NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (April 16)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story tonight, President Trump announcing a major Middle East breakthrough involving Israel, Lebanon, and Hezbollah. Plus, the president says Iran is now willing to hand over its nuclear dust as the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports financially squeezes the regime. Mario Tsu at the White House. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani are proposing a new tax on the ultra-wealthy, targeting owners of luxury second homes in New York City valued at $5 million or more. Sean Marshall has more on the plan. Tragedy in Virginia. Police saying a former lieutenant governor killed his wife and then himself, the apparent result of a messy divorce. And six days after the splashdown of NASA's Artemis 2 mission, the four astronauts discussed the impact the historic lunar flyby had on them personally. This is NTD Evening News, live from our global headquarters in New York City. Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight. President Trump declaring significant progress on two critical fronts in the Middle East tonight. He says Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire that's paving the way for the countries to hold direct talks. Meanwhile, the president says the U.S. naval blockade of Iran is working, forcing Tehran to agree to return its enriched uranium stockpiles to American hands. We now go live to NTD's White House correspondent, Mari Otsu, at the North Lawn of the White House for the latest on all of this. Mari, good evening. Hey, Kerry. Good evening. That's right. And President Trump's saying that that Israel-Lebanon ceasefire will include the militant group Hezbollah. And he says this after he said that he had, quote, excellent conversations with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun this morning. And on his way out of the White House today, departing the South Lawn, President Trump says that Israel will meet Lebanon for the first time in over 40 years at the White House in the next week or two. Take a look. It's very exciting because it's 48 years. We're going to be meeting with Bibi Netanyahu, as you know, and the president of Lebanon. And I had a great talk with both of them today. They're going to be having a ceasefire, and that'll include Hezbollah. And I think it could be number 10 for me. This comes as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports enters its fourth day, with the U.S.-Iran ceasefire set to expire next week. And I'm not sure it needs to be extended. Iran wants to make a deal, and we're dealing very nicely with them. President Trump says the blockade is economically squeezing the regime and shifting the negotiations in America's favor. He says Tehran has now agreed to return its stockpile of enriched uranium to the United States. The blockade has been incredible. It's been, it's held. They're not doing any business. They're willing to do things today that they weren't willing to do two months ago. We have a statement, very, very powerful statement, that they will not have, beyond 20 years, that they will not have nuclear weapons. And they've agreed to that. Iran's agreed to that, and they've agreed to it very powerfully. They've agreed to give us back the nuclear dust that's way underground because of the attack we made with the B-2 bombers. The president says he might travel to Islamabad for a deal signing if negotiations progress, but warns- If there's no deal, fight or resume. This comes as the White House is ramping up pressure on Beijing. China was purchasing more than 90% of their oil, which is about 8% of China's energy needs. We believe this blockade in the Straits, there will be a pause of Chinese buying. For years, the Chinese regime has kept Iran afloat, buying the vast majority of its oil in defiance of sanctions while supplying critical dual-use components that have strengthened Tehran's missile and drone programs. A Financial Times investigation reveals Iran secretly acquired and operated a Chinese-built spy satellite to monitor and assess U.S. bases before and after Iranian strikes. According to a letter from the chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on China, Airbus Space provided satellite imagery of U.S. military bases to a Chinese company, which then published detailed photos of American forces just before the Iranian attacks. If Iran is not willing to overcome their stubbornness, I will say this blockade imposes much more pain on China and other nations in East Asia and Europe than it does on the United States because those nations are much more dependent on Iranian oil. So if anything, China is the one that's probably going to start feeling some of this pain and putting pressure on Iran to be less stubborn and to be willing to meet the president's very simple demands. And Kerry, President Trump is now on his way to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he's going to hold a roundtable in just a couple hours to celebrate his tax policies and his tax cuts this coming just a day after the White House yesterday celebrated Tax Day with Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt, joined by Treasury Secretary Scott Besant in the briefing room here to announce that over 53 million Americans this year have claimed one of President Trump's working family tax cuts, and the average refund this filing season was over $3,400. And Kerry, on his way to Nevada, President Trump has been very active on Truth Social to respond to a federal judge yet again halting a construction, above ground construction on his White House ballroom project. The president's saying that the whole complex, which includes both above ground and below ground components, are vital for America's military operations and national security. He's listing on Truth Social the features of the complex, which include a hospital, bomb shelters, a drone proof ceiling, secret military installations, and exclaims, quote, no future president living in the White House without this ballroom can ever be safe and secure at events, future inaugurations, or global summits. This magnificent space will allow them to carry out their vital duties as the leader of our nation. The ballroom is deeply important to our national security, and no judge can be allowed to stop this historic and militarily imperative project. The president says the judge has gone out of his way to undermine national security and that this decision puts in jeopardy the safety