NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (April 10)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story tonight... A day ahead of a high-stakes summit in Pakistan... President Trump warning the Iranian regime to take negotiations seriously. And what the President says a good deal with Iran would look like... Mario Tsu at the White House. The work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz continues... Iran is still holding the critical waterway hostage. Israeli forces say they've killed more than 1,400 Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. This comes just ahead of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon to disarm the Iran-backed group. Jason Perry reports. The three-judge panel of the International Trade Court hears another round of tariff arguments today, this time over President Trump's new global tariffs. Arlene Richards brings us key takeaways from the proceeding. After a record-setting mission around the moon, the Artemis II astronauts are racing home set to splash down in the Pacific in less than two hours. Former NASA astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman joins us live to explain what the crew is feeling right now and what a safe return means for America's future in space. This is NTD Evening News, live from our global headquarters in New York City, here's Tiffany Meyer. Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight. Vice President J.D. Vance is on his way to Pakistan for a high-stakes summit with Iran tomorrow. The talks will mark the highest-level meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials since 1979. White House correspondent Mari Osu is reporting live from the North Lawn ahead of all of this. Mari, good evening. What is the latest from the President on Saturday's negotiations? Hey, Tiff. Good evening. Yeah, that's right, and President Trump today is warning Tehran to take those negotiations seriously in order to avoid further military action from the U.S., telling the New York Post today, quote, we're loading up the ships. He's also taking to Truth Social to say, quote, the Iranians don't seem to realize that they have no cards other than a short-term extortion of the world by using international waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate. And Tiff, this is coming just a day after the President saying that Iran is doing a, quote, very poor job, dishonorable, some would even say, of letting oil through the Strait of Hormuz, saying that that's not the agreement the U.S. and Iran originally had. He's also saying that there are now reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait, saying that they better stop that immediately. And here he is today saying what a good deal would look like. Take a look. No nuclear weapons, number one. You know, I think it's already been regime change, but we never had that as a criteria. No nuclear weapon. That's 99 percent of it. Yeah, but that'll open up automatically. Yeah. The answer is yes. We don't. We don't use it. It won't be easy. It won't be. I would say this. We will have that open fairly soon. And here's Vice President J.D. Vance on his way to Pakistan, where he'll be leading the U.S. delegation tomorrow alongside Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner. Take a look. We're looking forward to the negotiation. I think it's going to be positive. We'll, of course, see. As the president of the United States said, if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive. So we're going to try to have a positive negotiation. The president has gave us some pretty clear guidelines, and we're going to seize. President Trump telling the New York Post that the ceasefire can be lifted at any time if he feels the talks aren't going well, saying, quote, we have a reset going. We're loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made, even better than what we did previously, and we blew them apart. If we don't have a deal, we'll be using them very effectively. Meanwhile, ahead of his visit to Beijing next month, President Trump sharing just the news report that highlights how his interventions against Venezuela and Iran have hit the Chinese regime. China and Russia. I think it's really China that all of this is centered on in a grand strategic calculus. The Chinese Communist Party has for years relied on exploiting U.S. sanctions to buy steeply discounted oil from countries like Iran and Venezuela. But President Trump's interventions are upending this arrangement. Before Maduro, you know, Christmas last year, China was the beneficiary of a lot of cheap oil in terms of trade that it dictated. Now, over 20 percent of its oil that it imports, it's going to have to pay a fair market price, greatly higher than what it did before. And oh, by the way, their foe in D.C. is the one that controls it. And Tiff, Saturday's talks are coming as President Trump has declared that all U.S. forces, including military personnel, ships and aircraft, are to remain in place in and around Iran until what he calls the real agreement has been reached. Back to you. All right, Mari, thanks for those updates. The work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz continues. Iran is still holding the critical waterway hostage. President Trump sending a warning to the Iranian regime while working with foreign leaders on a solution. NTD's international correspondent, Arian Pasdar, has the latest on the situation at the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz on Friday, still seeing minimal traffic. Tracking data from marine traffic shows that almost no ships are passing through. Most vessels sailing through the Strait are linked to Iran. Also on Friday, an Israeli intelligence official telling Fox News that Iran is charging a fee for ships to pass, saying the Strait is effectively under full Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps control. They decide who gets to go through, but more importantly, who doesn't. This corresponds with a statement from President Trump made a day earlier, saying there are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait. They better not be. And if they are, they better stop now. Military and diplomatic strength. