Capitol Report Full Broadcast (July 16)

Good evening. Tonight on the Capitol Report, the 2020 election, back in the spotlight, election fraud, what to expect in the president's primetime address. This, as the White House says, the news doesn't get any bigger. It will shock you if you have an honest eye listening to the president tonight and everything he is saying will be backed by facts and by evidence. And the biggest terror threat now from the extreme left, the Secretary of State gathering more than 60 countries with an urgent message. Left-wing violence was not just excused. It was treated as sacrosanct, a protected class unto itself. And millions upon millions in fraud and Democrats boycotting the hearing about it, while California seeks to make it illegal to investigate it. Tonight on the show, Senator Rand Paul with reaction. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. Good evening. And in just a couple of hours, President Trump to address the nation on elections. The news, he says, doesn't get any bigger than this. We go now live to NTD's White House correspondent, Mari Otsu, standing by at the North Lawn. Mari, good evening. What are we expecting to come out of the White House tonight? Hey, Steve. Good evening to you. Yeah, lots of anticipation here at the White House. Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt returning to the briefing podium here for her first time since she was on maternity leave. And she's confirming that tonight President Trump will, in part, address election integrity and specifically the 2020 election. That's as she's urging every American tonight to tune in. The White House is also urging media to honestly report on the findings that the president is going to reveal. That's even as multiple media outlets are now saying that they're not going to live stream the president's primetime address. The White House, though, vowing that there will be receipts. Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt says facts and evidence will be supplied. Take a look. I think the American people will be relieved to hear what they are hearing from the president of the United States and his commitment to transparency and the focus on the integrity of our elections tonight. I think all Republicans and Democrats should recognize this should be a nonpartisan issue. If we don't have safe and secure elections in our country, we cannot have a country. It is a vital part of our democracy, of our constitutional republic. Sources tell NTD that President Trump's address will include alleged efforts by foreign countries, particularly China, to interfere in American elections. His remarks coming as the president actively pushes for the Save America Act's passage in Congress, with lawmakers now attaching many elements of the act to the third reconciliation bill. We should have the safest and most secure elections in the history of the world. And what the president will be speaking about tonight will show you that perhaps that is not the case. And we need to make some adjustments moving forward, including the Save America Act. It's really, really big news. And our country has to shape up. But what we're going to be talking about Thursday is it doesn't get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don't have a country. The White House also pushing back on critics who say the speech should address economic issues as we head into the midterms, highlighting the administration's actions on affordability. The world's most famous sore loser will deliver a primetime presidential sour grapes address to pursue his six-year-old grievances about the 2020 election, while his war in the Middle East spirals out of control and the cost of living continues to rise for Americans across the country. For private sector workers, real wages have increased by roughly $1,000 since President Trump took office, after falling nearly $3,000 during the previous administration. Press Secretary Levitt saying President Trump could also address Iran tonight as Central Command conducts a sixth consecutive night of strikes against the regime. This comes in response to Iran repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreement with the U.S. by striking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran very much continues to talk to the United States of America and express that they want to make a deal with us because they are suffering devastating blows on behalf of our United States military. But Steve, all eyes here are on President Trump, who will shortly be addressing the nation at 9 p.m. from the East Room here at the White House. More details, I'm sure, will be revealed then. Back to you. And we'll be airing that whole speech throughout the evening. Mariotsu, thank you. And as we anticipate the President's address, joining us now to discuss is Thomas Speciale, former Senior Advisor to the Director of National Intelligence. Thomas, great to have you back with us. So, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt previewing the address today. Let's have a look. The American people will be relieved to hear what they are hearing from the President of the United States and his commitment to transparency and the focus on the integrity of our elections tonight. I think all Republicans and Democrats should recognize this should be a nonpartisan issue. If we don't have safe and secure elections in our country, we cannot have a country. Thomas, why is this question of election integrity of the 2020 election still a huge concern? Why should it be for our democracy? Well, I think, first of all, it's good to see you again. I think