Capitol Report Full Broadcast (Aug. 27)

That China is the most significant geopolitical threat facing the United States for the next century. If there are growing tensions between the United States and China, it's only because the United States is finally standing up to Chinese aggression against the United States. Long-standing aggression on multiple fronts. There is no free trade with a totalitarian regime that controls everything. They have no profit motive, right? They control the balance sheet and profit statement of every firm. No one knows that. One of the things that China was extremely strict on us about was, if you're going to have access to this market, and you're going to have access to market and promote this movie far beyond most movies, you need to shoot the movie here. But the take-down really is on the economic side, like Reagan did to USSR. We do have an option. Take away Chinese banks' ability to settle their transactions worldwide in U.S. dollars. Good evening. Tonight on The Capital Report, Lake Ontario, now Lake America. President Trump renaming the Great Lake and sending a pointed message to Canada and how he's signaling action to punish China. And a Shanghai donor network funding... The lake, now all we did is an ocean. And a Shanghai donor network funding American protests and influencers paid by foreign interests. How Congress is closing in on CCP influence operations on American soil. And random audits of paper ballots now mandated for the 2026 midterms. How the new requirement shields elections from Chinese interference. And a full update on what President Trump's mail-in ballot order can now actually enforce. This is Capital Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. President Trump signing an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. He's also hinting the U.S. will punish Chinese banks for helping Iran. Entity's White House correspondent Iris Tao has more. Good evening, Iris. What can you tell us? Good evening to you, Steve. President Trump, amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Canada on trade, today ordering the Interior Department to rename Lake Ontario, which borders New York and Canada, to now Lake America. He made a similar move last year, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. And now both moves apply to American maps and agencies. We're going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately, to Lake America. The move coming after trade talks fell apart last week, when President Trump imposing a 50% tariff on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, and Canada vowing to match that dollar by dollar. The president today saying Canada has been ripping the U.S. off, and the tariffs will boost, not hurt, our domestic economy. When you talk about affordability, we're losing $62 billion a year on average with Canada. We don't want to lose it anymore. On economy, the White House this week also threatening a sweeping wave of sanctions against enablers of Iran, in particular China, which imports about 90% of Iranian crude oil. The president today signaling he may punish Chinese banks sustaining Iran's lifeline. Why not sanction Chinese banks though, who are doing business? Well, who said I'm not? You said why not? I mean, who said I'm not? You don't know if I'm doing it. Well, I don't have to announce everything, do I? I'll miss you guys. And today marking the last day for White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt, as she's leaving to spend more time with her kids. The youngest to ever hold the highest fixed position, Leavitt leaving a word of advice for the president's next spokesperson. I think it's most important in this job to understand that President Trump is his own best spokesperson. He is the true communications director and press secretary here at the White House. And just understanding that, knowing that, and believing in the mission. And tonight, President Trump in Texas to boost GOP midterm efforts, including State Attorney General Ken Paxton's Senate campaign. And tonight, President Trump in Texas to boost GOP midterm efforts, including State Attorney General Ken Paxton's Senate campaign. Tomorrow, he'll be at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston to honor the crew of Artemis 2, who made a historic trip last year around the moon. Back to you, Steve. And joining us now to discuss the latest on the trade dispute with Canada is Ken Raposo, Senior Industry Analyst at the Coalition for a Prosperous America. Ken, great to have you back with us. So here's President Trump in the Oval Office explaining why he's dissatisfied with Canada on trade. We lose, on average, over the last 15 years, $60 billion a year carrying Canada, so we just can't do it anymore. The Canadian officials have treated us very badly. They're nasty people. They charge our farmers 400 percent tariffs. They've been doing it for a long time. Ken, the United States was reportedly close to signing this new trade deal with Canada. What went wrong, and why has Canada dug in, and why are we seeing such a standoff right now? Sure. Well, Steve, I don't think I'm giving any hot takes when I tell you that the Canada trade was a total fiasco. Everyone was surprised by it, especially when the Trump administration decided that they were willing to give away the Section 232 sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, automotive, and lumber, especially when Jameson Greer, U.S. Trade Representative, had indicated many times in the past that this was going to be something we would only discuss within the confines of USMCA and the trilateral trade agreement with Mexico. We would not just be giving those away to Canada alone. So everyone was surprised by the outcome and what was on offer. So Canada has said in the last 48 hours, they've