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying he spoke with President Trump on Thursday night about reopening the passage. Here's what they discussed. We've been pulling together a coalition of countries, now over 30 countries, working on a political and diplomatic plan, but also looking at military capabilities and actually the logistics of actually moving vessels through the Strait. So that was the focus of the discussion last night. Prime Minister Starmer completing a trip to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where they discussed reopening Hormuz and the current ceasefire. Starmer says him and the Gulf nations agreed on several points. The Strait of Hormuz has to be part of the solution of very strong sense that can't be tolling or restrictions on that navigation. Britain's foreign secretary agrees, saying the Strait of Hormuz must be fully reopened without restrictions or tolls. The blocking of this vital waterway is hitting trade around the world. Ariane Pasdar, NTD News. Israeli forces report killing more than 1,400 Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon as Iran demands a ceasefire to the conflict. This comes just ahead of Israel's talks with Lebanon, not for a ceasefire, but for disarming the Iran-backed group. NTD's Jason Perry has the details. The Israel Defense Forces releasing footage on Friday of a man identified as a Hezbollah terrorist in Lebanon attempting to take cover under a bush just before being hit with an airstrike. And another video of a reported terrorist driving away in this white truck before Israel struck that target as well. Israeli forces increased operations against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon around the same time the war in Iran started at the end of February. And since then, Israeli forces say they've killed more than 1,400 Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and destroyed over 4,300 terrorist infrastructure sites. On the other hand, on Thursday night, Israel said Hezbollah terrorists used about 10 launchers to fire rockets at northern Israel, and Israeli forces later struck the launchers. Five divisions of Israeli troops are now operating on the ground in Lebanon, engaging in close quarters combat with Hezbollah terrorists and uncovering weapons storage facilities along the way. However, the Iranian regime, which supports Hezbollah, is calling for a ceasefire to the conflict in Lebanon before talks for a ceasefire to the war in Iran can begin. Israel's defense minister saying that Iran is concerned that Israel will, quote, crush Hezbollah, and Israel's top general saying this to troops on Thursday. The blow Iran has sustained also affects Hezbollah, because Hezbollah understands that it is now isolated. It is isolated within Lebanon, cut off from its strategic backing, from those who fund it and supply it with munitions. We are removing the direct threat to our communities. In the meantime, Israel and Lebanon are set to hold direct negotiations over the situation with Hezbollah. However, according to Israel's prime minister, the talks will not be for a ceasefire, but for disarming the Iran-backed group in Lebanon. On Friday, some residents in Lebanon were seen holding Hezbollah flags and protesting the upcoming talks, saying Hezbollah terrorists should be the ones who negotiate, adding that the Lebanese government does not represent them. However, the talks between Israel and Lebanon may have gotten more complicated after Lebanon's president, Joseph Aoun, said an Israeli strike on a government building killed 13 Lebanese state security personnel. Lebanon's president said the strike would not deter Lebanon from defending its sovereignty. Jason Perry, NTD News. Terrorist 2.0, Democrat-led states and small businesses were back in the International Trade Court today. This time, they're challenging the president's global tariffs applied under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. President Trump turned to this section after the Supreme Court ruled against his use of an emergency powers law. NTD's Arlene Richards has more from the proceeding. A federal trade court in New York on Friday grappled for more than three hours with both sides over the legality of President Trump's latest global tariffs and the attorney's different interpretations of a phrase in the trade statute. And now I have to figure out with my colleagues, we have to put our heads together and try to figure out what that term balance of payments deficit means as a term used in a statute. In February, President Trump immediately imposed temporary 10 percent global tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 in response to the Supreme Court's ruling against his global tariffs under a different statute. Two small businesses and 24 states are challenging the new tariffs. In his new tariff proclamation, the president cited the nation's large, persistent, and serious balance of payments deficit, which occurs when a country spends more on foreign trade than it earns. The panel struggled to understand what the balance of payments deficit means in the statute. I'm saying if we disagreed with your interpretation of what a balance of payments deficit is, is there any way to say, well, actually, you can look at liquidity and really what the president's talking about in his proclamation is the same thing as a liquidity deficit. That's what I'm trying to ask. And our interpretation is that it means a deficit in one of the accounts. OK, and then the question is, what are the accounts? Well, the statute doesn't fix in time the specific accounts, right? It leaves it to the president's discretion, doesn't identify by name. The attorney for new plaintiff businesses responded this way. The plaintiffs have asked the court to decide the case as a matter of law or to pause the president's tariffs if the case moves through the courts. The panel didn't rule on Friday. Arlene Richards, NTD News. Coming up, new evidence in a Toronto bomb hoax that led to the cancellation of a U.S.