NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 11)

Our top story tonight, four New York Times reporters called to testify before a federal grand jury. The Department of Justice says the journalists are not the focus of its probe into potential leak of sensitive information. And a clash over Colombia's presidential election. The U.S.-led shield of the Americas is backing the results as President Gustavo Petro refuses to recognize the incoming conservative leader. At the World Cup, it's a much-anticipated England versus Norway match with a trip to the semifinals at stake. NTD's Dave Martin joins us with the latest. And award-winning NTD Studios documentary, The Newlyweds, is being screened at FreedomFest in Las Vegas. NTD's Chris Bobb is on site with the featured couple getting their reaction to the film's success. This is NTV Evening News, live from our global headquarters in New York City. Thank you for joining us tonight. I'm Arlene Richards. The Justice Department has subpoenaed several New York Times journalists. It's part of a criminal leak investigation tied to reporting on the new Air Force One aircraft used by President Trump. The DOJ says it's not investigating the reporters themselves, but is instead trying to identify government officials who may have illegally disclosed classified information. The four New York Times journalists had written stories detailing security concerns surrounding the new Air Force One, which was a gift from Qatar. The New York Times is calling the subpoena an attack on press freedom, saying they're intended to pressure reporters into revealing confidential sources. Meanwhile, the president on True Social criticizing the New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman and her reporting, also pointing to his multi-billion dollar defamation lawsuit against the newspaper, expressing confidence it will soon head to court, saying, I don't mind bad press if they are right. I do mind fake reporting. From targeted strikes on Iran, to new military support for Ukraine, to major manufacturing investments returning to America, it's been a consequential week for the Trump administration. NTV's Daniel Monahan has your White House Week in review. The ceasefire with Iran appearing to unravel this week, with President Trump announcing the U.S. carried out what he called substantial strikes on Iranian targets. We just hit them very hard, and I'd say we hit them 20 to 1. The strikes coming after Iran's assault on three cargo ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. We see what happened yesterday with ships being attacked. I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully reacts. Trump later saying, in his view, the ceasefire with Iran was over. They're led by sick people, and they're vicious, violent people, and if they had a nuclear weapon, they'd use it. As far as I'm concerned, it's over. Iran calling the president later in the week. 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 the deal. I don't know that they're going to honor the deal. President Trump in Turkey for the NATO summit this week, the president reaffirming U.S. support for NATO's Article 5 mutual defense commitment, and meeting with Ukraine's President Zelensky. What I'm doing is I'm trying to save lives. A lot of lives are being lost. I also think that it's a country with great potential. Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying Ukraine's growing ability to strike deep inside Russia has changed the dynamics of the war. The Russians are finding it more difficult to defend their own airspace. President Trump also authorizing Ukraine to manufacture U.S.-designed Patriot air defense systems. We're going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That's pretty cool, right? This way you can't complain that we're not giving them enough. Make them yourself. Greenland returning to the spotlight during the summit. We took Greenland, and then stupidly we gave it back. We shouldn't have given it back to them, because we're the ones that need it. We need it for the protection of the world, not just the United States. At the summit, NTD's Iris Tao asking President Trump about his recent series of warnings on communism. You've been issuing a wake-up call to Americans at home about the dangers of communism, and now you're speaking on the world stage. The free house. Would anybody like to have a free house? We'll take it away from somebody. We'll give it to you. You'll have murders all over the place. Several major manufacturers announcing new U.S. investments this week, together representing hundreds of billions of dollars in planned spending and thousands of jobs. The companies include Toyota, General Motors, and Micron Technology. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reacting on Fox News. Just one megafab is going to be a mile long, and there's going to be four of them. Tens of thousands of jobs. Micron is going to do a hundred thousand jobs. Palm Beach International Airport officially became Donald J. Trump International Airport this week, marking another landmark named in honor of the president. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing the renaming into law in March. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. The U.S.