NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (April 12)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. I'm Chris Beers. Here are today's top stories. After high-stakes talks, the U.S. and Iran fail to reach a ceasefire deal. President Trump announcing the next moves he's making after weekend negotiations with Iran and Pakistan turn sour. Find out what the U.S. Navy will be doing next. President Trump is threatening China with 50 percent tariffs if it aids Iran militarily. And a CNN source within the U.S. intelligence community says China is preparing to secretly send Iran more air defense systems in the coming weeks. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has conceded victory in the country's national election, ending his 16-year hold on power. Peter Magyar of opposition party TISA looks set for a landslide victory. A peaceful appeal in central Beijing marking history nearly 27 years ago, a symbol of resilience in the face of totalitarianism. And we speak with a former NASA mission leader for a debrief on NASA's Artemis 2 mission that put human beings farther from Earth than ever before. This is NTD Evening News, live from our global headquarters in New York City. After high-stakes talks between the United States and Iran, the two sides did not reach a ceasefire deal. And now the United States military is set to put a full blockade on the street of Hormuz. NTD's Jason Perry has the details. Vice President J.D. Vance, alongside U.S. Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner, giving an update on Saturday night, after 21 hours of ceasefire negotiations with Iran. We've had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That's the good news. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement. And I think that's bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America. The vice president adding that President Trump's core goal of the negotiations is that Iran will not seek a nuclear weapon. The simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term? We haven't seen that yet. We hope that we will. We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We'll see if the Iranians accept it. Thank you. And on the other hand, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, who was also in Pakistan for the talks, saying this. We reached understandings on a number of issues. That's the reality. However, regarding two or three important issues, the views were distant and ultimately did not lead to an agreement. Afterward on Sunday, President Trump saying on Truth Social that the United States Navy will now begin the process of putting a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz and block any and all ships trying to enter or leave the strategic waterway, which about 20 percent of the world's oil travels through, and ordering the U.S. military to strike any Iranians attempting to fire at the U.S. ships. The United States Central Command, or CENTCOM, saying on Saturday that two U.S. Navy ships transited through the waterway in an effort to ensure its clear of underwater mines that were laid by the Iranian regime, adding that the U.S. will also use underwater drones to assist in clearing underwater mines in the coming days. The commander of CENTCOM saying the U.S. will establish a safe pathway through the Strait of Hormuz to encourage the free flow of commerce. Jason Perry, NTD News. In a new development, the United States Central Command making good on President Trump's promise saying they will implement a blockade on all ships entering or exiting Iranian ports. That blockade is set to begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. Eastern. President Trump threatening China with 50 percent tariffs. He made the warning on Fox News earlier today. The comments come after failed U.S.-Iran talks amid rising tensions over potential Chinese military assistance to Tehran. According to CNN's sources within the U.S. intelligence community, China is now preparing to supply Iran with new air defense systems in the coming weeks. That development comes despite earlier reports of Beijing's efforts to help broker a ceasefire. NTD's Flora Hua has the story. President Trump on Sunday warned China could face staggering new tariffs if it provides military assistance to Iran, saying any confirmed support would trigger a 50 percent tariff. In an interview on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, Trump said the measure was aimed specifically at Beijing, adding, yes, China is included. He also said he had seen reports that China may be supplying shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to Iran. Trump questioned the accuracy of those reports and said he doubted Beijing would continue such actions. The U.S. intelligence cited in CNN's report reflects the same assessments the president was referring to. It says the shipment includes shoulder-fired anti-air missile systems known as MANPADS. Iran has previously used Chinese-supplied equipment against U.S. warplanes as part of its metric tactics. The report says the regime is likely to use similar systems again if the ceasefire fails. It remains unclear whether Chinese-manufactured equipment was used to shoot down the U.S. F-15 fighter jet last week. Tehran says it used a newly deployed air defense system. President Trump said Monday the aircraft was hit by a handle-shoulder missile, a heat-seeking missile. The CNN report also says Beijing has sought to transship defense supplies through third countries to conceal their origin. U.S. intelligence suggests China may argue such systems are defensive while maintaining a public stance of neutrality. China continues to rely heavily on Iranian oil shipments, making Iran a key