-based performing arts company's shows. The suspect openly says he's tied to the Chinese Communist Party. Jack Bradley reports next. This is how I keep my joints happy. Omega XL is a powerful, natural supplement backed by 40 years of clinical research. Take control of your pain like Cynthia Bailey. My knees in particular started giving me pain issues all the way back to my modeling days, from just running through airports, photo shoots. After taking Omega XL, I really started to notice how less stiff I was, especially my knees and my hip. Has Omega XL changed my life? Yes. I barely notice my joint pain anymore. Now I'm like literally sprinting through the airports. My secret is Omega XL. Pick up the phone and call now to get this exclusive TV offer. Buy one Omega XL and we'll send you a second bottle absolutely free. You'll also get a free bottle of Vitamin XL D3. Buy one, get two free. A total value of over $115, all for just $49.95. You save more than 55% and shipping is free. 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Congress returns to Washington next week with a partial government shutdown dragging on and a ceasefire in Iran amid heightened tensions. Lawmakers now face pressure to fund agencies, pass key legislation and question military leaders. NTD's Chris Bobb reports. When lawmakers return Tuesday, the backdrop is far different than when they left. A partial government shutdown is now 55 days in and a weeks long US conflict with Iran has only just cooled under a ceasefire. That war and what comes next will be top of mind. Now many of the top military leaders responsible for defense and readiness are heading to Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, top commanders from across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force will testify on military readiness as defense officials brief lawmakers on missile defense systems tested during the Iran conflict. There's also growing concern about global competition beyond the battlefield. A house panel will also examine China's efforts to gain an edge in artificial intelligence. At the same time, lawmakers are juggling major domestic priorities. In the Senate, debate is expected to resume on the Save America Act. Utah Senator Mike Lee announcing on X Friday. Early next week, we'll be taking up the Save America Act. Again, we need to stay on it until it passes. Spread the word. And in the House, funding for the Department of Homeland Security remains unresolved. A central piece of the ongoing shutdown fight that includes border enforcement, immigration services and disaster response. Meanwhile, committees are launching into a packed slate of hearings. Oversight will examine fraud and federal programs. Budget hearings in both chambers will focus on the president's 2027 proposal. And Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify twice. Once before Ways and Means and once before Appropriations. Senator Lindsey Graham and John Barrasso met with President Trump on Friday. In a statement following the meeting, President Trump said, reconciliation is on track and funding for the Department of Homeland Security is moving forward. He also said the bill should be completed no later than June 1st and placed on his desk for signature. Chris Bobb, NTD News. Shenyun Performing Arts touched down in Buenos Aires, Argentina, marking the start of its 2026 regional tour. Fans gathered at the airport to welcome the artists as anticipation builds for their upcoming performances. NTD is a proud sponsor of Shenyun and was there. Let's take a look. Shenyun Performing Arts marking the start of the company's 2026 South American tour. Fans welcomed the artists at the airport with flowers and banners. Performers say they're excited to bring the beauty of traditional Chinese culture to local audiences. Oh, I think they're actually in for a treat. It's our 20th anniversary. And, you know, we, again, every single year, we put on a completely new program. And this year's program is just as funded as any other year. And for us, it's really a milestone to celebrate this because in just a short 20 years, Shenyun's become a global sensation. And I'm very glad that we're able to bring this to the Argentina population. I expect to see a wonderful country. Buenos Aires is a wonderful city. And then I'm really excited to see it. And then we just want to show the audience the best that we have. Shenyun tours globally every year with the mission to revive China's authentic culture before the communist era. And it has moved countless audience members wherever it performs. The artists say beyond technical excellence and rich cultural depth, their faith and universal values are key to resonating across cultures. During the tour, I think the reception of the audience is phenomenal. Everybody resonates with the show a lot. And I really think it's because we present these universal values on stage. Kindness, compassion, striving to speak the truth. And I think this resonates with the audience members deeply. We follow the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance. We focus not only on technique, but also on inner growth and character so audiences can experience