NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 9)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story tonight, the U.S. launching fresh retaliatory strikes against Iran overnight and President Trump warning the retribution will be much worse if Tehran launches further attacks against ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Mario Tsu at the White House. President Trump says he wants the Supreme Court to re-hear the birthright citizenship case. Jason Blair has the details. A new report reveals massive fraud allegedly involving millions of dollars in federal education grants. Arlene Richards breaks down the details. A recorded interview and authenticated text messages took center stage on day three of Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearing. Christina Corona reports what Robinson's partner told investigators and the text messages that were read in court. Twenty-eight people have died in a fire that engulfed a five-story shoe factory in China. Some workers were trapped on the roof when fire trucks could not get any closer to jump to their deaths. Communist China's lucrative transplant trade in the spotlight at a U.K. Parliament seminar. That's as the U.S. considers laws to sanction those involved in forced organ harvesting in China. This is NTD Evening News, live from our global headquarters in New York City, here's Kerry Dunst. Good evening, thank you for joining us tonight. The U.S. overnight launching fresh retaliatory strikes against Iran for attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. That's as President Trump warns of even worse retribution if Tehran strikes commercial shipping again. We're now joined live by NTD's White House correspondent Mari Otsu. Mari, good evening. Hey Kerry, good evening to you. That's right. Well, we didn't hear directly from President Trump today. He had a bunch of closed-door policy meetings back here. His first day back at the White House after arriving from that whirlwind trip to Ankara, Turkey for the NATO summit, arriving back here at the South Lawn at about two in the morning. Now, the President, though, at the conclusion of that NATO summit did say that he doesn't think that the war with Iran is going to start again, reiterating that Iran has been decimated. But he does issue, though, a fresh warning for Iran, saying that the worst is yet to come for them if they continue to be dishonest. Take a look. Mr. President, it seems that the war with Iran may start again. No, I don't think it's going to start again. I think it's going to go very quickly. They hit a couple of ships, and so we hit them much harder. When they hit, we hit ten times harder. You know, we hit much harder than they do. U.S. Central Command confirming it carried out another round of strikes against Iran last night. The targets included roughly 90 Iranian military sites, air defenses, coastal radar, missile and drone storage facilities, naval assets and logistics infrastructure along the Iranian coast. The goal, officials say, was to further degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian shipping. We just hit them very hard, and I'd say we hit them 20 to 1. Every time they hit us, we're going to hit them 20. We did it last night, did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night. They hit, actually, three boats, not two, and when they hit, we hit back much harder. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back to Washington, President Trump says Iran is still desperate to talk. They called a little while ago, they want to make a deal so badly. I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal. I don't know if they're going to honor the deal. But after weeks of negotiations, the president says he's come to know the Iranian regime well, and he's no longer convinced a deal is worth pursuing. They're a little loco. They're a little crazy. They're scum. That's the way they act. We can play games, but I'm not sure I want to make a deal. Let's just finish the job. President Trump, though, declaring his core objective has already been achieved. We denuclearized Iran, and that's happened. They will never have a nuclear weapon. That stuff is so far down under a mountain, it's a granite mountain that collapsed on top of it. Take months to get it out. And Gary, now a little bit closer to home. Today, the airport in South Florida that was formerly known as Palm Beach International Airport has now officially been renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport, according to the FAA. Now, the airport says that changes to branding and signage is going to be phased out over the next couple of months, but airlines like both United and Delta have already changed their code to DJT in their systems. And just this morning, Eric Trump, President Trump's son, took the first flight to DJT, landing there at 5.01 a.m. Eric saying that he really thought that this name change was a tribute to his father's legacy. Back to you. Thanks for that update, Mari. And the U.S. military is striking key targets in Iran in order to further degrade the regime's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Hormuz Strait. The U.S. also striking a strategic railway bridge on a route connecting Iran to Russia and China. And it is Jason Perry has that update. Multiple boats burning in the water off the coast of Iran in a new video released after the U.S. announced more strikes against the Iranian regime. Iran state-run media says multiple explosions were heard Thursday morning in the Bushehr province, which is home to Iran's only operating nuclear power plant. Satellite imagery released on Thursday shows a damaged control tower at an Iranian port after a U.S. strike. Iran state-run media says that a maritime traffic control tower was also hit. Other satellite imagery showing damage to another building at an Iranian port. The U.S. says its latest round of strikes on Wednesday were a response to Iran's recent attacks on three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz. And Iran releasing video on Thursday saying Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had launched retaliatory attacks on U.S. military infrastructure across the Gulf region. In a post on Telegram, Iran's Revolutionary Guard claiming it struck a U.S. military