NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 29)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story tonight, President Trump vowing to give Iran a beating after the regime's surprise attack on U.S. forces. And the president unveiling his next major D.C. beautification project, mariotsu at the White House. Dr. Anthony Fauci invokes the fifth more than 100 times before Congress. Now senators are weighing contempt charges after newly released diary entries raised A bill sanctioning Russia and Iran one step closer to passing the Senate. White lawmakers say the bill's primary target is China. RFK Jr. gets over 180 health care organizations to voluntarily pledge to treat addiction recovery and mental health challenges with the same level of care as other diseases. Jason Blair reports. Is it a matter of trust or a lack thereof? Some teenagers and young adults say they use A.I. for emotional support before turning to friends or family. David Lamb speaks with a renowned psychiatrist who says parents play a big role. This is NTD Evening News, live from our global headquarters in New York City. Here's Kerry Dunst. Good evening. Thank you for joining us tonight. President Trump vowing to hit Tehran hard after the U.S. military intercepts a surprise ballistic missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan. We're now joined live by NTD's White House correspondent Mari Otsu at the North Lawn. Mari, good evening. What happened today? Hey, Kerry. Good evening to you. Yeah, that's right. President Trump today responding to those overnight strikes on that U.S. base in Jordan, saying that the U.S. only had minutes to respond to those incoming Iranian ballistic missiles and shoot them down in time. And in response, President Trump says Iran is going to get a real beating. Now, after the U.S. successfully intercepted that attack overnight, the U.S. and Saudi forces then joined up to strike an Iran-backed terrorist site in Iraq. The president also saying that he's been briefed on a drone hitting a U.S. gas storage tanker off of Egypt, saying that all of this, though, is going to get straightened out. Take a listen. In the meantime, we're going to be hitting them very hard because it's our turn to hit them. They know it's coming. They're asking us not to do it, but we're going to hit them very hard. This comes as the U.S. continues to squeeze Iran economically, with the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports redirecting 20 commercial vessels, disabling two and boarding two. At the same time, the Treasury is taking further action against Iran's effort to monetize the Strait of Hormuz, designating two Iranian firms for running an extortion scheme that forces commercial vessels to buy mandatory insurance just to transit the strait. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Iran is expected to receive within weeks the first shipment from an order of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air defense missile launchers, a purchase valued at $60 to $70 million. This comes just days after President Trump's warning to China and Russia against giving or selling weapons to Iran. He said, quote, if they did, it would be very bad for them, certainly not in their best interests. The president also telling Fox he's considering additional threats targeting Iranian proxies and their ties to the Iranian regime. Meanwhile, President Trump unveiling his next D.C. beautification project, vowing to transform Washington's Dulles Airport into a display of American greatness. The president announcing plans to add more than 5 million square feet of new or renovated space, replacing the C&D concourses while preserving the iconic original terminal. The White House saying the roughly $22 billion project will be funded by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the airlines themselves. And the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, there with the president in the Oval, says that the construction is expected to start next spring. He says he also anticipates this project bringing in billions in economic opportunities and thousands of new jobs to the D.C. metro area. Back to you. Make Dulles great again. Thank you, Mari. Next, Iran heavily dependent on nations like China to sustain its war effort. As President Trump vows a strong response now to Iran's recent strikes, how is the U.S. strategy shaped by the Iran-Russia-China access? Hear from strategist Hal Kempfer tonight on Capitol Report with Steve Lance at 7 p.m. Eastern, just after evening news. Critical U.S. infrastructure hit by a cyber attack. Minnesota officials say more than 30 community water systems were targeted. The state's I.T. agency reveals that the attack took place on July 26th and July 27th. It's unclear exactly who was behind this attack, but officials say it was coordinated and the methods are similar to past attacks by Iranian hackers. For years, Iran-linked hackers have targeted U.S. water systems with varying levels of success. An investigation is now underway, and the FBI has contacted the victims. Minnesota says it is not aware of any active requests from cities to have residents modify their drinking water usage. And Dr. Anthony Fauci pleading the Fifth Amendment to over 100 questions at a Senate hearing where he was subpoenaed to testify on his handling of the COVID pandemic. And to The Washington Correspondent, Jack Bradley has the details. There are so many legitimate questions that deserve answers, and now you're not willing to provide those answers. Dr. Anthony Fauci refusing to answer senators at a Homeland Security hearing, which he was subpoenaed to attend. On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Your silence is very telling. There will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today. This committee