deeper values. We do hours and hours of rehearsal and repetition. But really, I think it's our faith that really brings us together. When there are difficulties working together or challenges we face in the program, it never feels like an individual problem. We all get together and we solve it together. And through this commitment to our faith, to our craft, and also to each other, that's what the audience feels. Shenyun's Buenos Aires tour stop is underway, running from April 9th to the 19th. The company will then travel to Brazil with 12 performances running from April 26th to May 10th in Curitiba, Sao Paulo, and Porto Alegre. NTD News, Argentina. A new development in the bomb hoax that led to the cancellation of Shenyun performances in Toronto. New evidence suggests the perpetrator is from China and has ties to the Communist Party. NTD's Washington correspondent, Jeff Bradley, has more. The Chinese Communist Party extending its reach into a free country, shutting down dance performances with fake bomb threats simply because it disagrees with the message. Now, new evidence tying that disruption to Beijing. The person behind the hoax that forced Toronto's Four Seasons Centre to cancel six Shenyun performances is now believed to be linked to the CCP. New emails sent from the same address used in the original threat, and police say there was never a credible danger. These emails show the centre admitting that the Four Seasons threats were all a hoax, as police also confirmed right at the scene. They also link the centre to the Chinese Communist Party. Two new emails written in Chinese appear to show the centre openly aligning with the Chinese Communist Party. In one message, the centre writes, the Toronto Four Seasons incident was my most successful one. Canada is hardly worth taking seriously. Even my motherland's Communist Party couldn't make the Shenyun MC cry, yet I actually did it. The message mocks a Shenyun host who at a press conference following the bomb hoax had just shared a deeply personal story about her parents being sent to forced labour and brainwashing centres in China for practising the spiritual practice of Falun Dafa. A second email escalates the rhetoric, claiming police around the world have become like dogs, running around everywhere at my command. Shenyun has received more than 150 similar bomb and death threats in recent years, all of them hoaxes, but until now, no venue had cancelled performances. Shenyun's mission, showcasing traditional Chinese culture before communism, which has long put it at odds with Beijing. Canadian officials are now condemning the incident, warning that it reflects a broader pattern of intimidation linked to the CCP, which targets voices it opposes. This is most atrocious, especially on the days when we're talking about Chinese interference in Canadian democracy. Shenyun has been targeted because of its effort to showcase traditional Chinese culture. And despite the intimidation, Shenyun presses on, bringing its message to audiences in more than 200 cities worldwide. For NTD News, Washington, I'm Jack Bradley. And joining us now to discuss this issue in depth is Canadian lawmaker Garnett Jennis, who we just heard from in Jack's report. He's a Conservative Member of Parliament and the Shadow Minister for Employment. Mr. Jennis, thank you so much for joining us. You've been following this issue closely from the beginning, and you actually sat down with the organisers right after the shows were cancelled. What came out of those conversations? Well, I committed to them that I would be vocal about this issue, and I have been and will continue to be. It's really outrageous that these anonymous threats were able to shut down arson culture performance in this country. And I think we should be hearing more of an outcry. We've got a problem with foreign interference in this country, and it comes from various actors. And we need to be strong in defending our freedom, defending the rights and freedoms that all Canadians have and should have protected. And this is really a red flag about what can happen. And again, we need to stand up for the freedom of our country. And Chinon has performed safely in over 150 cities worldwide, yet in Canada it was shut down. And again, police have determined there was no real threat. You actually wrote on XQuote, this is shocking and tragic. A classical Chinese dance and music show that a foreign government doesn't like is shut down on our soil because of anonymous threats and that Canada must stand for free artistic expression. The shows must go on. What remedy would you like to see? Well, I think foreign interference, it targets our country at a lot of different levels. So it targets at the national level through interference in national elections and parliament, for example, but we also see foreign interference at the local level. So it is a shared responsibility. I think we need more action from the federal government, but we also need to support greater resilience by local and community-based organizations. I think sometimes, local community-based organizations may not be aware of or as prepared for these kinds of international threats. And it can be really challenging when they're dealing with these things for the first time. But I think we need to reflect and explore as lawmakers how we can support local resilience against foreign interference threats, as well as stronger enforcement at the national level. And on that note, Shen Yun was created by Falun Gong practitioners, a peaceful spiritual group that the Chinese Communist Party has brutally persecuted for 27 years because of its popularity, independence and spiritual values. The show itself presents the beauty of China before communism. Joel Chipkar, a spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Toronto, says