-led shield of the America's coalition is backing Colombia's presidential election results, this after outgoing President Gustavo Petro refuses to recognize the victory of the The coalition says baseless efforts to cast doubt on Colombia's election results threaten the country's democratic transition, urging leaders to respect the certified vote. Colombia joined the shield of the Americas under the president-elect, prompting the coalition to weigh in on the dispute. For now, De La Espriella has suspended the formal transition, accusing Petro's government of acting in bad faith. ICE has deported a convicted child rapist who was pardoned in Minnesota just days before he was scheduled to be removed from the country. Thu Lu Bang was pardoned by a three-member board that includes Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and these Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has the details. Americans must never be forced by their elected leaders to live alongside foreign sex criminals who have no right to begin with to reside in our country. ICE just deported an illegal immigrant from Laos who was convicted of raping a child in the U.S. and then recently pardoned by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Thu Lu Bang was convicted in 2006 of repeated first-degree sexual assault of a girl from age 10 to 13. A federal immigration judge issued Bang a final removal order that same year, revoking his permanent resident status. But after leaving jail, Bang stayed in the country illegally. It wasn't until last December when ICE first arrested Bang. But in February, a Minnesota judge ordered his release from ICE custody, citing state sanctuary policies, which are limits on honoring federal immigration detainers. Federal officials say Bang was then scheduled to be deported in recent weeks, but just days before that, on June 10th, he was pardoned and his criminal conviction erased by Governor Tim Walz. That pardon complicated his removal. What we saw here was an illegal alien convicted of heinous crimes that was shielded from deportation by Governor Tim Walz. That is until Secretary of State Marco Rubio stepped in and revoked what was left of his lingering immigration status. He's now deported and permanently barred from re-entering the U.S. Because of our action, this foreign criminal will never pose a threat to any American ever again. We've reached out to Governor Walz's office for comment, but didn't hear back. Meanwhile, the State Department is also focusing on counterterrorism efforts in the U.S. and around the world. Washington will host an international meeting next week, bringing together officials from more than 60 countries across the globe, focusing on what they describe as a rise in political terrorism being carried out by far left groups like Antifa. Far left political terrorism has been a threat that existed for a very long time, but it has gone unaddressed. And we're making sure that we solve that problem, the terrorist actions that those groups are taking, including kidnappings, including the targeting of critical infrastructure. That's what we're focused on. These threats include assassinations, kidnappings, attacks on infrastructure, and threats against law enforcement and military personnel. The meeting comes after the Trump administration designated several left-wing extremist groups as foreign terrorist organizations. For NTD News, Washington, I'm Jack Bradley. The results are in for Colorado's GOP primary race for governor. Victor Marx will face Democrat Phil Weiser in November's election. And Denise Molina-Weiskopf has these results, and also which races are left to watch in key swing states. A week and a half after Colorado's primary elections, the ticket is set for the Weiser is currently Colorado's attorney general. Phil Weiser, he's a smart fella, but he represents the current system because he is part of it. And that current system has made Colorado more expensive, less safe, and harder for regular families to trust government. The Marine Corps veteran founded All Things Possible Ministries to provide medical aid and trauma relief to victims of trafficking, terrorism, and violence in some of the most dangerous regions across the world. Marx said one reason for running for office is because he understands the hardship many face after having lived through a traumatic childhood, a story he shared publicly. His race was too close to call on election night last Tuesday, while the Democrats' candidate easily slid to victory. The future of Colorado will not be decided by out-of-state billionaires. The race is expected to be an uphill battle for Republicans. The party hasn't won the governor's seat for more than two decades. While several states have chosen candidates for the November ballot, there are a number of swing states that have yet to hold races. Later this month, Arizona voters will choose nominees for congressional races, some of which are toss-ups that could decide which party controls the House until the end of President Trump's term. In August, Michigan's holding primaries for the U.S. House and Senate. The Democrats' divide will be on full display in the Senate race as a progressive and moderate go toe-to-toe. The question about whether or not Israel has a right to exist is actually quite secondary to whether or not they have a right to our tax dollars. He's endorsed by progressives, while Congresswoman Haley Stevens has the support from mainstream Democrats. The work that I stand by is long-term peace and a two-state solution, where people in Palestine, in Gaza, can live peacefully side-by-side with the people of Israel. It is deeply concerning that Abdul equivocates when talking about Israel's right to exist. Senator Mike Rogers is running unopposed on the Republican side. As for the House, Democrats are trying to flip a seat in Michigan's 7th congressional district, held by Republicans. And Republicans are looking for a gain in the 8th district. Later in August, races will take place in the swing states of Alaska and Wisconsin. