NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 31)

Welcome to Entity Evening News. I'm Chris Beers. Here are today's top stories. The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, imposing a curfew around Delaney Hall for tonight after clashes over an immigration detention center. New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill says masked protesters engaged in dangerous and violent behavior toward law enforcement outside a detention facility in Newark over the weekend. Laura Trump interviews her father-in-law, President Donald Trump, on a wide range of issues. Where, he says, the latest negotiations with Iran now stand. The driver of a deadly crash in Virginia facing charges, what investigators are now uncovering about the driver's qualifications. New concerns emerging over popular Chinese-made apps and how they may be collecting sensitive data from users without their knowledge. And the annual Israel Day parade in New York City today, drawing thousands of attendees. We'll take you there. This is NTD Evening News, live from our global headquarters in New York City. Protesters outside a detention center in Newark, New Jersey, over the weekend led to a number of arrests and growing concerns over violence targeting federal officers. New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill saying masked individuals attacked the barrier taking aggressive and dangerous actions against Newark and New Jersey State Police. Let me be clear, violent, chaotic clashes hurt everyone. They put the lives of both protesters and law enforcement in danger. They take the focus away from people inside Delaney Hall and their families. And they raise the temperature with ice. This group of individuals attempted to force their way out of the area established for peaceful protest and into the zone designated for law enforcement, attacking the barrier, even using the bike rack barrier as a weapon and putting the safety of protesters and law enforcement in jeopardy. These same individuals charged at law enforcement, threw projectiles at law enforcement and set fire to tires on the street. This was consistent with the intel and the visuals indicating that this group was intending to engage in violence with law enforcement at this site, including collecting wooden poles and other blunt force objects for use as weapons. Governor Sherrill ordered state police to take control outside the facility and Newark Mayor Ross Baraka imposed a nightly curfew in the half mile area surrounding Delaney Hall effective from 9 p.m. tonight to 6 a.m. Eastern Time tomorrow. What had been peaceful demonstrations throughout much of the day were no longer peaceful. And there were concerns about the safety of the protesters and the law enforcement personnel. As a result, the perimeter was established and an area was cleared to restore order and everyone's safety. These decisions are never made lightly. Our actions were guided by one objective, protecting life, preserving public safety and preventing further escalation. The demonstrations began over complaints about conditions inside the detention center. The DHS responding to the allegations saying all detainees are provided three meals a day, clean water, access to medical care, lawyers and phones. But attention is now shifting to officer safety. Federal authorities say officers have been kicked, punched and even bitten during clashes with protesters. The FBI also arresting a man accused of threatening to kill an ICE officer and their family. DHS previously saying ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. persons. Prisons. Secretary of Homeland Security Mark Wayne Mullen calling the governor's move to create a peaceful protected protest zone outside Delaney Hall a win for law and order. He also noted that Cheryl had previously declined to allow state police to work with federal agents. President Trump sat down with his daughter in law, Laura Trump, for an interview on Fox News. Laura Trump is the wife of the president's son, Eric Trump. She asked the president a range of questions on current events impacting Americans. Here are the highlights. The interview opened with a question about Iran. Laura Trump asking President Trump about the ongoing negotiations. The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They've agreed to that. And it was very interesting. They said they originally said we will not develop a nuclear weapon. I said, well, what happens if you buy a nuclear weapon? So now it says we will not develop or in any way purchase a military weapon. That's a big difference. President Trump also emphasizing the need to root out fraud in a March executive order. If we if we find half of the fraud that's going on in this country and we will, we're going to have a balanced budget very soon. Think of it. It's amazing. Which we haven't had for 30 years. Looking to some of the unique upcoming sports events coming to the nation's capital. The president clarified some things about the date of the UFC bouts at the White House and the IndyCar race near the National Mall. Well, we're a few weeks away. You can see outside the construction is happening from this amazing, historic UFC event. It's obviously right outside on the White House lawn. It coincides with your 80th birthday, which is incredible. I hate to hear that. And that's on June 14th. And it's the hardest ticket. I have never been asked people. Everybody wants I'm going to make more enemies. And it's about 4000 seats. And then they're going to have close to 100000 people in the back where they're putting up eight massive screens. And it's all free. It's all free. It's really a contribution from UFC to 250, meaning the 250 years our country, our great country. Saying while