said that some things blew up, such as they didn't like that the United States asked for certain tax cuts or tax breaks on big tech streaming, or that there was some sort of concern about French language content on streaming services and other issues that might have blown it up. But I don't think it was just that. And I will say this, Mark Carney in February at the World Economic Forum really set himself up to be the Western opposition leader to Trump and the trade agenda that has disrupted the Western world from how they've conducted trade probably since the post-World War era, right? So this is something that he relishes in. He's going to Europe in another month. He's going to give the State of Union address in Brussels. So he considers himself the hero and pushing back against Trump. Tariffs are going to be on the United States on September 8th. I believe those will take place. I don't think he's going to relent on those. And I think that this has become, as even Peter Navarro has said, that this has become more of a political match, realistically, over a dispute over commerce or whether or not the United States can get access to the Canadian dairy market or whether big tech can get a tax break. This is more of a political battle against Trump. And I think that Carney really sees that he could damage the Republicans in the midterms, especially if he can keep those tariffs in place and suffer a little bit over the next two months, beginning on September 8th, heading into the midterms. Ken, how has Canada been disproportionately benefiting under the previous trade agreement? And who do you think ultimately holds the cards in this arrangement? And who do you see blinking first? Well, I would say Canada blinks first. We account for almost two-thirds, I think, of Canada's exports. We're a huge part of their economy. There's no way that they could just abandon the United States and seek other partners as they're trying to do now. Canadian diplomats are traveling the world as we speak, trying to sign different trade deals. And of course, as I said, Carney's going to Europe, trying to become closer to Europe. So Canada will have a harder time with this than the United States. They're going to have to spend their way out of this, at least temporarily. They're going to have to offer billions of dollars to companies and workers, unemployment and so on, to protect industries and workers that are affected by tariffs. So I think that they're the ones who are hurt. But of course, the United States is hurt as well. This is not an easy game. There's a lot of companies, there's a lot of stakeholders involved here. And it's very hard to paint broad strokes saying this industry is hurt, this industry is not. But overall, I would say that Canada is in a worse shape than the United States just because of their dependence on the U.S. market, opposed to our dependence on their market. Ken, you said Canada inching closer to Europe, looking toward Europe. China also looming very large in the background, inserted into the discussion being the only other country to impose those reciprocal tariffs against us, Canada and China. How does China factor into this equation? And how close is Canada trying to get to Beijing? Well, let's not forget, in the first trade discussion probably last year, I think it was, shortly after that, it didn't work out according to plan. Mark Carney signed some sort of deal with Chinese companies, especially EV companies, to manufacture or distribute EVs in Canada. So China is a very important part of the Canadian ecosystem, especially in steel. They import a lot of steel from China and they make steel and that can come to the United States as finished goods. What the United States had asked Canada to do is similar to what they've asked Mexico to do, is to cut China out of these core supply chains. So things like steel, especially, or maybe even automotive would be probably a close second. And it seems like Canada relented on that. They didn't want to cut China out. And this is what Carney says. He says, that goes against our sovereignty. And okay, I get that. I understand. The United States is trying to bifurcate the world economies. Trump is trying to create a fortress North America, as you keep hearing them say, which is a problem. It kind of goes against America first, but we'll talk about fortress North America and the Americas more broadly as being a economic hub and a center of power for the United States and the West more broadly in its competition against China, which is going to lead Asia. It's very difficult for the United States to be the corporate leader in Asia, because China is just massive there. They're a big investor and their corporations are rival Western and Japanese companies throughout that region. So I think that Canada has been a lot harder when it comes to trying to separate from China, as opposed to Mexico, which has been willing to play ball and has put tariffs on Chinese goods, especially steel. And they're willing to go along with what Washington wants, less so than Canada is. So we'll see. Mexico thinks that they can get a similar deal to what Canada got, which of course was blown up. But the United States sees Mexico as being less of a belligerent and more agreeable than Canada. And one of the reasons is because of Mark Carney's decision to remain close with China or as close as can be, which is unusual, Steve, actually, because even the Europeans are talking about how detrimental China is to their economy. Merz is talking about, Chancellor Merz from Germany, he's talking about it, about this, and Ursula von der Leyen is talking about this as well, European Commissioner. So this is an issue that Carney could take up and he really doesn't. So the United States wants it and they're not getting it. Yeah, it is really