energy partner. Analysts say Beijing is balancing support for Tehran with avoiding confrontation with Washington. President Trump is scheduled to meet Xi Jinping in May, with analysts warning confirmed support for Iran could strain ties. Just hours before the ceasefire, a New York Times report described Beijing's role as a last-minute push in peace talks. President Trump also acknowledged China's mediation role, while analysts note the state of her mood remains critical to China's economy. Flora Huat, NTD News. Staying in the Middle East, we're joined by Rod Martin, political analyst and founder and CEO of Martin Capital. Thank you so much for your time today, Rod. What do you make of President Trump's announcement that he intends to blockade the Strait of Hormuz? Well, it would be hard to be happier, honestly. I mean, Iran has been hanging this sort of Damocles over the global oil market since I was a small child. And the threat is the potency in it. Oh my goodness, Iran might block the Strait. What would we do then? 20% of the world's oil goes through there. Okay, well, now you've threatened it, and you've shown that you can't actually make it stick. What worked here for them is the fear that got insurers to back off. But all the US Navy has to do is show up with escort ships, and that game is over. The fact that we transited the Strait yesterday with destroyers shows you that we can actually control that water. But if we control it, the Iranians can't. So now, what was actually an asset for them is just slipping completely away. They have incentivized all their neighbors to build pipeline infrastructure to get around the Strait of Hormuz. They have incentivized their neighbors to further support the United States and its efforts. And this blockade cuts off all Iran's money that it's earning through exports of oil to China. There's very, very little they can get to China that doesn't have to pass through the Strait. So where are they going for money now? And the president has made clear, we are going to keep the Straits closed on our terms, and you may rest assured that that will ultimately include our friends getting through and our enemies being blocked. Yes. So staying with that, the president said that at some point, all ships will be allowed to go in and out of the Strait. How do you view that? Well, all ships except Iran's. And Iran, of course, will face quite a difficulty here until and unless it either makes peace on Donald Trump's terms, which I think he summarized better than anybody earlier in March when he called it unconditional surrender. Or in the alternative, we actually get a free Iran, the people rise up, overthrow this oppressive regime that actually executes young girls for getting raped. It's one of the most wicked forces on the planet. And if it falls and there's a free Iran, it's a boon for peace and prosperity to the whole region and the whole world. So the president's playing for that. We don't know if we can get there without boots on the ground. That's a good question and we're going to find out. But right now, with our ability to hit individual IRGC members in the streets with drones, we have done what normally would have had to be done with an invading army and snipers and all the things that we're accustomed to in World War II in Korea and Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan. And those days are gone. Technology has shot past all of it. And I think we've got a real shot at the Iranian people being able to rise and take control of their future. So just coming back to this period of Hormuz and the potential shutdown that seems to be imminent, how do you think this move will impact global oil prices and eventually what we pay at the pump? I mean, I'm paying four dollars a gallon right now. In the short term, we're going to have the same problems we've been having. Obviously, oil is elevated. At the same time, painfully obviously, I'm paying a dollar a gallon less than I was under Joe Biden. So the inconvenience to the United States is relatively slight. The real inconvenience is to East Asia and to Europe. Europe gets a lot of its oil from the Persian Gulf. East Asia gets most of its oil from the Persian Gulf. So what we're seeing now is an enormous convoy of tankers. And the president posted a map of this streaming from the Gulf of Oman and from East Asia around Africa toward Texas. We're going to sell an insane amount of oil and gas from the United States. That's going to be a boon to investors here, retirees, oil workers, the entire U.S. economy at the expense of the Middle East and Russia, and frankly, China. So in the very near term, we will still have elevated prices. In the slightly longer term, we're going to see prices come back down a lot. And with Iran no longer able to threaten the Strait of Hormuz going forward, I believe that the risk premium that's been baked in since the 80s is going to go away. And there's a very real chance we could see oil drop 10 or even 20 dollars beneath where it was globally before this war began. We really are at a remarkable point in human history right now with all of this. Now, Trump's blockade announcement came after failed talks between the U.S. and Iran and Pakistan this weekend. Here's Vice President J.D. Vance, who was present at the talks. The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. That is the core goal of the president United States. And that's what we've tried to achieve through these negotiations. Again, their nuclear programs, such as it is, the enrichment facilities that they've had before, they've been destroyed. But the simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term? We haven't seen that yet. We hope that we