base in Kuwait. However, the U.S. has not reported any direct hits on military bases in Kuwait. A U.S. strike also hitting a key railway bridge in northern Iran. Iran state media says the bridge has been an important land link to China and that the route had also been used by Russia for cargo shipments to Iran. The United States Central Command says the latest strikes on Iran are to further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Jason Perry, NTD News. Germany has reached an agreement with the United States to purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announcing the deal in Berlin following the NATO summit in Ankara. We also agreed with the U.S. government on the sidelines of the NATO meeting in Ankara that we would acquire American Tomahawk missiles and station them in Germany. This closes an important strategic gap in our defense. And at the same time, we will work to develop our own European systems and station them The Tomahawk is an intermediate range subsonic cruise missile and it's used to strike key enemy positions. The missile is most often used to strike at hardened defense points such as air defense systems in order to pave the way for then larger military operations. Tomahawks are manufactured by Raytheon. According to the company, the missiles have been used in nearly every U.S. engagement since 1991, including current U.S. strikes against Iran. Germany makes its own cruise missiles, but their range of around 310 miles is three to five times shorter compared to the Tomahawks that the U.S. makes. And in a report revealing nearly 90 instances of fraud and abuse of federal education tax dollars, NTD's Arlene Richards brings us more. Fraud is a feature in the system, not above. A new report revealing the staggering extent of fraud in America's K-12 education system. Co-authored by the State Financial Officers Foundation, or SFOF, and Open the Books, the report identifies nearly 90 confirmed and prosecuted cases involving embezzlement, phony invoices, inflated enrollment, bid rigging, and kickbacks, among other crimes. Both groups, which focus on government spending and transparency, analyzed every Education Department Office of Inspector General semiannual report to Congress issued between October 1st, 2019 and March 31st, 2026, revealing fraud across 24 states and Puerto Rico. Dr. O.J. Oleka, CEO of SFOF, told the House Oversight Committee in April that fraud is a big deal to the American people. When you have a culture that defers to fraud and allows it to stand, then you spend more money. When you spend more money, that then mandates, based on your political philosophy, an increase in taxes. According to the report, defrauding public programs leaves tax dollars unavailable for the Americans who truly need assistance. In a California case, the small Magnolia School District in Orange County lost about $17 million due to embezzlement by a former fiscal services director. Jorge Armando Contreras used the money to buy a luxury home, car, and designer goods. Open the Book CEO John Hart told Fox Business in April that there needs to be better transparency laws. We should have the same right to view the government's checkbook as we do our own checkbook in real time, because it's our money. The report's largest cases included allegations that two now-closed Indiana online charter schools received $44 million in excess funding by inflating enrollment, and that a Puerto Rico tutoring company obtained $24 million by billing for services never provided. The report concluded that every step must be taken to unwind the enormous bureaucracy and spending housed at the Department of Education, returning education to the state and local level. Arlene Richards, NTD News. President Trump says he'll ask the Supreme Court to re-hear its recent birthright citizenship ruling. While possible, such re-hearings on the merits are extremely rare. The court hasn't granted one in nearly 60 years. NTD correspondent Jason Blair brings us more on that. President Trump announced Thursday he will seek a re-hearing in the Supreme Court's June 30th ruling on birthright citizenship. In a social media post, the president wrote, A Supreme Court rule gives parties 25 days after a ruling to ask for a re-hearing for it to be considered. The request needs support from at least one justice who voted with the majority. In this case, that means one of the six justices who ruled against President Trump's executive order would have to get on board. If that happens, the justices would then privately discuss and vote whether to grant a re-hearing. Meanwhile, a Texas hospital is facing scrutiny over allegations that it's doing exactly what Former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores posted a photo of an ad from Mission Regional Medical Center in South Texas. She says the photo was taken in Mexico near the South Texas border. The ad, in Spanish, offered a natural delivery starting at $3,950 and a C-section at $5,525. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has launched an investigation into the hospital and birth tourism packages aimed at foreign nationals. In a statement, Abbott said, Lawmakers and think tanks have raised particular concerns about birth tourism linked to China. More than a thousand companies we've identified. What they will do for a fee of about $80,000 to $100,000 is arrange for them to fly to the United States, get them through customs, arrange for the medical procedure, the child is born. Once the child is able to fly, it flies back to China where it will be raised in the People's Republic of China under the auspices of the CCP. Research estimates between 750,000 and 1.5 million children with Chinese parents have obtained U.S. citizenship this way. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. Graham Plattner, the Democratic Senate candidate and self-described progressive from Maine, has left the Senate race. It comes after mounting calls from within his own party stemming from a sexual assault allegation. NTD's Melina Weiskopf reports. Plattner announced his resignation in a video post on X saying it's not an admission of guilt to the allegations, but instead due to the consequences that came from the allegations, which made it impossible for his campaign to move forward. This is incredibly difficult because I know that some will think it's an admission of guilt and it most certainly is not. We are going to lose our ability to fundraise. We are going to lose our ability to access voter data. The resignation comes after the Maine super PAC aligned with Senate Democrats said it would no longer direct resources to his race and mounting calls to step down from both mainstream Democrats and even his most avid progressive supporters. The allegations waged against him came from a former girlfriend who said he forced himself into her house uninvited and onto her while intoxicated despite her calls to reject him. Plattner claims her accusations are politically motivated. Plattner has also faced other allegations and controversies, including having a Nazi linked tattoo, widely criticized social media posts and accusations of physical abuse. Two Democrats have jumped in the race so far, including the runner up in the Democratic nominee in the race for Maine's governor. And now it's time to focus on the future because our goal has not changed. Maine deserves a fighter in this seat and I will be that fighter. I will fight for Medicare for all. Troy Jackson, a self-described labor champion, also stepping up to the plate and Democrats will need to choose carefully about who will take the nomination because the Democrat will be up against longtime Senator Susan Collins, who's held her seat since 1996. Democrats now tasked with replacing Plattner with a new nominee, the president saying it will be tough. It's very hard for them to tell you whether or not you believe the woman. The Republican woman came out with the same charge nobody believed in. When this woman came out, everybody believed her. Maine's Democratic Party will hold a nominating convention before July 27th to meet the legal deadline for Democrats to choose the replacement. Hundreds of Democrats from the state are expected to gather to elect that new nominee. As for the broader picture here, this is a key race for Democrats. Maine is a top target that Democrats are eyeing as one of the four seats Democrats will need to take control of the upper chamber. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Melina Weiskopf, NTD News. As the U.S. Senate considers legislation that would sanction foreign nationals linked to forced organ harvesting in China, a seminar over in the U.K. Parliament putting a focus on China's illegal transplant trade. With the U.K. bracing for a change in leadership, some experts and human rights activists will likely keep a close eye on the new prime minister's stance on China. Here's more from NTD's Jane Worrell. A medical atrocity in the spotlight at a U.K. Parliament seminar hosted by former leader of the Conservative Party, Sir Ian Duncan Smith. Experts on China presenting evidence of the Chinese Communist Party's lucrative forced organ harvesting trade, where victims die in the process of having their organs extracted and sold for profit. This is innocent people being used as an unwilling organ bank. And the mechanics of how it works is so, I guess, foreign to the common, normal human beings' mind that people rush away from this. And this has been one of the biggest challenges. The research is unequivocal, but what we've got with the Communist Party is cover-up, denial, counter-narratives. International human rights lawyer David Matus saying more legislation is needed, such as an immigration ban that would stop those complicit in organ harvesting from entering the U.K. and denying insurance to those who get a transplant in countries known for transplant abuse. He says governments across the world have gaps in their laws and could do more. The U.K. will soon have a new prime minister and a new cabinet, and some would say it's a chance for the U.K. to have a fresh look at its China strategy. They can choose to ignore this, or they can choose to follow America's lead, where you have a bipartisan movement towards finally passing laws on this very issue. We're at that point. It took us years. I'm ashamed of how long it took us to get to this point, but it's here. I really want to see a good ally. That's what I want to see from Britain at this point. We've always depended on each other for so many years, centuries now. What I would ask the new prime minister to do is get his staff to offer him a proper briefing on the reality of this and understand you're dealing with a regime that's not a normal regime. This is not a government that you can negotiate with in a traditional sense. It's not a government that believes in win-win. It's a government that's playing for all the marbles and wants the U.K. and the U.S. and Canada, my home country, as a vassal state, essentially. An independent panel of experts, the China Tribunal, concluding in 2019 that adherents of the Falun Gong spiritual practice are, quote, probably the main source of organ supply in communist China. There's mounting evidence that not only Falun Gong practitioners, but Uyghurs and other minority prisoners of conscience, including Tibetans and Christians, are also targeted. The government must acknowledge the severity of the crimes that the Chinese government is committing against the people, not only Uyghurs, Tibetans and Falun Gongs. They need to send a very clear message to the government, to the Chinese government. Business cannot be as usual. There's evidence that forced organ harvesting has killed an untold number of victims. At the seminar, the speaker's bringing forward what concrete steps lawmakers can take next and at the same time, giving a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves. Jane Worrell, NTD News. Coming up, a recorded interview and authenticated text messages took center stage on day three of Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearing. Christina Corona reports what Robinson's partner told investigators in the text messages that were read in court. And a California-based tech company is being deemed a national security risk. The FCC says digital system technology has links to Chinese telecom companies and it's run by a Chinese national. David Lamb speaks with the CEO of PrivacyBeat. The bladder control aisle. You won't shop here again. Your private business is your own. The constant struggle is over. Now there's a better way. It's HGIS. We home deliver bladder control products. We understand how you feel. 