that the issue we're facing here is the election legitimacy question, right? There are millions and millions of Americans that have very, very strong concerns about the legitimacy of the election and not just the actual votes, the raw votes. I put some thoughts together before this, and I was just thinking, the unconstitutional elections because of the COVID shutdown. We had the summer of love that nobody did anything about. We had the oil pipelines being basically a big argument over oil pipelines. We had the Steele dossier that was used to fabricate the Russian collusion hoax that was leaked to the American people as essentially a psychological operation perpetrated by Brennan, Comey, and Clapper. We had the intelligence community assessment that went out that was influenced by the Steele dossier as well that influenced the intelligence community to believe that the Russians had been involved in influencing the previous 2016 election. And all of those things culminated in the distrust in the election leading into 2020. And then on top of that, you had some really, really egregious events. You had the 51 intelligence officer's memo that went out and said that the Hunter Biden laptop was a fraud or a Russian hoax. It wasn't. Everybody knew it was true. And then in addition to that, to make matters even worse, and just the most egregious thing really that happened other than the psychological operation perpetrated against the American people was the Facebook and Twitter influence that was perpetrated by the FBI to essentially silence free speech regarding concerns about the COVID vaccine, the Hunter Biden laptop, the Russian collusion hoax, etc. So these were really major efforts by the leftists within the bureaucracy to disrupt the 2020 election. And ultimately they were successful. While we still don't know precisely what the president's address might reveal, the press secretary today alluding to substantial evidence. Here's what she said today in the briefing room. The media has refused to acknowledge that tens of millions of Americans across the country share the concerns of this president about the sanctity of our election. It will shock you if you have an honest eye listening to the president tonight and everything he is saying will be backed by facts and by evidence that will be provided this evening. It will shock you if you have an honest eye. Thomas, many Americans are genuinely concerned about election integrity. Has the media been too quick to dismiss concerns about election integrity before he's even spoken about it? Well, I think it's obvious that the big mainstream media doesn't want to hear any of this. That's why they're essentially not broadcasting what he's going to say tonight. Every American should be tuning in to what the president's going to be saying at nine o'clock tonight, wherever they can find it, here especially and on C-SPAN, etc. People that are going to broadcast this message, anybody that's going to try and silence the president right now, it's just another example of how afraid they are of the truth and the facts. I went and looked at the election figures for the last four presidential elections. I just want to throw a couple numbers out there, first of all. From 2012 to 2016, there was an increase of 7 million overall voters, and 6 million of them went to the Libertarian and Donald Trump in the 2016 election, so an increase of voters of 7 million. Then somehow, miraculously, when Biden was campaigning from his basement, there was an increase of 20 million in one election cycle, 20 million additional votes over the 2016 election, and 16 million of them went to Joe Biden. There is something very wrong when you can increase literally 20 million votes and 16 million of them go to one guy. Then in the 2024 election, we saw things go back to a little bit more of the normal. Strangely enough, the Democrats lost 6 million votes overall from the previous election, and Donald Trump gained 3 million. Something is dramatically going on with the electorate. I'm not an election expert, but I'm a facts expert, and these facts are obvious that we have something wrong in the election system. I think you bring up some very important perspective when you say Joe Biden campaigning from his basement. We have to take a step back and remember, that was a very sort of unprecedented, unique period of time with the COVID lockdowns and the mass mail-in ballots that were sent to everybody. It was an unprecedented election in the sense that everybody was watching it that night. The president at the time, Trump, was up, and then all of a sudden, votes stopped counting, days get spread out, and the famous curve. So really something to sort of remember about 2020. Critics argue that voter fraud is minimal and not widespread. As someone with an intel background like yourself, what kind of evidence and investigations do you think we might hear about tonight? It's really hard to know exactly what the president has available to him. But I know, having gone into the DNI last year, I know that there was a very, very concerted effort to understand. Tulsi Gabbard got a lot of criticism from the left because she went down to Georgia. Well, the Director of the National Intelligence also oversees domestic threats, not just foreign threats. Anybody who believes that the DNI is only interested in foreign threats, that's asinine. She had a role in being there because of the fear that there is foreign influence and domestic inappropriate influence in the elections. And that is why Tulsi Gabbard was down there in Georgia. And so to your point, it's impossible to know