has scheduled a vote next week on a resolution certifying your contempt. The former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during the hearing. That's despite former President Biden preemptively pardoning Fauci in one of his last acts in office, despite no charges being brought against him. You've never admitted that it could have been a mistake funding this research in China. A pardon may protect a person from criminal prosecution, doesn't rewrite history. And speaking of Fauci's counsel, his lawyer, David Shurtler, was removed from the hearing for trying to speak to senators. I said sit quietly. You are not recognized. Another word and you're gone. Security, please remove him from the room. Let the record state that Dr. Fauci will still have the advice of the other half a dozen attorneys that have gone along today. Now during this hearing, Senator Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the committee, said that this hearing was biased, trying to reach a predetermined conclusion. Today's hearing looks backwards. But earlier this morning, President Trump saying, I said from the beginning that the virus came from the Wuhan laboratory in China. Fauci strongly disagreed, always trying to protect China. I disagreed with him on a lot. I would have had it closed down the whole country if I listened to him. The hearing unfolded following Senator Paul's release of a diary that Fauci wrote while he was still leading the government's response to COVID-19. Diary entries contradicted some of Fauci's public comments. You also wrote in February 12th, 2020, that you had great concerns about the World Health Organization because there depends greatly on China. And as you stated, often bows to them. That China covered up their data, wouldn't allow our scientists to be able to come in. So the World Health Organization was putting out data that you saw, at least at that point, as being from a Chinese perspective, covering up what was going on. At the same time, the Trump administration has just stopped gain-of-function research, saying it threatens lives and America's economic and national security if not properly restricted and controlled. So over the next week, Senator Paul says he will push to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after repeatedly refusing to answer questions on Capitol Hill. Jack Bradley, NTD News, Washington. Thanks to Jack for that report. Joining us now for his reaction to Dr. Fauci's testimony is a man who's been highly critical of the public health response to COVID-19 since the very early days of the pandemic, Dr. Robert Malone, physician, scientist, and author. Great to have you with us, Dr. Malone. To kick off, what is your reaction to Dr. Fauci's testimony here? He invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times. I had written about this twice now, and my predictions had been that he would not take the Fifth because that's prohibited. What he's done, the hypothesis was that if he did take the Fifth, the legal justification would be the risk that he faces from lawsuits from the states. He seems to have decided that that is his pathway forward and did so in a really overt way, wouldn't even testify about the color of his shirt or the presence of a folder on the table. It's a shocking situation here, and the word contempt is appropriate in terms of his position relating to Congress. He started off by insulting Senator Rand once again. By asserting that he was obsessed with Tony Fauci. Yeah, it kicked off on a tense note there for sure. Now, a lot of people right now, they're looking for a way forward and some accountability. I think that's what people were tuning in for. In your mind, how do we restore public trust in our health institutions and have some accountability for what happened during the pandemic? Well, that's a bigger question. The question of whether or not Dr. Fauci will be held accountable. My understanding from talking to Christina Salazar, who is one of Dr. Paul's lead aides on this, is that they plan to schedule a vote next week. They hope that if it passes out of committee, that they can use a pathway involving the president of the Senate to recommend contempt of Congress referral to the Justice Department. In terms of restoring public health for the nation, public health credibility, it's a huge problem, and it's going to require major reforms both at FDA and at CDC. Right now, I think that we're making great progress in terms of bringing some rationality to NIH, and Jay Bhattacharya has provided great leadership on that. But it's going to take a lot of time. Now, outside of the origins of COVID and potentially not being forthcoming about that, the other revelation in these diaries was this sort of revolving door of collegialness, if you will, between pharma companies and government employees and this ability to request nomination for certain awards that came with cash prizes. I'd like you to comment on what that culture might have been and how things might be changing going forward. So what you're referring to is I believe it was four full-time employees reporting to Dr. Fauci that were assigned to identify speaking engagements that would be paid, as well as awards that would be paid to Dr. Fauci in particular. So Dr. Fauci was clearly using the public dollar, our tax dollars, to enrich himself, and not just to enrich himself financially, but also to promote his own personal reputation. What we have to do is to stop allowing these long-term federal bureaucrats in leadership positions where they can amass this amazing amount of power and influence. And I think we have to have functionally term limits for these people so that we don't have this type of 10-year life with Dr. Fauci amassing power over 40 years plus. Well, an interesting proposal, potentially one of the things