strange and very concerning that our friendly neighbor to the North would be cozying up to Beijing in such an overt fashion. With that said, you mentioned the automotive industry. The President said the U.S. will apply tariffs to Canadian-made vehicles. We've recently seen Honda, Toyota shifting production from Mexico back into the United States. Might tariffs have a similar effect on Canada in the short or perhaps now long term? Well, absolutely. You already have one Italian automaker, Stellantis, Italian U.S. automaker Stellantis, that says they're going to shut some factories in Canada if the tariffs remain as they are. And one of the things about the tariffs is that the United States changed the rules of origin to say that you can get a tariff break if there's a certain percentage of the vehicle is made with U.S. auto parts. And it was historically U.S. MCA, you know, North American auto parts, but that has changed. And Canada and Mexico as well, they want it to return to being a certain percentage made from Canadian and Mexican auto parts. But we all know what that means for the United States autoworker. That just means it's all going to be made in Canada and Mexico and it's not going to be made here at all or increasingly less so, as was the case until tariffs were implemented over the last few years. But, you know, a lot of these companies will struggle. Canada really doesn't have a kind of does not have a native auto industry. Ford is American. GM is American. Stellantis is European. Honda, right? I'm not telling you anything new. These are Asian companies. These are American companies, European companies. Canada doesn't have one. So, you know, actually there was talk of Canada making their own auto company. So that could become a possibility when Canada develops their own auto industry because of this and makes a native indigenous Canadian auto company. That's a possibility. Who knows if it'll happen? Capital speaks there. But yes, auto companies in Canada will either move to Mexico or the United States if the trade uncertainty remains and if the tariffs are high enough to make it attractive to remain in the United States. For sure. And that's the goal, right? That's the ultimate goal. This is an industry that has a lot of labor and we want to keep it here. Speaking of that labor, the rust belt has been gutted over the past many decades. President Trump's campaign message in both campaigns really resonating with what he would call the forgotten Americans, particularly in the rust belt. U.S. manufacturing adding 5,000 new jobs in the month of July is a tougher stance on trade combined with new investment helping to revive American manufacturing. Yeah, Steve, I saw those numbers too, you know, and I watch those numbers as a month to month just to see the trend. But, you know, numbers like that can change, you know, next month we could be down. So what we want to do is you want to look at over the long haul, right? So tariffs have really been in place since, let's say, the Trump year, you know, Trump's first, you know, administration in 2018. There were no tariffs on cars, right? But there were tariffs on other goods, namely Chinese goods, and there were a lot of holes in those tariffs, but it was mostly a China-only tariff regime. Then Trump 2.0 created the world tariff regime because, again, you have to deal with India. You got to deal with Southeast Asia. It's cheaper to produce goods in Southeast Asia today than it is to produce in China. And the Chinese multinationals, they're all in Southeast Asia, as are American and other Asian multinationals in there. And they're making it in and selling it here. So you have to have the global tariff regime. So is manufacturing returning to the United States? Absolutely. But certain sectors, Section 232 tariffs, these are the sectoral tariffs that Jameson Greer was willing to put on the table in the Canadian deal, surprised everyone. Those jobs are returning. You've heard about when American car companies say they're going to jumpstart a third shift, or steel companies say they're going to invest in a steel mill, which is happening. We're hiring new workers. This is all because of protective tariffs. But again, the tariff strategy has a lot of holes in it. It's very new. We haven't done anything like this since probably the Industrial Revolution days of the United States in the 1700s. And so there's going to be a lot of fits and starts. There's going to be a lot of things that need to be fixed. It's not perfect, obviously. And the goal would be to protect industry. That's number one. And not send signals that the tariffs are here today, and then we're going to bully some country to get a market for a big tech or get them to buy some Boeings, and then the tariffs are going to be off. Because that's not going to send a signal to business to invest. Because if they got protection on Monday, and then the protection is gone next Monday, if they sense that's going to happen, then the tariff policy is a failure. So I want to wait. I want to see. I want to give it a year or two more and see where these jobs go. And I think we'll see it especially clearly in automotive and steel primarily. Those are the Section 232 tariffs. Those are the tariffs that should protect labor the most. Ken Raposo, appreciate your insights. Thank you. And Meta has agreed to a $17 billion settlement to resolve a federal lawsuit. The case hinges on whether the company designed features that are addictive to minors. So are everyday Americans concerned about social media's impact on children's development? And Titi Sam Wong was out in the National Mall right here in DC to hear from the people. Are you concerned about social media's impact on children's development? Yes, indeed. Children are not being able to explore, to explore the