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Melina Weiskopf, NTV News. 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? Entity 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 at this moment? 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 wherever 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. 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 percent 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, NTD's Carrie Dunst takes you inside the success of Young Washington, a new film bringing America's founding story to life. We hear from the film's screenwriter. Hi, I'm Susan Lucci. You may know me from my many years on television. I never thought about heart disease until I had my own heart event. I felt this slight pressure on my chest, just slight. I thought, oh, it's nothing. It'll go away. I didn't get it. I did not get it. A few days later, while shopping at a boutique, that pressure returned much stronger. It felt like an elephant pressing on my chest. I had a 90 percent blockage in my main artery and a 75 percent 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. The 8th NTD International Piano Competition welcomes distinguished pianists from around the world. Celebrating the depth, discipline, and expressive power of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic repertoire. September 1st through the 5th, 2026, New York City. Apply at piano.ntdtv.com. Honoring the timeless tradition of the piano. 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. There are real consequences to controlled media, and NTD's founders know them firsthand. Our freedom of thought is the price. This is the lesson that guides us in everything we do. So there's the tear gas. We know the value of a free society. It's upon us, and for many families and film buffs, summer weekends mean a trip to the movies for that experience you can only get in theaters. And that's just what many did last weekend for America's 250th, watching the film Young Washington. NTD's Kerry Dunst spoke with the film's screenwriter, Diedrich Hoogstrakken, about the film's success. Diedrich, thank you so much for joining us, and let me congratulate you. Your team smashed expectations. You took in nearly $20 million in just your opening weekend, on a total budget for the film of $20 million. So it's safe to say you're well into the black. What do you attribute the film's success to? Thanks. Thanks for that compliment. It's been a wild ride. We had high hopes, but expectations are a little different. You never know until audiences either show up or don't. You know, our visionary filmmaker and director, my co-writer, John Irwin, he really calls this a love letter for America, a love letter to America, an exploration of the forging of the character of our original American, if you will. And what he showed, I think, is that when you do that well, when you tell the truth about a historical episode in American history, that's just truly exciting in and of itself. When you tell that truthfully, authentically, right down the middle, people will still show up. And that's, you know, we were all hoping for it. I think he's shown us that audiences hunger for this. You know, we want, I think, experiences, shared experiences in the dark of a movie theater. We still want that, but we don't want to be preached out. We don't want political messages, I think, generally speaking. We still love this country. We know it's not perfect, but we love movies that celebrate America. Top Gun Maverick showed it last year, right? And I'm so grateful to everybody going that this movie has shown it again. Well, it's certainly edifying and educational, but more than anything, it is entertaining. Action star Chris Pratt, known to some as Star-Lord from the Guardians of the Galaxy, he raved on Instagram about the film, describing it as the American Braveheart. Now, that's really high praise from a guy who clearly knows action films. So how does it feel to make a movie that people are just so pumped about, just from the point of view of being entertaining in an action thriller? Again, I go back to John Irwin, our filmmaker, who always reminds us, this is the business of entertainment, of mass entertainment. Hollywood might've forgotten that, or so it seems at times. We are here to entertain, and I love that Chris Pratt and many millions of other Americans have realized it because, you know, Tom Cruise shows it, Chris Pratt himself shows it over and over again. We do love great stories. Again, if the action is believable, if the story is somewhat educational without ever preaching, if we are allowed again to celebrate this country, you can probably tell from my accent, I live in Texas, but I'm not from there. I was born and raised in Western Europe. My kids are fully Texan. They wear a Cabo Rouge to church, but I'm a new American, and I cherish the freedoms, the generosity, the traditions of this country. And if we can celebrate that again in a movie that also feels great, that redeems, that informs and encourages us, while also, you know, being tough to watch, I'm sure you've realized there's a lot of violence there. This was not an easy time in American history. It's not an easy time for George Washington. So we're not shying away from the violence, from the hardship that he has to go through, but we are in the business of entertainment. And so we want to leave you hopeful and just glad to be an American. Absolutely. And let's now explore that cultural and historical significance. How gratifying is it