will. Rod, were you surprised at all by the outcome of these talks? No, this is exactly what I expected. There was just no way the Iranians were going to agree to our terms. And our terms are actually pretty straightforward and reasonable. It is not acceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Iran is led by a sect called the Twelvers. They actually believe that to bring their messiah back, called the Mahdi, they actually have to burn down the world, ideally in nuclear fire. We can't let people like that have a nuclear weapon. That's insane, especially after they just demonstrated an intermediate range ballistic missile capability that can reach Diego Garcia, which is what they shot at, which means they could reach Paris and Berlin and London. They've orbited a satellite. They are one half step away from being able to build an ICBM that can carry such a weapon to New York or Kansas City or Los Angeles. There's no way that we can allow that. And they are speaking with forked tongue too, because they have been telling us for decades, oh, we don't want a nuclear weapon. Oh, we pronounced a fatwa against nuclear weapons. Bonk. You don't enrich to 60 percent unless you're 20 percent or these days even less than that is plenty for commercial purposes. And we have previously offered them unlimited commercial nuclear fuel for actual power plants. We understand they need to sell their oil and gas. We understand that they're better off with nuclear power. That's why the United States helped the Shah begin a nuclear program before the Islamic revolution. But these guys don't want that. What they want is the ability to menace the world with nuclear weapons. They are not deterrable through mutual assured destruction in the way that China or Russia would be. And we simply aren't going to allow it to happen. So so of course, these talks were going to fail. They were never going to agree to it. And now we're going to conclude what we started. Now, the president said on Fox speaking with Maria Bartiromo this morning that he's expecting Iran to come back to the negotiating table and agree to no nuclear ambitions. Are you as hopeful on this? I think that that might make sense if we pound them as hard as I expect we're about to. And a lot of people really took the president much too seriously. I should say literally, seriously is appropriate. Literally was not when he said he was going to end their civilization. But the point is exactly the same kind of language Harry Truman used when he threatened Japan in 1945. We're going to end your system as you know it. And that system is the Islamic regime. It is that evil regime that tosses people off buildings, that executes young girls, that does all these oppressive things like murdering 36,000 peaceful protesters in the streets on two days in January this year. This regime must not stand. So the president's going to hit them hard. There's no question that they're going to get out of this box without either agreeing to hand over the nuclear program or, in the alternative, agreeing to leave. And they're probably not going to do that, at least soon. But the truth is, if they don't, the Iranian people are likely to rise, overthrow them, and hang them all from the nearest lamppost. And so I think the closer we get to that outcome, the more likely they are to actually come back to the table. In closing here, Rod, President Trump is threatening China with 50 percent tariffs if it aids Iran militarily. What would 50 percent tariffs do to China's economy if that ended up going into place? Well, it would be really, really bad. To start with, the Iranians have gotten over 40 percent of their oil for the last number of years in this steeply discounted sanction form. They're buying 90 percent of Iran's supply. They're buying a huge percentage of Russia's and Venezuela's. And all of a sudden, that's all going away. So they've been paying way below market for that oil. That's a huge shock to their economy just by having to pay market prices. And of course, market prices aren't what they were a month and a half ago. Market prices are much elevated now. So it's a double shock to China's system. Now, if on top of that, you add 50 percent tariffs, that's going to put them into a recession, if not worse. There's just no escaping it. Their economy is already teetering. Honest analysts have been pointing this out now for a couple of years. They're really in trouble. So what the president is threatening is really meaningful. And my guess is we're going to see the Chinese back off on some of these discussions about arms. They're going to bluster. They're not really going to ship much. We demonstrated that over the last year. When they didn't ship Iran any modern fighter jets or other things that they needed after the 12-day war, they're going to back off. And we're going have a very interesting summit meeting in May where I think we'll actually get to a relatively decent deal between the United States and China. And we will definitely be following that closely. Rod Martin, political analyst and founder and CEO of Martin Capital, thank you so much. Thank you. A national election in Hungary has delivered a landmark defeat to veteran Prime Minister Viktor Orban after 16 years in power. Leader of the opposition party, Peter Magyar, looks set for a landslide win as ballots continue to be counted. Here's the story. Hungary has voted to change its leader. Projections of election results indicate opposition leader Peter Magyar will win by a landslide. Prime Minister Viktor Orban conceded victory to the Dear friends, the election result is not final yet, but it is understandable and clear. The election result is painful for us, but clear. The