how much the psychological operation perpetrated against the American people. Again, the Russian collusion hoax, the unconstitutional elections in these various states, the Hunter Biden laptop being silenced, the 51 intelligence officers memo, those kinds of things influence voters. And those things were done to the American people. A lot of times it comes off like this was done to Donald Trump, the president, the candidate. It was not done to Donald Trump. It was done to Americans, all of us, not just Republicans, not just Democrats. It was done to all of us. And it was perpetrated by the likes of Brennan, Comey, Flapper and others. Let's not forget the social media blackout. Many people speaking up and talking about such things were essentially erased from social media. Elon Musk didn't buy X until midway through President Biden's term. Thomas, especially, I really appreciate your insights. Thank you. And far left political violence and terrorism. The Trump administration now launching a new international campaign against the growing threat. Entities Washington correspondent Jack Bradley brings us more. The Trump administration says the global threat of terrorism has changed. Instead of focusing solely on radical Islamist groups, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is urging allies to confront a growing wave of far left political terrorism. For far too long, however, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot. A blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left. The State Department hosting leaders from more than 60 countries across Europe, Asia and the Western Hemisphere to expand efforts, sharing intelligence and coordinating investigations. Rubio says for years, academia and think tanks have considered terrorism by far left Marxist groups to be just an extreme outcome of overzealous means, but virtuous ends. So many people in positions of power have repeatedly dismissed acts of violence and even terrorism as legitimate forms of political expression so long as they served a left wing cause. He points to the 2020 riots following the death of George Floyd, where police arrested thousands. But many Democrat run city governments dropped or never pursued charges and mainstream media coverage at the time, saying that protests were mostly peaceful. Political violence carried out by far left groups have increased in the US and Europe since 2016, but it's still prevalent today. Germany reported a 40% rise in far left violence just last year, with Antifa carrying out much of the attacks. Officials say these extremist networks coordinate internationally, sharing funding, communications and even training across multiple countries. We will identify illicit funding, however artfully it is concealed. We will dismantle the networks that sustain political terrorism, however respectable their fronts may be. At the same time, the State Department just announced a new policy that restricts visas to members of designated foreign far left terrorist groups. That directs for the first time in American history, all of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies to work together to disrupt, identify, defund, debank, arrest and prosecute these political terrorists that are operating in our country. Last year, the State Department designated four groups as foreign terrorist organizations, offering up to $10 million in rewards targeting their financial networks and are even considering adding more groups to the list. For NTD News Washington, I'm Jack Bradley. And while officials have outlined a plan for combating left-wing terrorism, a question remains. How was it allowed to grow out of control in the first place? Our panel will discuss the hidden agenda behind left-wing radical extremism later in the show. Stay tuned for that. And right now you're looking at a live shot of the United States Capitol, where senators are looking into widespread taxpayer fraud. Senator Rand Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, will join us just after the break. 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. Food. It fuels our bodies, nourishes what's next, and brings us together. Because we all need nutritious food to thrive. Food gives me energy and it also helps me focus. But not everyone knows where their next meal is coming from. And one in five children face hunger in America. It's tougher than ever for too many of us. But the simple truth is, ending hunger is possible and it starts with you. Call or go online to helpfeedingamerica.org and give $19 a month, just 63 cents a day, to put healthy food within reach for families in your community. Feeding America works from coast to coast with partner food banks, food pantries, and meal programs. Your monthly gift delivers food to families all summer long, puts fresh food on the table, and helps kids have healthy meals even when school is out. You can see the difference with the kids when they're full. Food is everything. Please call the number on your screen or go online to helpfeedingamerica.org. Give $19 a month. Your first gift can double in impact. And we'll send you this free canvas grocery bag as a reminder of how you're helping to end hunger for good. When it comes down to it, it's about taking care of your family first and the loved ones that you need to provide for. Without them, my kids wouldn't be fed. It's like a weight off my shoulders. I have hope. The simple truth is, ending hunger in America is possible. You can help make it happen. The need is urgent this summer. Call or go online now to helpfeedingamerica.org, and your gift can double in impact. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. Senators on Capitol Hill probing into widespread taxpayer fraud, but Democrats don't seem to be interested. Joining us now to discuss is chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. Senator Rand Paul, thanks so much for joining. Thanks for having me. Senator, you just chaired a hearing on widespread taxpayer fraud, ultimately featuring testimony from independent journalists, Nick Shirley and James O'Keefe. What came to light in their testimony, and why is this a critical issue for the American people to care and know about? Well, it's extraordinary. You know, a 24, 25-year-old man, Nick Shirley, went with a camera and started looking at big recipients of money—autism centers, adult daycare, that kind of thing—and he showed up and nobody was there. He found millions of dollars of being stolen. But the extraordinary thing is, why wasn't the government doing their job? These are things run by Medicaid, largely. This is under the executive branch, and the executive branch hasn't been policing this. So the Democrats boycotted the hearing. We didn't have virtually any Democrats show up for this. They say, oh, it's sensational, and conservatives are just making this up. And it's like, well, 19 people have been indicted since these videos came forward. We had James O'Keefe also showing that people were being bribed to sign up and use fake names for voting in California. Shocking, I know. But the thing is, yes, we do need to shine light on this, and we need to do something significant to try to make sure this never happens again. That truly is the billion-dollar question, no pun intended, as to why the government doesn't have safeguards in place, and we have to rely on 26-year-old independent journalists to get to the bottom of these things. Senator, notably, you just mentioned James O'Keefe. He dressed up and had his team dress up as homeless people to investigate voter fraud registration in Los Angeles, California. He spoke about the response he received from California officials. Let's take a listen. This is a completely nonpartisan, nonpolitical issue. Mayor Karen Bass, the LADA, and the governor of California did not criticize me. They actually put statements out saying this is outrageous and needs to be exposed. Senator, what do you make of the lack of movement from the state of California? Do you think O'Keefe's request is falling on deaf ears? I think he said there'd been one arrest, but it was a federal arrest by the federal government, by federal prosecutors. State government hasn't done much. As far as criticizing him, they haven't done much, but the governor did take time to criticize Nick Shirley and actually call him the fraud, to call him the problem. In California, they've actually passed a law or are trying to pass a law to make it illegal to investigate government entities. Can you imagine? They're going to try to make it illegal for someone to show up and film that somebody is ripping off the system. So this has to end. One of the things that I've proposed, and I think one of the reasons this problem is so big, is the federal government pays for the programs, but they're administered by the state. So the states have no disincentive or no incentive to look for fraud or not to sign up ineligible people because someone else is paying for it. So we need to take Medicaid, which used to be a 50-50 program, and go back to that. After Obamacare, we changed Medicaid and made it 90 percent paid by the federal government, 10 percent by the states, and I think this has made the fraud worse. Senator, you speak of the scope of this problem, yet all of your Democratic colleagues on the side were absent and intentionally not present at this hearing. What is your reaction to the lack of attendance from your colleagues on the Democratic side? Well, it should be exposed. People need to know that these Democrats don't seem to be concerned at all with fraud. We're not talking about a little bit here. We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, and there actually is a fix. We discussed this fix last summer when there was this big appropriation bill. One of the things I put forward is, let's get rid of the Obamacare where the federal government pays 90 percent. Let's go back to a 50-50 split. States pay half, the federal government pays half. That saves $800 billion over 10 years, $80 billion a year, real savings, but it also will help to root out the fraud because when the states have to pay 50 percent, they're going to be much more conscious of the cost. But realize that didn't pass when we needed only Republicans because we had four or five Republicans, at least, maybe 10, that wouldn't vote to put these limitations on Medicaid. And that's where the fraud's coming from. You're going to continue to have fraud. We keep trying to catch them. But as long as there's no incentive for the states to police this, you're still going to have this problem. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, greatly appreciate you joining us. Thank you. Thank you. And now it appears all sectors of government are mobilizing in the fight against fraud. Keith Sonderling highlighting his experience with fighting fraud during his confirmation hearing to become the next Secretary of Labor. NTD correspondent Jason Blair has the key takeaway. Department of Labor plays a significant role in making sure that there's no fraud, because all fraud is a theft on taxpayer dollars. During his Senate confirmation hearing to become permanent Secretary of Labor, Acting Secretary Keith Sonderling highlights the Department of Labor's aggressive push against unemployment fraud. What we saw in the unemployment system during COVID time, $135 billion was stolen, gone. Social Security numbers were being stolen. Millions of dollars were going out to people in jail, to dead people. Sonderling also highlights his work as a member of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vice President J.D. Vance. I sent a letter to 53 governors and governors of territories. We're telling the states, verify first and pay later. During the hearing, Sonderling defending the transfer of education programs from the Department of Education to the Department of Labor. It makes zero sense that DOL, an agency whose expertise is in supporting wage earners and job seekers, that it's being tasked now with taking over complex education programs. I think it makes a lot of sense. Our systems at the Department of Labor are more sophisticated based on prior reports and implementing those recommendations than the Department of Education system. Senator Josh Hawley pressed Sonderling to strengthen the joint employer rule, accusing companies like Amazon of trying to exploit it. It is absolutely vital that the joint employer rule not excuse Amazon's ridiculous efforts to game the system and prevent people like this from being treated well, getting a good paycheck and getting health care. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will likely vote along party lines within the next week. With Republicans in the majority, Sonderling is likely to advance to a full Senate confirmation vote later this month or early August. Reporting on Capitol Hill, Jason Blair, NTD News. More insight on what to expect in the president's primetime address tonight. Senator Bernie Marino posting online, quote, I would encourage every American to tune in to tonight's president's speech. This may be the most important Oval Office address since the Cuban Missile Crisis. The time for complacency with China is over. Be sure to watch President Trump's address tonight at 9 p.m. here on NTD Plus. Don't miss the discussion before and after on Tiffany Meyer tonight. Also on Capitol Hill, the Save America Act may not be out of reach or at least some form of it. House Republicans today moving a funding package that includes a grant program for election integrity. NTD's Chris Bobb has more on President Trump's third reconciliation package. We had to use reconciliation 2.0 just to fund homeland security. My Democrat colleagues would not do that unless we defunded ICE and CBP. Now we're at reconciliation 3.0. We still have obstruction. The House Budget Committee on Thursday approved the framework for President Trump's third reconciliation funding package, moving the legislation one step closer to a House vote. We're going to use reconciliation because we're not going to let our troops be held hostage. Secondly, we're going to strengthen our food supply. We're not going to be begging China or anybody to feed our families. Thirdly, we have to do something to give confidence to the American people that there is, in fact, free, fair, and accurate elections. The proposal will provide $73 billion for defense and intelligence, $12 billion in agriculture assistance, and $10 billion in grants encouraging states to adopt key provisions of the Save America Act, including proof of citizenship for voter registration and voter ID requirements. House Speaker Mike Johnson discussing the proposal Wednesday. We're going to pass the Save America Act into law, as much of that as possible. The Save America Act ensures, as you know, that voters have proof of citizenship to register to vote and they show a valid ID when they turn up to vote at the ballot box. These common sense policies are supported by 83 percent of the American people. It's almost a 9 out of 10 public opinion poll. Rather than including the full Save America Act, the reconciliation package would create a $10 billion grant program encouraging states to adopt proof of citizenship and voter ID requirements. Some conservatives say that incentive-based approach falls short. I don't want to be deluded, and of course I'm concerned. Unfortunately, we don't have too many choices. We never get what we want, right? We get something similar to what we want sometimes. The save language that's in there is real reform and not just fake save language. It's actually going to compel a state like California to actually check citizenship when they're registering and check voter ID. Then that's something that I would consider. Lawmakers are also concerned about how Congress plans to pay for the $95 billion package. If you want to increase military spending, that's great, but there's plenty of places we can find the fraud and the waste to pay for it. I don't know why we're not trying to do that. House Republican leaders hope to bring the budget resolution to the floor next week before lawmakers leave Washington on July 24th for the month-long August recess. If approved by both chambers, committees can then begin drafting the final reconciliation legislation. Chris Bobb, NTD News. And this coming July 20th will mark the 27th year of the Chinese Communist Party's brutal persecution of Falun Gong. As America marks its 250th birthday, the International Religious Freedom Builders Forum is shining a spotlight on this issue today, bringing together different faith groups. This Monday, July 20th, marks the 27th anniversary of the CCP's cruel campaign to eradicate Falun Gong. The U.S. government takes attacks on members of religious groups such as the Falun Gong seriously and is committed to using all appropriate tools to pursue accountability for Chinese officials' involvement in reprisal attacks. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a Chinese spiritual practice based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Although Falun Gong is embraced worldwide, practitioners inside of China have been subjected to brutal persecution since July 1999. China, where I came from, simply saying the words I'm a Falun Gong practitioner could get a person arrested, tortured, or even killed, having their organs harvested while they're still alive. Meanwhile, here in the United States, the Chinese Communist Party has been using a variety of tactics to attack and discredit Falun Gong. Those tactics include lawfare, violent threats, physical assault, surveillance, diplomatic pressure, and more. Among those on the receiving end of this campaign is Shen Yun Performing Arts, a New York-based dance company founded by Falun Gong practitioners. CCP can weaponize the American media, social media, bailout government agencies, and took advantage of a judicial system to target Falun Gong and Shen Yun. They can do that to any other groups of their choosing. And in addition to Falun Gong, the forum highlighted other persecuted groups in China, including Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, and Uyghur Muslims. And right now, you're looking at a live shot of the White House. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is making the case that far-left terrorism has been systematically overlooked. More from our panel on the persistent threat of extremism, just after the break. I debate all day. It's what I do. 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You came because a month after that Berlin blackout, a French 23-year-old succumbed to traumatic brain injuries, beaten to death on the streets of Leon by a group of far-left militant thugs. Between 1970 and 1980, 93 percent of terrorist attacks in the West came from the far extremist left. So, Denny, let's start with you. Many Americans don't realize that left-wing extremists bombed the United States Capitol, the State Department, the Pentagon, most recently assassinating Charlie Kirk. What is your takeaway from this roughly 50 years of history? So he is pointing out, and what you just noted as well, that those are very specific examples that were carried out by left-wing folks or left-wing extremism. There's no doubt about that. Now, the only thing is about the study that he actually cited, there's more nuance to it, where the study actually stated that 93 percent of terrorist acts are actually carried out by domestic terrorists. Now, within that initial study itself, it doesn't actually break down the difference between who is carrying it out from right-wing or left-wing extremism. So I think he kind of made up that part of it. But when he points out some specific examples, like the Berlin Blackout, there's no doubt that that was carried out by more left-wing and climate change extremists. There's no doubt about that. So I'm not denying those specific examples, but I do believe he kind of conflated that 93 percent of them. Larry, the Secretary referenced terrorist groups in Europe and Latin America to demonstrate that this is a global issue. Is this a problem that the world needs to take seriously at this moment in history? Of course it does. It always has. You know, look, the left-wing, not only left-wing terrorists, individuals, one-offs, left-wing groups or that type of thing have demonstrated violence, but left-wing governments. You know, you look at the communists of the 20th century, the socialists of the 20th century killed 100 million people. We can never forget that. That leftism, quite frankly, does not value life the way that the right does. And so you got to look at what's going on in the left wing. And it's not just a grassroots, one-off, you know, examples of people with mental illness. It's like we saw in, you know, Black Lives Matter protests where people were burning down buildings and stuff. It's a very organized, funded operation from left-wing billionaires that, you know, they laid out, you know, bricks, pallets of bricks in the streets. So what were you laying out the pallets of bricks for? So that the protesters can pick them up on the corner and throw them through windows. You know, it's not anything new and it is something that we finally should, you know, take care of and crack down on. Yeah, I think the argument is that behind a lot of these front groups are Marxist underpinnings. The secretary also went on to say that left-wing terror has risen to levels never seen before, pointing to the riots of 2020 that Larry just mentioned, as well as attacks in the United States and Europe, but that isn't taken seriously. Let's have a look. During those George Floyd, so-called George Floyd riots in the summer of 2020, as criminals and extremists burned and looted their way through America's great cities and nearly brought the country to its knees, left-wing violence was not just excused. It was treated as sacrosanct, a protected class unto itself. Denny, did previous administrations perhaps neglect to address and investigate some of this left-wing terrorism, sort of allowing it to incubate? No. I'm going to take a little bit of umbrage by that statement as well, because just recall in 2020, that was still President Trump's first term. And it was his justice department who actually created a database to track all these incidents that were occurring during that summer. Now, when you look at the actual data, it tells you that when it comes to actual violent crimes, the arson, the