and security of anyone working at the White House. Back to you. Thanks for that update, Mari. You can watch President Trump's remarks in Las Vegas right here on NTD tonight on Capitol Report at 7 p.m. Eastern. Next, the Pentagon today announcing the U.S. has turned around 14 vessels heading to or from Iran since the American naval blockade started. Military leaders are explaining exactly how the blockade works and how it targets only Iran while still supporting American partners in the Gulf region. NTD's international correspondent, Arian Pasdar, has the latest on the U.S. naval blockade. The U.S. action is a blockade of Iran's ports and coastline, not a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Cain, on Thursday explained that the American naval blockade is aimed at Iran. At the same time, it helps other Gulf nations to increase traffic again. Data from tracking service Kepler supports that claim, saying traffic is increasing after last month's low levels due to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. General Cain explaining how the U.S. blockade works exactly. Enforcement will occur inside Iran's territorial seas and in international waters. In addition to this blockade, the joint force, through operations and activities in other areas of responsibility, like the Pacific area of responsibility, under the command of Admiral Papparo, will actively pursue any Iranian flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran. This includes dark fleet vessels carrying Iranian oil. And Cain also revealing a graph showing where exactly the American blockade is set up. This area is where U.S. troops send out warning messages to ships to turn around if they're heading to or from Iran. Any vessel that compares to comply with our instructions will be dealt with accordingly. As of this morning, U.S. Central Command has not been required to board any particular ships. Central Command says the U.S. military turned around 14 vessels heading to or from Iran since the American naval blockade started earlier this week. And Cain also praising younger sailors, describing how 18- and 19-year-old helmsmen often maneuver warships through congested waters. It is like driving a sports car through a supermarket parking lot on a payday weekend with thousands of kids in that parking lot as you attempt to maneuver through there to get to that ship that would attempt to run that blockade. Meanwhile, War Secretary Pete Hecsep announcing an achievement in the military's recruitment efforts. The Air Force and the Space Force met new higher goals in FY26 five months in advance of the end of the fiscal year. Five months ahead of time. The Marine Corps and the Army will soon do the same. Two or three years ago, we couldn't meet lower recruiting numbers, not even close. He added he would like to see the mainstream media report more on the renewed willingness by Americans to join the military. Ariane Pasdar, NTD News. And in the Middle East, Israeli forces and the Hezbollah terrorist group continued their attacks against each other ahead of the ceasefire that has just gone into effect. Local residents sharing mixed views over the pause in fighting. And today's Jason Perry brings us more. Lebanese state-run media report that the Israel Defense Forces launched a barrage of strikes in southern Lebanon just ahead of the 10-day ceasefire that's set to begin at 5 p.m. eastern time on Thursday. On the same day, Israel releasing footage of strikes on these individuals identified as terrorists who appeared to try to hide behind trees before being struck. Israel also reports striking another terrorist who was riding in a vehicle. Emergency crews were seen responding to the aftermath. And Lebanese state-run media saying one person was killed in the incident. Also ahead of the ceasefire, media reports say Israeli forces struck Lebanon's last remaining bridge that connects southern Lebanon to the rest of the country. A member of Hezbollah was on the scene after the strike and said the terrorist group had prepared for its supply lines to be cut. Israeli forces also releasing video on the same day of what appeared to be the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure in a Hezbollah stronghold. And in northern Israel, just hours before the ceasefire was set to begin, a Hezbollah rocket landed in this neighborhood. Israeli officials said there were no casualties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that Israeli troops would remain in southern Lebanon during the 10-day ceasefire with Hezbollah. This allows us, first of all, to break the dangerous infiltration into our communities. And secondly, it allows us to prevent direct anti-tank fire. The communities are now protected from these two dangers. A resident in Israel shared his thoughts on the ceasefire. I am happy to go back to some kind of normalcy, but at the same time I don't really believe an organization like Hezbollah will actually obey the rules of a ceasefire. And a resident in Lebanon displaced from the war said this about the ceasefire. Ten days? If we want to go back to our homes, ten days and the war returns. We don't want that. Either our land is fully returned or we don't want the ceasefire. During the 10-day ceasefire, Israel says they will try to reach an agreement with Lebanon over the situation with the Iran-backed terrorist group. Jason Perry, NTD News. And coming up, tragedy in Virginia. Police saying a former lieutenant governor killed his wife and then himself, the apparent result of a messy divorce. And the California governor's race is shifting. After former Congressman Eric Swalwell's sudden exit, a new poll shows two Republicans leading as candidates lay out their priorities ahead of the primary. Christina Corona reports. Are you sitting at home living in pain? Maybe it's in your hands, maybe your back or your hips. The good news is you don't need to live in pain. Why? Because there is Omega XL, a one-of-a-kind, natural, powerful joint relief supplement created from the green-lipped mussels of New Zealand. Drug-free, non-habit-forming, it's small, easy to swallow. And it's backed by more than 40 years of clinical research. If you're experiencing daily aches and pains due to aging and overuse, try Omega XL. Just ask anybody who uses it. The results are undeniable. I had a lot of joint pain, and that slowed me down. I had considerable pain in my back. Really, really felt the pain, I mean, in my ankles and in my heels. I'm telling you about something that's going to change your life. It has revived me. This works. I'm not a prisoner anymore to my pain. As I was getting older, my joints started to feel that wear and tear. But then I tried Omega XL, and it changed my life. 