responsibility and possibility of governing was not given to us. I have congratulated the winner. Ballot counting began in Hungary on Sunday to determine the next leader of the country. The national election saw a record turnout of voters. The leader of Hungary's opposition party, Peter Magyar, said he was optimistic as voting finished. But the most important thing is that the vast majority of Hungarian people felt how important the election was, how crucial the election was in Hungary today. Compared to Hungary's election in 2022, data showed that cast votes were up 13 percent by the same time in the afternoon. As voting was underway, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the opposition leader both indicated that the outcome of the election would determine the course of history for the country. A lot of people are voting and the stakes are high. Hungary's peace and security can rest on just one vote today. If we fail, we face the threat of war. If we miss, Hungarian families' financial security will be in danger. The opposition leader called on voters to choose a peaceful, safe, working, humane and European Hungary. Some voters shared this sentiment. Prime Minister Viktor Orban is getting closer to Russia and we wanted to show his message that it's over and Hungarians want to stay in Europe. Meanwhile, others were opposed to the potential changes a new party and leader brings. I believe it's very important to preserve the values that have developed so far. So I would really like it if all the results that have been achieved in recent years remain. Polling ahead of the election had indicated that opposition party TISA offered a significant challenge to Orban's 16-year hold on power. Coming up, flames rip through a Manhattan building. A Bacon Department building goes up in Chelsea, sending smoke across the neighborhood. What firefighters are saying about the situation and injuries reported. And we speak with a former NASA mission leader for a debrief on NASA's Artemis 2 mission that put human beings farther from Earth than ever before. More in just a moment on NTD News. What you've been waiting for. 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From sleek and modern to something more eclectic to an updated traditional look. You can also reconfigure it just by adding or removing pieces. The sofa version is a great value at just $12.89. Come find the look that's right for you at your Furniture Superstore, Matheson. Welcome back. Flames ripping through a vacant building in Manhattan. Firefighters battled a massive fire earlier this morning in Chelsea as flames spread across multiple floors of a six-story apartment building. Officials say the structure was empty but two firefighters were injured. Here's more. The fire broke out just after 6 a.m. on 7th Avenue between West 22nd and 23rd Street. The Newark Fire Department crew arrived to find heavy fire on the first, fifth, and sixth floor with thick smoke pouring out from the building. Nearly 200 firefighters and emergency medical service personnel responded, working to bring the flames under control. Because of structural concerns, crew could not enter the building. They instead searched from tower ladders outside and determined no one was inside. Two firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and nearby residents were briefly evacuated as a precaution. One neighbor says she woke up to firetrucks and saw smoke before being told to leave. A local city council member says the building has a long history but hopes it can still be saved. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The Artemis 2 capsule and its four-member crew streaked through Earth's atmosphere and safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday after nearly 10 days in space. The dramatic moment capping the first voyage by humans to the moon in over half a century. Here's the story. The Artemis 2 astronauts safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday. The Orion spacecraft Integrity bobbing in the ocean after re-entry marked the end of a 10-day journey to the moon and back. A perfect bullseye splashdown for Integrity and its four astronauts. The four astronauts aboard were the first to fly in the vicinity of the moon since the Apollo missions more than half a century ago. Watch party goers cheered in nearby San Diego as Integrity splashed down in the target zone. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman spoke from a nearby U.S. Navy ship after the smooth landing. The years, the effort, the late nights, all the hard work from across the country that contributed to this incredible moment right now and yeah incredibly grateful too for our teams here on the John P. Mertha right now. Yeah look at the behind us here. What do you guys think? We just brought some astronauts back from the moon, huh? Fast boats and Navy divers circled Integrity in the water as U.S. astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Cook along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen prepared to be extracted. They were experiencing gravity for the first time since their takeoff more than a week before. At the flight's peak, the crew reached deeper into space than any human has ever gone, some 252,756 miles from Earth. The ultimate goal of the Artemis program is to establish a long-term presence on the moon as a stepping stone to human exploration of Mars. The Artemis 2 mission specifically was a dress rehearsal for an attempt to land astronauts on the moon later this decade. The Orion capsule's re-entry was itself a critical test. The craft's heat shield had sustained an unexpected level of scorching and stress during the unmanned Artemis 1 in 2022. As for Artemis 2, once