actual breaking in, the robberies, everything else like that, they were actually very successful in prosecuting a lot of those individuals. The folks that he doesn't clarify and actually specify, the folks that actually were shown some sort of leniency were the folks that all of a sudden violated curfew orders. Anyone who violated any of those curfew orders, yeah, those charges were primarily dropped. But the ones that actually carried out any sort of violent incident, any crime, anything else like that, no, those folks were actually prosecuted. This is according to Trump's own Justice Department during his first term. Larry, many of the members of these extremist terror groups that the Secretary pointed out actually went on to become academics at some prominent institutions. Has ideological capture helped to downplay the scale of left-wing terrorism? Oh, of course. Look, and you're right, it did happen during President Trump's term. But the cities that these riots happened in, Kamala Harris set up a bail fund, and they were basically captured and released the same day. So there was some, obviously, federal cases where they went after some people. But for the most part, it's the state, it's the city's job to police, and they were told to stand down. That's why the cities burned for days on end, for weeks on end. And quite frankly, you're right, it wasn't just the ideological capture, it was also the media. There was plenty of media personalities that were standing in front of burning buildings and saying, look, I'm looking all around, and it's mostly peaceful. And they coined that term, mostly peaceful protests, while everybody was looking right at a very violent protest. On that note, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch, speaking about weaponization of the Department of Justice, his confirmation hearing continued today. We have some sound from that. We are restoring American trust. In recent years, we watched the Justice Department turned against many of you and a former president, and it damaged the public's faith in justice. We are fixing that. Denny, many conservatives feel that, you know, the left, and when I say the left, not, you know, as they say, your mom and pops or your grandparents, Democratic Party, sort of the far left socialist elements, has ideologically captured nonpartisan political institutions. Is there a case to be made that the Trump administration is reserving that? That's a good question. You know, I'm going to answer it. I just want to make one final point. I do want to agree with my colleague on the panel, where, yes, I think you had some elements from the media that were downplaying the severity of some of the riots that were occurring. There's no doubt about that. So I 100 percent agree with you on that statement. Now, going back to this particular question, I mean, look, there is no doubt that a lot of these cases that were brought against Trump were politically motivated. I mean, come on. You saw in New York where he was fined, what, a half a billion dollars? I mean, come on. There's things like that that we recognize that this was just flying in the face of what actual justice looks like. So they do have a valid point to point out a lot of these issues that were, one, carried out and just made up. A lot of these charges were absolutely just made up and trumped up, you know, no pun intended, but, you know, to go after, at that time, the former president. So with him stating that clearly that that's exactly what his charge is and his goal is to make sure that they have an agnostic and just nonpartisan justice department, that's what America wants. You know, all Americans want to make sure that the justice department and law enforcement is treating everybody fairly. There's no doubt about that. So as long as they're doing that right and they're doing it correctly and they're not making any sort of, you know, nothing that can be tainted by some partisan lens, then everyone's going to be okay with that. Larry, do you think that as, you know, the Attorney General Todd Blanch could work to ensure that the DOJ can't be weaponized by future administrations? And what do you say to sort of the folks, the Democrats that, you know, might feel that it's being weaponized against them in terms of, you know, in the process of trying to set, you know, things straight? Well, look, I don't think that this Department of Justice has weaponized anything. You know, all of the cases that they've brought have been, have actual content. If you want to ask most grassroots MAGA conservatives, they're furious that they aren't weaponizing it enough, that they aren't using it to go after the political. There's a lot of MAGA folks out there that really are kicked off that, hey, they used it against us, let's use it against them. And I really appreciate that the Department of Justice and the FBI have kind of played it right down the middle, but they're going after things like fraud. And they're catching people who have, you know, stolen from the American taxpayer. And they're going after people who have cheated the electoral system. So we're going to see President Trump talk tonight about that as well. So I like the fact that we've had restraint in the Department of Justice. And by the way, Denny, you are way too rational to be in the Democratic Party. We'd appreciate if you would come over already and join the GOP. I appreciate that, Larry, but I do like being a Democrat. Denny Salas, Larry Ward, appreciate the discussion. Thank you. Coming up, deadly flooding is forcing rescues across central Texas as rivers continue to swell. Meanwhile, Canadian wildfire smoke blanketing the Northeast, creating unhealthy air quality across New York City. This plan was designed for people on a fixed income with coverage options that start at $9.95 a month. That's less than 35 cents a day. Your rate is locked in for life. Coverage can never be canceled. And your acceptance is guaranteed. You cannot be turned down because of your health. See for yourself. Call for an information kit and gift. Both are free with no obligation. Call 1-800-624-6556 for your free information and your free gift. That's 1-800-624-6556. 