world. And naturally, they're just addicted to the screen. And that's not helping. And loads of pop-ups are coming on there. People are having access to them. They're having access to a bigger world that they don't understand yet. I'm in my mid-20s. So I basically grew up with social media, the first wave of social media. I sometimes wonder how that's impacted me. If I was born 10 years earlier, how different my sense of self-esteem and mental health would be. Also, just the concept of social media feeds, endless content scrolls or whatever, I think is just really bad, I guess, for your attention span. But also, it just takes up your time. It just seems like the kids are getting too dependent on AI, especially nowadays. They're just going to believe anything on the internet rather than do a proper research, like old-school way with the books or something. The hardware that puts it out there is too easily accessible. And I think the settlement proved that they knew they were in the wrong. There are lots of former employees that knew and brought it forth as to what exactly was happening. Should there be accountability for social media companies that created all those addictive features? Definitely, there should be a great accountability and restrictions on what they can do and what they can't do. Yeah, they're the ones who made it. They have literally scientists and researchers, psychologists, researching how to keep people on their phones. I mean, I personally think it's best just to cut that stuff out of your life. I feel like there should be some sort of warning as if you were consuming some sort of dangerous health product. Going forward, there should be. It should be codified with Congress writing what needs to be written so that those guys know exactly what they need to be aware of when they're creating programs like that. Coming up, Congress tightening the net on the Chinese Communist Party's influence operations on American soil. We'll bring you an entity exclusive on what they're doing just after the break. Hi, I'm Susan Lucci. You may know me from my many years on television. I never thought about heart disease until I had my own heart event. I felt this slight pressure in my chest, just slight. I thought, oh, it's nothing. It'll go away. I didn't get it. I did not get it. A few days later while shopping at a boutique, that pressure returned much stronger. It felt like an elephant pressing on my chest. 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Give $19 a month with your credit card and we'll send you this special t-shirt that you can wear to show that you are helping save lives. Please listen to your heart. The only reason I'm here today is because I did. So please call the number on your screen or go to helpheart.org now. Join me as a monthly donor today and help save even more lives. Thank you. 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 Pension. 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. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. Congress tightening the net on the CCP and their influence operations inside of the United States. From a new bill on foreign paid influencers to a congressional probe of a Shanghai-based donor network tied to American protest. Entities Washington correspondent Jack Bradley reports. This week lawmakers moved on two fronts against what they call Chinese Communist Party psychological operations on U.S. soil. Florida Republican Congresswoman Ana Paulina Luna introduced the Foreign Propaganda Disclosure Act, a bipartisan bill to put social media influencers under the Foreign Agents Registration Act when a foreign government is paying them to push a message. Although we are unique in the sense that we have the, you know, First Amendment and free speech here, it's nice to think that other countries aren't going to use that against us and they do. Other lawmakers supporting the bill say foreign adversaries are already using online voices to divide Americans and undercut U.S. policy. Our foreign adversaries cannot beat us militarily. We spend, you know, more than 10 times more than all of them combined. But what they can do through social media platforms is they can sell Americans propaganda to get us fighting, to get us hating each other. China is now inviting U.S. content creators with over 300,000 followers on a free 10-day choreographed trip to see tech campuses and EV plants to report positively on them. And then there's American taxpayer-funded nonprofits that are also allegedly paid and directed by the Chinese Communist Party. The State Department has flagged several of them. Writing back in February, organizations like Code Pink and the People's Forum denigrate the United States, whitewash the violence of Marxist regimes, and run cover for narco-terrorists like Maduro while enjoying an influx of cash from a donor network with connections to the Chinese Communist Party. That network traces to Neville Roy Singham, an American tech millionaire who lives in Shanghai with ties to the Chinese regime. He's a, I think, an American millionaire living in China who's funding all of these left-wing radical loons. There's no doubt that when you have people showing up with pre-printed signs 24 hours after Nicolas Maduro was arrested and extradited to the United States, that's not an organic movement. Someone's paying for that. Singham is also married to the founder of Code Pink, which along with the People's Forum are tax-exempt left-wing non-profit activist groups who've organized protests against ICE, pro-Palestine, defending Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, May Day demonstrations in New York, and campaigns against U.S. data centers. In July, House Ways and Means subpoenaed several of these groups over their alleged ties to the China-Singham network. Neville