the capsule hit Earth's atmosphere, it was 13 minutes in temperatures soaring to some 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit before two sets of parachutes were deployed and it plunged into the sea. Joining us now to discuss this remarkable step for humankind is former NASA mission leader Michael Ciannilli. Michael, great to have you on. Artemis 2 put human beings farther from Earth than ever before. Help us fully grasp the significance of this achievement. Thank you so much and what an incredible week it's been for America and the world. This is incredible. It's been over 50 years since we've done this. So we had the iconic Apollo program in the 1960s for the first time ever bringing humans outside of the Earth's orbit into lunar orbit and landing on the moon and we haven't done that. We've stayed pretty much close to home, relatively speaking that is, and doing a lot of Earth observation researches and research on the International Space Station and of course the 30-year space shuttle program. But now we're taking that leap back out into deeper space going back to the moon. So this was absolutely historic and the great part about this is it sets the scape. We're not just going to the moon to visit for a little bit, we're going there to stay. We're going to build a base and instead of being there for one, two, or three days, now we're going to be there for the order of weeks, months, and perhaps even years. So it's very exciting what's coming up. And what would you say are yours or NASA's biggest takeaways from this mission? Biggest takeaways is we have to keep vigilant. These missions, although we watch those beautiful iconic photos and those videos of the crew doing amazing work, sometimes we get the feeling that it's perhaps easier than it is, right? We see these things, we somewhat get used to those. But these missions are extremely complex and they're very difficult. It takes a cast of tens of thousands of people coming together and doing absolutely beautifully perfect work together in harmony. So we have to really realize where the great reward comes great risk. There's great risk these missions, but we have to work hard and do this. And together we can make something absolutely fantastic happen, but it is a concerted effort. What would you say went right or perhaps what didn't go wrong in this? Yeah, you know, we looked at the mission profile. There's a lot of unknowns, right? I mean, we did this 50 something years ago with a different vehicle, some similarities, but a lot of differences, of course, different crews. And so there's a lot of unknowns. You know, this is the first time that integrated approach with a crewed vehicle. You know, the SLS rocket has not launched people before. So this was a first. Orion, the capsule on board the rocket, this is the first time it was crewed. So a lot of unknowns there. So we had to check out the environmental control systems. We had to check out the thrusters, the navigation systems, the manually piloting ability of the spacecraft, how it would respond to manual inputs from the crew itself. There are a lot of things, the thermal heating of it, and not to mention the reentry profile. So there are a lot of new things we had to learn about it to understand to go forward. So it was really a fully a test mission. And I tell you what, going through the checklist, almost everything went spot on right. Of course, there's little hiccups. We had a problem with the waste management system a little bit here and there. But overall, we couldn't be happier with performance of the vehicle. The test team was just spot on in their activities. We're very proud of them. And we're excited now to pick up with Artemis 3 and keep on going. Yeah, I can only imagine what actually goes into this. I mean, I know, airline pilots, or even pilots of a small Cessna plane go through like a hundred point checklist. It must be, you know, 10, 100 times bigger with a flight like this. So, you know, it takes a big amount of teamwork. Let's look at this clip of Artemis 2 mission specialist Christina Cook describing what the word crew means to her. A crew is people or, you know, a group that is in it all the time, no matter what, that is stroking together every minute with the same purpose, that is willing to sacrifice silently for each other, that gives grace, that holds accountable. A crew has the same cares and the same needs, and a crew is inescapably, beautifully, dutifully linked. So what makes a crew in your mind, Michael? Those are beautifully words, so well spoken. You know, a crew, there's a certain bond. There's a certain bond either in a capsule or on the ground. It's very tight. You work with these people on the ground. The astronauts they've spent countless hours together. Reverse testing each other because you have to almost read each other's minds, if you will. You have to be so spot on understanding your limitations, your exceptional abilities, and be able to cover those and have each other's back. Like I said, things can happen very quickly and having that comfortableness with each other and that trust. I know in the launch team perspective, every member of the launch team is committed with every heart and soul to back up everybody else and make sure the mission goes successful. So trust is so essential to these missions, either on the ground or in space. It's a feeling you can't explain except it's magic. When it comes together, it's pure harmony. And staying with that feeling, you've been a part of multiple teams that have launched 378 people into space over the years. Take us into that experience. What is it like counting down to the point where you're putting someone into space? Give us that visceral