the targeting of the show and its cancellation is a complete assault on our safety, our sovereignty and also on the artistic community. Would you agree with that sentiment? Yeah, I think this... I mean, I'm hearing the reports that you're reporting on in real time in terms of more information about the source of this. This certainly has all the hallmarks of foreign interference. We know that Shen Yun has faced challenges, not because it's controversial among Canadians, but because the foreign government doesn't like it. And so, again, this underlines the need for freedom of artistic expression. And that freedom most centrally includes freedom from interference of foreign governments here in Canada. And expanding on that, the CCP has a long history of using proxies and bad actors to carry out its dirty work while keeping its own hands clean. Are there any investigations into exactly who was behind this? Well, I'm a member of the opposition. I can't speak to what investigations the government is or is not doing. I think we should explore options for action in Parliament around this using some of the tools we have. I hope that law enforcement and our security agencies are actively engaged in these issues. But I will say Shen Yun was also cancelled at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Federal Crown Corporation. So we are seeing various threats to Shen Yun through misinformation, as well as through these kinds of explicit threats of violence. So I think, again, this should be a wake-up call about the need to defend artistic expression in this country. And by shutting down Shen Yun, the Four Seasons essentially handed the Chinese regime a major victory, if you will. The centre of the bomb threat openly mocked Canada's politicians as petty and utterly insignificant, and dismissed Canada as hardly worth taking seriously. Now, Beijing is almost certainly using this as propaganda at home to show it can silence critics, even in the West. Now, as a Canadian MP yourself, what's your response to these insults and the broader message it sends internationally and inside China? Yeah, look, we're a great country. We need to be strong against these threats. But I think many of our political elites have been too slow to recognise the threat of foreign interference. This is a pressing threat to our sovereignty. And I would say foreign interference is often a quiet threat to our sovereignty. It doesn't have the same visibility of other threats to our sovereignty. But it's very real and very pressing. As one author put it, silent invasion of foreign powers trying to exert more and more influence over our institution, but quietly. We sometimes have failed to notice it because of the quietness of it. But it's clear now that urgent action is required to defend our country, to be strong against these threats and to push back against them and to help strengthen our institutions at all levels to be more resilient. And on that note, what steps will you push in Parliament to stop Beijing from exporting its censorship and influence operations into Canada? Well, I would say we pushed very hard to get a foreign interference bill passed, but we haven't seen the full implementation of that. It does look like we have lost connection there. That was Mr. Garnett Jenis. As the world anticipates, the Artemis 2 splashdown tonight, though, NTD's Sam Wong was out on the National Mall in D.C. to hear what people are saying about the mission and what messages they have for the astronauts to watch. What's the significance of the Artemis 2 mission in your view? It's just another step for mankind as we progress in society. A lot of engineers, a lot of people that worked in NASA, a lot of hard work that's been done over the past however many years to converge to this moment. I think it's a great feat for the United States and for mankind. What do you think? I saw the other side of the moon. Oh, yeah. No, that was the Earth. No, that was the moon. That was the Earth. No, it was the moon. I think it's really wonderful that we're back into the business of exploring outer space with man travel. Bear in mind, this is the longest we've ever traveled in space. Well, certainly longer than I ever have. How do they get past all the space junk on their way there and on the way back, like all the satellites and all this space junk? You know, how do they navigate through that on the way there and on the way back? See, that's a good question. I'm going to have to defer you to NASA on that one. OK, OK. I think that all of the Instagram stories and everything that's been going on, it's just so emotional to see, you know, these four people kind of going up. They named the crater after, you know, the I think the captain of the crew's wife, which is so nice. It's a way to kind of broaden our horizons in the world. And it's just so emotional seeing kind of how far they've gotten and everything that they've achieved. Any words for the astronauts that are coming back home tonight? Yes, definitely. Congratulations. A lot of a lot of kids are inspired by your guys' work and a lot of kids dream about doing what you guys do. So, yeah, congratulations. You guys did a great job. Thank you for your service. Welcome home. Thank you for everything that you've done. Hopefully that you've gathered some great research and, you know, congratulations on the achieved mission. Well, first of all, thank you for doing this on behalf of, you know, all of us who can't or might not be able to. And also just wish you all the very best in this safe journey home, honestly. I hope you guys land safely. And thank you for doing this. I think I think you guys have given us hope at a time when we really, really need it. So thank you for that. Hopefully you come back and take a nice rest in your own bed, you