Roy Singham and his wife, a co-founder of Code Pink, donated over $20 million to the People's Forum through shell companies and donor advice funds to hide the original source of the money. The CCP has also paid individuals to directly protest against Chinese dissident groups on U.S. soil. During Xi Jinping's 2023 APEC visit to San Francisco, The Washington Post found a Chinese consulate paid hotels, meals, and buses for around 800 people from multiple states to harass anti-CCP demonstrators. They write, Chinese diplomats and pro-China diaspora groups based in the United States organized demonstrations in San Francisco that harassed and silenced protesters opposed to Beijing's policies, including through violence. And then there's partnerships with universities. The Department of War is requiring 30 American universities to audit their research ties to foreign adversaries. Harvard, reportedly among them, has received $600 million from China, more than any other school. Earlier this month, Congress reported that Harvard has 140 research partnerships with Chinese military entities, alleging Harvard is putting financial ties over U.S. national security by, more specifically, making the nonprofit Harvard Global to circumvent federal requirements for disclosing foreign donations. A Harvard spokesperson disagreed, saying the report mischaracterizes the university and doesn't reflect Harvard's efforts to protect U.S. national security. But lawmakers say the issue isn't whether Harvard has safeguards in place, but whether its extensive ties to Chinese institutions create vulnerabilities that the university failed to address. And as Congress investigates those ties, lawmakers are signaling that the fight against CCP influence is beyond social media and protests. It's in institutions at the heart of American life. Jack Bradley, NTD News, Washington. And a new tariff under consideration, putting U.S.-China relations back under pressure just one month before President Trump is expected to meet with Xi Jinping. Find out more tonight on China In Focus with Tiffany Meyer at 9.30 p.m. Eastern. And the chairman of the House Select Committee on China is condemning U.S. banks for bankrolling Shine's public launch on Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Fast fashion company Shine has faced growing scrutiny across the world with investigations and lab tests finding some of Shine's clothing has ties from cotton from China's Xinjiang region. This is an area where Uyghur Muslims are subject to forced labor. Antony's Melina Wisecup reports. The chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP, John Molinar, is calling out U.S. institutions for underwriting slave labor. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are joint sponsors and lead banks supporting Shine's bid to join the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The fast fashion company is planning to raise up to $1.7 billion in its initial public offering. The chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP said these American banks are being used as a tool by the CCP to bolster the declining economy and capital markets with outside money, enabling a CCP Ponzi scheme on the rest of the world. He said the support by major U.S. banks shows they have no regard for human rights or the victims of forced labor. Shine initially tried to launch its initial public offering in London and New York, but failed due to heavy regulations and political scrutiny. The pushback on display at a hearing in London. The committee has been pretty horrified by the lack of evidence that you have provided today. You've given us almost zero confidence in the integrity of your supply chains. You can't even tell us what your products are made from. You can't tell us much about the conditions which workers have to work in. Shine has long been under the microscope for its human rights violations. The Select Committee on the CCP unveiling a report on the issue in 2023. Americans don't want to subsidize or buy products made with forced labor. And we know that in while the Uyghur people are facing a genocide, they're also being made to work in these factories producing goods for various supply chains, including the fabric and apparel and textile supply chains. Chairman Wollinar is calling on the U.S. banks to withdraw support for the IPO, writing enabling the human rights abuses of Sheen and the CCP is a stain they will never be able to wash out. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Melina Wisecup, NTD News. Coming up, Lake America, the new name replacing Lake Ontario. Our panel will discuss the message being sent by this historic change just after the break. My name's Stacy. I'm 57 and I was adopted in 2020. We were adopted in 2019. And we were adopted in 2021. We had a house and it sounds crazy, but it wasn't a home. The one thing that Jake and Emma brought is it became a home. When I met Dakota, he had just turned 14. You weren't there for the first this and the first that. I missed the first words, but we got a lot of other firsts. Watching her say, oh, my God, I cannot believe I got my license. And she's like, I passed. And I'm like, girl, see them grow. It is. They chose to love us. They didn't have to. They chose us. Them. You and you. Kids in the middle. What I thought was a complete life was nowhere near complete. But it is now. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. You can't imagine the reward. Visit AdoptUSKids.org. We said we'd never give into a meltdown. Babysit with a scream. We said we'd never let the toys take over. Never leave the house looking out of our sight. Cars get hot fast and kids can be at risk. Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. You've done the hard part. Quit smoking. Now do the easy part and get scanned for lung cancer. If you smoked, you may still be at risk, but early detection could save your life. Talk to your doctor and learn more at SavedByTheScan.org. Everybody in my house knows how to ride a bike except me. People ask, how your children learn how to ride a bike? And you didn't. I didn't teach them. I just created an environment where they taught themselves. And all I had to do was be there. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. Goodbye, Ontario. Lake Ontario. Hello, Lake America. President Trump signing an executive order today, formalizing the name change. Joining us now to discuss, Executive Director of California DOJ, Jenny Rae LaRue. Great to have you with us, Jenny. So here's the president earlier talking about this new executive order. Lake of America was something I've been thinking about for a long time, actually. As you know, we took something called the Gulf of Mexico and we changed it. And now it's very routinely the Gulf of America. So if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean. So maybe we'll have to change the name of the Atlantic and or the Pacific. The American Ocean. How's that sound? This order only applies within, you know, the waters within U.S. territory. There are other examples of dual naming around the world. So this isn't completely out of the norm, but not on this scale between the United States and Canada, obviously. What signal do you think this is going to send to Canada? I've got kids in school that are learning American geography right now. So this definitely is an important thing, even in our household around the dinner table. But look, I think for a long time in Washington, D.C., the tendency was to apologize for putting Americans first and for having American pride. You see a very large change in that during the current administration. And it's a representative of the fact that this is not going to be a pushover fight with Canada and the United States is taking the leadership position. I think the real question is whether or not American voters also see the positive effects of that in things that really matter to them, the prices of the things that they care about, like health care and groceries and gas. And that will ultimately be decided at the ballot box. But from a messaging standpoint, that's the key. We're saying, hey, Americans first. This is our core North Star. There was quite a stir when the Gulf of America was announced. We see here, I'm looking, Google has recognized it. Google Maps calling it the Gulf of America. We'll see what they say about Lake America. Jenny, the White House says that the deepest part of the lake sits within U.S. territory. Does that add another layer of significance beyond just a renaming? And do you think an American ocean might be coming next? Gosh, an American ocean seems like a different battle, a different fight. I think that's a key Trump messaging thing there. But ultimately, the main piece here is not about whether or not the lake is ours or is theirs. It's about what the naming means. Does it mean that it belongs to Canada or belongs to the U.S.? It's talking about trade routes. It's talking about the border and about the influence over the border. And the U.S. has done more to secure our own border than either of our neighbors have. That's been one of our key leadership positions. So again, I think this is about a message to Canada just saying, hey, the United States will not be pushed over in negotiations. We will put Americans first. That will be our focus. And as long as that message reigns, that's something that I'm hearing in my district, actually across party lines, people are very interested in hearing. And it comes at a perhaps critical time where we're seeing Canada drifting closer into the sea. So maybe a renaming and reminding them of their neighbors here might swap that trend in the right direction. I do want to switch gears. A growing number of Democrats have been scrutinizing far-left influencer Hassan Piker and his ties to various entities, but also now to the party itself. Congressman Richie Torres today releasing a condemning statement condemning Piker. Here's what he said. Mr. Piker revealed the depth of his depravity when he posted an image of himself as a reincarnation of Vladimir Lenin, one of the fathers of totalitarian terror in the 20th century. Lenin is estimated to have caused the deaths of 7 to 10 million people, his successor Stalin, the deaths of 20 to 30 million people, his follower Mao Zedong, the deaths of 40 to 70 million people in communist China. This is a congressman who is as democratic as you get in New York City, right in New York. So Jenny, President Trump has accused the Democratic Party of drifting further toward communism. You have a very prominent Democratic congressman calling this wayward shift out. Does Piker's affiliation with certain candidates risk lending credibility to that claim for the Democrats? I don't think there's a risk of lending credibility. There is credibility to the claim. The Democrats have embraced the Democrat Socialists of America as firing up the base. They embrace them to walk neighborhoods, to message on their behalf. Their candidates are winning, they're fundraising. This is a civil war inside the Democrat Party. And the bigger story is that there is silence on the side of candidates like the one that I'm running against. I run in a very, very swing district in Orange County, California, yet my candidate votes with the squad 97% of the time and is embracing these far left policies openly, is endorsed by the same organizations that support Hassan Piker and the people that he has supported. So the Democrats don't get to have the convenience of deciding that they want to use the DSA when they're running a primary election and then try to switch gears when they're running a