sense. It's absolutely magical. It's almost like walking a high wire act. I've never done that, but I can't imagine something like that. You've got countless procedures. You've got books several feet high. You're running through procedures, so controlled chaos is probably a good way to describe it. There's a lot of steps happening, of course, never everything goes according to plan. So you're always working contingency operations at the same time you're working your normal operations. You're calling out multiple steps. Multiple people are calling you. You've got probably 16 different channels of communications in your ears at one time. So you almost think that you're schizophrenic in a way. You hear so many different voices in your head, but you're parsing all those voices. You're parsing the nuance of what they're saying. It is just a magical time. There's a heavy weight of responsibility. You realize you're about to do something. You're about to light a rocket off that's got the explosive power of an atomic bomb, and you've got your friends and colleagues sitting on top of that. So you know you have to get it spot on right. So there's a tremendous amount of weight and responsibility. There's also a lot of deal of fun. You realize you're doing something historic. So you've got emotions of excitement, exhilaration, but the weight of responsibility never leaves you for every single second from the moment the crew gets on board the vehicle until they get back home and splash down to the ocean. Wow, it just sounds impossible the way you describe it, and the pressure must be beyond human almost. So how do people perform under that pressure and still achieve these flawless results? It's absolutely amazing. It's the best of the best and the brightest, and we love to encourage young people to follow their passions. When you follow your passion, something you love, what you're doing, you become the very best at it. We of course recruit the best that we can, but we also train. We train countlessly. We encourage everyone to become the very best they can, understand the systems, understand the schematics, your procedures, and then we do simulations over and over again, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. I spend a lot of time doing launch countdown sims. We throw multiple failures in, stressing the team to the point of breaking multiple times. So hopefully on launch, everything goes perfectly right. It's very smooth, and you're almost like waiting for something to happen, but the reason for that training is so you're ready for those moments, the unexpected moments that come along, and then you can easily handle those. So it's time. Like I said, the talent is off the charts. It's been such an honor to work with the people that I have, with the amount of talent, the amount of passion and drive of what they're doing. The space program is in great hands, I can tell you that. Yeah, it's sort of like watching the Olympics, all these incredibly talented people out there getting the job done. Former NASA mission leader Michael Cianilli, thank you so much. It's my pleasure. Thank you so much. Coming up, a peaceful appeal in central Beijing, marking a history nearly 27 years ago. A symbol of resilience in the face of totalitarianism. A rally in DC was held to commemorate the event. More on that after the break. Plus, President Trump attended UFC 327 Saturday night in Miami. Find out what decisions he made during the fighting event. More in just a moment, here on NTD. On streets across America, young people are homeless, abused, in danger. Covenant House is helping young people with nowhere else to turn, but the need is overwhelming. Please call or go online now with your gift of $19 a month. You'll help provide hot meals, safe shelter, medical care, and love to more than 2,000 young people who sleep at a Covenant House every night. Homeless young people are afraid and alone. Your monthly donation right now will show them they are loved and safe. 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For the first time, I finally feel like I'm exactly where I should be, where I want to be. Welcome back. A major deal on hold after the U.S. pulls back. A UK agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is on hold after the Trump administration withdrew its support. Britain says the bill missed its deadline in Parliament yesterday. President Trump backed the plan at first, but later reversed course in January, calling it an act of great stupidity. The UK has paused the bill, but officials still hope to revive the agreement. The Chagos Islands have been under British control since 1814. The islands located in the Indian Ocean include Diego Garcia, where a strategic U.S.-Britain joint military base is Diego Garcia has supported U.S. military operations for decades, including in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The proposal would have transferred sovereignty to Mauritius while keeping the base under a long-term UK lease. It's worth noting that Mauritius has very close ties with the Chinese regime. Supporters say the bill aimed to reduce legal challenges after U.N. pressure to return the islands. Critics warned of strategic risks involving China and Russia. The future of the deal is now uncertain. April 25th will mark the 27th anniversary of a historic peaceful appeal in China. On that day, more than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered in central Beijing, calling for their right to practice their beliefs of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. A rally was held in D.C. on Saturday to commemorate this occasion, and T.D. Sam Wong has more. I'm here outside the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. where