June 14th is his birthday, it's also Flag Day. So it happened to be the best night for the event. The president and Lara Trump also took a look at the construction going on on White House grounds. The president telling his daughter in law about the construction of the White House ballroom and what the building's legacy will be. And this is far more than a ballroom, like you said. This goes down. This is a massive complex. Yep. This is a massive complex and very much related to the military, very much related to Secret Service. From the standpoint of usage, other presidents will have it for 200 years. I'll have it for about six months. In other words, when it's when it's finished, I'll only have it for six. I'll only have the use of it for six months. It's a great facility. And we're going to have the inauguration here. The United States and Japan agreed to deepen defense cooperation. They also agreed to accelerate the joint development of production of advanced missile systems. Meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore, Secretary Hegseth and Japan's defense minister discussed a new initiative known as Operation Supercharge. The plan aims to speed up the development and mass production of key weapons, including SM-3 missile interceptors and AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. Beyond defense manufacturing, a major focus of the talks was China. The two allies reaffirmed their commitment to respond with what they called unwavering resolve to regional security challenges as Beijing continues to expand its military presence and aggression in the Indo-Pacific. Japan and the U.S. also agreed to expand joint military training and exercises across Japan. The two also endorsed the temporary deployment of U.S. ground-based missile systems to Japan. Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs is warning that several popular Chinese-made apps may pose cybersecurity risks. Officials say an investigation found four apps that may be collecting sensitive data from devices without their users' awareness. The findings are raising concern over how personal information is accessed and sent back to China. The review looked at apps including navigation platform AMAP, video services Bilibili and iQiyi, and messaging app BeemoBeemo. Officials tested whether the apps are tracking users, sharing data across apps, and collecting information from devices. AMAP was flagged as the highest risk. Investigators say it can access location data, contacts, photos, the microphone, and gather other sensitive information. Some of that data is transmitted to servers in China. The report comes amid wider scrutiny of Chinese tech firms abroad, with some facing potential security restrictions. Taiwan has banned the government use of Chinese-made apps and is urging its citizens to remove those apps as soon as possible. Joining me now to continue our discussion of Taiwan's warning for users of Chinese apps is Joshua Phillip, senior investigative reporter for the Epoch Times and host of Epoch TV's Crossroads. Josh, welcome. What are the national security implications of apps headquartered in China? Well, one of the biggest ones is that data may be sent to Chinese servers. Under Chinese law, including national security law, any data in China needs to be both secure and, quote, controllable by the Chinese Communist Party. So the CCP can basically monitor everything effectively. And that's been an ongoing concern when it comes to national security, state secrets, corporate secrets, anything that could be sensitive in terms of spying, hacking, even fraud, things like this. It's a real serious threat. Have there been any instances of the Chinese regime using information it collects via apps in order to harm American citizens? In terms of apps and in terms of evidence on that, not really direct, but there is evidence of them exploiting information stolen from cyber attacks, surveillance and everything else. We do know that TikTok has become a major concern, for example. In terms of has the CCP leveraged it? You may never know because, of course, they take the data, they transfer it, they use it inside China and then use it outside the app. So it's like, imagine you have a database of information and people's names and identities. You might not know when the attack is carried out, where they got it. But the fact is, this basically leaves an open door just constantly there on everybody's phone. And if you understand what apps do, well, you know, when you do the terms of service, it's you grant them access to your phone calls, you grant them access to your contact list, you grant them access to your camera, to audio recording, oftentimes even when the app is not even activated. It's access to your emails, to your browsing activities, sometimes to even key logging. So anything you type, effectively, you're opening your phone up, becoming a spy device in your own pocket with these things. Yeah. And it's concerning, you know, for Americans, even if it was the American government. This is the Chinese government, the largest totalitarian regime on earth. Well, and the unfortunate reality is we know about Chinese economic theft. We also know about Chinese espionage and targeting persons who they believe are representative of what they call the civil society. Any business engaged with, you know, any kind of competition, you might think that it's not a big deal, but anything you make, any product they see as a competitor, you're going to be up for spying. When it comes to their, you know, united front work program, they target any person they deem part of what they call civil society. That means business leaders, government officials. It could be members of the military, anybody with a leadership