trump administration is pausing $2.1 billion in federal funding for Chicago's
transit system, citing DEI policies.
Can the federal government withhold these funds?
Joining us now live to discuss is Democratic strategist, Theron Bond, and
Republican strategist and Marine veteran, John Deaton.
Great to have you both on our show tonight.
So this is in addition to pausing the $18 billion infrastructure project in New York
City. First, John, Illinois Governor JP Pritzker says that this is holding funding
hostage and harming the economy and workers rely on public transit there.
Does the federal government have the right and power to withhold these funds?
Well, it certainly does in the short term.
Now, the question is what happens in federal court?
Because no doubt there will be a lawsuit and then an appeal.
The Trump administration is citing that.
Listen, this is an attack where the Trump administration believes that the last
administration engaged in woke ideology.
They took DEI too far and they're challenging the Chicago Transit Authority by
using basically reverse discrimination.
And did they violate any statutory or constitutional laws by allowing race based
contracting to take place?
And so ultimately, the courts are going to decide whether it's legal or not.
So a legal process to play out next.
And then, Theron, what's your take on this move?
And with this extra pressure, do you think some Republicans might be chipping away at
moderate Democrats in Congress to vote with them on a continuing resolution?
Would that be the ultimate way to bring us out of the government shutdown?
Well, every time I hear anyone use the terminology woke, I wish they would just say
what's really on the forefront of their minds, and that being that they mean black.
When they say woke, they mean black.
And what the problem is, is that President Donald Trump and everyone who follows him
supports his ideologies and his personal agenda is an attack not on DEI, because we
know historically that DEI mostly benefited white women, not even black and brown
people. But that's the context through which people in his administration like to affix
things. The reality is, is that the white conservative politics in this country is very
upset that black and brown people are now having an extra form of weight of getting
ahead, because the reason that things like the policies that were in place to support
the business practices and make equitable contracts is because generally far and wide,
black and brown people were not afforded those opportunities and they were given to
underqualified white individuals.
This is what this is an attack on all across this country, including this funding.
And so what President Donald Trump is doing is being even more money hungry and greedy
and powerful and saying, well, if you don't do what I want to do, how I want to do it
and it's not white male and conservative, then he doesn't want to have any part of it
and doesn't want anyone else to have an opportunity to not only feed themselves, but
also feed them, feed their families.
And so when we eliminate transportation funding, we're eliminating people's abilities
to feed their families, get to work and have any sense of joy in in seeking
entertainment and getting to places that otherwise the president doesn't want them to
have. John, your response to that is the administration's efforts to target D.I.
practices, as they call it, targeting races specifically.
I mean, listen, that's always going to be a claim and whether or not there's validity
into that, again, that will be answered by the courts.
But I think your question was really on point, which is, is part of this leverage by
the Trump administration to get moderate Democrats to the table, to
vote on a continuing resolution to get the government back on track.
I anticipate that this is political maneuvering more than it is race baiting.
Well, another political pressure that we are seeing right now from the administration
is that is now incentivizing universities across the country to pledge to merit based
emissions, among other things, like a five year tuition freeze and two genders only.
So now on a political front, Governor Gavin Newsom of California is saying that
California would cut funding, including, for example, the state's need based funding
like Cal Grants for any schools that agree to this, what he calls a radical demand by
the Trump administration.
So first, Darren, is this what do you what do you see this move as it actually plays
out? Do you think schools in California, for example, University of Southern California,
who's one of the schools that the Trump administration has sent a letter to, do you
think it will cave the night away?
Well, the only race baiters that exist in this country are those who seem to use the
term woke and then don't want to define it.
But when we come to when we come to talk about what Governor Gavin Newsom is doing in
the state of California, he is playing Trump's game, but he is playing it better.
For quite some time, we have asked on the Democratic side for people to stand up and
make bold decisions and exercise bold leadership and fight against this authoritarian
regime. And that's what Governor Gavin Newsom is attempting to do with this.
He's doing the reverse.
He's pulling an uno reverse on President Donald Trump, who's wanting to pull away
funding from universities that promote things that Donald Trump doesn't believe in.
That doesn't make them right or wrong just because Donald Trump has a particular say
about them. And Governor Gavin Newsom is saying, play ball, if you want to keep your
funding, then you have to go against what the president is doing, which he knows follows
under very racially hate charge, tropes, agendas, ideologies that President Donald
Trump is trying to enforce upon these universities.
And Governor Gavin Newsom is saying no to that.
Well, John, we know that the Trump administration is stressing that these universities
need to stick with merit based admission process as part of their demands for these
colleges. What do you think of the administration's letters to these universities?
And what do you make of Gavin Newsom's response?
Well, I think that what they need to do is follow the law.
And the Supreme Court has recently ruled what that law is.
And listen, I'm someone who supports making sure that all people have access to
education. Governor Newsom, it's funny because everyone criticizes President Trump on
certain things. And I haven't been a Trump supporter, to be candid with you.
But now we have the Democrats cheering Gavin Newsom for doing exactly what they
criticized President Trump in doing.
So you have these two leaders basically trying to use state funds versus federal funds
to get their way. And the people that usually lose out are going to be the students.
The people that are going to lose out are regular citizens.
And so maybe both these leaders should actually sit down and put the citizens first
instead of playing this nonsense political gamesmanship.
Well, we have certainly seen.
That's exactly what Governor Gavin Newsom is actually caring about.
The people are actually protecting students and wanting to make things more inclusive
versus President Donald Trump, who's implementing policies that go against that.