to release this film timed to America's 250th birthday? Yeah. I mean, I speak to that a little bit as an outsider, as a European, and I can just tell you, there is no other country in world history that was founded in these incredible principles, this vision, all rooted in the Bible and their Christian faith, of course, that then held firm for 250 years. People might take it for granted. People might criticize it. That's all fine. That's in the Bill of Rights. That's all constitutionally allowed. But I love that people, hopefully with our movie, will have a chance to realize again, this is something that came about through incredible sacrifice to incredible struggle. And it is really unique. It's so special. There is no other place on earth that has it, that has maintained it. I think that America is in a really, really good place. In your previous segment, I heard people expressing that same optimism, which I love. You know, folks who are in Washington, D.C. right now, we're not afraid to say we are still great. We have a great future ahead of us. And, you know, looking back to the greatness, what about this guy who was a kid who came from nowhere, was being told no over and over again by the British. He wanted to be British originally. He wanted nothing more. And then ultimately turned all those no's into a, you know, I'll do it myself. I'm going to take care of this myself, realizing that the British could be defeated. He then took it to the British, obviously. But this movie, so people know, ends in 1755. He is young. He is ready to go. He is, you know, rejected over and over. But through that rejection, finds his purpose and his character that we know him for. And our sister media, Epoch Times, their reviewer, Michael Clark, praised the casting. You have literally acting aristocracy in Sir Ben Kingsley. Yet your team chose a relatively unknown as Washington, the charismatic lead, William Franklin Miller. A bit of a gamble. How did your team know that this was George Washington? It was interesting. When we wrote it, you know, you have a picture in your mind. And to be honest, my co-writer, Tom Provost, and I, we imagined a well-known A-list Hollywood actor for this. But not John Irwin. He is brilliant. He always knew he was going to find a newcomer who could take this role and take it to the next level, which, as you said, Will Franklin Miller does. He did. He cast, I think he looked at 200 actors for this role. So, you know, it's a lengthy process. By casting a newcomer, he knew it was necessary to find, as you say, Hollywood royalty. Some of the biggest names around. True, true A-listers who can help carry this movie. And it's so important because in the film, in the script, we surround him with strong characters and these relationships are instrumental to him. We try to show when you fail, when you fall, when you struggle, when there's tragedy, these people around you are the ones to help you back up, to do it together. It's not the government. It's not the state. Not at all. But it's characters like his mother, a wonderful role by Mary Louise Parker, who brings her faith especially in and teaches him even a pawn can take a king, an important line in that movie, because we'll see in 1776 that he really does believe that. And I just have about a minute, but I want to bring up that your team has already announced a sequel. It's entitled 1776. I think it's pretty obvious where you're going with that, but can you please just give us a bit of a heads up on what to expect? Yes. Well, John Irwin knew before he even approached me to help write this, that there was obviously a wealth of material in the founding. And of course, there's alternative versions of history, people who want to change the story. We're not in that camp. We want to tell the story as it was. And so John always knew we were going to start with George Washington, the most important founder. Then we're going to take it to this bunch of guys, this very different group of men trying to figure this thing out, this experiment in world history. And so, yeah, this is the next movie on his list. He's going to be directing it. We're very excited to start putting it together soon because it's been the main question from audiences. They've all loved it, early screenings and also today. The first question is always, where's the sequel? When is it coming? And it's wonderful that John could announce it to premiere in Nashville, that it's coming as soon as possible. I can't give you a date, but we're very, very excited. Well, congrats again on all your success. Screenwriter Diedrich Hoogstraten, take care. Thank you for joining. Thanks for having me. Coming up at the World Cup, it's a much anticipated England versus Norway match with a trip to the semifinals at stake. Today's Dave Martin joins us with the latest. My 15-year-old son, Ethan and I had a fun and relaxing morning. We returned home and Ethan walked to his best friend's house an hour later. I heard the ambulance scream by the street. Carrying my beautiful boy, Ethan was shot in the head in his best friend's house with an unsecured gun. He had zero chance of survival. The father, the gun owner, he stored his three guns and bullets in a shoe box. How do you feel? That has to be the most horrific experience that a human could ever have. David, would you give any advice? First thing you do is not keep your ammunition with your weapons and that your weapons need to be locked at all times. Here you go. Thank you. Thank you. Boxes everywhere. And this is going to be Addie's room. I think you're really going to like it. I hope so. First night