Capitol Report Full Broadcast (Aug. 14)

Good evening. Tonight on the Capitol Report, the largest crime reduction in U.S. history under President Trump. What the numbers show and what the communities most affected by crime are now saying. Crime has continued to plummet under our leadership in 2026 with robberies down another 20 percent and murders down another 23 percent. So in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. territory, what President Trump is saying and the new orders for the latest aircraft carrier under construction. Shooter Luigi Mangione pleading guilty to federal charges in the killing of the healthcare CEO. Tonight, what we ask and why so many rushed to defend him. With today's guilty plea, Mr. Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. President Trump touting the largest reduction in violent crime in American history, as this week marks one year since his federal crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C. began. We're now joined in studio by NTD's White House correspondent Mari Otsu for Capitol Report exclusive. Mari, good evening. You were there. We're one year out. You were there in the briefing room when the president announced the federal surge. What's happened since, you know, over this past year, both throughout the nation and in the capital? Yeah, I was. And that was exactly a year ago on Tuesday when he announced the federal surge of National Guard and law enforcement here in the nation's capital. And tonight he was actually highlighting the decrease in violent crime, a very dramatic decrease both here in Washington, but also in the nation as a whole. He was doing that at the Nassau County Police Academy alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche. They're also today releasing that FBI report of 2025 crime statistics, which show that this has been the largest one-year decrease in history since the FBI began to record these statistics back in 1936. Let's take a look. And last year, there were over 3,100 fewer murders than the year before. We had 10,000 fewer rapes than the year before. One million fewer assaults, robberies, burglaries, thefts. The announcement coming as this week marks a year after President Trump declared a public safety emergency in the nation's capital. In August of last year, the president in the White House briefing room cited D.C. as having one of the highest robbery and murder rates of any major U.S. city, with a homicide rate of over 27 per 100,000 in 2024 and vehicle theft of more than three times the national average. President Trump declaring rising violence endangers federal workers, hinders recruitment and retention of essential personnel, and undermines confidence in the United States as a secure nation. The president then deployed hundreds of federal agents and National Guard troops to Washington to combat the crisis. I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse. This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we're going to take our capital back. From the moment President Trump announced the deployment, critics dismissed the statistics, claiming the president was merely using crime as a pretext to expand his federal power. All of this is a total abuse of power. It's a manufactured emergency. This is all an opportunity for Donald Trump to play dictator in Washington, D.C. This is not about safety. This is about suppressing Black leadership. However, nine days after the initial surge, the White House announcing results in the Capitol. If you look at what's happened in Washington, D.C. in just the past nine days, we've seen a 35% reduction in violent crime. We've seen over a 50% reduction in robberies. So the line is that I'm a dictator, but I stopped crime. So a lot of people say, you know, that's the case. I'd rather have a dictator, but I'm not a dictator. I just had to stop crime. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser initially said Washington was not experiencing enough crime to merit a surge, calling the president's actions an authoritarian push. But on the deployment's 17th day, the D.C. mayor praised the federal surge, reporting carjackings were down 87%. We know that when carjackings go down, when the use of gun goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer. So this surge has been important to us for that reason. On day 23, Mayor Bowser issued an executive order directing D.C. to work with federal law enforcement indefinitely beyond the presidential emergency. Now, a year later, Washington is experiencing significantly lower levels of overall crime. The White House announcing that in the Capitol, homicides are down 44%. There have been more than 16,000 arrests, approximately 2,000 illegal guns seized. The Pentagon has recently confirmed the National Guard mission will continue in Washington through the remainder of President Trump's second term. Whether these dramatic results justify the policy remains a matter of political debate. But for many D.C. residents, the conversation was never political, but rather centered on what they see in their neighborhoods every day. I love them. Our kids deserve to grow up safe in a different environment. And that's a deterrent. So we haven't had any really serious issues, especially with the teenagers lately. But I think they're doing an excellent job. I love them here. Keep them here. It's cleaning D.C. up. Keep them moving all around D.C. Clean them up. Clean them up. I love them. I think it was time to get a control, get this under control. And I do praise President Trump for that, you know, because somebody showed that they really cared. And ahead of the midterms tonight, President Trump also renewed his vow that America will never be a communist country, tying it into the crime issue, reminding us that many of these D.S.A.