a group of Falun Gong practitioners are gathering behind me. They're here to commemorate a historic peaceful appeal in China nearly 27 years ago, an event that marked the dawn of a nationwide persecution. A crowd in yellow T-shirts performing a set of gentle flowing exercises. The peaceful scene bears resemblance to a gathering in Beijing more than two decades ago. On April 25th, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners lined up outside the Chinese Communist Party's central headquarters. They were appealing for the right to practice their faith amid a period of growing suppression. I remember when the April 25th incident happened. The Falun Gong practitioners displayed such perseverance, such great kindness and forbearance. Their noble and upright conduct truly shocked the entire world. But little did they know that this peaceful gathering would become the prelude to a nationwide persecution. That July, the CCP launched a brutal campaign to eradicate Falun Gong, using propaganda to frame the April appeal as an attempt to overthrow the regime. Falun Gong practitioners were soon arrested, tortured and killed for staying fast to their faith. During the Chinese New Year in 2001, a time when families are supposed to be together, my mother was being held in a brainwashing center, my father in prison, and I was detained in a forced labor camp. I also knew a family whose situation was especially tragic. Both parents and my friend's three siblings were tortured to death, one after another. The persecution continues unabated till this day. According to Minghui.org, the deaths of more than 5,300 Falun Gong practitioners have been confirmed, but the number is merely a fraction of the actual death toll due to the CCP's efforts to cover up the scale of its abuses. And an untold number have been murdered on demand by the communist regime for their organs, which are sold for profit in the ongoing practice of state-sponsored organ harvesting. For me, it's so terrifying how this is industrialized from the very top of the CCP down to military hospitals, to doctors. This is unimaginable. Despite facing enormous adversity, Falun Gong practitioners are still committed to telling the truth about the persecution and reminding the world of the universal values of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Sam Wong, NTD News, Washington, D.C. Next, Vince Everett Ellison shares a powerful story of growing up on a cotton plantation in Tennessee during a deeply divided era. Raised in what he describes as clan country, Ellison says his father's courage, faith, and belief in personal responsibility helped lift the family out of poverty. It's a story he calls a true example of the American dream, built on character, resilience, and faith. Take a look. So I want to start really with how you grew up. You grew up on a cotton plantation in Tennessee, and your parents, your family, they fought, they worked hard to get the family out of poverty and to do well. And can you tell us a little bit about the memories you have and some of the vivid memories that you went through at the time when you were a kid? Yeah, man, my story is just an American story. I was born on a cotton plantation, Capewood County, Tennessee. It was clan country. An FBI report said that the Ku Klux Klan was a violent faction of the South, white supremacy and all this kind of stuff. And they said that the most violent Klan faction in America was the Tennessee Klan. And I was reading the FBI report that said that the grand wizard of the Tennessee Klan was a guy by the name of Doyle Ellington. And Doyle Ellington lived in Brownsville, Tennessee. And that's where I was born. So the so the grand wizard of the most violent Klan faction in America lived in my hometown. I'd heard nothing about this. So I called my father, and I found this out about three years ago. I called my dad. My dad is 84 now. He was about 81 then. And they said that Doyle Ellington was still alive, had a Facebook page. So I called dad. I said, hey, dad. Hey, boy. So you know Doyle Ellington? Yeah, I know him. Grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. I said, what? He said, yeah, dad. I said, where does he live? He said about five, six miles down the road. I said, dad, why don't you ever tell me that the grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan lived so close to me? He said it was no consequence. I said, what do you mean? He said, well, when you was a baby, he said, Doyle and his boys were going around doing this and that and the other. And I knew that a lot of black folks were scared of Doyle. He said, so I saw Doyle at the lumber yard. And I walked up to Doyle, and I took my .45 and showed it to him. And I said, if you ever touch me or mine, I'm going to blow your D.D. brains out. He said, I never had no problems out of Doyle. So these people didn't bother me because even though I grew up there, my father was this guy that nobody bothered. And when I was born, we were living in a two bedroom, one bedroom shack in the middle of a cotton field. By the time, but about maybe seven, eight years later, my father had built a house up on the ground. He still lives in that house today. He got involved in the insurance industry, started selling insurance, started his own insurance industry, his own insurance company and brought us out of poverty. And that's the American story. We didn't stay there. It was a starting position. And if my father could do it, raising five children at that time, himself, he and my mother, anybody can do it. If he could do it in clan country, anybody can do it. That's the American story. And so we started as the gospel singing group after that, because