here, but Amy seems cool. I got this. Take me down to the river and wash me. Now for your sports news, we're joined by NTD's Dave Martin. Dave, good to see you as always. Good to see you, Arlene. You know, I want to get started right off with the World Cup because I think that's the most exciting sports we have so far. I agree with you. All right, so let's get started. We've got a pair of matches on today. Where do things stand? Right now, Norway and England are playing the first match of the day. It's tied one to one in the second half. And of course, this is a very much anticipated match, star-studded match. You've got Harry Kane of England, Erling Haaland of Norway. Now right now, those two are third and fourth in goals scored in this World Cup. Haaland has seven in just four games. Kane has six. Now, neither has scored in today's game yet. Just playing down in Miami, it's like a heat index of 101 degrees. So good luck. How do they do it? I know. They take hydration breaks, both in the first half and the second half. So yeah, good luck to them. Anyway, after that one, later tonight, it's Lionel Messi and Argentina facing off against Switzerland. Again, we played at 9 p.m. Eastern time out in Kansas City, where it'll be a little bit cooler anyway. And anyway, the winners of both of today's games will play next Wednesday in one of the two semifinal matches. The first semifinal match has already been decided. That'll be Tuesday, Spain playing France. The title game will then be a week from tomorrow right over here in North Jersey, Sunday, July 19th. Teams to be decided. So do you have any thoughts on who might win these two games? Well, I really kind of think Norway is going to take this one. I mean, it's just kind of a guess. They're very evenly matched, if you ask me. You've got two big stars going at it. And Erling Haaland just makes this goal scoring look very easy. He's a big guy. I mean, we all love to see the Viking Road going on, of course, too. And tonight, boy, it's hard to pick against Lionel Messi and Argentina. They're the defending champs. And Messi makes it look even easier. I mean, Messi is not nearly as big as Haaland, but he is just magic with that soccer ball. I don't know how he does it. He can set other people up to score. He can score himself. It's pretty amazing. And he's like, you know, 10 years older than these really good young players. You know, he's like 38 now. So he's leading the young players. He just looks incredible. So those are my guesses. Okay. Well, we'll have to see what happens, right? Keep watching. You'll hold me to it, I know. I know. So we're going to stay with the World Cup because we're looking at the success so far this year. The attendance record from when we last hosted the event in 1994 has already been broken. And are there any plans for us to host this again? You know, there's no definite plans yet. Now, the next two World Cups, that's 2030 and 2034, they already have hosts. Spain, Portugal, Morocco, they're going to host in 2030. Then in 2034, that is going to be Saudi Arabia. 2038, though, is technically in play. I mean, really, it seems unlikely it would come back here that quickly. I want to actually play, though, a clip of what one of the co-chairs of the Kansas City World Cup host committee said about it coming back here. This is going to be Clark Hundy. He's a co-owner of Major League Soccer team FC Dallas and the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs. Let's go ahead and play what he said here. Well, I personally was surprised it took 32 years for FIFA to bring the World Cup back. The 1994 World Cup was, in many ways, the most successful one that they had ever hosted. And I had hoped that we would have had the tournament here four or eight years ago, but that ultimately didn't play out that way. And we're delighted that they're here now. I do think with the bigger tournament, with 48 teams, that FIFA is going to have to think about taking it to countries that have enough stadiums or countries that can partner, like we did with Canada and Mexico, to host this tournament. So I think it'll be back much sooner than 32 years. I don't know exactly when, though. As somebody who loves the sports and would hope to get to host more games in Kansas City, we would be delighted if it came back in 38. I'm not going to say that's going to happen, but if we have the opportunity to bid, we'll do it. You heard him referencing the bigger event this time. They're on 48 teams. In 1994 when the U.S. hosted and they set that record, there were only 24 teams. That's like a whole extra round we have of games this time. So we're going to have like twice as many games They had 3.7 million fans in 1994. When soccer was really not very popular in the United States, they're probably on pace to just about double that mark. It's going to be somewhere over 7 million it looks like it's going to be for attendance record here. So certainly from that perspective, you'd have to say it's very successful. Yeah, I mean we've seen so many people throughout the city and we're taking over their trains and buses. It's really exciting, though, to see all the people. The tickets sold so far, it's like 99.7% of all tickets have been sold for these events. That includes Mexico and Canada, too, of course. So yeah, it's been very successful and it's definitely, I think, helped spread the popularity of soccer here much like it did in 1994. Now, I think I was telling you last week, the U.S. did not qualify for the World Cup from 1950 to 1990. So it was not very popular in the U.S. It's definitely taken off ever since. All right, we're