position. It could be people involved in investment, even journalists, the heads of news agencies, even like TikTokers and YouTubers. Everybody will be targeted by them. And Josh, the Canadian government signed a memorandum of understanding with China's Ministry of Public Security, but they haven't disclosed the details. Why is this ringing alarm bells up north? Well, because we're not getting the real details of what's going on. Chinese espionage in Canada has been a longstanding issue. Back in the late 90s, there was a report from Canada's equivalent of the CIA, which is a thesis, and it was called Sidewinder. And at the time, the head of the Canadian equivalent of the CIA said the Canadian government had been infiltrated by the Chinese Communist Party. It was a very controversial paper, caused a lot of problems. I think that still does stand. There's also a lot of questions right now over Canadian cooperation with the Chinese, what they call the Ministry of Public Security, which is the Chinese policing agency, including the one behind the secret police stations. So I think there are some real questions about Canada, their level of cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party, whether that has anything to do with this. But we don't really know yet. Yeah, that really is concerning, everything you just said there. This MOU is one part of Canada's recent realignment toward Beijing in recent times. Should that realignment sound alarm bells here in the United States? Well, definitely. China's a funny issue, though, when it comes to international security, because in terms of business, a lot of countries do business with China. In terms of military, many countries regard the Chinese Communist Party as their number one threat. And it's a bit of a schizophrenic type policy we have with them, where we're intertwined in terms of financial interests, but at each other's throats when it comes to military and espionage. It's fairly well known they use debt traps as a normal form of business. It's fairly well known they use economic theft as a way of basically undermining competition. They use state-run companies as a way to undercut and then establish monopolies. They use theft, currency manipulation, everything on the books. And people might say, well, what about tariffs? Yeah, well, they tariff us too. They use everything on the books effectively to undermine the economies of other countries, alongside different forms of bribery, blackmail, and political warfare. So we're not competing on fair grounds with them, and the policies are oftentimes very two-faced. They don't always make total sense. There's a lot of cognitive dissonance with it. Josh, all of what we're discussing here seems to fall under China's unrestricted warfare doctrine. Explain this concept for our audience and what you think the United States should do about it. Well, Unrestricted Warfare was a book written by two Chinese colonels in the late 90s and was never official policy. But among people who work in defense, a lot of China watchers, it's regarded as effectively a roadmap of what we can see them doing on the surface. The reason it's taken seriously as if it were policy is because we know they do every single thing listed in what these colonels basically proposed. What it proposed was a war using 72 forms of unconventional warfare, non-military, trans-military, and unconventional military. This included drug warfare like fentanyl. This included, for example, culture warfare like the takeover of Hollywood. This included economic warfare, currency manipulation, cyber attacks, and it gets to the pseudo-military spectrum. And then into the more concerning side, which is unconventional military, things like biological warfare. All of this was proposed in that document. And to some degree, we see every single part of it getting carried out. You know, I've been studying this for years, and every time I hear about it from someone like you, Josh, it's always shocking. Senior investigative reporter for the Epoch Times, Joshua Phillips. Thank you. Coming up, the driver of a deadly crash in Virginia now facing charges. What investigators are now uncovering about the driver's qualifications. And the annual Israel Day parade is happening today in the heart of New York City, drawing thousands of attendees. This is how I keep my joints happy. Omega XL is a powerful, natural supplement backed by 40 years of clinical research. Take control of your pain like Cynthia Bailey. My knees in particular started giving me pain issues all the way back to my modeling days, from just running through airports, photo shoots. 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New details on the deadly crash in Virginia that killed five people, including two children and dozens left injured. Virginia State Police announcing yesterday that the bus driver is now facing charges. Authorities say the bus slammed into stopped traffic on Interstate I-95, setting off a series of crashes, a 13-year-old girl and a 70-year-old boy among the victims. The driver, Jing S. Dong of Staten Island, has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The motor coach struck the rear of the traffic queue, causing a chain reaction crash involving multiple other vehicles. According to local first responders, five occupants of passenger vehicles in the traffic queue were tragically killed. Numerous other occupants, including the bus driver, were injured and some seriously. Multiple fire and rescue departments responded to the scene. Crews included 13 transport units, two heavy rescue squads, and multiple engines and trucks. Transportation officials say the case is raising broader concerns about standards for commercial driver's licenses. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, citing local police, says the driver does not speak English. Federal law requires drivers to read road signs and communicate with law enforcement in English. The Department of Transportation is now looking at how those rules were applied in this case. We are particularly interested in issues relating to, first, motor coach driver factors, including fatigue, impairment, qualifications, and medical events. Highway factors, including work zone designs, whether variable speed limit signs were used, and whether the end of the traffic queue was monitored. The death toll from a chemical tank rupture in Washington state climbs to at least 11 as crews recover the bodies of all those missing. Watch. At least 11 people are now confirmed dead in the chemical tank rupture in the U.S. state of Washington, authorities said on Saturday. That's after they recovered the bodies of all nine missing people in the implosion. The accident happened at a Nippon DynaWave packaging facility in the early morning on Tuesday in the city of Longview, north of Portland, Oregon. The tank contained white liquor, which is a chemical solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used in making paper pulp, according to a joint statement between Nippon and the Cowlitz Sheriff's Department. A community vigil was held after two fatalities were confirmed on Tuesday, while the search for the nine missing had carried on through the week. Multiple people were also sent to hospital with chemical burns and other injuries. The ruptured tank had contained about 900,000 gallons of white liquor. Tests confirmed that contamination had entered the nearby Columbia River, officials have said. But they said no negative health impacts had been detected on air quality or the drinking water of the city of Longview. Around 600,000 Texan children are homeschooled. A leading statewide organization shares with us their efforts to grow the movement and why it matters to so many families. Texas Representative Nathan Macias and his wife Susan homeschooled all seven of their children, but academics wasn't their top priority. We decided early on that we did not just want to raise good boys and girls. We wanted to raise godly men and women. When something happens, you get to talk with your children about your values, your ideas of what is hard work, what is ethical, what is fair play, what do you do when someone is unkind to you, how do you respond, and you're living that life with your kids. That personal mission turned into a statewide effort. The couple now helped to lead the Texas Homeschool Coalition, an organization founded 40 years ago by Tim Lambert when homeschooling parents faced legal pushback. We are for parents having choices, having freedom to make those choices for their children. The organization launched initiatives and fought various legal battles to protect parental rights and educational freedom. Its policy director, Anita Scott, says the group's latest legislative win was the Homeschool Freedom Act in 2025 under Texas state law. Which basically means there is no government agency, entity, or organization who can declare or decide that homeschooling is illegal. Now the largest state homeschool organization in the country, the group offers many resources, trainings, and events like the annual Texas Homeschool Convention and graduation ceremonies for homeschooled seniors. We got overwhelmed with how much help, guidance, and nurture environment that you can get here that we decided that this is the place that we want to continue with. The coalition hopes their efforts can help homeschooling Texans continue to pass down faith and strong moral character to the next generation. With skyrocketing gas prices, Costco is seeing a record demand for gas during last week's quarterly earnings call. The company says some of its 747 gas stations have needed tanker trucks to replenish fuel several times a day. The company also said the demand for gas at its stations is the highest it's seen in 50 year history. Costco makes only a few cents per gallon on gas, undercutting local stations. Gas prices are also bringing new customers and new warehouse traffic, where the company says people spend even more money. In the future, Costco will be keeping a close eye to see if those new customers keep returning to shop. Just hours ago, right here in New York City, the Israel Day Parade bringing thousands of people together from various walks of life for a major celebration of Jewish identity and a show of support for Israel. The Israel Day Parade, also known as Israel Day on 5th, has been happening since 1964. The parade timed roughly around Israel's Independence Day, which falls in April or May, depending on the year. It's grown into the largest Israel-supporting parade outside of the state of Israel, typically drawing tens of thousands of marchers and hundreds of thousands of spectators. This year has drawn extra attention, as Mayor Zoran Mamdani skipped the event. That's the first time a mayor has been absent in over 60 years. Other officials like Governor Kathy Hochul and Senator Chuck Schumer did go, though. The New York Police Department had a heavy security presence along the parade route, with limited entry points in and nearby streets and avenues blocked for public access. Coming up, a major push to reshape property taxes in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis wants to cut them for more homeowners and eventually get rid of completely. We take a closer look at his proposal when we come back. 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 wasn't comfortable 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. Welcome back. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is pushing what could become one of the biggest property tax reforms in the state's history. The governor is calling a special session next week to consider an amendment to the state's constitution, which would provide major tax relief for homeowners. The plan would raise the tax-free amount for many primary homes in Florida and set a path toward eliminating property taxes on those homes over time. Here's more. Governor Ron DeSantis says rising property taxes are making it harder for Floridians to achieve the American dream. His plan, titled Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes, would expand Florida's homestead tax exemption and eventually eliminate property taxes on primary homes. Following the announcement, DeSantis appeared on Fox News to make his case. He says homeowners deserve relief as property tax collections continue to grow. I want the American dream available for people of all walks of life, but particularly our young people who are starting families. You're going to be able to buy a house and have that tax relief from you. That is going to be a huge, huge boon. The plan would exempt the first $250,000 of a primary home's value from taxation. It would also limit future property tax increases on businesses and require local governments to use remaining revenue for core services, like public safety and infrastructure. DeSantis says the state has resources to help communities that need it. Because we have a surplus, we're going to create a state trust fund and we'll issue grants to local governments. If some police department needs help, we have the resources to do it. Lawmakers are expected to take up the proposal during next week's special session. Any constitutional amendment would require voter approval. Joining us now to discuss Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's proposed property tax reform is Executive Vice President of the National Taxpayers Union, Brandon Arnold. Thank you so much for joining us, Brandon. First, what's your reaction to the Florida Governor's plan to eliminate property taxes for homeowners? Well, we love to see lower property taxes. And I think the Governor is right in assessing that people are very frustrated out there. We've seen property values increase dramatically in so many parts of this country, especially Florida, where we've seen a huge population surge. And people are really frustrated. And in some cases, they're unable to pay those property tax bills. So I think he's right to identify this as an enormous problem. And he's right to try to lower that burden on American families, Floridians who own property. The question is, can we get there math-wise? Can we make sure that they're providing the necessary services, public safety, the infrastructure that we all know that they need, while zeroing out property taxes? It's not going to be easy, but hopefully they can figure out a way to get there. Yeah, say a bit more about that. What's the potential downside of a tax reform like this? Yeah, I mean, so many of you look at how the property taxes are allocated, how those revenues are utilized. And many of them are collected and spent by these local jurisdictions, the cities and counties, not by the state itself. So if those local jurisdictions are unable to provide the money that they need for schools, for public safety, for those core public services, then we have a problem. That's why the governor was identifying the fact that they have a budgetary surplus in Tallahassee. And if they can help out those local governments, then they may be able to make the math work and zero out property taxes while continuing to provide a high level of services to the constituents of Florida. It'll certainly be interesting to follow next week. Could we see similar property tax proposals in other parts of the country? I think it's possible. A lot of people are watching Florida right now, and a lot of states are trying to replicate Florida because it's been such a success story, along with states like Texas and North Carolina. The policies that they've set forth in these states have attracted so many residents, so many businesses and families that want to be part of that success story. And so, yeah, people are watching Florida closely. And if there's a path here, if DeSantis is able to thread the needle here and zero out property taxes, they already have no income tax, and provide those services and continue to attract residents, there's absolutely going to be other states that attempt to follow suit. Now, reforms like this, Brendan, take the edge off taxpayers. But what about the price of gas? How can the federal government give us some relief? Yeah, that's a whole other can of worms. And that's a really tricky situation. The best way to lower the gas price, as we all know, is to end the conflict in the Middle East. The quicker we wrap that up, the more readily we're going to see gas prices fall. Beyond that, I would like to see additional permitting reforms. The president has enacted some, which have increased the amount of output that we have when it comes to oil production. That's been a huge boon. But there's a lot more that we can do. And I think there's also the need to provide a level of certainty that our oil companies need to find and extract oil. And that means passing statutes, not just doing things administratively, but making sure Congress and the president are working together to create permanent policies that create more supply. We all know from Econ 101, when you create more supply, you lower those prices. That's what the American people need to see right now. Yeah, and expanding on that, you've mentioned the possibility of increasing imports to lower prices. What would that look like? Yeah, I think