know, and can't wait to hear more from you guys. So do you want to be an astronaut? What do you want to say to the astronauts? Astronauts, I love you. Thank you. After a groundbreaking 10 day journey that took them farther from Earth than any humans in history, the four astronauts of Artemis II are now hurtling back toward our planet at nearly 25,000 miles per hour. In just a few hours, their Orion spacecraft will slam into Earth's atmosphere, endure blistering heat, a communications blackout, and a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. And to help us understand exactly what the crew is experiencing right now and what this critical return means for America's future in space, we're joined by former NASA astronaut Jeffrey A. Hoffman. He flew five space shuttle missions, including the first Hubble repair flight, and he knows firsthand the tension of a high-speed return to Earth. Jeffrey, thank you so much for joining us. Great to have you. You've been through several shuttle reentries yourself. What do you think the Artemis II crew is feeling right now? Well, I hope that they're enjoying their very last little bit of weightlessness. You know, weightlessness is one of the marvels of spaceflight from a human point of view, and they're not going to be weightless for long. Those of them who have already flown before will remember how when you hit the atmosphere, you know, gradually you feel gravity coming back. You feel your hands on your lap after floating in front of your face for all the time that you were weightless. And then, of course, if you're looking out the window, it's quite a light show out there once they hit the atmosphere and really start slowing down. And at that point, they'll be pulling some G-forces, and they're trained for this. And what they'll be waiting for, of course, is to feel the parachutes opening on top of them, because then they know they've made it through safely and they're going to have a nice splash down. Hopefully not too far off the coast from San Diego is what I've been hearing. Definitely a lot riding on this. Now, Orion's capsule return is very different from the shuttle's runway landing. Can you walk us through what the crew will experience during the radio blackout, the intense heat and the parachute later? Yeah, well, actually, the radio blackout is an interesting thing, because once we had the tracking and data relay satellites in geostationary orbit, we no longer had the radio blackouts during shuttle entry. What's causing the blackout is you're heating up the atmosphere so much that it ionizes and the ionization, which is, of course, below you, prevents you from communicating with the ground for a fair number of minutes. The exact time depends on the nature of the reentry. But the shuttle was large enough and we had antennas on the top. We could actually broadcast upwards to the relay satellites in geostationary orbit. The Orion entry, you know, they're not set up to do that. So they're communicating not through the geostationary satellites, but directly to the ground. And they can't do that during part of the reentry. Very fascinating. And from your own experience, what would you say are the biggest risks during splashdown and getting the crew out safely? And has NASA made those steps better since the Apollo days? Apollo worked. It worked very well. You may remember Artemis 1, there were some problems with the heat shield, nothing that would have, you know, imperiled the safety of the astronauts. But there was less margin than NASA wanted to fly with on this mission. They've actually redesigned the reentry trajectory. They're not skipping all the way out of the atmosphere like Artemis 1 did. It's a more kind of traditional reentry. It'll be a little bit more benign thermally. And of course, they made repairs to the thermal tiles as well. Until you actually test them, you don't know for sure. But they've, I think, have plenty of margin for a safe reentry. And to your point, Artemis 2 has been a full test flight. How does this 10 day trip around the moon compare to your shuttle missions in terms of crew workload and also testing all this brand new spacecraft equipment? Well, the early shuttle flights were truly test flights of the shuttle vehicle to understand what its capabilities were, what its limitations were, what its safe operating limits were. And of course, tragically, we didn't always operate the shuttle within its safe operating limits. That's another story. Let's let's hope we don't see accidents like that happen again. The tiles have been tested. As I say, there's always that final shock when the parachutes open and then you know that you've survived. And I never did in a reentry like that. Frankly, coming back with wings is a lot more gentle reentry as far as not pulling high Gs. And there there will be a reentry vehicle, the Sierra Spaces Dream Chaser. Hopefully we'll we'll be making some flights. And that's a that's a wing vehicle. You can take things back with with a lot lower G forces. And of course, you can then land on a runway and get direct access. These people hopefully will be picked up very soon. I mean, I've never met any of the older astronauts who came down in capsules during the Apollo era who enjoyed rocking back and forth in the sea in their capsule after, you know, you're trying to get used to being in one G. And that does strange things to your vestibular system so that when you're rocking back and forth in the capsule, it's a lot worse for those astronauts than it would be if you're used to one G. So hopefully they'll get picked up pretty quickly and then they'll get a hero's welcome for sure. You know, they've they've done something that's historic. It's only a small step on our way back to the surface of the moon. We've got a lot of work to do still before we're