going to turn to tennis now. We have a new Wimbledon champion on the women's side. Yeah, 12th ranked Linda Naskova down to 9th ranked Karolina Mikhova in three sets today, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, winning the title. No matter who would have won today, this would have not only been their first Wimbledon title, it would have been their first major championship as well. So congrats to the 21-year-old Linda Naskova. She is the youngest Wimbledon champion since Petra Kvitova. Say that three times fast. That was back in 2011. Now, Kvitova was also just a slightly younger 21-year-old. Now, meanwhile, tomorrow we've got the men's championship match. That'll be top-ranked Yannick Zverev versus third-ranked Alexander Zverev. Now, Zverev is the rating champion here. Meanwhile, Zverev, he just won his first major just about a month ago at the French Open. Zverev, though, he's really kind of dominated his rival. He's won their last nine matches between these two. So, Zverev definitely gonna have his hands full. That match starts tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, of course, played over in England. And how old are the two of those guys? Well, Zverev is 30 and Cinder is 23. 23? Oh, yeah. He's pretty young, too. Yeah, you know, there's not very many guys who are even 30 and older, like, ranked in the top 20, you know. It's pretty amazing that Djokovic is ranked number nine right now. He's 39 years old. Like, I can't stop talking about Djokovic. Cinder just beat Djokovic on Friday and he made it look easy, which not many people have ever been able to do. But tennis, definitely getting back to the young man's game. You know, we had the big three for a while. Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer were dominating in their 30s, but that's kind of gone with the wayside a little bit right now. New era coming in. All right. Well, we're going to move on to baseball news. The MLB draft kicked off this afternoon and is still in progress now. So what's the latest? Yes. Chicago White Sox had the first overall pick in the draft. That's the first time in, like, more than 50 years that they've done it. The draft, like you said, still going on right now. I mean, that was, like, four hours ago. We're going to go first four rounds will be today, and then rounds five through 20 will go tomorrow. Now, admittedly, there's not always a lot of hype leading up to the baseball draft, certainly compared to NFL draft and the NBA draft. Part of that is if you're a first-round pick in either NBA or NFL, you're definitely going straight to the pros. No questions asked. No questions asked. In fact, in the NFL, most of the picks make the team, you know, right off the bat. There's no minor league system there. In baseball, though, that's usually not the case. I mean, usually all the draftees are going to somewhere in the minor leagues. I mean, it can take years to actually make the major leagues, if you even do it. Now, I look back at the 2021 draft, so five years ago, nine of those 36 first-round picks, you know, the cream of the crop, haven't even actually made it to the majors five years later. It's kind of surprising. And I was looking, even of the 27 ones we have, there's probably about 20 percent of those really haven't made much of an impact. It's kind of a crazy sport. But even, like, as far as the popularity of this goes, college baseball lags also behind college football and college basketball. You don't hear much about it. So it's a much different draft event. Fans really don't actually even know these guys that are getting drafted. It's funny how baseball is such a, people call it a crapshoot like that. For the true fans of the game, they'll be definitely watching today and, you know, keeping a count on when these guys come ready in a couple years, maybe. Maybe, yeah. So what's the reason for having to go to the minors? I mean, why was that? Well, I don't know. Was it always that way? Well, that's probably started about 100 years ago. It's such a complicated game. It's a way to introduce them to all the nuances of the game. You have to be more than an athlete to be able to start in baseball. Like NFL and NBA, if you're just a great athlete, you can already start off doing it. Baseball is, it's a quirky game. It's about the best. You know, most every sport, you've got a goal at both ends and you're either protecting or trying to go in. Baseball, you've got the diamond and if you're on offense, you know, it's only one guy on the field you get to play. It's such an unusual game, but we love it. All right. Well, we love it, but we're going to wait and see if they ever make it to the majors, right? Yeah, I'll let you know in five years. All right. Thanks, Dave, for the update. Thank you, Arlene. All right. And coming up, an award-winning Entity Studios documentary takes the spotlight at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas. Entity's Chris Bobb takes you inside the screening of the newlyweds as we hear from the couple at the center of this story. Are you sitting at home living in pain? Maybe it's in your hands, maybe your back or your hips. The good news is you don't need to live in pain. Why? Because there is Omega XL, a one-of-a-kind, natural, powerful joint relief supplement created from the green-lipped muscles of New Zealand. Drug-free, non-habit-forming, it's small, easy to swallow, and it's backed by more than 40 years of clinical research. If you're experiencing daily aches and pains due to aging and overuse, try Omega XL. Just ask anybody who uses it. The results are undeniable. I had a lot of joint pain, and that slowed me down. I had considerable pain in my back. Really, really felt the pain, I mean, in my ankles and in my heels. I'm telling you about something that's gonna change your life. It has revived me. This works. I'm not a prisoner anymore to my pain. 