we should increase imports across the board. One of the ways we can alleviate prices is simply to eliminate all the tariffs that we have right now. The president has imposed a lot of tariffs. Those are putting upward pressure on prices. The quicker we get rid of those tariffs, the better off we're going to be price-wise. I think one of the issues that we see, one of the issue areas that we see, things like beef. If you've gone to the grocery store lately, you've seen just exorbitant prices for ground beef. It could be six, seven, eight dollars a pound or even more. That is really taking a bite out of Americans' wallets right now. There was a proposal that the president started to put into place to bring in more beef imports. That would absolutely lower prices. Unfortunately, the beef industry pushed up against that, and right now it's being held in limbo. So hopefully we can get that policy enacted into the law. I think if Trump is able to do so, that will see lower prices for beef, and that's really just the tip of the iceberg, I think, when it comes to lowering prices through more imports. What do you think about the use of a gas tax holiday in a circumstance like this? Yeah, and the gas tax, when you talk about the combined federal and state gas tax, that's about 50 cents per gallon, and certainly we would like to see gas prices come down. The tricky part here is if you eliminate the federal income tax, I'm sorry, the federal gas tax, which is a little over 18 cents per gallon, it's unlikely that all 18 cents of that would flow through to consumers. A portion of it would, but not the entirety of it. And meanwhile, we have a highway trust fund that we need to replenish and restore our bridges and highways in this country. It's already scheduled to go bankrupt in just about a year because it's been so poorly managed by Congress over the years. This would accelerate the demise of the highway trust fund and make it more difficult to fund our highways and bridges and other infrastructure. So I think that has a little bit of an asterisk. It may provide a little bit of short-term relief, but there would be major costs. And when you're already running a national debt approaching $40 trillion, you need to be very, very mindful of additional costs on the federal treasury. Brandon, what are you hearing from everyday Americans about the impact of increased gas prices on their lives? Yeah, it's a sad story because for some people, it's an annoyance. For other people, it's absolutely catastrophic to see gas prices as high as they are, canceling vacations, really struggling in order to fill up the tank just to get to work and perform their normal functions, get their kids to school and so forth. So it's an enormous problem right now. It's an economic problem. It's a political problem as we start to get closer and closer to the midterms. So this is a crisis level situation for many Americans. And unfortunately, I think if this conflict continues in the Middle East, we could see additional price increases going forward as we've seen inventory start to draw down and those buffers that we have put in place to shield us from the full impact of shortages like we're experiencing now, as those buffers start to get narrower and narrower, then we could see even more price escalation, which would be, again, really devastating for average Americans. So what can folks do to gain some relief of their own accord? Yeah, it's challenging because you talk about oil. You're not just talking about gasoline prices. You're talking about diesel prices, which get goods around the country. And when those prices go up, it becomes more difficult to move goods around than prices go up. Gasoline, excuse me, oil goes into so many products, so many consumer products, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and so forth. So the price increases are felt throughout the economy. It's not like you can just stop driving and you'll avoid this problem in its entirety. You may be able to shield yourself to some extent, but you're still gonna feel the cost of higher oil prices in other areas. So there are things that people can and should be doing, cutting back on energy usage, driving less if possible, but that's a tough pill to swallow for many Americans that rely on their automobiles to get them to work, to get their kids to school and to perform the everyday tasks that they need to perform. So it's a really tough challenge right now. All right, Vice President of the National Taxpayers Union, Brandon Arnold, thank you so much. Speaking at the Reagan Economic Forum, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said, America must rebuild critical industries, secure supply chains, and strengthen economic resilience to maintain national security. Here's more. Secretary of Treasury Scott Besant delivered remarks at the 2026 Reagan National Economic Forum. His central message, that the Trump administration is reversing decades of economic policies that weakened America. He says the U.S. spent decades prioritizing globalization and efficiency at the expense of domestic production and resilience. The truth is that for too long, America had been asleep. We mistook comfort for strength. We substituted efficiency for resilience and consumption as a measure of prosperity. We told ourselves that so long as goods were cheaper overseas, it did not matter whether factories went dark in Michigan, Ohio, or Pennsylvania. But America has awakened. We are alert to the fact that a resilient economy is the foundation of a strong republic. As President Trump has been doing, then this country will not simply patch over our vulnerabilities. It will enter a new season of national strength. Besant says that Washington became too focused