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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 or go online to helpheart.org. Become a monthly donor, and for a limited time only, your first month's gift will be matched. Thank you. Welcome back to NTD Evening News, I'm Cary Dunst. New details emerge on day four of Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearing, as a recorded interview with his partner and roommate is played in court. The interview alleges that Robinson admitted to killing Charlie Kirk and discussed engraving NTD's Christina Corona has the latest on this closely watched case. Day three of Tyler Robinson's preliminary hearing featured a recorded police interview with his partner and roommate, Lance Twiggs. In the video, which was played for the court, Twiggs described Robinson's actions the morning of Charlie Kirk's killing. I just know he left early, I heard him leaving, and he just said he had a long drive to work that day, so he was leaving early. I would have thought it was 5 a.m., because that's when an early work day was for him, but it was probably more like 4. Twiggs told investigators Robinson asked to borrow a Dremel tool to engrave messages on bullets before Charlie Kirk's killing. He had said he was planning to go hunting with his family, and he asked me for a, if we had a Dremel, because he said he wanted to engrave messages on bullets. And I just told him where our Dremel was. Twiggs said Robinson offered few details after returning home. I didn't go into detail, I just asked him in person if what he said was truer than I before, and he said it was. I started crying a little bit, and said he wishes he hadn't done it. And then kept going around and just doing stuff, I think, to keep himself busy or distracted. Prosecutors then called Agent Bryant Davis of the Utah State Bureau of Investigation back to the stand. He testified that Twiggs' statements matched his September 12, 2025 police interview. Davis also authenticated text messages, Discord chats, and a handwritten note prosecutors say Robinson sent in the days after Charlie Kirk's death. Davis read portions of those messages aloud in court. And then Lance replies, you weren't the one who did it, right? And Tyler says, I am, I'm sorry. Lance says, I thought they caught the person. And then Tyler says, no, they grabbed some crazy old dude and interrogated someone in similar clothing. The messages also included Robinson's account of leaving the rifle near the campus. Only thing I left was the rifle wrapped in a towel. I'll bet that canine sniffed it out. Little's replace it unlikely. I don't fully know what the gun was because it was old and Gramps did some modifying. Prosecutors called Agent Jen Fowl Mowina of the Utah SBI back to the stand who described the rifle found at the scene. So what you see here now is a dark colored towel and a the rifle that is in the towel and it is in a cardboard box. Why is the towel still around the gun? We wanted to document as to how it was found. Investigators testified they found engravings on ammunition reading, Hey fascist, catch and Obella Chow. Additional cartridges were engraved with phrases like, if you read this, you are and gay. Fowl Mowina also confirmed that Robinson's DNA was found on the evidence. Court will resume Friday for the final day of the preliminary hearing. Christina Corona, NTD News. The Trump administration appears to be making ample use of social media accounts. A recent study finds that federal agencies X accounts are getting far more engagement than they did during the previous administration. And it is Sean Marshall reports. The Pew Research Center says that audience engagement is up for the second Trump administration's social media activity. The think tank recently published an analysis of federal agencies X accounts. You know, I've been in social media since its nascent days back when we were coding on MySpace. And now we're here where executives and of the heads of states are using social media to move mountains and new governments. And new accounts like Department of Government Efficiency and Rapid Response 47 stand out from other accounts, even though they've only been around since early 2025. Consistently posting and they're consistently getting engagement. And I think from my perspective, being federal accounts active on the platform as often as I'm seeing them is a bit of a difference from a couple of years ago. They understand the power of social media, social media, the power of Twitter, the power of Twitter X rather. And they're just consistently there. I think they're treating it more seriously than prior administration. During its first year, a standard Doge post on X received almost 29,000 likes and reposts. But the account became far less active in recent months before Doge officially shut down on July 4th. One big difference that the research shows is that federal accounts on X are posting more content, with the most active being Rapid Response 47, averaging almost 40 posts per day and receiving about 3,400 likes and reposts. It's the account with the third most engagement of the second Trump administration. You know, on social media, there is a big trend towards authenticity and not being as polished. And so I can see a trend, especially on the brand side, where executives and C-suite folks are doing a bit more direct to camera on the phone type of content that isn't as, I would think, buttoned up as we've seen in the past to try to get some of that humanistic authenticity that we're seeing across social media platforms. Social media has the current happenings of the federal government very accessible to the general public compared to the pre-internet days. The administration's take on the NATO summit, the U.S. economy, and the conflict in Iran are just a click or screen tap away. Sean Marshall, NTD News. Soon you may not need to receive a one-time passcode to your phone to verify your identity anymore. Network API provider Aduna is partnering up with major U.S. carriers to introduce an alternative authentication method. The number verification solution confirms users directly through their carrier network in real