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And these Don Ma interviewed Zachary Marshall, editor-in-chief of Campus Reform, on what this could mean for students. Zachary, thank you for being on the show today. So I just want to get your thoughts on, good afternoon. Was this a good idea? Do you think this is a good idea, a three-year bachelor's degree? I think it's a great idea. It's going to be a slow process getting there. Right now we have 15 public and private colleges in Virginia and some higher education officials in Ohio, plus a couple non-profit organizations working together to create a proposal in the next three years on how to scale up the three-year bachelor's degree program from a typical four-year that we see across the country. College is only four years because we say it's four years, but it doesn't have to be. There can be fewer extraneous curriculum requirements put on undergraduates. They can be forced to declare majors sooner in their career. And with more structure and leaner requirements, students can graduate college for 25% less of the cost now without sacrificing educational content. Okay, so do you think the main benefit here is the reduction of tuition? Is that the biggest motivation for why we should have this for serious consideration? I think that has to be the selling point here for multiple constituencies, families, institutions themselves, and also state government, federal government, the bodies that are federally and at the state level funding these colleges. Colleges have a financial interest in keeping students on campus as long as possible because they make money from more tickets being sold in sports venues, from dining hall facilities featuring chain restaurants, from outside private companies building dorms or other buildings on campus. That all requires seats to make money. At the same time, we're seeing school after school layoff staff. We're just seeing that at Temple University, at Syracuse University, raising tuition while not meeting enrollment figures in order to recoup lost money. This is because the higher education model is broken. So instead of thinking about college as a four-year place that is unaffordable where you can find yourself, you need to think about it more as a more compact, leaner institution that is a launching pad for people's careers and adult life. So we need to reimagine what higher ed is using more outside-the-box thinking and applying that Silicon Valley disruption model to higher education. Now, Zach, I'm not an expert here, but would you say having three-year bachelor's potentially could also reduce student debt? Because depending on the amount of debt students have, it can actually delay some major life decisions. Yeah, I mean, if you take away one year of tuition, you're down 25 percent of the cost. So right there, that's a win. But that's also not sufficient. We also need to be seeing universities get smaller. We don't need all these extraneous offices for student life that make college more of a sleepaway camp than a place for study. We also don't need all of these far-left courses that have replaced traditional curriculum in first-year curriculum or the amount of electives that do not contribute to an academically serious plan of study or preparation for future skills in life. There is a mountain of overhead every time colleges open up a new diversity office to appease a DEI agenda. There is a mountain of overhead every time they introduce a new minor or certificate program just to make more money out of it. One course we're covering at Campus Reform is a graduate certificate for women in technology. It's not a bachelor's degree and it's not a master's degree, so the use value is very, very small. Colleges need to get rid of these frills and go back down to basics. So I think a three-year degree is in line with that path forward that universities need to take if they want to be financially sustainable and viable institutions. At the end of the day, why has tuition been increasing so much? Can you tell us what are some of the reasons why it's going much faster than the current inflation rate? Yes, there's two reasons for it. One, universities do it because they can. That's really the most basic thing. They think they are exempt from the market and they think they are entitled to whatever price they set because students, no matter what, will want to go there. That trend, though, is proving false. We're seeing a lot of students flock away from the most expensive universities, which are now concentrated in the Northeast at $100,000 a year, to southern schools where they are cheaper and a little more affordable and practical. The second reason is because the growth in spending and overhead at these colleges doesn't come from curriculum and academic support. It comes from the administrative bloat of student life offices, of student services offices. Colleges think they need to be everything to everyone, but that gets away from the point that they are there to teach the best and brightest of our country. If you try to make everyone happy, you make no one happy. In that vain attempt to do it, you have to spend millions of dollars more on things that students really just don't need. It is the wrong priorities and it is a sense of greed, and both need to be corrected. With three years, graduates can also get into