on cheap goods, global supply chains, and consumer prices when neglecting the nation's ability to manufacture the products critical to its economy and national defense. He gave an example of the U.S.'s approach toward China. Besant says that policymakers believe deeper economic ties would encourage China to open its markets and play by international rules. But it did not turn out this way. China's accession to the WTO and the granting of permanent normal trade relations were sold to the American people as steps that would level markets and moderate behavior. Instead, we left our workers to compete against state-led subsidies, excess capacity, and practices that distort trade and undermine reciprocity. We assumed the rules-based system would discipline these behaviors only to find that in too many sectors it accommodated them. The pandemic did not create our brittle supply chains so much as expose them. Suddenly, the world's most advanced economy found itself partially dependent on foreign suppliers for semiconductors, large capacity batteries, critical minerals, and medicines that we no longer produce here at home. America should never again put itself in a position where its security depends on supply chains it does not control, factories it no longer maintains, or skilled trades it failed to preserve. That is why the president's agenda matters. Ultimately, Besant's message was that America faces a choice between continuing the policies of the past or rebuilding the industrial strength that he says underpins both economic prosperity and national security. Besant says the administration's goal is not simply economic growth, but rebuilding the manufacturing base, supply chains, and industrial capacity that he argues are essential to maintaining American strength in the decades ahead. In addition to the Treasury Secretary, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, also gave remarks at the forum. Dimon provided an in-depth analysis of current global geopolitical and economic challenges. He stressed the importance of maintaining both U.S. military and economic preeminence. The foundation for us, we want to maintain, we should, we must maintain the strongest military in the world. That is the best protection against anything you see today or that you don't see today. And foundational stats, the best economy in the world. They kind of go hand in hand. I remind people, you know, if you want to keep the dollar as a reserve currency, you know, if we're not the preeminent military and the preeminent economy in the world in 30 years, we will not be the preeminent reserve currency. On Iran, Dimon says the West must be more proactive in countering Iranian aggression, warning that a nuclear-armed Iran could trigger widespread nuclear proliferation across the Middle East and Asia. They've been killing people, terrorizing people for 47 years. And if you actually think about it, and they had proxy wars, they've been doing it not in the Middle East, they've been doing the United States. They killed a lot of Americans. They killed a lot of Americans on October 7th in Israel. They killed a lot of people in Africa. And my thought is, why did we put up with it? Why do we even put up with these proxy things? Remember, Ronald Reagan, when Qaddafi, when Qaddafi was doing a bunch of stuff, he didn't, you know, he didn't like pretend to hurt him. He tried to kill him, and Qaddafi backed off. So, you know, next time we should go for the head of the snake, and I may be, and this is obviously hindsight, I hate, you know, crying over spilled milk. Maybe we should have done it like 25 years ago, get all the allied nations, get 500,000 troops around Iran and told them, this is over. We're not putting up with this stuff anymore because that would have been a better outcome. Because I do agree, Iran having a nuclear weapon may be the biggest threat facing mankind. Both Diamond and Besant aligned on a key point, saying America's economic strength is now inseparable from its national security. Both warning that rising geopolitical competition requires the US and its allies to build more resilient supply chains, invest in strategic industries, and reduce dependence on foreign adversaries. The Chinese regime's state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting has been condemned for years. But when governments hold talks with the Chinese Communist Party, they still appear to put trade before human rights. NTD's Jane Worrell spoke with panelists at a screening of the award-winning film State Organs and asked them, what needs to happen to stop what's been described as a crime against humanity? A human rights atrocity the Chinese regime doesn't want the world to know. The film State Organs sheds light on China's forced organ harvesting trade. I've seen quite a number of films on the issue of I think this was particularly powerful because it told individual stories in a lot of harrowing detail combined with the macro picture of the facts, the issue of organs being available for transplant on a mass scale at very short notice. What was very poignant for me was that a lot of the stories came from cities in China that I myself have visited in particular the city of Qingdao where I spent a lot of time. I was asked by my chief surgeon to remove a half executed prisoner's liver and the kidneys and I was quite, you know, during that time I was quite proud of myself for having such opportunity to do surgery in the field outside the hospital and then until I came across this organ harvesting issue from this newspaper called Daji Yuan then I realized oh my god what's that? What did I do? That has made me so guilty so I said no I cannot take this guilt with me because my heart cannot carry it so I have to