And what Governor Gavin Newsom is doing is pushing back.
Well, we have certainly seen colleges across the nation responding to the
administration's demands. And of course, the next thing to watch for would be how
Harvard respond in a potential deal with administration.
So a lot to watch for on that front.
Thank you both for coming on.
We appreciate your perspective.
Thank you.
And coming up, the FBI cuts ties with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.
FBI Director Kash Patel says they have been working to blacklist conservatives.
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Welcome back, I'm Iris Tao.
The FBI is cutting ties with the Southern
Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.
FBI Director Kash Patel accuses the
organizations of masquerading as watchdogs while actually working to unfairly bankrupt
and ruin the reputation of outspoken conservatives.
NTD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has more.
The FBI is ending ties with the American
Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
With the Southern Poverty Law Center or
SPLC, this is an organization that started off as a civil rights group.
But in recent years, it's been labeling
conservatives and faith groups on par with extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan
and neo-Nazis. They've even established a hate map listing
all such organizations in each state. Patel wrote on X on Friday that their
so-called hate map has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even
inspired violence, violence such as that.
In 2012, a domestic terrorist admitted to using this hate map to target the Family
Research Council, a conservative Christian think tank in Washington, D.C.
Now, how did you this building, this organization, did you how did you find it?
Or did you like look it up online or how did you know?
It's a Southern Poverty Law lists
anti-gay groups like that online.
OK, I'm going to research most of their websites, stuff like that.
The SPLC added Turning Point USA to the
hate map just months before its founder, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated.
The SPLC condemned the attack, but has not removed Turning Point from the hate map.
NTD reached out to the SPLC, but hasn't heard back.
The Department of Justice has established
an anti-Christian bias task force, bringing up a memo under the Biden
administration in which the FBI used agents to spy on Catholic churches.
Pro-life Christians were arrested and
imprisoned for peacefully praying outside abortion clinics.
The FBI spied on traditional Catholics in their parishes.
As for the American Defamation League or
the ADL, this is an organization that trains law enforcement in dealing with hate
groups. Patel wrote on X this week that the former FBI director James Comey wrote
love letters to the ADL and embedded FBI agents with them.
A group that ran disgraceful ops spying
on Americans, Comey was indicted last week by the DOJ.
And the ADL said in a statement in response
to all this, that it has deep respect for the FBI and law enforcement officers.
The ADL used to conduct workshops with
the FBI and it still does with other law enforcement agencies.
And behind all that, the ADL accuses Charlie Kirk's organization,
Turning Point, of promoting Christian nationalism and labeling it far right.
That page has since been removed from the ADL's website.
For NTD News, I'm Jack Bradley.
What do everyday Americans make of those apps that are designed to track ICE agents?
NTD's Sam Wong was out in the National Mall in D.C. to hear from the people.
What are your thoughts on all of these apps that are designed for people to track
ICE agents? What are your thoughts on it?
Should these be made available?
No, I don't think they obviously, you know, where I stand.
But no, I don't think they should be made available.
I think these people are doing their job
trying to protect you and me as citizens and keep people safe, right?
That app is just designed to incite violence.
I mean, period. That's the whole goal of that app.
I'm probably fundamentally OK with that.
It's, you know, it's it's private enterprise putting it out so
they can sell that app or do whatever they need to do with that.
I think it's people that have nothing better to do, that have no experience
with actually dealing with human trafficking, that come up with things like that.
You know, it's really easy for somebody to sit in Chicago and go, yeah, you know,
it's horrible, ICE is coming in and removing fathers and mothers away
from their children, but they're not actually at the border.
There's this part that I don't know if I agree with about doxxing ICE members.
You know, of course, you know, there are some people who are bad
and working in ICE, but I also think there's people just trying to make a living.
I saw a video inside that facility,
literally people protecting these illegal immigrants, you know,
like using their bodies as shields to protect them and move them to cover.
Have you been following what's happening in Portland lately?
Was surrounding all of these ICE protests as some of them have gone violent?
No, that's ridiculous.
I think it's absolutely ridiculous.
They're upset about, you know, ICE coming in and removing families.
So let's go burn a building down.
Let's go trash our own community and get mad about what we don't like.
You know, bottom line is, if you don't like it, you can leave.
I haven't heard that.
I mean, I knew he started making noise about sending troops to Portland,
but if it's anything like Washington, I didn't know what to expect when I got here.
Leave the hippies alone, man.
They vibe there. It's a cool place.
I haven't been there myself, but I know plenty of people who have.
You know, they all it's like they've never said anything about crime.
And I've seen videos like of the ICE or
like the people who are attacking that building, the ICE facility in Portland,
Oregon, and like they aren't doing nothing.
I literally saw a video of just two people outside.
I think there are like, it has gotten violent at times.
It has. I haven't seen it myself.
But if you say it has, I will not deny that it has.
You know, I feel like you should be able
to express your belief without having to get violent.
You got to have a rule of law. You don't have a country, right?
So, yeah, you got to arrest them.
You got bad people in high places over there that are not they're not
holding people accountable, like she says.
Look at the companies that are pulling out of stores or cities like Portland and
Seattle, Starbucks closed their they closed their original store in Seattle
because they can't handle the crime.
And that's all we have for you tonight on The Capital Report.
Around the clock, original news coverage,
visit us at NTD.com slash live or download our NTD app.
From the nation's capital, I'm Iris Tao.
Have a nice evening and we'll see you back here on Monday.