the workforce faster, so that's another benefit. Do you think three years, students can get the same level of quality compared to four years? Absolutely. We don't need electives to the extent we do. I graduated from NYU with two majors in three and a half years because I did not take electives, and I also had AP credits and internship credits. We also don't need three months summer vacation and a month-long winter break. These are customs we have now based on old agrarian calendars from when our country had no computers, no trains, no planes. It's totally outdated. We can have more compact academic calendars that more closely mirror the calendar year, and we can also get rid of some of the fluff the colleges are offering. Be stricter about leave of absences. Be stricter about when students need to declare a major by end of freshman year instead of end of sophomore year. Give them a limited range of electives to take rather than telling them it's time to explore who you are, do whatever you want. The college is not a place for self-exploration. It is a place for intellectual development that precedes our more formative years in our mid to late 20s when we are struggling through our first jobs and first apartments. That's when people realize who they are, not in a dorm room subsidized by their parents and a taxpayer. Okay, Zachary, just one final question here. Can you give us some advice to those parents or students who are considering taking different classes, considering different schools? What's your advice to these people? My advice is figure out what you want as soon as you can and give yourself a deadline to do that because the sooner you declare a major and the sooner you start working on those major requirements, the more efficient your path forward will be. I am proof that if you do it correctly and you strategize it, you can double major in less than four years if you're smart about what classes you take and how you do it. No matter what major you take in college, I think it's always best to double major because you will always benefit intellectually, financially, later in life from that cross out of skills and understanding how different skill sets can be applied and transferred in different contexts because the reality is so few of us actually spend the rest of our lives working in the field we majored in. It's better to focus on what you're passionate about and what can give you a gainful future later in life and then use those skills, whether it's the writing, critical thinking, mathematics, and then leverage them later in life. Okay, Zachary, well said. Thank you for speaking with us today. It's been a pleasure. The Anthem Film Festival at Freedom Fest is showcasing a documentary that proves it's never too late to find love. The newlyweds follows one couple who found happiness again after the loss of their spouses. NTD's Chris Bobb has the story. I'm at the Anthem Film Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the NTD Studios mini-documentary Newlyweds was just screened. I spoke to attendees as well as the stars of the show. You guys look, I think you look a lot younger than you really are. Am I, am I allowed to, are we allowed to know? I'm 93 and a half. They were married and their spouses die and then these two individuals find one another. You would think, man, you could be really depressed after you lose the love of your life, naturally, and sad, and you have a period of grieving, but, but that grief and that sorrow is not something that has to be final. What both those individuals do in this film is they take the hopes of their spouses who have passed and that, that hope is that they'd be happy in the rest of this life. The immediate vision that came to me was like, this is a miracle. Being from their generation, I thought it was really, really beautiful and they are amazing, beautiful people. Love comes to you if you really want to go and get it. You can find it. We also hope that more younger people would look at this and say, maybe I should consider getting married. We understand there are a lot of young people these days that think that that's not worthwhile. You find a mate that has so many interests and, and makes, makes everything more enjoyable when you do it together. There's such a richness about having somebody in your life that you can say anything to, that you can trust, that can stand behind you and in front of you. And there's just nothing like it in the world. And I know it's risky. It's worth, it's worth it. It's worth it, but don't, but search out somebody who really shares something. It can't be about physical attraction. It can't be because it felt good tonight. It's, and you know it, you know it. It has happened twice to me now. We knew almost instantly when we started talking to each other. Don't look, just put yourself out there and be yourself. In Las Vegas, Nevada, Chris Bobb, NGD News. And now another cheerful story for you. She's being called the greatest of all time of the Rock Creek Canyon fire. The goat helped out some firefighters in Colorado. She took it upon herself to lead fire crews to, to and safely from the fire, which is burning on the south side of Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs. Fire officials say the cute little pathfinder and unexpected escort helped firefighters pick the best route following the smoke. They say she helped with some fuel mitigation along the way to the fire. In other words, she helped herself to forest snacks in the form of vegetation along the path. And that's the news for this evening. Thank you for tuning in. I'm Marlene Richards. Good night.