general election. They're going to have to decide, is their party the party of socialism or not? And so far, very few of them have actually come out openly to talk about this. And this is something that we're seeing on the ground in California. The Democrats are saying, okay, we want certain things, but socialism is not it. And if the Democrat Socialists take over the party, as they have in so many places, I think we're going to see really big changes in this midterm election. You mentioned the civil war within the Democratic Party right now, trying to find their identity. Are they Democrats or socialists slash communists? Three prominent Jewish Democrats in Michigan recently holding a fundraiser for the Republican candidate for Senate there, Mike Rogers, citing concerns about his Democratic opponent Abdul al-Said's ties to anti-Semitic figures like Hassan Piker. Does the Democratic Party's big tent approach to socialist candidates risk alienating moderate and Jewish voters? How consequential will that be? And just a quick follow-up to that, we know that the RNC is having their midterm convention. The funding is coming in for the Republicans. They're in the black. Democrat, the national party, is in the red, not in a good way. How consequential is funding going to be for this midterm? Republicans are united around a big tent, saying that everyone is welcome in our party as long as you're not a socialist. The Democrats have not made that strong claim. And so this is our opportunity right now to embrace, for example, Jewish Democrats, women, and other people who have traditionally voted Democrat because they really felt like there was a home in the party. They're homeless at the moment. And we're seeing this trend. We're seeing it nationally. We're seeing it in my district. These exact same questions came up in a town hall last night with Representative Nguyen, who I'm running against. He was booed in the audience for this exact issue, because embracing someone who is anti-woman, anti-Jew, this is really the question inside the party right now. So no wonder they're having an impossible time fundraising, because what do they stand for? The only thing that their party has asked them for is affordability, and socialists will never even deliver that. It's a very short conversation. Republicans have a plan for it. We want to continue to deregulate. We want to return money back to taxpayers. We want to make sure that everyone has agency over their own decisions, over their own businesses. And Democrats want everything to become socialist property. I mean, we are at such a divergence in these two opinions that it's no wonder that the civil war is happening. To your point, some really big names in the Democratic Party, including the minority leader in Congress, Hakeem Jeffries, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Alyssa Slotkin, several other prominent Democrats, all condemning Hassan Piker, who has a pretty large following that tends to vote, or will vote, Democrat. We saw that in Mamdani's race in New York City. Does this show that there are limits, as you pointed out, to a party's so-called big tent? There absolutely should be limits to the big tent, but these Democrats coming out and saying it is not significant when the Democrats on the ground in districts like mine are not actually coming out and saying where they stand, because there's clearly a winning end to this DSA movement. There is strong support behind it. There is money behind it. There are people on the ground behind it. And so just having a few people come out and say that this is not who we are is only a start of it. This has to be unity in the Democrat Party, or the DSA is and has taken over. And so I think they have to be incredibly clear. Just a few people mentioning that this is not any longer convenient, that Hassan Piker is a messenger, is a super different story than when in the primary he was as prominent and as crazy as he is today, but they embraced him to help raise the profile of their very same vote. So again, I think that this is something where they're going to have to take the cake that they baked and eat it too, because this is a key issue inside the Democrat Party. And honestly, in my district, they are embracing DSA radical left ideology. They are not saying that this is not who they are. And the less that they do that, the more that they lose these moderate and normal Democrat voters we're looking for. So yes, I think that it's actually becoming a very clear line. Are you a socialist or not? And if you're not a socialist, you don't have to register Republican, but you're going to vote Republican this cycle if you're paying attention, because there isn't any hope for you in the Democrat Party. Unless they take it back, I think that that really is the stance right now, and it's quite clear. We'll be keeping a close eye on any debates in any of these key races coming up with candidates. Perhaps we'll hear the disavow question come up and get some interesting answers. Of course, we won't know the real answer until they get elected, and we know how that goes. Jenny Rae LaRue, really appreciate you joining us. Thank you. Coming up, a new HHS study finding a link between strong support for gender ideology and a greater willingness to justify political violence. What researchers found and why they say more study is needed. I'm Amy Grant, and I want to talk to you from my heart about the heart. I would have been the last person on the list to say this woman has a problem with her heart. So no, there was nothing about my life that said you have a ticking time bomb in your chest. But I did. I wound up in the office of a cardiologist because I was there with my husband. And at the tail end of that, the cardiologist looked at me and said, I want to see you. No one was