time. Aduna says that the system can do so through strong possession-based authentication. You can verify a mobile number with the carrier and its association with the SIM in the device. The network provider is working alongside AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, and they say that the new system is designed to improve digital security as well as reduce identity fraud. Now, this rollout comes as criminals are leveraging AI to get around the traditional SMS passcodes. According to the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. consumers lost a record $15.9 billion to fraud last year. And coming up, the Trump administration is investigating abuses of the H-1B visa system. The Department of Labor is asking workers to come forward if they believe that they've been exploited. We'll hear from Santiago Vidal Calvo. He's a policy analyst with the Manhattan Institute. And 28 have died in a fire that engulfed a five-story shoe factory in China. Some workers were trapped on the roof when firetrucks could not get any closer to jump to their deaths. I've never been more devastated than the day I lost my mom. I was depressed, miserable, in ways I never imagined. I reached out, and my sisters came, my pastor, my therapist. They helped me get through it. I found that the more I spoke up, the healthier my mind became. The chaos that was in me began to subside. I was more focused, clear. When you love your mind, you can go so much further. That's not up for debate. Find mental health resources at loveyourmindtoday.org. During high school, I hung with the wrong crowd, and I never graduated. I helped Santiago in many different ways, like all fathers do, because he always wanted to go to college. I felt a little embarrassed to come back to school, but eventually, once I came here, I knew that it's for a bigger goal. He was very dedicated, hardworking. He connected with his teachers. He connected with other students. That was one of the key reasons why he was able to keep forging ahead. It was amazing to see him graduate. This was one thing that meant so much to him, and of course, it meant so much to us, too. With the help of my father and having my son, that was all the motivation that I needed. That support is everything. Find free adult education classes near you at finishyourdiploma.org. Welcome back to NTD Evening News, I'm Kerry Dunst. As part of Vice President J.D. Vance's fraud task force, the Trump administration is launching a quote, major investigation into abuses of the H-1B visa program, which allows foreigners to obtain a worker visa through a company sponsorship. The Department of Labor is now asking American workers to report if they've been harmed from the prioritization of a foreign worker, and they're also calling on foreign workers to come forward should they suspect that they have been exploited at the hands of an employer. Joining us to discuss it all is Santiago Vidal Calvo. He's a policy analyst with the Manhattan Institute. Santiago, thank you for joining this evening. Can you explain the types of fraud that are being investigated by the Trump administration? Hey, Kerry. Good evening. The types of fraud that are currently being investigated is some type of relation to human trafficking or narco dealings with regards of the H-1B visa process. Regarding the fraud with the H-1B visas, the Trump administration have talked plenty over the last couple of years about fraud in the H-1B visa process and fraud in the application and in the acceptance of many job offers from many companies and foreign workers. And there is some truth, but not really completely to the idea of fraud. The idea of the H-1B visa is one that is very helpful to the American people in many senses. It helps America advance high-skill innovation and workers here in the United States. And it has been proven to also pay taxes and to also perform very well among the types of visas that we're granting across the world. So it's a two-sided coin right now, and we need to check whether the veracity of this How harmful is this kind of fraud? Well, it might be very harmful if it's proven true and if there is some type of strategic or some type of a big fraud going on. But let me tell you, as of now, there is not a lot proven in the sense of fraud that has been systematically done over the last couple of years or decades regarding the H-1B visa process in the way that the allegations are being made right now. So in this sense, the type of fraud that is being alleged, it's very common in terms of illegal immigration or in terms of other visas that are less vetted or less appropriate. But in this case with the H-1B visa, we know that the type of people that come here to the United States need a job offer from a reputable organization or company. They need to be approved by the Department of Labor and by USCIS. And they go through a very strict process to make sure that we have the best and most qualified candidates come for these visas. So if in case that the allegations are true and that the Department of Justice and the vice president are in fact right about some very serious allegations on this visa, then there must be a very important step to take to make sure that this visa does not fall under those fraud cases anymore. I want to talk about for skilled labor. How is the determination made that a U.S. worker cannot meet the expertise needed and that a role should be filled with an H-1B? Well, that relies a lot on the company and the type of work that they need to be performed by a foreign worker. So in this case, first, there is a salary expectation on the H-1B visa that needs to be met considering the role that that person is taking. So not necessarily, you know, there is a big myth that a lot of H-1B visas are undercutting American jobs in the sense of salaries. That's not necessarily true. The average H-1B visa holder earns around $120,000 every single year. And that's big money for many places around the U.S. So first, they need to meet a certain threshold of salary in their job position. But second, they also need qualifications. Not every single person can qualify for an H-1B visa. You need some type of college degree or some type of experience in your field that makes you qualify for this position. And then the