ready to land people on the surface of the moon. And that will be in cooperation with, you know, SpaceX, Blue Origin. SLS and the Artemis system, as it stands now, does not have the capability of taking astronauts to the surface of the moon, unlike the Apollo system. How NASA is going to change the architecture. Jared Isaacman has gotten rid of the Lunar Gateway, which I think was, that's a good decision. But how they're going to finally get people on the surface of the moon, as I say, NASA has been counting on the private sector. We're all waiting for Starship to get to orbit. You know, SpaceX has been has been working on it for many years. I hope I hope they're successful. And same for Blue Origin, which has gotten into the race as well to develop a lunar lander. So that's one or both of those lunar landers will be part of the test flight in Artemis 3, which they're hoping to do next year. And that will be in low Earth orbit to actually demonstrate sort of like Apollo 9 did, where they'll rendezvous and recapture the lunar landers. So that'll be another big step. And then hopefully we'll be ready to land on the moon. And speaking of big steps, this mission took humans farther from Earth than ever before. Drawing on your background in astrophysics, what special insights do you expect the crew to bring back once they are safely home tonight? Well, it's been pretty well documented that that because of the greater distance that they had from the surface of the moon compared to the Apollo astronauts who were only a few tens of miles in general, except for Apollo 13, which had to go into a free return trajectory like Artemis 2 did. So, yeah, they they had good views of the northern and southern parts of the far side of the moon, which human eyes had not seen before. And, you know, that's the fact that they were further away. Yeah, I mean, they were on, again, a free return trajectory, and that's the way Isaac Newton's gravitational force had them do it to get back at the right time and end up in the right place. Yeah, the trajectory has been remarkably precise. They've had to do fewer course correction burns than they had ever anticipated. And yeah, it's gone great. As far as we know, they talk about problems with the toilet a little bit, still helium leaks, which they're going to have to address in the service module. That's not part of the Orion capsule, but helium leaks have been a persistent problem. But all in all, you know, if you don't if you don't turn up a few problems in the test flight, you really haven't learned enough. I remember in the early days of rocketry, listening to one of the test conductors say that if everything went perfect in a rocket launch, this was in the early days when a lot of the rockets were blowing up. He said, if everything went perfectly, they didn't learn anything. When we do a human spaceflight, we'd like everything to go as perfectly as possible, I have to say. And so far, so good for Artemis, too. And hope they have a successful reentry and they pick them up quickly and we'll look forward to seeing them back home. And lastly, very quickly, why is a successful splashdown tonight so important for the United States, especially as other countries ramp up their own space programs like China? There's a lot of interest in different parts of lunar real estate. Whoever gets there first gets to set up shop wherever they choose as their prime location. So there's a certain advantage to not waiting too long, because as you say, there's other people, the Chinese in particular, they have a very admirable exploration program, both robotic and human, and they're going to get to the surface of the moon for sure. It'd be nice if we could maybe cooperate there like we're doing with the Russians on the space station, but that's another subject for another day. Jeffrey A. Hoffman, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Pleasure. I love talking about space and it's been an exciting week. It sure has. And don't miss the Artemis two astronauts returning home tonight. Watch the splashdown here on NTD. The key moments start at 7.50 PM Eastern when the Orion spacecraft enters Earth's atmosphere. And coming up in golf, it's billed as a tradition unlike any other, but what makes the masters so unique? Dave Martin joins us to explain. They tried to silence us. But 5000 years cannot be erased. A lost world. Reborn. Timeless. Divine. Witness the revival. Experience the extraordinary. Live on stage. Returns to David Koch Theater March 25th through April 12th. Get your tickets now at shenyun.com. They're just young people. Hungry, homeless, and vulnerable. Abused youth often feel safer on the street. Now more than ever, that's the most dangerous place of all. Covenant House is helping young adults facing homelessness. We're providing safe shelter to thousands, but the need is overwhelming and no young person has ever turned away. Please call or go online now with your gift of $19 a month to help a young person. You'll provide safe shelter, hot meals, and medical care. Your gift will show them they're loved. Homeless young people are afraid and alone with nowhere else to turn. You want to know that there's somewhere you can go that's safe. So the Covenant House did that for us. Please call now with your gift of $19 a month. We'll send you this blanket as a reminder of the comfort your gift provides a young person tonight. Please don't wait. Your gift is the lifeline a young person needs now. Call the number on your screen or go online to safeplacetosleep.org. Thank you for saving precious lives. And now for your sports news, we're joined by NBD's Dave Martin. They've got a lot of news to cover here, some soccer news, some NBA news, but let's start in golf because the Masters enters round two today. Where do things stand right