-backed or D.S.A.-aligned candidates are anti-police. They believe in defunding ICE, and they don't believe in law enforcement. Tonight, he said that they want to turn America into a third world country. It's a winning message in 2024. We'll have to see how it fares in 26. Mario, thanks so much. And the president's war on crime didn't come out of nowhere. Joining us now to discuss how we got here, Democratic strategist Aditi Bustos and former U.S. Senator and Ambassador Scott Brown. It's great to have you both with us. So here's the president discussing why he felt the crackdown on crime was necessary. Let's have a listen. And in the past four years before I took office, our country was overrun by violent criminals. I mean, you remember just a couple of years ago how bad it was, right? And according to the latest data, crime has continued to plummet under our leadership in 2026, with robberies down another 20 percent and murders down another 23 percent. So together, we're showing what is possible when you finally have a president in the White House who supports our police, who lets you do your jobs, and who always backs the blue. We back the blue. Aditi, we'll start with you. So under President Trump, 2025 saw the largest year-to-year decrease in violent crime. Many of those who are actually impacted by crime praising the administration's direct approach, particularly right here in D.C. Does the president deserve some credit for taking initiative here? Yeah, he does. And I think that being able to work with local governments like Mayor Bowser in D.C. to try something new that, you know, could have felt controversial in the moment, but, you know, they wanted to take the risk and try it. I always applaud people that try something new because it's better than not doing anything at all. And I do think that most people, you know, besides the loud DSA and those that get a lot of airtime and go viral, the average person wants to support law enforcement. They want safety. They want to feel safe. They want to be able to have their kids play in the park without fear. And so I think that some of the conversation from 2020 with this very defund the police type of slogan that was very popular at that time, I can say, first of all, as a sitting elected official in South Carolina, that was never popular amongst Democrats here, but I recognize that it was across the country. That was a mistake. And I think that you are seeing finally the tide turn in terms of having a more tough love policy and having a zero tolerance policy when it comes to reprieve criminal activity, you know, and that means having compassionate options, but also recognizing that if that's not working and you're not taking advantage of the help that's being provided to you, then there's going to be consequences to your action. And I think that Trump was able to do that and he should be applauded for that. Ambassador Brown, what did the president do differently compared to other officials, you know, that preceded him? Well, he actually takes initiative and he actually gets the job done. He's relentless. And he would have gone forward without the mayor's help. And remember, that's what he was doing. And then the mayor recognized the amazing drop. I mean, we all see it. Listen, let's be real. I mean, every time I go to DC, I marvel at the crime, the homelessness, you know, a lot of the drug paraphernalia, carjackings, murders. It's just unacceptable for our nation's capital or for any city or town in our country. And to think that the president has offered many blue city mayors and governors, state governors, the ability to have help and they turn it down to me is mind boggling. And it was so, so wonderful to listen to those residents say, you know, thank you, President Trump, because I have a lot of friends who live in DC and they're now going out. Businesses are thriving, the parks are open, they feel safer. And how is that a bad thing? It's a great thing. I commend the president. One of the top 10 things I think he's done in his administration is Trump. Yeah, I mean, I could speak to it from personal experience. Our White House correspondent Iris Tao was actually robbed at gunpoint two or three years ago in broad daylight. And the shift, it's palpable. You can actually feel it here. Shifting topics today, Luigi Mangione pleading guilty to federal charges related to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Here's Mangione's attorney discussing her client's plea. Today is a solemn and significant day. With today's guilty plea, Mr. Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson. Oddity, Brian Thompson, father of two, yet an alarming number of people were praising Mangione online. He had this sort of cult following after killing him. Are we starting to see the normalization of targeted violence? I don't think so. I would just say that I think what you're seeing is people kind of having convoluted perspectives. Two things can be true. Our health insurance premiums have skyrocketed. You have about 25% of our population that are dropping off of the ACA marketplace. You're starting to see the average premium be $3,000. On top of that, you have your co-pays. And that frustration is very real. And I think a lot of my colleagues on the other side also agree that healthcare has become extremely unaffordable. And so I think in the beginning, the conversations were happening in tandem, but violence is never the answer to trying to solve a complex problem like our healthcare system. And again, the algorithm rewards outreach. So you saw a lot of that quote-unquote cult following talking about both issues as one and the same and trying to make him a hero when what he did was wrong. Now, the cause and the importance of us addressing healthcare and making sure that people aren't going bankrupt or choosing between a roof over their head or getting cancer care, that needs to be addressed regardless of this murder trial. Ambassador, supporters of Mangione crowdfunded $1.3 million for his defense. I'll give you a chance to respond to Aditi, but what kind of rhetoric and ideology is fueling these types of acts and making them socially acceptable to the extent that over a million dollars was raised for this guy? Yeah, the guy's a murderer. And the only good thing he's done is actually copped a time, effort, money, and pain. And healthcare, there's no reason you can't correlate the two because he was a healthcare executive. You're going to kill him because healthcare costs are too high. Listen, I was the guy that tried to stop Obamacare. I could have told you back in 2010 that it was not going to do what it's supposed to do. It's unsustainable even now. But bottom line is, yeah, it's completely upside down that you have people idolizing this murderer. And obviously, he's a young, good-looking guy, and there's some fantasy there of some perverted fantasy. But I'm just so thankful that this is now behind us. Now, I'm understanding that there may be other charges coming that he will have to stand for, but he's not getting out of jail, and that's a good thing. Can I just say one more thing? The thing I liked about Joe Biden's, Joe Biden started this, and then Trump picked it up. Three different attorney generals, and I think that's fantastic. The Justice Department did a great job. Great, great point. Aditi Bustles, former Ambassador Scott Brown, really appreciate you both coming on. Thank you. Meantime, new developments in the war in Iran. President Trump says today he plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a United States territory once the war is After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. And the president has been vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. naval blockade remains in full force and effect, saying today that while Iran is being squeezed economically, the United States continues to move millions of barrels of oil out from the region every week. President is also directing the Navy to build its upcoming aircraft carrier with a steam-based catapult system. Ten out of 11 American aircraft carriers use this type of system, but the latest one is using an electromagnetic system. The White House says it will fix critical long-term issues, suggesting it's more cost-effective and reliable long-term, particularly for repairs. And coming up, books like How to Be Anti-Racist in Humanitarian Aid, The Case for Reparations, and Indefensive Looting. On the reading list for the State Department, not anymore, how the Trump administration is dismantling the previous administration's DEI in foreign policy. And President Trump sounding the alarm about democratic socialism being a Cultural Revolution survivor, Sheevan Fleet will join us with her first-hand account of living under the iron fist of the CCP and her advice for Americans. I'm Jonathan Lawson. If you're 50 to 85, please listen closely. The lock I want to talk to you about isn't the one on your door. It's a rate lock for your life insurance that guarantees that once you're insured, your rate can never go up at any time for any reason. Many policies you see don't have one, but you can get a lifetime rate lock from Colonial Pen. 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, 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. Hi, my name is Brady. When I was born, my parents thought everything was okay. My mom and dad were so excited to take me home. I still get goosebumps telling this story. Several days in, his skin started to become very cold and clammy. We noticed that he had become blue around his mouth, and something was just very off. We packed up as fast as we could. Brady stopped breathing twice on the way to the pediatrician, and that was one of the number one things that just haunts me to this day. I was born with a congenital heart defect called aortic coarctation. If my parents waited just one more hour to drive me to the hospital, I would not be here today. But thanks to research funded by the American Heart Association, I had heart surgery that saved my life. But not every kid is as lucky as me, which is why we need your help. Just call the number on the screen or go to helpheart.org. For only $19 a month, just 63 cents a day, you can help get people trained in CPR, get more hospital certified in high quality cardiovascular care, and help fund the next medical breakthroughs to help save kids like me. When you donate to the American Heart Association, you're helping save lives like my son, and now my son is happy and healthy thanks to the support of people like you. When you call with your $19 a month, you'll get this really cool t-shirt as a thank you. Many children die from congenital heart defects. I can't wait to grow up to become a heart surgeon and fix baby's hearts, but until then, I'll keep helping the American Heart Association. So please join me. Just call the number on your screen or go to helpheart.org to become a monthly donor and help save lives. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. The State Department is scrapping a Biden-era DEI policy for the American Foreign Service. A new review details how DEI was incorporated into training and promotions. Entities Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has more. The State Department finding Biden-era guidance that encouraged Foreign Service officers to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion into their work. Using it as a metric to judge whether or not people were eligible for Part of their training involved books like White Fragility and the Rules of Engagement, In Defense of Looting, How White Women Tears Oppress People of Color, and The Case for Reparations, among others. Training materials also included a DEI toolkit for Foreign Service officers that promoted Black Lives Matter, white privilege, and systemic racism all in foreign languages. But DEI extended beyond training at the department. It was a factor in employee promotions. A 2022 Biden administration document listed DEI as one of the principles officials should consider when evaluating employees for promotions. The Biden administration defended this approach, arguing more diversity would make for more effective diplomacy. Diversity and inclusion make our diplomatic team stronger, smarter, more creative, more innovative. But critics say that employment decisions should be based on performance and qualifications alone, not race or gender. You should be promoted based off of whether you can do the job best. This follows President Trump's first day executive order on this, directing federal agencies to eliminate DEI programs. The State Department is continuing to follow through with that directive. Jack Bradley, NTD News, Washington. The Democratic Socialists of America have backed 29 candidates at the federal, state, and local level this election cycle alone. President Trump has been warning, calling the platform communists. Joining me now to discuss is Xi Benfleet, cultural revolution survivor and co-author of the book, Made in America, the hidden history of how the United States enabled communist China. Xi Benfleet, thank you so much for joining us. Well, thank you for having me. Great to have you with us, Xi. So, the president has issued relentless warnings to the country, our country, about the perils and the rise of communism. I want to play a clip of President Trump discussing labels people use to advance communism. Aggressive, liberal became so tarnished, but now it's communist. You know, they say social democrats. No, social democrat is a communist, all right, just so you know. If you look at the people that are running, it's crazy what they're doing. But we won't, we'll never let that happen to this country. It can't happen to the country. You can't, there's no appetite for it. Xi, you lived under Mao Zedong's communist rule and his regime. How does the communist ideology sort of hide behind deceptive labels to conceal its real goals? And are Americans being deceived into supporting communists? Of course. And it all goes back to this educational system. They never really teach the younger generation what communism is about and what it is about. And if I have to summarize, it's control. Everything is controlled. That's my experience living under communism, where I can live, how much food I can have, and every move is monitored. And most importantly, your thought is controlled, and your speech is controlled. That is something that people have no idea. And they want to like, you know, it's good for everyone, bring everyone at the table, sounds so, so, so good. And all those things, when they implement, it is control. And it is the government that take one person's money and give to the others. And it's a government control of where you can go and what you can say. And that is communism, really. That's totalitarian communism. Control every aspect of your life. Now, the CCP's regime has murdered tens of millions and continues to do so. Sometimes when we throw out those numbers and the millions of people being murdered, for the American mind, we just can't really conceptualize or wrap our heads around how a government could do that to their own people. But this is fact. Hence, to your point, studying history and how important that is. Communism isn't just an ideology. It has real life consequences for individuals and families. Given the president's warning sheet, do you see signs of that same totalitarianism that you just mentioned, perhaps emerging in America? Yes. And it has been so for a long time. And it's gradual. In America, it's gradual. In China, of course, it's through armed struggle and takeover, and then they implement whatever they wanted. But here, it's gradual. But socialism has been here for a long time. And as government grows, and our freedom shrinks, and the government decides how they're going to tax us, how they're going to spend the tax. And every time we put our face in government can help to build a better society. And we are just dilutional. Take a look at every communist experiment in the world. They all ended up in the same path. If you resist, the punishment is imprisonment or death. Now, sometimes when people think of your strong