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When I arrived in the U.S. at 19, I struggled to find job opportunities without a high school diploma. My name is Ariel, and my entire life changed when I took a chance and I got my high school diploma at age 22. Everything I have, my education, my career, my marriage, I owe to the Adult Literacy Center and my teachers. They were with me every step of the way, helping with my English and math, making sure I pushed through all the challenges. So Ariel, we made this year good for you. It has notes from all the people that are here. Your achievement has set an example for so many students. Most importantly, your daughter. Education was the key that allowed all my opportunities. When you graduate, they graduate. Visit finishyourdiploma.org to find free and supportive adult education centers near you. Welcome back to Antity Evening News, I'm Cary Dunst. Tragedy in Virginia. Fairfax County Police say the state's former Lieutenant Governor, Justin Fairfax, killing his wife, then himself, the result of an apparent messy divorce. We got another subject down in the bedroom upstairs. A high-profile Virginia family tragedy. Former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax shot and killed his wife inside of their home and then shot and killed himself. Fairfax County Police say they responded to a 911 call from the family's Annandale home just after midnight. Thirteen children inside at the time, with their son finding his mom, Serena Fairfax, in the basement. Clark's thinking that his dad might have stabbed his mom. Those holes from multiple gunshot wounds. No pulse was found when police arrived, according to dispatch audio from Broadcastify. Justin Fairfax found a short time later in an upstairs bedroom with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police say. The couple had been going through what police say seemed to be a complicated or messy divorce. Fairfax, a once-rising star in a Democratic Party, serving as Lieutenant under Virginia Governor Ralph Northam from 2018 to 2022, where his tenure was marred by sexual assault allegations in 2019. Two women claiming he assaulted them in the early 2000s, allegations he vehemently denied. And in January, police say he accused his wife of assault, but cameras set up in the home corroborated that the assault did not happen. Those same cameras now par the investigation into this murder-suicide that's left two teens orphaned. It's high-profile in nature. It's tragic in nature. Certainly a fall from grace. And Democrats in Minnesota blocking a Republican effort to launch an impeachment investigation into Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison. Republicans brought the resolution before the Minnesota House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee. They were citing widespread welfare fraud uncovered in state programs. The proposal would have allowed the committee to hold hearings, issue subpoenas and conduct a deeper investigation. All eight Democrats on the committee voted against the measure, resulting in an eight-to-eight tie that ultimately killed the effort. Democrats called the resolution unserious and a waste of time, while Republicans accused Democratic lawmakers of protecting each other to shield their political base. And New York Governor Kathy Hochul, along with New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani, they're proposing a plan to tax the ultra-wealthy. The new tax would hit owners of second homes in New York City valued above $5 million. NDD's Sean Marshall has more on that. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is teaming up with New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani in a new tax on the wealthy. But it's a luxury tax on secondary homes in New York City for people with a primary residence outside of New York City. I'm proposing a common-sense surcharge on high-value second homes in New York City, commonly known as the pied-à-terre surcharge. This is a targeted surcharge on second homes and investor-owned apartments worth over $5 million. Homes that, in many cases, sit vacant for a large part of the year. We have the inventory. They're part of our skyline, but those people are not part of our city. We're talking about homes like the $105 million apartment down the street from here that's actually never been lived in. This proposal puts a global spotlight on the fiscal crisis that New York City is in. A $2.2 billion budget deficit this year, projected $10.4 billion budget deficit next year. This is a new money grab proposal. And this second home tax proposal is because New York City can't fix its first problem. Reckless taxing and spending and over-regulation and lack of robust private sector job creation. The governor has been getting pressured to tax the rich in New York City. Just last week, Hochul was heckled during a press conference by people yelling to tax the rich. And after the tax plan announcement, the NYC Democratic Socialists of America posted this comment to X. It states, Hochul just blinked in the standoff over taxes on the rich. She announced a pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes. Her pressure is working. But we don't stop until oligarchs and the richest corporations pay everything they owe. Taxing ultra-wealthy out-of-state homeowners is one way to appease the tax-the-rich crowd in New York City, while also not fully going after some of her top donors that live in New York City. New York is not following the example of successful states with respect to budget deficits per residence and job creation. States like Texas and Florida and Tennessee that are cutting taxes. Rather, New York is following the lead of Rhode Island, which is one of the states with the largest debt per resident ratio with a second home tax proposal. Rhode Island, of course, did a Taylor Swift tax last year. For a balanced perspective, we contacted Bruce Blakeman for his opinion. He's the candidate running for Hochul's spot as governor. He sent this quote to NTD. Kathy Hochul's no-tax-hike promise has expired faster than the families fleeing New York's affordability crisis. Whether you're affluent or middle class, Hochul and Mamdani are looking to hike your property taxes and take half your house through a new inheritance tax. It's a war on homeownership and the American dream. Unlike Hochul, I'll actually keep my word when I'm governor. I'll cut your taxes slash your utility bills in half and protect the American dream. When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today, we're taxing the rich. Sean Marshall, NTD News. And the U.S. Department of Transportation is threatening to withhold more than $73 million in federal highway funding from New York State. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the move is in response to New York's failure to revoke thousands of illegally issued commercial driver's licenses. The announcement follows a nationwide audit by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. According to the agency, New York has routinely issued commercial licenses to foreign drivers without properly verifying their lawful presence in the country. The federal audit found that more than half, or 53 percent, of the state's non-domiciled trucking licenses were issued illegally. New York now has 30 days to come into compliance or they risk losing the funding. And the California governor's race is shifting after former Congressman Eric Swalwell's exit from the contest. A new Emerson College poll shows two Republicans are now leading the field with a large share of voters still undecided. Christina Corona brings us more. In the first poll since Eric Swalwell's departure, the California governor's race is being reshaped. A new Emerson College poll conducted April 14th through 15th among 1,000 likely voters shows the field shifting. It finds two Republicans now leading the race. Former Fox News host Steve Hilton leads with around 17 percent, followed by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 14.4 percent. Billionaire Tom Steyer is close behind with 14.1 percent. Former Health Secretary Javier Becerra and former Congresswoman Katie Porter each come in at just over 10 percent, while San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan trails at a little over 5 percent, with 23 percent of voters undecided. As for priorities, Hilton is focusing on cutting taxes, expanding homeownership, and addressing homelessness. Common sense and sanity on homelessness. It's very simple. One, enforce the law. It is illegal to live and camp on the streets. It's always been illegal. If local leaders won't enforce the law, I will. I will use state law enforcement resources to get people off the streets. Number two, get them into mental health treatment. Number three, get them into addiction treatment. Bianco is prioritizing public safety, along with tackling affordability and housing. For public safety, we will actually make crime a crime again in this state. There is five. He's about to close two more. I will reopen on day one. And Steyer is campaigning on affordability, education, and housing. But I'm also in favor of building a million houses. And the ability to do that is not just, there's no silver bullet. We need to deal with zoning. And we also need to build houses much cheaper on a per square foot basis, which we can do with new technology. A governor's debate is set for April 22nd in San Francisco, featuring the six candidates polling about 5 percent. Christina Corona, NTD News. And the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security has now entered day 61, as Republicans push for a solution without Democratic support. At the same time, officials warn key investigations are going unfunded. NTD's Chris Bobb has the latest from Washington. We're literally funding our own adversaries through that fraud. Yes. That warning comes as congressional Republicans try to break the two-month-long DHS funding stalemate by turning to budget reconciliation. It would allow them to move immigration funding with a simple majority. Officials warn that vital investigations, including those targeting fraud, are going unfunded. GOP leaders are aiming small. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has called for a slimmed-down bill focused on ICE and Border Patrol. A strategy House Speaker Mike Johnson is backing to move it quickly. Lawmakers reacting with their thoughts. I would rather fund it as a standalone DHS appropriations bill. If it comes down to it, will you vote for it? I mean, yeah, if it's the whole thing, if it's in reconciliation. I don't have confidence that we're even going to have a third reconciliation. So I'm going to fight to make sure that we get all the policy wins that we need in this reconciliation. That approach is running into resistance from within the party. We'll just see. We'll see what else is attached to it. There needs to be full funding to the end of the Trump term so that you have full funding of all agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, officials say the prolonged shutdown is already impacting operations across DHS, including investigative work, intelligence networks, and victim support. There's misinformation that with the Big Beautiful Bill, ICE is completely funded. It can only be used for certain tasks. It doesn't involve Homeland Security investigations. Our critical intelligence network is a lot contract-based, and we're just not able to pay for those contracts right now. Our victim advocates, victim specialists, we just don't have that. The CCP is a huge threat. HSI actually broke the largest gift card fraud case ever, and it was from transnational gangs within the CCP that were sending that money back to military units in China. That all came from gift card fraud here in the United States. Democrats argue the shutdown is the result of Republican infighting, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posting on X, This all falls on the Senate GOP and House GOP, who are too busy fighting with each other. Republicans say they're working to fully fund Homeland Security, and blame Democrats for refusing to support the effort. Republicans will continue to do our job fully funding the mission of Homeland Security. It's shameful that the Democrats refuse to do that. They're playing politics with the security of the American people. With the June 1st deadline set by President Trump fast approaching, pressure is building on lawmakers to reach some form of consensus. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Chris Bobb, NTD News. And coming up, the U.S. naval blockade against the Iranian regime has expanded beyond the Strait of Hormuz. Middle East analyst Abdullah Hayek joins us to discuss the latest in the Iran conflict. And sparks fly on Capitol Hill as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces both sharp praise as well as tough grilling during his House testimony. From defending major budget cuts to clashing over vaccines and the Make America Healthy Again agenda, Jason Blair has the key takeaways, next. Hi, I'm Susan Lucci. You may know me from my many years on television. I never thought about heart disease until I had my own heart event. I felt this slight pressure in my chest, just slight. I thought, oh, it's nothing, it'll go away. I didn't get it. I did not get it. A few days later, while shopping at a boutique, that pressure returned, much stronger. It felt like an elephant pressing on my chest. I had a 90% blockage in my main artery and a 75% blockage in the adjacent artery. I was rushed into surgery where I received two stents in my arteries. Stents developed through research funded by the American Heart Association. Those stents saved my life. That's why I'm in front of you today, asking you to join me in supporting the American Heart Association by becoming a monthly donor. Call now or go to helpheart.org. For only $19 a month, just 63 cents a day, you can help fund the next medical breakthrough. Get the next person trained in CPR, the next hospital certified in high-quality cardiovascular care. I'm so grateful to the American Heart Association. Their research helped save my life. I can enjoy life with my children, my grandchildren, and my friends. Heart disease is America's number one killer, and your support now can help save your life, or the life of someone you love. Give $19 a month with your credit card, and we'll send you this special t-shirt that you can wear to show that you are helping save lives. Please, listen to your heart. The only reason I'm here today is because I did. Please call the number on your screen or go to helpheart.org. Become a monthly donor during February Heart Month, and your first month's gift will be matched. Thank you. My mom and dad were traditional Asian parents. Now my father would go to work before I woke up in the morning, and then he would come home too tired to play with me. I tell my son, I love you, every single day. Now my dad has never said that to me. Not because he doesn't love me, but because culturally it was uncomfortable for him. So I teased him the other day, and I said, how come you never say that to me? And he said, you're too old now. Now that he's a grandfather, he says I love you to my son every time he sees him. My advice to all the fathers out there, forget the material things, forget the cultural restrictions. They grow up way too fast for you to waste even a single precious minute or moment. Say bye-bye. Welcome back to Antity Evening News, I'm Kerry Dunst. And now for the latest on the Iran war, we're joined by Middle East analyst Abdullah Hayek. Abdullah, thank you for joining us. Several interesting reveals at this morning's Pentagon briefing, particularly that the U.S. naval blockade will expand beyond the Strait of Hormuz. What struck you, and what's the latest you're seeing on the war? Thank you, Kerry. I think right now with the Strait of Hormuz, the tensions are escalating. I think the stats are the most alarming right now. We have about 95% of shipping down from the Strait, which is a bit alarming. I think that we also have that the warships in the Strait of Hormuz for the U.S. Navy are under shortage, they're unsupplied. So right now it's all in the loop, and we have the diplomatic track moving in terms of having the Pakistanis in Tehran to try to keep the negotiations with the U.S. alive, and we're about to see what that will end. So what you're saying and sharing is somewhat in contrast to this morning's Pentagon briefing, where they said that the naval blockade is very well stocked, and that these warships and destroyers are like race cars. So how do you reconcile that? That might be the case from what the Pentagon is stating, and I wholeheartedly believe it to be true, but from the posts we're seeing on social media, by sailors themselves, they're stating that there is some sort of shortage, and I hope that's not the case. But regardless, I think the U.S. Navy is definitely prepared to take on upcoming threats. It's definitely on track to keeping the mission alive. And let's move on to what's happening with civilians on the ground in Iran. What are you hearing? Right now the civilians in Iran, they're at the quagmire. In early January we had the protests ongoing. The regime seemed to be near collapse. We had the question of whether the IRGC would crack down on them very aggressively, and then the war erupted. So right now the protests have truly calmed down in Iran. The IRGC is pretty much going ahead in maintaining law and order to what they find fit for their own selves. But, you know, it's a different Iran right now from what we've seen in January. And the negotiations are what's going to determine everything, whether the war would re-erupt again, whether the people will be more moved to go and take up arms or revolt or protest against the regime. And do you expect the peace talks to resume in Pakistan within days, or what do you think will happen next? As the rhetoric, at least today, seems to have not been as strong from the regime, but it seems like it's been, you know, two different stories talking about the same thing, where it sounds like we're very close to having peace talks about the Iranian regime. I believe just yesterday said that they intended to try to project power into the Red Sea. Pretty quiet today, though. So will peace talks resume in Pakistan soon? It's unclear whether Pakistan will be the next venue for the negotiations or not. It's still unclear. But the Pakistanis have a very strong interest in maintaining the diplomatic channel between the U.S. and Iran. The Pakistanis have always, for the past few years, been targeted and labeled as a Chinese proxy, a close ally of China. So this is sort of Pakistan's balancing act to try and reprimand the relations with the U.S. And it's astonishing to me that they sent their chief of army. They didn't actually send the prime minister or the president, which signals that different levels of power within the state are having different roles. But the bottom line is the negotiations are trying to be kept alive. There is a line of communique between the U.S. and Pakistan to make sure that the negotiations stay alive. And the president has stated so himself. I'd like you to go a level deeper because I don't think that the typical American or Westerner is really that familiar with what is happening inside of