that could be implemented going forward. Dr. Malone, thank you so much for joining us. It's great to have you with us. Thank you for your time and for having me on. And next, after Dr. Malone, we bring in Tiffany Justice. She's co-founder of Moms4Liberty for her view on Dr. Fauci's testimony today. Tiffany, you've dedicated your life to lead a national parents' rights movement in response to many of the COVID-era policies that were championed by public health officials, including prolonged school closures, vaccine mandates, masks, lockdowns. I want to get your reaction to Fauci pleading the fifth over 100 times today. I echo Bernie Moreno, Senator Moreno's comments today about, you know, who does he think he is, right? He's some colorful language. I won't tonight on your show. But certainly, that's the feeling of American parents. You know, he asked him to apologize to people that have been hurt. Fauci wouldn't do that. So American parents are not surprised. There's been no real accountability for what's happened. And, you know, we're looking at ways to deter this from ever happening again. So, you know, if Tony can't be held criminally liable for what happened, perhaps he can be held civilly liable with some type of a class action lawsuit for parents and small business owners across the country that were hurt by the many, many things that he did. Now, can you talk a bit about the long-term effect of COVID policies on children and what role Dr. Fauci had in that, in your view? Someone asked me today, you know, when will we recover from a lot of what happened with during COVID to the kids? Honestly, I don't know that those kids ever fully recover from what happened. They're out of school now, many of them, and it really hurt their enthusiasm for learning. And it's changed the way that public schools work. You know, there were a lot of school districts that started using computer-based programs during COVID, and that has continued in the schools. There are a lot of bad policies that were put into place, including parents not being able to go to open house nights in New York City public schools that are still on the books that unions got into bargaining contracts. So there is no doubt, horrible harm that has happened. There are also good things that have happened. I say sometimes, people have heard me say, I'll make COVID lemonade. Look at the declining enrollment in public schools. Look at the transparency that we have now that parents were able to see the seeds of division that were being sown in our public school classrooms. So we try to make the best of everything that happens when you're a parent with your children. And I think the blessing here is the fact that we have some real transparency about the fact that kids are not learning to read and to do math, and our schools and parents are taking a much more active role in stewarding their children's education. Yeah, necessity certainly the mother of invention. Let's talk about your work with Moms for Liberty and where things sit with the parental rights movement since the COVID era. I think the parental rights movement is still strong. Moms and dads stood up across the country during COVID because nobody's going to fight for anything like a mom or a dad is going to fight for their kids. The most important thing that parents need to be thinking about and doing right now is making a plan to vote and talking to their friends about voting. You have someone like Amy Acton, who was director of health in Ohio, that's running against Vivek Ramaswamy. What a nightmare to have her as a governor of Ohio. You have a DSA candidate running against Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin. We need Tom to be elected. So you can only set policy if you are in power. And the way that you get power is by winning elections. So moms, dads, parents across the country, you need to vote these midterms so that the president and his team and great patriots across the country can continue to protect your parental rights. Yeah, a good point there and completely exercise your right to vote. So important. Now, clearly there was no cathartic mea culpa today. I think people may have been looking for that. Do you think transparency and accountability will come? And if so, from who would it come and when might it come in its entirety when we look back on the COVID situation? Well, there are a lot of good ideas floating around about the fact that Fauci took the fifth today so many times, and we'll see if anything comes to fruition. I personally am interested in holding him civilly liable through the Federal Tort Claims Act. I think he went above and beyond what his role was in government, and I think he should be held personally liable for that. Let me tell you, if government officials had to know that they would be held personally liable for the decisions they make when it comes outside the scope of their normal job, we would create a lot of deterrence. I want to make sure this never happens again. So some people might say, well, small potatoes, his $15 million net worth or his $400,000 pension. But you know what? Let's take it because $15 million is a lot of money, and if we can hold government officials accountable for the horrible decisions they make, then perhaps we can stop them from making those types of decisions. Well, Tiffany Justice, Moms for Liberty, thank you so much for joining us this evening. Thanks for having me. And coming up, New York giving a dozen state law enforcement agencies until August 25th to end their partnerships with ICE. But what happens when that deadline hits? Will local police still be able to work with federal immigration authorities? And slow-moving thunderstorms on the East Coast causing dangerous flooding in the region. More than 11 million people now under flood watches. Jason Perry has the latest. Getting prescription glasses from Select Specs is easier than you might think. Select your frames from our £6 range in-house brands or our extensive designer collections. Then enter, upload or email your latest prescription and our website will analyze it and help you select the best lenses and options to suit you. Click to place the order and your new Select Specs glasses are delivered right to your door. Ordering your prescription glasses is as easy as 1-2-C with Select Specs and selectspecs.com. Looking to update your dining room? Come to Mathis Home today where you have the freedom to save on everything in the store. Check out our huge selection of dining sets, many specially priced at just $8.97. Whatever your style, we've got a look you'll love. Each of these sets include the table and four side chairs. 