company needs to argue that the type of work that you're doing or that you are expected to perform here in the United States cannot be readily available. And that's why we see so many tech workers in H-1B visas. It's exactly because, you know, we have a very slow STEM graduation compared to many other countries around the world. Like, for example, China graduates way more STEM students than we do here in the United States. So we try to bring a lot of those foreign workers and we try to brain drain all their countries, come here into the United States, and then use those skills that we need here in the United States to be doing better, both in the education sense, but also in the university sense. You know, through foreign labor. And you mentioned the tech industry. There's also consultancies are among the top to get H-1B visas. Why do you think those two particular industries attract the most H-1B labor? Well, the first one with the tech worker is actually pretty straightforward. The reason is because we are in a growth, a very expansive growth of the tech industry, and we have been for the last two decades. And because the H-1B visa has been the easiest process for many people around the world to supply that labor that is needed in many companies. And the truth is that, you know, many places around the world are graduating STEM graduates at a higher rate or degree than the United States. And we want to try to bring those graduates in a very smart way. We prefer those people that are very knowledgeable about STEM and tech to come here in the United States and do well in American companies before doing it so in companies around the world. And I feel like that's a very straightforward explanation. In the terms of consultancies, that is mainly driven by a couple of countries that have used this system of an H-1B to bring a lot of people into consultancy here in the United States. And whether they perform the role that they need in America, that's dependent on each company. But I can tell you that the tech industry is one of the main ones and the most important ones to protect the H-1B. Yeah, I want to explore that further because the tech companies and the consultancies, they're mostly IT consulting companies. So it's all in this realm of tech. Six of the top 11 H-1B employing companies are either headquartered in India or they're Indian CEO-led. Those include Infosys, Tata, Cognizant, Microsoft, Google, and HCL. Do you think that potentially there's any room for inside baseball happening to create an unfair advantage through reduced labor costs? You mentioned $120k salary, but with inflation, that's not a large salary. Is the intent potentially to get them to work for lower costs than what they would pay an American worker? Well, yeah, true. I mean, $120k is just a median. So essentially, you have 50% of the H-1B visa holders that are actually more. But here in this specific scenario, there is a skewness to the H-1B visa granting. And the reason is because India, it's the leading country that we give H-1B visas to. But in reality, more countries should be asking for H-1B visas. And we should be more transparent about the whole process of how we grant these visas. Because right now, what's going on, it's a lottery. Essentially, anybody can get it if you apply for it. And a great majority of the applications come from India. But there are ways that we can do this smarter. Like, for example, we could choose H-1B visa holders by age and by location. What I mean by this is that, for example, if we are granting a $200,000 job to somebody that is a 40-year-old, and the same job is going to a 20-year-old, then the expectancy of the 20-year-old to pay more taxes in the United States and to earn more in 20 years is way higher than the person that's 40. So we could be doing smarter things about the H-1B visa process. Same with location. Like, for example, we don't need people to go to New York or to San Francisco. They could be going to rural parts around the United States, and they could be helping those towns with taxes in ways that we are not currently benefiting off of the H-1B visa process. So in reality, there are a lot of things that we can do better with the H-1B visa. Yes, it does seem like there's room to take a fresh set of eyes to it and look for ways to improve it. Santiago Vidal Calvo, thank you so much for joining and sharing your expertise. Thank you. Next, Ukraine continues targeting Russian energy production, striking multiple oil facilities. This, as President Trump says, the U.S. is allowing Ukraine to produce its own Patriot air defense systems. And today's international correspondent, Ariane Paznar, has the war update. Footage released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday shows five different oil facilities in Russia on fire. Zelensky says this includes oil depots, oil pumping stations, and more. The furthest target lies around a thousand miles behind the front lines. This comes after Ukraine struck multiple oil refineries across Russia earlier this week. Footage also shows Ukraine targeting Russian fuel tankers for the third straight day, with Ukraine saying it hit a dozen more vessels on Thursday. According to Kiev, the goal of its attacks on Russian energy is to pressure Moscow into stopping the war. Ukrainian soldiers say Russia is now working to jam Starlink satellite connections, which Ukrainian drone operators use. Meanwhile in Ukraine, officials say the latest Russian attack killed one civilian in the southeastern part of the country on Thursday. This after a major attack on Kiev killed over 20 civilians on Monday. Because of those attacks on civilians, Kiev has been asking the U.S. to let Ukraine produce Patriot air defense systems, which President Trump on Wednesday said he would allow. This way he can't complain that we're not giving them enough. They say, make them yourself. We haven't informed the company of that yet, but that'll work out all right. Sure, they'll be thrilled. The director of Adena, a think tank on European defense, says he thinks companies in the U.S. will still be involved in the production. Now you need to have a negotiation between the American industries and the Ukrainian industries, where to build it, what exactly to build, which missiles to build, and