Pakistan. Of course, Osama bin Laden was hiding out in Pakistan just outside of their equivalent of their military academy. But then when President Trump did intercede and help broker peace in that very short but scary war between two nuclear powers, Pakistan and India, it seemed like maybe a turning point. Pakistan joined the Board of Peace and its prime minister giving President Trump some of the most lavish praise. So how do you interpret what's happening with Pakistan? You claim potentially that they're just an actual proxy of the regime which, of course, finances Iran's war machine. Well, Pakistan is an interesting situation. There are states within states in Pakistan. The presidential palace has its own agenda, the prime minister's own agenda, the army, and of course the intelligence services, the ISI. Now, what's controversial about Pakistan, and you already mentioned the tip of the iceberg, having Osama bin Laden near the military academy in Abbottabad, is that Pakistan has been in the cahoots with the Taliban in Afghanistan. It has a very strong line of communication with Iran for quite some time now. The relationship that they have with China is very strong. But nonetheless, Pakistan has had a strong relationship with the U.S. that dates back to the Cold War. A good area of cooperation was during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan where CIA and ISI operators worked very closely. So I think Pakistan right now, with them joining the border peace, with them trying to uphold the negotiations between Iran and the U.S., they want to make sure that they still have a good side of the U.S. going on. But nonetheless, there are a lot of questions that Pakistan needs to answer, and I think the most important one of them is that the relationship between the ISI and the Taliban is still existing. The relationship with China, most of Pakistan's military right now is Chinese-made. These are answers that need to be questioned besides their diplomatic and political efforts that seem to be on a good track so far. Abdullah Hayek, a very fascinating discussion. I appreciate you joining us tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Kerry. And on Capitol Hill, a push to counter China's efforts to steal advanced American A.I. tech. Lawmakers are pointing to what could be the largest export ban violation in U.S. history. NTD's Washington correspondent, Jack Bradley, brings us more. China's smuggling of advanced A.I. chips is a pervasive threat. In the A.I. race, China is buying what it can and stealing what it can't due to current U.S. export restrictions. Since they don't have enough A.I. chips to develop the models on their own, they prefer to simply steal them from their American competitors. Lawmakers on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party say China is months or years behind the U.S., so it relies on smuggling networks to get restricted technology. We should all be deeply concerned by how far Chinese companies are willing to go to gain an edge, even if it means breaking the law. Last month, the DOJ charged three men with stealing $2.5 billion worth of A.I. servers with restricted NVIDIA chips and sending them to China, which would be the largest export control violation in U.S. history. And panelists say they're already using the technology against the U.S. military. Right now, Chinese A.I. developed from stolen American technology is helping Iran target American warfighters. Rival companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google are now working together, sharing intelligence through a new industry working group to detect and stop the Chinese Communist Party's IP theft. If Chinese A.I. models win, we face a future filled with censorship and surveillance. And the panelists say that the export restrictions should go further, applying to all chips, not just our best. Providing China with cutting-edge A.I. chips is the modern equivalent of selling rockets to the Soviets during the Moon race. The lawmakers and panelists stood in support of the Match Act, which would ban the sale and servicing of chip-making equipment to China and also call on U.S. allies to do the same. For N.T.D. News Washington, I'm Jack Bradley. And Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces tough questions as well as bipartisan praise from lawmakers on Capitol Hill today. N.T.D. correspondent Jason Blair has the key takeaways. Parents across the country demanded change and we are delivering it. We are ending the era of federal policies that fueled the chronic disease epidemic. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before the House Ways and Means Committee discussing some of his department's priorities. Kennedy started by laying out some of the accomplishments at HHS. We flipped the food pyramid upside down. We negotiated most favored nation drug prices. More than 40% of the food industry is committed to phase out petroleum-based dyes for protecting children from sex-rejecting procedures that expose them to irreversible harm. We're strengthening oversight of organ procurement. We're also cracking down on wage fraud and abuse. Kennedy received praise from Republicans and some Democrats for some of the work HHS is doing. You've given a voice to the reality that Americans do not believe that the healthcare status quo works for them. I want to begin by thanking you for your leadership on an issue that is very important to me and so many Americans and that is ending the inhumane and outdated animal testing in this country. I just want to thank you for pointing out stuff like the dyes and stuff and food and maybe even the looking at the food pyramid. Kennedy also responded to criticism of the department's changes to vaccine guidance and messaging. And in some cases, you have even taken unilateral actions like you did last May when you rolled back COVID-19 vaccine guidance for pregnant women. But I was appalled to learn that the CDC suspended public health messaging on vaccines. Did President Trump approve your decision to end CDC's pro-vaccine public messaging campaign? You've got a lot of misinformation. Kennedy also commented on hospice fraud in California. We've already shut down 500 hospices in Los Angeles. Incidentally, we haven't had one call from Congress or anybody else about complaining because clearly these were fraudulent. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTV News. And as Secretary Kennedy testifies before Congress, what do everyday folks think about his MAHA, or Make America Healthy Again, initiatives? NTV's Sam Wong was out on the National Mall today in D.C. to hear from the people. What do you make of the President's Make America Healthy Again initiatives? Oh, absolutely essential. I mean, people need to do it. It's just not food. It's everything else that has to be combined. And I think what you're going to see down the road because of Make Healthy Again, people are going to live longer. Not only are they going to live longer, they're going to live happier. I mean, I like the initiative to try and make America healthy again. I mean, if you look at our obesity rates compared to other nations, it's astronomical. This goes back to the food additives. You know, everything that's in our food that we're eating, consuming, is just not great. Unfortunately, the drug companies kind of run the country, and they want people sick. So, it's definitely going to be a challenge. I like the Pete Hegseth challenge, you know, doing 100 push-ups and 50 pull-ups. I've tried that a couple of times. I failed miserably. But... I think it's a really good idea. We eat on the run, and we don't eat very healthy. And we might not feel it in our youth, but we start feeling it as we get older. Yeah, I definitely support that. I know that we have a lot of stuff in America that is not even legal to serve as food in Europe and other countries. I think a lot of that is just stuff that's thrown in there that does not benefit us in terms of health whatsoever. How do you think Secretary Kennedy has impacted the way we talk about public health? Well, again, his transparency and bringing it up. Don't be afraid to talk about it. Too long, we've been told it's only the experts that know what they're doing. And it's not true. And it's just like, you know, for a lot of, during COVID, some of the things that were going on, a lot of us knew they were wrong, but people were afraid to step up and say that. He's taken down those walls. We try not to buy any food with artificial dyes or any of that kind of stuff. So I'm glad that they're bringing it to the attention and getting these big companies to stop using it. I think that's so important. I think Europe already has banned all that stuff. So I think we definitely need to in our country. Finally, he's kind of against the vaccines, which I agree with. I agree that I'm not against vaccines, but I think the vaccines should be looked at a little more closely in terms of what's necessary and what isn't. I just feel in general we pump ourselves full of a lot of unnecessary things today. I think that the reform that he's doing is the right track. I think that he's, he has a lot of vision to make this, the country better and healthier again. It's just, there's a lot of blockers in his way and it's a matter of how to move those blockers out. And coming up six days after the splash down of NASA's Artemis 2 mission, the four astronauts discussed the impact the historic lunar flyby had on them personally. And in baseball, the impromptu home run derby between former MVPs continued today at Yankee Stadium. Dave Martin joins us with all the details. With SelectSPECS £6 specs, you can get 10 pairs of prescription glasses for just £60. That includes frames, prescription lenses and delivery free to your door. And what makes this really special is each pair can have a different prescription. So it's glasses for everyone. SelectSPECS.com slash £6. 10 frames all with prescription lenses and delivery for just £60. You don't get that on the high street. Right now you can save an extra 5% with offer code CG5OFF. 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There's a whirlwind of emotion and activity going on in this painting. And there's chaos all around and threat from below. The walls surrounding her and they're anything but unmoved. They're moving all the time and we sense that. But this little girl remains unmoved. She's in quite a perilous situation. But she's completely strong and serene and she's actually meditating. It was very very well liked because no matter what culture or what sort of walk of life you're from, I think people, they see it and they immediately understand what that energy, what that message is and they're drawn to it because everybody kind of needs a little bit of that in their own life. You know, the steadfast calmness and something to hold on to. It's definitely an inner peace in the midst of something very chaotic and for a lot of people right now, the whole world is very chaotic. I guess that's another reason why so many people are very drawn to this. Welcome back to NTD Evening News. I'm Cary Dunst. The Artemis 2 astronauts took questions today. The four crew members relaxed, made jokes and shared some personal stories during a press briefing at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. NTD's Sean Marshall has more on that. The Artemis 2 astronauts shared their experiences and took a few questions Thursday in a press briefing at Johnson Space Center. The Astronauts' Creed is always to launch as friends and land as friends and when you live together in a small group for as long as you do on the space station or even 10 days, it's a challenge. But I am here to tell the world, we launched as friends and we came back as best friends. Each spoke of what the journey around the moon meant for them and how it made them feel about their place in the cosmos. What I've noticed, which is completely different from my first flight and surprisingly so since my first flight was so long, is every time I've been waking up or in the first few days, I thought I was floating. I truly thought I was floating and I had to convince myself I wasn't. When the drogues cut away, we went back to free fall and watching that on the video felt almost the same way it felt in the video or in the vehicle. I would tell you I've never been base jumping, I've never been skydiving, but if you dove off a skydiver, a skyscraper backwards, that's what it felt like for five seconds. And then the mains, the pilots in the mains came out and it was glorious. I saw so many amazing things and people ask what's the most amazing one and it's, you can't pick one, there's just so many amazing experiences we had. But overall where I keep coming back to is what kept grabbing my attention when the lighting was right and we were looking out the window is that I kept seeing this depth to I guess the galaxy. For what we were visually observing out there, this depth to the galaxy that I just had never experienced before. It's not that I could tell which stars were