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And now you can lock in your low monthly rate. All plans include a no questions asked money back guarantee and flexible payment options so you can never pay for covered repairs again. Call 1-800-871-6072. That's 1-800-871-6072 to get your free no obligation quote. So call now. Welcome back to NTD Evening News. I'm Kerry Dunst. Slow moving thunderstorms on the East Coast causing dangerous flooding in the region. More than 11 million people are now under flood all the way to western New England. NTD's Jason Perry has the latest on the weather. Dangerous flooding is hitting the East Coast on Wednesday amid heavy rain. A band of slow moving downpours moving northeast after drenching New Jersey and Pennsylvania on Tuesday. Multiple flash flood warnings are in effect in parts of New York with Skodak getting over nine inches of rain in the storm. More than twice the amount of rain it normally sees in the entire month of July. Severe thunderstorms also swept through the D.C. area on Tuesday with powerful winds and heavy rain as seen in this video filmed from an apartment balcony. More than 11 million people are under flood watches on Wednesday from eastern New York through western New England. The greatest danger is centered on parts of eastern New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut where a level three or four risk of flooding rain is in place. Heavy rain is expected to gradually spread into eastern Massachusetts including Boston on Wednesday. The storm slowly passed through New Jersey on Tuesday which got about two to five inches of rain. The Patterson, New Jersey Fire Department said they rescued at least 20 people from flood water including a person stranded in the high water in a wheelchair. And just after midnight on Wednesday the New Jersey Department of Transportation said flooding closed two lanes on routes one and nine in both directions. Also on Wednesday according to FlightAware around 200 flights were canceled and hundreds delayed at New Jersey and New York airports. The New York City Fire Department also reported that multiple cars became stranded in flood water on Staten Island late Tuesday. The storm system will start to weaken on Wednesday evening and its rainfall will become more scattered. However a risk of isolated flooding rain is in place from Boston to coastal Maine on Thursday. Jason Perry, NTD News. New York is taking its first enforcement action under the state's new Office of Immigrant Trust. Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James have given 12 law enforcement agencies until August 25th to end their agreements with ICE. But as some local officials push back questions remain over what the deadline will actually mean for immigration enforcement across the state. NTD's Niku Bhani reports. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James are ordering 12 law enforcement agencies across the state to end their partnerships with The agreements known as 287G agreements allow specially trained local officers to assist with certain federal immigration enforcement duties under ICE supervision. Now the state's deadline doesn't necessarily end communication between local law enforcement and ICE. A recent Fox News report cites a legal group arguing that NYPD officers can directly contact ICE under federal law. And this even in places like New York City where sanctuary policies are still in place. Retired NYPD Captain John Eterno explains how New York City police will handle criminal illegal immigrants as a sanctuary city. They understand the nuances that's out there and the NYPD is well trained. They are very very professional and the officers of NYPD don't want any type of dangerous criminal to be released so they would properly follow the guidelines that they've been instructed on. Some sheriffs and local officials have expressed disagreement with New York's law that restricts cooperation with ICE and say they will not comply with the state's new directive. The sheriff's position is that this is an unconstitutional the statute is an unconstitutional intrusion on their constitutional authority is you know the only constitutional law enforcement officer in our state and so we don't think that the legislature has the right to impose this on us but we we don't hold court in our sheriff's offices we have to let the courts decide that but our view is that you know you're making it difficult for us to do what we think is our constitutional mandate so we have to you know work around it not do anything illegal but still achieve our constitutional duty to protect the public. The federal government has sued New York over the statute and is asking a court to block it. Nikubani NTD News New York. Supporters of California's voter ID ballot measure have filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Rob Bonta over the ballot language for Proposition 39. The lawsuit argues the wording is misleading while Bonta's office says the title