daddy was so grateful for the, for the blessings that Jesus Christ had thrown on us called the Ellison family. We sung gospel music until I was well into my twenties. Oh yeah. That's what I wanted to ask you next. Next. So yeah, that's an amazing story. And, and then you, you joined this, this gospel choir group. And how did this shape your views of faith and family? Well, it shaped it, shaped it quite a bit because as I was going through this time, a lot of things were happening. As you know, civil rights movement was going on a lot of black preachers saying this and any other. And my father taught me and my mom, me and my brothers and sisters a lot about capitalism and about people. He said, there are only two types of people, not black and white, good and bad. Period. He said, you're going to have some, you're going to meet in your life, some good white people, some bad ones, some good black people, some bad black people. He said, pull good people to you, push bad people away and, and make sure you do an inventory in your life. And I found that out to be true. So race was never an issue. It was always the type of individual that I dealt with. And he always taught us this thing here that's very important to me. If, you know, people say, don't judge them. I'm dreaming that one day I won't be judged by the color of my skin, but by the content of my character. My dad says nothing wrong with the color of your skin. Don't ever apologize for what's wrong with the color of your skin. Nothing. He said, you will be judged by your character. It's unmistakable. He is a prime example of that. The fact he was born an orphan in the Jim Crow South. And like I said, the clan didn't mess with my father. Why? Because of his character. They knew that my father would blow their brains out if they bothered him. So his character made sure that he was respected everywhere he went. And he taught us that don't ever walk around in fear. Don't ever ask to be somewhere that you are not wanted. You don't want to be anywhere where you're not invited. Christian men don't do that. You don't want to be anywhere that makes you feel small. You don't want to be nowhere where you're tolerated. Christian men don't want to be tolerated. If you're not respected where you are, leave. Bay Area Innovators is the talk show that puts the spotlight on the influential figures driving change, creativity, and progress. You can watch more of this episode on NTD Plus or Epoch TV. Next, a former minister, a comedian, and a political dynasty heiress are among the 35 candidates hoping to become Peru's ninth president in just 10 years. The cost of living has risen far too much. These days, going to the market is very expensive. There's the issue of security, corruption, and transport workers who are constantly on strike. We cannot go on like this. We have to change. We have to improve. And we need the presidential candidates to keep their promises. That is what all Peruvians need most. Sunday's election is taking place during a surge in violent crime and corruption, fueling widespread discontent among voters. Many of the candidates have responded to concerns about crime with wide-ranging proposals. These include building mega prisons, restricting food for prisoners, and reinstating the death penalty for serious crimes. When we come back, President Trump attends his first sporting event since the conflict with Iran began in a lead-up to the summer White House event. More on that after the break. Getting prescription glasses from Select Specs is easier than you might think. Select your frames from our six-pound range, in-house brands, or our extensive designer collections. Then enter, upload, or email your latest prescription, and our website will analyze it and help you select the best lenses and options to suit you. Click to place the order, and your new Select Specs glasses are delivered right to your door. Ordering your prescription glasses is as easy as one, two, C, with Select Specs and selectspecs.com. This is how I keep my joints happy. 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And our MyPillow Encase Coil mattresses, I personally helped develop these mattresses to make sure they have everything needed to give us great sleep. Plus, they're made right here in the USA, and they ship right to your front door absolutely free. So go to MyPillow.com or call the number on your screen. Use this promo code to get MyPillow mattresses and toppers for as low as $99.98 and free shipping. Welcome back. President Trump was seen in Miami on Saturday night attending his first sporting event since the start of the Iran conflict. He watched UFC 327 along with the audience at the Kaseya Center. The U.S. President entered the arena with the UFC CEO Dana White and walked toward the front of the seating area. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was already at the front, standing next to who appeared to be EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. President Trump is also seen speaking with podcast host Joe Rogan and UFC commentator Daniel Cormier. During the course of the night's matches, President Trump and Dana White reportedly decided to add fighters to the upcoming White House UFC event. The President requested fighter Derek Lewis, and White suggested adding Josh Hokid as his opponent. The New York Post reported that Hokid agreed to the fight while leaving his match in an ambulance, victorious but injured. UFC Freedom 250 is set to take place at the White House on President Trump's birthday, June 14th. Thank you for watching NTD Evening News. For around the clock original news coverage, visit us at NTD.com or download our NTD app. I'm Chris Beers. Have a good night.