how to handle the components and the export licenses. He also says it'll take at least 18 months for Ukraine to produce the first missiles. The kind of the dilemma for the Ukrainians is that they need the weapons exactly now, because the arsenals are empty. The question is whether the U.S. is able and willing to divert some of the ongoing production already to Ukraine. He added another option would be for other countries with Patriot missiles to export them to Ukraine. Ariane Pastor, MTD News. A fire at a shoe factory in China has killed 28. State media says 239 people were inside the five-story factory when the fire broke out. 213 people were evacuated and two died after jumping from the building. Witnesses said the blaze started on the first floor and engulfed the building within a half an hour. Some workers were stranded on the roof. Local residents say narrow streets, parked vehicles, and traffic congestion all prevented fire trucks from getting closer. A rescue helicopter managed to save only one person because of the intense heat. Some are questioning the official death toll. The factory is located in Guangzhou, Fujian province, one of China's largest hubs for footwear production. An American tech company is being deemed a national security risk. The FCC says digital system technology has ties to Chinese firms which are banned from providing telecom services here in the U.S. MTD's David Lam reports. The Federal Communications Commission this week saying it's adding a California-based tech company to its national security risk list. Harry Moggins, CEO of Privacy Bee, shares his thoughts. With digital system, it was not a foreign company. It was not a Chinese company. It was actually a Los Angeles-based company that just so happened to be run by a Chinese national. But the FCC says the company, digital system technology, also has links to Chinese telecom firms PCCW, China Unicorn, and China Mobile. The FCC has banned these companies from providing telecommunications services in the U.S. The government didn't feel comfortable with the shifting answers. Every time they went in trying to ascertain the connectivity of digital system to China or to Hong Kong, they were getting different answers. And it was almost like the floor was moving, which further added to their discomfort. The Chinese Communist Party has faced criticism for carrying out mass surveillance and extracting intellectual property and personal data of users and institutions throughout the world. But nowadays, espionage is something we're almost getting numb to. All it takes is a credit card. Anybody can go online and, for a couple of dollars, buy a whole bunch of information on any random person. On a day-to-day level, Moggen says Americans can take steps to protect themselves. Being smart about things you do on your phone, especially. Your phone is essentially a data collection device. When an app asks, are you wanting to disclose your location, just pause for a second before you just instinctively click yes and ask, why does my calculator need to know where I'm located in the world? We cannot stop being vigilant. We cannot accept it as this is the way things are. We have to maintain our fight and not let them beat us down. This comes as the Trump administration is holding the line on telecom companies linked to the Chinese communist regime. David Lam, NTD News, California. And Chinese recording software in American homes? A lawsuit from Missouri calls out baby monitors that may be monitoring more than nap time. Here from the Missouri Attorney General, Katherine Hannaway, tonight on Capitol Report at 7 p.m. Eastern, just after evening news. And as President Trump pressures Congress to pass the Save America Act, how are everyday Americans feeling about the bill and the integrity of our elections? NTD's Sam Wong was out at the Great American State Fair to hear from the people. How are you feeling about the integrity of our election right now? I am concerned about mail-in ballots. I do see in Maryland, we've seen a lot of elections swing vastly. It always seems like it's just the right number of ballots to push a certain candidate over or not. I think the integrity has been badly compromised. I think the 2020 election was a good example of that, that a man could get 81 million votes without going out and campaigning, got more than Obama. They lost me right there. My mom passed away in January and they sent her something to vote. Well, she's gone. Unless it's paper ballots like the President of the United States said, Donald Trump, man, we have a problem. And to take ballots 10, 20 days after the elections, that's not right. And people don't understand when you mail in a ballot, once it separates from the envelope, you can't really verify where that vote came from. So that's why when they do checks after an election, you don't know the level of the fraud that happened. This influence in what's going on in our country today is that they're very crafty and they're doing as much as they can to get around the Democratic Republic process. Let's say the Save America Act is to pass. Do you think that's going to enhance your confidence in the integrity of our election? Yes, it has a closing door for the cheating with Trump, what he's doing. I think he's saving America's future. It can't help but increase it. When you make it more difficult for people to cheat and for irresponsible people to cast votes, then yeah, it's going to be better. I don't have any idea why anybody would not want to vote for having only a citizen vote. I think it's a start. I think states can pick their own rules to do elections. That's a problem. But all in all, that's a first step to getting back the integrity and the confidence of the American people. The thing that makes me mad is you have 75% to 80% of people in every poll are in favor of it, yet these damn politicians down here can't get their act together and pass that. I would say that passing the Save America Act will save America. Coming up at Wimbledon, American Coco Gauff in action today, while a major showdown on the med side set for tomorrow. Getting prescription glasses from Select Specs is easier than you might think. Select your frames from our £6 range, in-house brands or our extensive designer collections. Then enter, upload or email your latest prescription and our website will analyze it and help you select the best lenses and options to suit you. Click to place the order and your new Select Specs glasses are delivered right to your door. Ordering your prescription glasses is as easy as 1, 2, C with Select Specs at selectspecs.com. 