complies with state law. NTD's Christina Corona tells us more. Supporters of a California voter ID ballot measure are asking a judge to rewrite the language voters will see on the November ballot arguing it doesn't fairly describe the measure. The lawsuit was filed Monday by a group led by Republican Assembly Member Carl DeMaio who says Attorney General Rob Bonta replaced a neutral ballot title for Prop 39 with one meant to sway voters. The Attorney General at the last minute decided to scrap that title entirely and has instead replaced it with a blatantly biased and dishonest title intending to rig the election to defeat Prop 39. The original title described the measure as one that establishes additional voter identification and citizenship verification requirements. The revised ballot title now reads prohibit citizens from voting unless they present government issued identification. Prohibits citizens from voting? No. When people enact a voter ID requirement, trust and confidence goes up in the elections. More people participate. We're trying to stop non-citizens from casting ballots, ineligible voters from casting ballots, people from fraudulently casting ballots that's not theirs. Proposition 39 would require voters to show government issued identification when voting in person and provide the last four digits of a government issued ID number when voting by mail. It would also require election officials to maintain voter registration rolls, verify citizenship and report those efforts annually. In a post on X, Bonta says it is common for ballot titles and summaries to change from the circulating version to the version voters see on the ballot. California law expressly allows these changes to provide further clarity for voters. This year, online voter proposed initiatives had changes including Prop 39. The lawsuit asks the court to order a new ballot title and summary before ballots are finalized for the November election. Christina Corona, NTD News. The Federal Reserve is choosing to hold interest rates steady. This comes following their latest two-day meeting and the decision is in line with the market's expectations. Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the benchmark interest rate in the 3.5% to 3.75% range. Three members dissented, preferring a quarter percentage point hike. The Fed says in a statement, quote, economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes in part to the conflict in the Middle East. Productivity, growth and capital investment are strong. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce and the unemployment rate has changed little. Central Bank reiterates its promise to deliver price stability. Its next meeting is in September when the market expects it to hike interest rates. And coming up, a bill sanctioning Russia and Iran is one step closer to passing the Senate, while lawmakers say the bill's primary target is China. And is it a matter of trust or a lack thereof? Some teenagers and young adults say they use AI for emotional support before they turn to friends or family. David Lamb speaks with a renowned psychiatrist who says parents play a big role. I am so glad you ladies are here. You each have your own rooms. Thank you. Get settled in. I'll call you for dinner. Adopting teen sisters, it's a lot. Girls, you're going to be late. You want breakfast? No, thanks. We're good. They're always in their own world. Twice the work. Twice the surprises. Just try it. But if you think of it that way, they're also twice as fulfilling. Is it okay to call you mom? Of course you can. We come from a long line of farmers, and there's a sense of pride in being part of these multi-generational businesses. But there's also a significant amount of pressure. My senior year of high school, my dad made the decision that this world no longer needed him. I don't know if he was overwhelmed by the bills and checks that weren't going to be coming in because of the strawberries dying off, but it breaks my heart that my dad made a permanent decision for a temporary issue. Don't feel like you have to go through it alone. Farmers have to take care of their physical and their mental health, because what's a farm without a farmer? The mornings, that's my time. Watching the sun come up. I can have a cup of coffee and exercise if I want to. It helps me start the day with a sense of gratitude. Every day is a new opportunity. Don't forget to check in on yourself. Love your mind. Welcome back to NTD Evening News. I'm Cary Dunst. A bill that would impose heavy sanctions on Russia and Iran has just gotten one step closer to passing the Senate. Senators say the bill also targets China, the biggest backer behind the two countries. Here's more from NTD's Fiona Ji. The Senate on Tuesday evening advanced the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 in a rare, overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. If signed into law, it would sanction the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas and extend sanctions on Iran. It would also allow for tariffs on imported goods from countries that are Russia's biggest supporters. So I'd like them to add Iran as tariffs, not just as sanctions. I think it's important. That's what Lindsey wanted because I heard that they have tariffs on Russia, but not on those five countries with having to do with Iran. I'd like to see tariffs on Iran. It would make it much stronger. While some critics say that the tariffs provision gives the president too much power, the vast majority agree that the bill's provisions are important to countering the biggest backer of the Russia, Ukraine and Middle East conflicts, namely China. A report from the House Select Committee on the CCP earlier this year revealed that China uses a shadow fleet to buy and transport tens of millions of barrels of oil from sanctioned countries like Russia and Iran. China's actions keep these countries' economies afloat. Let's be really blunt. China and India are the main culprits here. They purchase the vast majority of oil and gas. They are fueling Russia's war machine and they are doing us no favors anywhere else in the world. The bill was advanced in honor of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, co-author of the bill. He was a vocal supporter of Ukraine and Israel, and the vote took place just hours after his funeral in Washington, D.C. Tuesday's vote also coming on the heels of President Trump's separate meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both leaders say the meetings were positive. The bill is now set for a final Senate vote later this week. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Fiona Ji, NTD News. Ukraine says it urgently needs missile defense systems until its own American-designed Patriot missiles are ready to go. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky raising this issue with President Trump and U.S. Senators. NTD's international correspondent, Arian Pasdar, has the latest. We speak about Patriot missiles. Really it's true. Now we spoke with the centers about it. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying he addressed Ukraine's need for American-designed Patriot missiles. The Ukrainian President says he brought up the issue during his meeting with President Trump and while speaking with U.S. Senators afterwards. Russia usually attacks Ukraine using drones and missiles, although according to Zelensky, the latter posed the main threat. We have drones and deceptors more than systems of electronic warfare. Real problem is anti-ballistic systems and anti-ballistic missiles. Zelensky issuing another warning on Wednesday, saying Russia prepared a massive attack several days ago and there is a high probability that the strike will be carried out tonight. President Trump recently allowed Zelensky to produce Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine, but Kiev says it also needs missiles now until its own are ready, which is expected to take at least one year. While in the U.S., Zelensky also attended the funeral of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, as he told Fox News. A lot of things been changed because of such people like really to support his family and to be thankful for all our nation. Meanwhile on the battlefield, Zelensky publishing these videos on Wednesday, saying Kiev hit more oil terminals and other targets in Russia. Footage also shows a warehouse belonging to Russia's largest online retailer Wildberries on fire. Ukraine says these sites store parts which are being used for Russia's military equipment. Moscow denies the accusations. Wildberries makes up a significant part of Russia's GDP. According to Reuters, the company is now looking for financial support from Russian state-owned banks after days of attacks on its storage facilities. Arian Pasdar, NTD News. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing for higher standards in mental health and addiction care. Health care providers and insurers have signed a voluntary pledge to treat these issues as a core part of overall health care. NTD's correspondent Jason Blair has more on that. Mental illness and the chronic disease of addiction are treatable, and today we pledge our commitment that they deserve the same urgency, coordination, and model of care of any other disease. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Dr. Oz met with more than 180 organizations and leaders from 30 states who signed a voluntary pledge to treat addiction and mental illness with the same standards used for diseases like diabetes and cancer. For many, many years, mental health and substance use disorders have been essentially playing on the fringes where they're not really in the house of medicine. The Maha movement fundamentally is about making it easier to be healthy in America. It has to deal with mental health issues. We're understanding more and more the links between mental health disorders and physical disorders. The event supports President Trump's Great American Recovery Initiative. It aims to create a coordinated national response to addiction, focusing on prevention, treatment, and long-term recovery using evidence-based care and continuous support rather than one-time approaches. Addiction is a chronic illness. Mental health is a chronic illness that needs lifelong treatment, and treatment is effective. Recovery is possible. We just need to come together to create the map. The event framed mental health and addiction care as essential to overall health. Officials challenged the behavioral health community to create measurable outcome-based standards and to step up so the public can trust reimbursement for these services. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. Thanks to Jason for that report. And staying with mental health, a survey asked teens and young adults about their use of AI chatbots. Some say they turn to AI for emotional support, and they cite a variety of reasons. NTD's David Lam speaks with renowned psychiatrist Dr. Carol Lieberman for her insights. A new survey finds that a significant number of teens and young adults are turning to artificial intelligence chatbots for emotional support instead of to their friends, family, or mental health professionals. Dr. Carol Lieberman, known popularly as America's Psychiatrist, says part of the reason is that they're used to being online and on devices. But she says there are deeper reasons as well. For example, they say they don't want a trauma dump on their friends. And what that has to do with is trust. They're afraid that their friends won't be able to withhold what they tell them, their stories. And then