now? Yeah, last year's champion Rory McIlroy still in front. Actually, it's four shot lead for last I saw. He was shooting a five under par today through 16 holes. That's after being tied for the lead yesterday when he shot a five under 67. So he was at 10 under for the tournament with two holes left. Now overall today, Terrell Haddon had the best round shooting a six under par 66. That's really shot him up the leaderboard. Elsewhere, Tommy Fleetwood and Cam Young both were shooting five under and even Wyndham Clark shooting a four under 68. Meanwhile, number one ranked Scottie Scheffler, the favorite coming in, shot a two over par 74 today. That's up for shooting a two under yesterday. So we use that even right now. Should be enough to make the weekend cut that has not been finalized yet though. Scheffler has won this event twice in the last four years. Got all that? Maybe. It's a lot. Well, I'm going to move on because the Masters is often mentioned as a tradition unlike any other. What makes this such a special event? You know, I think a lot of sporting events like to claim themselves of being unique or something like any other. The Masters is one of the very few that can really claim that. To me, the biggest thing is probably its most fan friendly event. Most sporting events put out a bidding war, of course, for TV rights, you know, to maximize revenue. The Masters, meanwhile, is very, they really, they're more interested in dictating terms to whoever airs them. That's been CBS, meanwhile, for the last 70 years. For example, they only allow CBS to air four minutes of commercials per hour. I mean, that's pretty much unheard of on TV. Meanwhile, if you want to actually get tickets to this event, you've got to enter a lottery and it's going to be $100 for a practice round and $140 for the tournament. Those are very good prices. If you actually see those resold online, they're in the thousands of dollars, both for the practice rounds and for the real events. Meanwhile, if you look at their concession prices, this is the thing that really gets me. The prices look like they're from the Great Depression era. Sandwiches range from $1.50 to $3. You've got bottled drinks for $2. Alcoholic beverages for $6. You get the feeling they want real golf fans and they're not just the wealthy ones. Meanwhile, there's also a no cell phone rule on the course. They've got a really zero tolerance policy for that. And for the players, they have very cool traditions. The master, the winner, gets fitted with a green jacket every year. Meanwhile, the winner then gets to pick the menu for next year's Dinner of Champions or Champions Dinner, whatever they call it there. So I could really go on and on here to some very cool traditions at the Masters. Hopefully one of these years, I'll actually be down there to talk to you from there, huh? And feasting. I will definitely be feasting. I'm hungry just thinking about this, right? All right. While shifting gears to soccer here, Brazilian star Neymar is reportedly considering a move to MLS. Yeah. FC Cincinnati is in discussions with the 34-year-old Brazilian superstar. That's according to multiple reports. Now I talked with our own international correspondent, Irian Prasdar, who's in Brazil. He commented on this earlier with me. Let's have a listen here. Everybody knows that Brazil is the number one soccer nation the world over. But what many people don't know is that Neymar is the one player who scored the most goals for the Brazilian national team. He scored more goals than Pelé did, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo. He's the number one goal getter. So if he goes to the United States, it would be a huge boost for the soccer world in the U.S. Just look at Messi. When Messi went to Miami, all of a sudden, everybody was interested in soccer. They just went to see Messi. The stadium always packed with Messi fans. I'm sure it would be the same with Neymar. Now, the only potential downside I see in this whole story is if Neymar goes to the U.S. and he doesn't actually play. He's just there to collect a paycheck. That's actually what happened in Saudi Arabia. He went there for a ton of money and then he only played like a handful of games because he was always injured. Of course, the fans were not happy at all. But he's in Brazil now playing for his home team and he's playing way more again. I'm sure that if he continues going like that to play regularly and if he does that in the United States, I'm 100% sure it would be a huge boost for the soccer world in the U.S. And then, of course, the World Cup happening at the same time. If all of those things come together, again, it would just be phenomenal for soccer in the United States. You know, before Messi came over just in the last couple of years, David Beckham was, of course, MLS's big get some 20 years ago. Now, obviously, U.S. Soccer League still lag behind the ones in Europe, but it would certainly be a step in the right direction if Neymar came over. And Arjen sounds like a fan. Arjen's a big fan of that, for sure. I love that enthusiasm. Very bullish. Yes, yes. Me and him, we have to have more talks like that. And you can. Well, David Salas, thanks for joining us. Thank you, Tiff. And before we end, we do have an announcement to make. Tonight is actually my final night anchoring Entity Evening News. It's been an absolute honor bringing you the news each night. And I'm happy to announce that Kerry Dunst from Entity Good Morning will be taking over. Now, this isn't goodbye. You can still catch me every day on China In Focus. And I'm so excited to share that I'm actually working on a brand new show coming very soon to Entity. I can't wait to tell you more. And until then, thanks for tuning in. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Good night.