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Call the number on your screen for this exclusive TV deal and save 30% on your preferred customer order with free shipping and risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee. As a bonus, we'll include the Beginner's Guide to Essential Oils, a $16.99 value free. Call the number on your screen to learn more right now. Looking for a healthy and smooth-tasting brew? Drop by Day's Coffee Roasters today and explore our wide selection of specialty-grade small-batch roasted coffee. Home to North America's first enzyme-fermented coffee, we source a wide selection of specialty-grade coffee beans from around the world, and our baristas are ready to craft your customized brew. Visit Day's Coffee at 28 North Street, Middletown, New York. Come experience a brew like no other. And now for your sports news, we're joined by NTD's Dave Martin. Dave, tennis and baseball news. But let's start, of course, with the World Cup. France taking on Morocco. What happened? Yeah, France won here, 2-0. And of course, Kylian Mbappé played a big part in this one. Scored their first goal, assisted on their second goal, both in the second half. Now it should be noted, Mbappé then left later in the second half with an apparent, looked like it was a leg injury, he was kind of limping up the field. He was seen icing his foot on the bench. He didn't seem too worried about it anyway, so we'll have to see. Anyway, we'll move on to play the winner of tomorrow's Spain versus Belgium match. Now elsewhere in World Cup news, Team USA's Christian Pulisic would leave Monday night's loss to Belgium with an apparent leg injury. Suffered a bone bruise and microfracture in his lower right leg on the play. Pulisic's injury came seven minutes into the second half when he attempted to take a shot, but instead kicked the back of a Belgium player's leg or foot instead. So in any case, the recovery time for this is going to be about four to six weeks, so he would have missed the remainder of the tournament either way. Now Pulisic also missed half of the first group game and all of the second group game with a half injury. But when healthy, he looked pretty good. He looked pretty quick though. Absolutely. It's a grueling game indeed. But let's go over to London and Wimbledon. American Coco Gauff had a great tournament, but the road ended at the semifinals. So what do you expect for the rest of Wimbledon? Yeah, so we've got the Wimbledon women's final all set up. That's going to be ninth-ranked Karolina Mukhova versus 12th-ranked Linda Noskova. Now both are from the Czech Republic. Neither have ever won a Grand Slam before, let alone have won Wimbledon. That match, that finals match will take place Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Now for the seventh-ranked Coco Gauff, this was actually her best showing at Wimbledon, getting all the way to the semifinals here. She's of course a two-time Grand Slam champion. Lost today 6-2, 1-6, 7-6. So very close there in the third set. Now on the men's side, the semifinal matches are tomorrow morning. That'll be third-ranked Aleksandr Zverev against 114th-ranked wildcard entrant Arthur Ferry at 8.30 a.m. Eastern time. Then the second match, that's the big one. You've got eighth-ranked Novak Djokovic, the seven-time Wimbledon champion, against number one-ranked Yannick Sinner, the reigning Wimbledon champion. Now Sinner actually leads their all-time series 6-5. One of only two players actually lead Djokovic all-time. This will be their fourth match at Wimbledon. Djokovic, though, has won two of the first three there. That match schedule starts around 10.30 a.m. Eastern time. So that's the biggie here. If you watch one match this summer before the US Open kicks off, it sounds like this semifinal may be more interesting than the final. I think so, for sure. Yeah, I think everyone will see Sinner versus Djokovic, even though Zverev is ranked higher. We'd like to see if Djokovic, you know, can turn back the clock. Here at Wimbledon, get number 25, right? Novak, the GOAT in that sport. And up there amongst the all-time of all sports. Now, let's move to baseball. A lot of Yanks fans out there, they're wondering what's happening with high-paid Aaron Judge. He's a slugger. He's, you know, amongst the game's best. But he's got a bruised rib and he hasn't played in a while. High-paid, highly, even higher productive, I will say that. One of the rare guys you can say about that. He's still not playing, but he could be playing soon. Now, Judge's stress fracture in his right rib, that's prevented him from not only playing, but even working out because he cannot put any stress on his rib cage. But he will finally have his rib tested this weekend during the All-Star break to see whether he is healing. The team said if he's asymptomatic and the medicals are good, then it's probably appropriate to finally get him going. Now, thus far, the Yankees are 15-19 since he last played. That was back on May 31st. That record, of course, includes a 12-4 win over the Rays today. The Yankees currently four games behind the Rays in the AL East. Yankees in second place. Rays are there in first. Now, Judge, the reigning two-time MVP is hitting .248 this season, 17 home runs, 38 RBIs in 59 games. So not the normal numbers he normally puts up. Obviously, he was not 100% before he went on the injured list. He really hadn't got going this year. He was struggling a little bit before they actually took a closer look and realized, hey, that rib is a problem. Yeah, I think he was. I think he tried. It sounded like he tried to play through it for a while, which apparently only aggravated it, so. All right. Tough for him. Thanks, Dave. Appreciate it. Thank you, Kerry. And that is all for today's evening news. But for around-the-clock coverage, you can visit us at NTD.com or, better yet, use our NTD app. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Kerry Dunst. Good night.