similarly, they're afraid that their secrets will be used against them. That also is about trust. A report by San Francisco-based Hope Lab and Harvard's Center for Digital Thinking surveyed people between 14 and 22 years old. Respondents say that chatbots have access to But Dr. Lieberman says that parents are an even more important resource, and she suggests that they take the initiative. It's all about the parents. The parents are not spending enough time with their kids, and they're not letting their kids feel that they can trust them with whatever it is that their kids want to talk about. And the parents need to bring dinners back. They need to bring a time for when that's what it used to be, that kids and parents would talk about their day at dinner. NTD asked AI models ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok about this topic. The models generally responded that chatbots like themselves can be used as a tool but should not be treated as an authority or a replacement for trusted relationships or people. Dr. Lieberman says if with something other than a school assignment, they can ask about it. You need to gently talk to your child and say, huh, I noticed that you were talking to AI. What kinds of things do you go to AI for? And just open-ended. Well, I just want you to know that if you have any questions or if you're feeling sad about something or you just want some advice, I would be happy to give it to you. But then the thing is, you have to follow up with that. David Lamb, NTD News, California. Next, the Trump administration is increasing its focus on national security by targeting Chinese robots. It's also part of the administration's effort to reshore key industries to help vitalize economic growth. NTD's Sean Marshall has details on these latest initiatives. The Trump administration on Tuesday unveiled bans that target imports of new Chinese robots and power inverters, seeking to protect the U.S. build-out of artificial intelligence from national security threats and reshore key industries slated for explosive growth. Some have expressed concerns that the robots could spy on key U.S. industries, extracting data and sending it to Beijing or disrupting critical functions. Supply chain vulnerability is the other major focus of the new bans. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced some of the basic details on X. The FCC has now added two new categories of devices to the U.S. covered list, which bans new versions from import or sale in America. One, advanced robotic devices, such as humanoids and quadrupeds, produced in foreign countries. Two, power inverters produced in foreign countries. This action follows determinations by executive branch national security agencies that the devices pose unacceptable risks to U.S. national security. It includes exemptions for devices that, based on Pentagon or DHS findings, pose no unacceptable threat. One opponent of the bans is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He says the banning cutting-edge Chinese AI would not be an effective solution, adding that U.S. companies should systematically identify bottlenecks and roadblocks in order to better compete with Chinese AI firms. The Trump administration says it wants to avoid another Chinese government-linked hacking campaign, like the one dubbed Volt Typhoon, revealed in 2023. By taking control of privately owned routers, the attackers sought to hide subsequent attacks on American critical infrastructure. Sean Marshall, NTD News. And a federal judge in Texas says he's taking the 2023 Supreme Court decision dealing with affirmative action in college admissions and applying it to the city's race-based contracting program. NTD's Arlene Richards has more on the judge's reasoning. A federal judge has ruled that part of Houston's minority business contracting program is unconstitutional, citing the same Supreme Court precedent that ended race-based affirmative action in college admissions. The case involves Houston's minority women and small business enterprise program, which sets goals for awarding certain city contracts to minority-owned businesses. A white couple, Jerry and Teresa Thompson, who own a landscaping company, sued the city in 2023 after they applied for an MWBE certification and did not get approved. Their company has a mostly Hispanic workforce, but because the owners are white, the company does not meet the program's racial requirements. Equal protection means equal protection for everyone, not preferential treatment for some, Erin Wilcox, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the Pacific Legal Foundation, said in a statement. She continued, the 14th Amendment guarantees every business owner the same shot at a government contract, regardless of race. U.S. District Judge David Hittner ruled the race-based portions of the program violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The judge's decision applies the reasoning of a landmark Supreme Court ruling from 2023, students for fair admissions versus Harvard, and the companion case involving the University of North Carolina. Both schools acknowledge that they use race as one factor in making their admissions decisions and that race is a decisive factor for some of the students that they admit. The question in these cases is whether Harvard and UNC's programs are permissible under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. We conclude that they are not. The Supreme Court said racial classifications must meet a very demanding constitutional standard and rejected the university's use of race in the way they had structured admissions. In the Houston case, Judge Hittner said that precedent extends beyond college admissions when the government uses race to treat people differently. The judge said Houston would need to show evidence