let it out and that's why I stand out and doing it, carrying it, yes, fighting for it. Human rights activist Benedict Rogers and a former surgeon Enver Toti were panellists at a film screening at St Joseph's Church in Maidenhead 25 miles west of London. In 2019, an international tribunal held in London brought that forced organ harvesting has taken place in China for years on a significant scale and still continues. It found practitioners of the Buddhist school practice Falun Gong were the primary victim group and that other persecuted minorities such as Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, Tibetans and house Christians were also at risk. Talks about trade often seem to take centre stage when governments deal with China but there's an increasing pressure to put the Chinese regime's human rights violations into focus. The China tribunal chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice concluded that this is a crime against humanity and in the words of the tribunal judgment they said we need to remember that the Chinese state is a criminal state because of this activity so there should be consequences for it and I mean that might include sanctions but governments should also look at what measures there are for bringing the perpetrators of these crimes to justice but I think a lot more could be done to stand up to China on human rights and I actually think at the end of the day the CCP although they don't like it they actually respect strength more than weakness if you kowtow to them too much they just think they can walk all over you. He says stopping organ terrorism and implementing sanctions related to forced organ harvesting are steps that could be taken immediately and even after decades of atrocities committed by the Chinese regime many of those here outside of China relentlessly speak out for those who can't with the hope that China's human rights record will be higher on the decision makers' agendas. Jane Worrell, NTD News, Maidenhead. Coming up Colombians head to the polls today in what's expected to be the first round of presidential election. Find out more after the break. Your chance to save an extra 20% on Bernhardt at the design studio by Mathis Home. I think building kindness in children from a very young age is foundational to their growth to building their character to allow them to share with each other in a classroom and in a space that is safe like in the Ganjing World platform. 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Shen Yun Creations the streaming platform from Shen Yun featuring world-class dance past programs and all original music masterclasses behind the scenes comedy and more. Explore ShenYunCreations.com Introducing the Questwise soothing herbal eye patches. It comes with 30 pairs and can be used to help combat tired and strained eyes. The natural herbal formula provides a cooling minty and refreshing effect that stimulates natural tears and awakens your tired eyes. Placing the eye patches around your eyes helps to reduce dryness and massages acupuncture points. They can be worn while reading studying using electronics and provide hours of long-lasting relief. Welcome back. Columbians head to the polls today and what's expected to be the first round of a presidential election. The race has a leftist candidate going against an independent businessman and a right-leaning senator who aims to become the country's first female leader. Here's that story. Columbians took to the polls on Sunday in what is likely to be the first round of a presidential election. Leftist Ivan Cepeda is leading opinion polls. The senator is the son of a murdered communist leader and has promised to deepen reforms meant to reduce poverty. Including raising taxes on high earners and gifting land to victims of Colombia's six-decade internal conflict. He has said he aims to pursue peace with illegal armed groups through negotiations. Though the policy has led to little progress under current leader President Gustavo Petro. Surveys suggest he will face a much tougher contest in a second round once right-leaning voters no longer have multiple candidates to choose from. Of those right-wing candidates lawyer De La Espriella has proposed a tough offensive against armed groups. The construction of 10 mega prisons, poverty reduction through education programs and health care and housing for the nation's poorest. He says he has financed his campaign with his own resources though Reuters could not independently verify that claim. Polling in third place is Paloma Valencia, a senator backed by former president Álvaro Uribe. She would be the first woman to lead Colombia if elected. Her platform has similarities to De La Espriella's including a hard line against illegal armed groups, corruption and drug trafficking. She also supports tax breaks for companies and certain social programs financed by renewed oil and gas exploration. More than 40 million Colombians are eligible to vote. Definitive results are expected Sunday evening local time. Next, we'll play a video from the area north of Boston where a boom sound can be heard followed by a person yelling. The boom can be heard in another video from inside a garage in Milford. Sonic booms startled the northeast on Saturday. According to the American Meteor Society, the noise was caused by a three-foot wide meteor entering the atmosphere near the New Hampshire border with Massachusetts. A few people reported seeing a brief fireball in the sky. There are no reports of anything striking the ground but experts say any debris likely landed in the ocean. Thank you for watching NTD Evening News. For round-the-clock original news coverage, visit us at NTD.com or download our NTD app. I'm Chris Beers. Have a good night.