really closer and further because it has to do with how bright they are but because of how bright they are and their differences, they look like you can tell where they are in 3D. That was mind blowing for me. It's very hard to fully grasp what we just went through and in these short you just said it's been a week since we've been back but it's been a week of medical testing, physical testing, doctors, science objectives we have not had that decompression we have not had that reflection time so I'm basing this on what we saw and when the sun eclipsed behind the moon, I think all four of us I turned to Victor and I said I don't think humanity has evolved to the point of being able to comprehend what we are looking at right now because it was otherworldly and it was amazing. During Artemis 2's nearly 10 day mission, the astronauts voyaged deeper into space than the moon explores of decades past and captured views of the lunar far side never witnessed before by human eyes. Sean Marshall, NTV News. And now for your sports news, we're joined by NTV's Dave Martin. Dave, I want to talk about the NBA playoff. Before we do that, there was that scandal back in October with players and I believe it was gambling. Is there anything new on that? Yeah, if you remember, of course, there were a couple of parts to this big wide-ranging investigation. There were the alleged rigged poker games and the allegations of providing sports bettors with non-public information, insider information if you want to call it that, while Damon Jones who played 11 years in the NBA was charged in both cases. Wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. Now he originally pleaded not guilty but there is a change of plea hearing for him scheduled now for April 28th. Now should he plead guilty, he'll be the first of roughly about 30 defendants in this case to do so. Now that includes some reputed mobsters as well. Now Jones' lawyer though, Kenneth Montgomery, did tell ABC News he is not cooperating so we'll have to see. Now besides Jones we got former player and coach Chauncey Billups has been charged and current Miami Heat player Terry Rozier has also been charged. Both have pleaded not guilty as well. So bit of an update there. Something we're going to obviously keep an eye on. Some legendary players there for sure. I do want to move in of course to better NBA news which is the playoffs and the play-in. Two games last night. What happened there? Big news for your team Kerry. Your Warriors won last night. I don't want to be told I'm a Warriors fan but you got to respect the Steph. It's hard to say you weren't up to the list yesterday. I'm just saying Steph's a great shooter but I'm a New York guy. Let's establish that. Alright. My bad. I don't want Brunson to hear that I'm hating on the Knicks. You can have two teams. It's not illegal right? I got Denver in the West. Everybody likes Steph Curry. I'll say that. No matter who you root for, it's hard not to root for him. Him and the Warriors won last night. They came back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Clippers 126-121. So the Clippers here 9-seed. The Warriors the 10-seed. Clippers their season is over. Warriors meanwhile not in the playoffs yet though but they're still in playoff contention. They'll play the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. Winner of that game gets the somewhat thankless job of being the 8-seed here and playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Also last night we had the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Orlando Magic 109-97. So Philadelphia in here as the 7-seed in the Eastern Conference. They will open up against Boston in the first round. Orlando though their season is not over. They will play Charlotte Friday night. Winner of this one gets the 8-seed in the Eastern Conference. Go up against surprising Detroit Pistons who had quite a season this year. So we're very close. We've got 14 of the 16-seeds figured out. Two more games Friday night and we'll have the playoffs set. I don't know man. With this play-in it used to just be 8. Very clean bracket. Now it looks like the straight up Hormuz with the ships you know. Some are red some are green. They're going in different directions. It's taken me like 4 years to figure this out. I finally got it though so I'm so proud to be able to say this every night. I'm going to keep showing this all week by the way. And they have to go in and take on the number one seed so it's tough sledding for them right? It's all to get possibly swept in the first round but who knows. It creates more people who can root for their team that maybe were on the bubble so that's a good thing. Those warrior fans who are really Knicks fans right? Denver in the west Dave. Denver. But let's move on to baseball. The Bronx. Some big sluggers in action. What's going on up at Yankee Stadium? Yeah. Yankees versus Angels. Aaron Judge and Mike Trout were at it again. Trading home runs today at Yankee Stadium. Both of these guys three-time MVP award winners. Now Monday's game they both homered twice in that game. Trout then homered in Tuesday's game. Now Monday's game won by the Yankees by the way. Angels took Tuesday's game. They both homered yesterday's game and again today they both homered again in the Angels. 11-4 wins. If we're keeping up that's four straight games of the home run for Mike Trout. Five in this series. That is the most ever by a visiting player at Yankee Stadium for one series there. Trout now has seven home runs in the series. Judge has now homered now in four of the last five games. He's got eight home runs on the season. Those two right now. First and second in baseball in home runs. A very exciting game. Today Trout hit that 446 foot. I'm still blown away that they can track it to the foot. 446 feet. It's all big data these days. It was one of those where nobody even moves as soon as he hits the ball. It's just so far out. It's been a very fun series. Nine home runs between those two stars at this four game set. It was a lot of fun this series. Barely up and running the season. Practically in double digits these sluggers. It's going to be an exciting season. I think they also like the warm air we've had to take. It feels like baseball season. It's baseball season. Thank you so much for joining. Appreciate that. That is all the time we have for today's news. For around the clock original coverage you can visit us at ntd.com slash live or even better use our NTD app. Thank you for tuning in. I'm Cary Dunst. Good night.