of specific past discrimination to justify using race in its contracting program and found the city had not done so. City Attorney Arturo Miquel said in a statement about the program, it is a remedial program where the goal is to eliminate discrimination that remains in the industries with which the city contracts. He says the city is considering an appeal and will comply with the ruling while the case moves forward. Arlene Richards, Entity News. Coming up in baseball, 2A star Shoei Ohtani has been relegated to hitter only status of late. So when will he return to the mound? Dave Martin joins us with an update. This is how I keep my joints happy. Omega XL is a powerful natural supplement backed by 40 years of clinical research. Take control of your pain like Cynthia Bailey. My knees in particular started giving me pain issues all the way back to my modeling days from just running through airports, photo shoots. 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He said the left knee soreness was caused by pitching. He also said his right biceps is not 100% as well. So both those injuries have kept him off the mound. Fortunately, he's still been an effective hitter though. Ohtani went 3-for-4 last night with a double, a home run, and three RBIs in last night's loss to the Mariners. For this season, he's top 10 in a number of batting categories. Granted, those numbers are a little bit down from where he's done the last three seasons in winning three straight MVP awards. Of course, this year he's also been pitching. He's shut down on July 3rd. Now regarding a possible return to the mound by playoff time that will be October, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, quote, given where we're at in the calendar, if the knee continues to get better, the arm continues to get better, I would expect him to pitch, end quote. So in any case, the Dodgers and Ohtani, they got a big lead in the National League West. They got 11-league game lead over second place. They will host the Mariners tonight at 10-10 eastern time out in Los Angeles. 3-for-4, sounds like he's heating up. He's hitting well. I mean, I would say he's hitting well in this month. For anybody else, it'd be very good. For him, it's like well. He was hitting very good last month in June, I'll say that. This month, well enough anyway. So for $70 million, I'll say he's worth it. He's doing his job. All right, let's move to the NFL. Unfortunately, we reported on that tragic story on Monday about Chiefs assistant coach, Cleveland Offensive Coordinator Eric Biennemi. His wife was shot in their home. It seemed like maybe their son had some involvement. What's the latest? Yeah, the Chiefs actually held their first full squad training camp practice today. Offensive Coordinator Eric Biennemi, of course, was not there. He's with his family right now in Virginia. Now, according to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, Mia Biennemi, that's Eric Biennemi's wife, has been released from the ICU anyway after being treated for multiple gunshot wounds. Allegedly, their son was the one who shot her. Police have charged 27-year-old Elijah Zion Biennemi in connection with the incident. He's being charged with malicious, wounding use of a firearm in commission of a felony and discharge of a firearm inside of a dwelling. He's being held without bond. Eric Biennemi, meanwhile, he was previously on Andy Reid's staff with the Chiefs from 2013 to 2022. The Chiefs then rehired him this summer as the Offensive Coordinator. So a very sad story there. Yeah, good news that she's out of the ICU there. And moving over to Philadelphia, the Eagles look like they've signed all-pro Jalen Carter. Pretty big contract extension. What's happening there for Mr. Carter? Pretty big here. A record for a defensive tackle. Yeah, reportedly signed a four-year, $152 million extension. That is the biggest contract ever for a defensive tackle. Both have guaranteed money. It's $106 million over four years. An average annual salary of $38 million, as agents confirmed this to the ESPN. He's still on his rookie contract, though. This contract doesn't actually start until 2028. Now, Carter was the team's first-round pick in 2023. He's been a Pro Bowl pick each of the last two seasons. In 2024, he was also an all-pro selection in helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl. Now, elsewhere in the league, Pro Bowl running backs B. John Robinson and Jamiro Gibbs did not practice today, though it's unclear if it's because of injuries or possibly being hold-ins, meaning they're physically at practice but not participating, usually in hopes of leveraging a new contract deal. Now, FYI, the top annual salary for a defensive tackle, as we just mentioned, is Carter's reported $38 million deal. The highest pay for a running back is Saquon Barkley at just over $20 million, so about half of a defensive tackle. It's kind of funny how the NFL works. You know, 20 years ago, running backs were pretty the toast of the league, right? They were the highest paid and everything, but not anymore. Well, Saquon deserves double the money, as you know, a Penn State guy here. But that image of him, he looks like he wasn't tackling Jackson Dart. It looked like he was swallowing him. I mean, he just completely engulfed what is a very large band in Jackson Dart. He does those, like, body slam tackles, you know? I mean, he's just so strong. He can grab you above or below. It doesn't seem to matter with Jalen Carter. That's why he's one of the best in the league, if not the All right. Thanks, Dave. Appreciate it. Thank you, Kerry. And that is all for today's news. But for around the clock original coverage, you can visit us at NTD.com. Or better yet, use our NTD app. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Kerry Dunst. Good night.