1-800-624-6556. Call now. Today's seniors are enjoying life more than ever before. And part of that comes from the independence of driving. However, car insurance for older drivers becomes more expensive the older we get. Just because I'm a senior, maybe you are too, Do we really have to pay outrageously high insurance rates? Well, the answer is no, we don't. 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Yes, it is possible for seniors to save on car insurance. You could lower your premiums by hundreds of dollars a year. As a responsible driver, you always check your gauges, right? And you check for other cars and pedestrians. You check your oil and you check your mirrors. Well, now is the time to check on your auto insurance rates. You need to make sure that you're not paying more than you need to. Call the number on your screen right now. 1-800-952-5196. 1-800-952-5196. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. At least one person is dead as floodwaters continue ravaging parts of Texas, prompting rescues and evacuation orders. At the same time, smoke from Canadian wildfires plaguing the Midwest and the East Coast. Antony's Christina Corona brings us more. At least one person has died as dangerous flooding continues across Central Texas, where heavy rain has triggered flash flood emergencies, water rescues and widespread road closures. Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the victim died overnight between Kerrville and Comfort. There are more than 1,300 state personnel from more than 30 agencies that are already activated, including agencies like the National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, our Texas Game Wardens for the Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Texas Department of Transportation. More than 75 people have been rescued and a disaster declaration now covers 59 counties. On Thursday, the Texas Department of Public Safety rescued a young girl, her family and their two dogs from floodwaters in Uvalde. The flooding is hitting the same region devastated by last year's catastrophic floods, which claimed more than 130 lives, including children and counselors at Camp Mystic. The Guadalupe River near Comfort rose more than 25 feet in about an hour, while some communities have already received up to 16 inches of rain. Forecasters warn isolated areas could see as much as 20 inches before the storm moves out. Meanwhile, another weather hazard is affecting millions in the northeast. Canadian wildfire smoke blanketed parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, prompting air quality alerts across the region. Smoke from hundreds of active wildfires burning in Canada has been carried south. New York City's air quality index reached the red or unhealthy category Thursday morning as smoke drifted from South Canada. Officials opened cooling centers, distributed canine 95 masks and urged residents to avoid prolonged outdoor activity, especially those with heart or lung conditions. When the FIFA World Cup final set for Sunday in the New York, New Jersey area, many fans are wondering whether smoky conditions could affect the match. Sunday morning, I think we're going to be seeing a cold front come through the area and it should kick out any remaining smoke that we're seeing. So pre-match conditions, we may still see some of that haze and smoke hanging around the New York, New Jersey area. But by the time we get into the first half of the game, I think most of that smoke is out of the way and we should be dealing with a beautiful day out there. Forecasters expect the thickest smoke to clear by Friday, though another round of haze is possible this weekend. Christina Corona, NTD News. And at last year's Camp Mystic Flood in Texas, while children waited for rescue, one Coast Guard swimmer found himself alone on the ground organizing an evacuation that wound up saving 165 lives. Petty Officer Scott Ruskin of Corpus Christi is now honored with the Pat Tillman Award for service at the ESPYs aired on ESPN. There was a lot of heroes that day that aren't getting an ESPY award. The campers and the camp counselors were able to help each other out of the floodwater in the middle of the night, hours before I ever showed up or any other rescue crew showed up. Callie and the other girls, you guys are alive today because of your own bravery and your quick action. Those guys actually saved way more lives than we did. Ruskin was the first rescuer to reach the camp directing children onto helicopters as crews battled dangerous weather and rising floodwaters. He honored the Coast Guard flight crews, Texas National Guard and other first responders while remembering the lives lost in the flooding. After accepting the award, Ruskin said he'll be back at work on Friday for the current flood mission in Texas. That is all we have for you tonight on the Capitol Report. Stay connected to the stories that matter and visit NTD.com and download the NTD mobile app. From the nation's Capitol, I'm Steve Lance. Have a great evening. See you back here tomorrow.