liberal or neoclassical liberal or even a far left liberal, you think of maybe the hippies in the 60s from the Stop the War movement or people that are against the various wars around the world and the environment and things like that. But we've recently seen a rise in far left militancy, including riots in Newark, in Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee. Do you see parallels between this and the CCP's cultural revolution? Yeah, absolutely. And eventually, it's going to be very violent. When they don't get their way, they're just going to use violence. And this is really, we're getting to the point that they become militant. And also, in recent years, and I will say in the past year or two, I see the re-emerge of the economic Marxism. They want to seize control of means of production, like Mondani said it out openly. And it's no longer cultural Marxism, where they use race, identity, and to divide people, and then gain power. Now, it's both. They are talking about wealth redistribution. And their spokesperson, basically now, Hassan Piker, he wants to see the blood of capitalism flowing in the streets. They are talking about revolution. Xi, as somebody who grew up under this system, what is your warning to Americans to keep this from happening here? And what would you say to people who sort of hold idealized views about socialism? History. That has been my message. People need to learn history. You think all this is new? You think you will advance something new? No. All those things have been tried, and the result is the same. I've just been to Hungary and Czech Republic. I've been to the Museum of Communism and see that it's the same thing. What happened to them is exactly what happened to me. History is our guide. But now they're not teaching history. So that's our duty, me and you, and the Epoch Times use the platform to teach people history, the horrible history of communism. Xi Benflit, really appreciate you joining us and appreciate your real-life perspective. Thank you. Thank you. And as President Trump touts his administration's efforts to reduce violent crime across the nation, what do D.C. residents have to say about the National Guard's presence right here in the nation's capital? Anthony Sam Wong was out in D.C.'s Anacostia neighborhood to hear from the people. The National Guards have been out here for more than a year now. Have you noticed any tangible results? Oh, they're all right. They don't bother me. It's nice to be here to protect people. I support the troops being in the city because I know crime has dropped due to their presence, especially on the metro. Yeah, it's a big difference. It's a big difference. You know, we got a lot of young kids and everything walking around and, you know, there's a lot of accidents and the young youth is kind of taking over with crime and stuff like that. But it's getting better. But they do make a big difference. One of the greatest things about the National Guard being on the grounds is that people are more conscious of what they do, because it's like the old adage, who are you when no one's looking? There's always someone looking now. The neighborhood has improved as far as graffiti and things being destroyed, property damages, abandons, things of that nature. I was talking to a lot of people out here. People were giving credits to the Trump administration for sending the troops here. What do you think? I give credit to them, too. I give them credit for that because, as a matter of fact, we had babies being killed and Metropolitan couldn't, they weren't doing enough. It seemed like they weren't doing enough to get the protections we need for our children, our communities. Oh yeah, I definitely give them credit. Yeah, yeah. I give them credit, you know what I'm saying? They make sure everything's going on. They're backing up the people at the station. They're walking around. It makes a real good, you know what I'm saying, effort on the stations. It should be in all the stations, that's what I think. Coming up, the CCP is using exit bans as a tool of transnational repression. We'll speak with someone who's had those very tools used against him. And the streets of D.C. are abuzz with preparation for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. This will be the first race of its kind in the nation's capital. What visitors and locals are saying just after the break. Every day thousands of kids start vaping and I can't let this happen to my kid. Of course, it's awkward to talk to kids about the dangers of vaping. Hey bestie, how sketch is vaping? It's hard to get their attention. Ready, go. Yes, look at that. Yeah, you didn't turn yours over. So if you want to talk to kids about the dangers of vaping, you have to get it trending. Right backpack kid? Let's do it. First, invite your kid to do the vape talk. Let's try this. All right. Why is he here? I got to get it trending. Come on. Honey, can we talk? Yeah, what's up? I see a lot of your friends vaping. Visit talkaboutvaping.org for tips on when and how to have the vape talk. Here you go. Thank you. Thank you. Ethan was shot in the head in his best friend's house with an unsecured gun. The father, the gun owner, he stored his three guns and bullets in a shoebox. That has to be the most horrific experience that a human could ever have. When we first met Todd, he was singing a song and I was like, wow, look at this kid with the biggest smile. Todd's a joy. Yes. Todd's really is a great joy. Learn about adopting a teen at adoptuskids.org. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. The CCP has recently issued new exit and entry policies, a diplomatic tool used to control the movement of dissidents and anyone who dares to criticize the regime. To put this into perspective, we spoke with someone who's had those very tools used against him, Ambassador Morse Tan, former ambassador at large for global criminal justice. Ambassador Tan, I greatly appreciate you joining us from South Korea. I want to start with your story first. How did you end up in South Korea? What led you there? And what is your current status? Yeah. So, Steve, I've been to South Korea many times. I would estimate I've been to South Korea maybe 18 times. I went three times last year and this year I went as part of the Korean American election investigation team, together with former Prime Minister and acting President Hwang, his top attorney Park Ji-hyun, and also from the U.S., Doug Frank, Dr. Douglas Frank, who's one of the top data experts on election cheating in the United States. And so that was the umbrella under which I came on this particular trip at the end of May. You're an American citizen. You were in the first Trump administration as an ambassador. And now you are basically banned from leaving Korea. We just saw the Chinese Communist Party enact a similar rule or law in Communist China. What exactly is happening with this with regard to your situation? Yeah. So there have been three consecutive travel bans that have been imposed upon me. The first in June, the second in July, and the third was an interlocking one from mid-July to mid-August. And what's really strange about this is that even though the police found no grounds for the case to move forward, the prosecutors moved forward with it anyways, because it was the police who did the first travel ban in June. I went in for questioning. Their conclusion was there was no reason to move forward with a case. And yet the prosecutors did, and travel ban me, and indicted me, and then imposed a third travel ban upon me, even though the police found that there was no reason and no grounds to move forward. And frankly, Steve, this has no business being in a South Korean court, because this was based on a statement that I made at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. And in that statement, I said, it is reported that, and then made statements relating to alleged crimes that were committed. And so that is speech by a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, which is protected by the U.S. Constitution. And if it belongs in any court system, it's in the American court system. And so there's no way that there is jurisdiction here. What's really strange is the prosecutors said before I came this time, that there was no jurisdiction over that. And then they changed their mind, and they moved forward with it anyways. So this is politicized lawfare. There is no jurisdictional legal basis. They have not given me due process because they have not given me proper notice of all sorts of things. I was just going to say, there's an argument to be made that it's not justified to be in any court, especially not South Korea. I mean, our viewers might not realize we're talking about South Korea here, not North Korea. How have South Korean politics shifted in recent years, particularly in their approach in South Korea to China and North Korea? And what signs of sort of political or ideological subversion might you have observed? And what do you think is ultimately driving that forward? You know, as the Wall Street Journal has put it, South Korea has taken a hard left turn. You have a CCP aligned, North Korea aligned, radical extremist government that has seized power through election fraud. And you have, when you look at worldwide election fraud, it follows the path of the built and road initiative. And what is even more disturbing is that the center of exporting the means of election fraud around the world is right here in South Korea through an organization called AWEB, the Association of World Election Bodies, formerly supported by USAID in America. But this is the means that the CCP is using, using South Korea as a base to then send the means of election fraud through electronic voting all over the world. And what needs to be realized is you have this rapid takeover that has happened in South Korea. And we are in grave danger of losing our blood ally, South Korea, to go into the CCP and the North Korean orbit. And this is something that the US should be very concerned about. Yeah, President Yoon and President Trump had a very good relationship at one point. I think it's important to note that in South Korea, of all places, their voting machines are made by Huawei, the CCP linked telecoms company, which should be a concern for any nation. How aware are ordinary South Koreans of the country's broader political direction? Yeah, so you're exactly right that Huawei components are used in electronic systems in Korea. And actually, recently, there was an investigation of the servers by prosecutors and police that found electronic voting manipulation that is happening. And finally, there has been some investigation into these servers. I would say a sizable portion of the South Korean population is aware and do not like CCP influence. The vast majority of the country, we're talking about like 90% or so, think that the US is the most important ally for South Korea. And between 80% and 90% are against the Chinese Communist Party. And so how can you have a populace like that, and then a government that is extreme radical leftists, communizing the country, North Koreanizing the country, full of elite capture from the CCP through bribery, and through blackmail and threats. This is the reality of what's going on where you have full blown hybrid unrestricted warfare that is going on intensively here in South Korea. And we are in grave danger of losing our ally through blood, fire and steel from the Korean War to the present. Yeah, a lot of blood spilled, American blood in the quest to rid Korea of communism. My grandfather fought in that war. And former ambassador for the Office of Global Criminal Justice during the first Trump administration, Morse Tan. Hope to get back to the States quickly and swiftly. Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. And I salute your grandfather's service. And in a major policy shift, the Trump administration is enlisting private companies to conduct cyber attacks on foreign cyber criminals. The move could free up resources to counter China in other areas. Be sure to check that out tonight on China in Focus with Tiffany Meyer at 9.30 p.m. Eastern. And as part of America 250 celebrations, NASA will be hosting a two-day air and space show in Florida. NASA says people will be able to see the future taking shape with the latest space tech aircraft and rocket launches potentially. NTD correspondent Jason Blair has more. As we celebrate 250 years of American leadership, Max Power will give visitors demonstrations of next generation hardware that could one day be operating on the lunar surface. America's 250th birthday celebrations aren't finished yet. NASA announces a two-day event it says will be one of a kind with the Space hardware, NASA and DOW aircraft, interactive mission simulators, moon rovers. You're going to have Apollo astronauts there. Artemis astronauts will be there. Behind the scenes experiences, one hell of an air show and maybe even a rocket launch or two. The showcase is scheduled for November 7th and 8th at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Isaacman also says that NASA is taking a major step toward using nuclear power for space travel. As well as launching SR-1 Freedom to finally get America underway on nuclear power in space. SR-1 is NASA's planned first nuclear-powered interplanetary spaceship. It's scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in late 2028 for Mars. We'll see the day where American astronauts, NASA astronauts, may plant the stars and stripes on on planet Mars. And Isaacman confirms that Artemis 3 is scheduled to launch next year on a mission to the moon. Artemis 3 rocket is being stacked right now in the vehicle assembly building and following that flight we will return American astronauts to the lunar surface. He says alongside that effort NASA is building a moon base and hardware and components for it will be on display at Max Power in November. Reporting in Washington DC, Jason Blair, NTD News. And the streets around the National Mall are abuzz with preparation for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. This will be the first IndyCar series race in Washington DC and is part of the celebrations for America's 250th birthday. Here's NTD's Fiona G. I want to give you a taste of what it's like on the ground quite literally. I'm only a block or two away from the Capitol building and as you can see around me the street is completely empty. It's been fully blocked off in preparation for next week's race. Fences are going up, workers are building risers and bleachers in preparation for audience members. So just imagine come next weekend when both sides of the road are filled with spectators and they're cheering and their applause and their excitement and this very road I'm standing on is going to be filled with race cars being driven lap after lap after lap. Just imagine the thundering noise because like that poster behind me says freedom doesn't ring it revs. The track takes drivers around the heart of DC against the backdrop of some of the city's most iconic views including the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument and the National Archives. Drivers will race a total of 147 laps or 250 miles. That's around the distance between New York City and Boston. The race will run for two days on August 22nd and 23rd. Super excited. I think it's awesome. It's America's birthday 250 years. What a great opportunity to show some race car driving and just some excitement here in Washington D.C. Until next week there's going to be a big race on Friday. And how's that make you feel? It makes me feel excited. Honestly I'm super excited. Why are you excited? Because I don't think anything like this has come to Washington D.C. before. I'm just visiting from Tennessee so seeing something new like this come to Washington D.C. is super exciting. Yeah look this is uh obviously it's brilliant look at that it looks wonderful and I'm sure it's going to be even better when it's done. It makes you feel good. It makes you feel like there's good things happening in Washington and that I'm just dying to be at this time. We're only a little over a week away from that race. Whoever crosses that finish line behind me first after driving 147 laps next Sunday is going to be winning that Grand Prix. Reporting from Washington D.C., Fiona Gee, NTD News. And 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 and we'll see you back here on Monday.