more surprised than I was to learn I was living with a rare heart condition. He said, Amy, this condition, you'll be fine, fine, fine. And then catastrophic. A few months later, I had an open heart surgery that saved my life. And I owe it to the research and lifesaving medical breakthroughs developed by the American Heart Association. That's why I'm asking you to join me and become a monthly donor to the American Heart Association. Please call now or go to helpheart.org for only $19 a month, just 63 cents a day. You can help fund the next medical breakthrough, get the next person trained in CPR, and get the next hospital certified in high quality cardiovascular care. If this could happen to me, it could happen to anybody. Heart disease is America's number one killer, but your support can save your life or the life of someone you love. Give $19 a month with your credit card and we'll send you this special t-shirt you can wear to show you're part of a community of monthly donors working to help save more lives like mine. I'm grateful for the American Heart Association. Their research gave me more time to do the things I love with the people I love. So listen to your heart. I'm here today because I did. Please call the number on your screen or go to helpheart.org now to become a monthly donor and help save even more lives. Thank you. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. A new HHS commission study suggesting that people who most strongly back gender ideology are also more likely to say political violence could be justified. Antony correspondent Jason Blair has more. A new study published by the Department of Health and Human Services finds that people who strongly endorse gender ideology are also more likely to treat political violence as justifiable. The HHS commissioned the study about 1,300 people were surveyed. They were asked how strongly they agree or disagree with several statements including five from currently widely used medical guidance. Some are not affirming a trans person's identity raises the risk of serious distress and parents should support their child's transgender exploration. They were also asked how dangerous and is a trans genocide underway in the U.S. Other questions asked whether political violence could be justified in specific cases or with specific people such as Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump and violence against police. The report stated these findings suggest that gender ideology is associated with left-wing authoritarianism and willingness to justify political violence. National LGBT advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign responds to the study saying political violence is never acceptable but neither should demonizing entire groups of people for political gain. Colin Wright a co-author of the study told the New York Post that one of the most striking findings was that accepting gender ideology appeared to strengthen authoritarian support for political violence. Wright says we believe this may result from gender ideology defining specific oppressed classes and their oppressors and the promotion of extreme narratives of harm for those who refuse to affirm transgender identities both socially and medically. That is only speculative at this point but we are addressing this directly in a follow-up report. The authors say this is only a first look a follow-up experiment is planned to test whether those beliefs actually cause the pattern they found. Reporting in Washington D.C. Jason Blair Antony News. Hundreds of people reported killed from a Himalayan flash flood near the border of Nepal and China. Now concerns amounting over a potential second flood. Antony's David Lam reports just a warning the footage in the story could be disturbing to some viewers. Footage on Wednesday shows flood water rushing through structures on the border of Nepal and China. People can be seen attempting to escape. Now rescuers are searching for survivors in the Himalayan valleys. At least 350 people are reported dead and almost 1,000 are missing. Both Nepal and China say a glacier collapse on Wednesday morning sent rock ice mud and debris through Himalayan mountain river systems. There is risk of further flooding from water rising in a lake formed by mudslides near two different rivers. China also says a large amount of water equivalent to about 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools is expected to flow into a dammed lake in the next few days. Families in India hoping for the best after receiving a call from relatives who went on a pilgrimage in Nepal. They climbed a mountain and took refuge on the roof of a house there. After reaching there they borrowed a phone and contacted us. They said on the call we have lost our bus and we have found a safe place at a roof of a house. Our lives are in danger and we might not survive this. Please take care of our children. This is the last conversation we had and the call ended abruptly. We haven't had any contact since then. The flood hit villages and key infrastructure down a route that links Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet, frequented by trekkers and pilgrims. Nepal authorities are using helicopters to search for survivors and drop supplies to thousands cut off in towns and valleys. More than 700 foreigners are reported missing, primarily Indians followed by Australians and Americans. David Lam, NTD News. The jury is deliberating after closing arguments in the Lindsay Clancy case today. What's at stake is whether the woman who murdered her three children goes to a state psychiatric ward or prison. NTD's Arlene Richards reports. After five weeks of testimony the Lindsay Clancy murder trial is now in the hands of the jury. Prosecutors and defense attorneys made their final arguments on Thursday over whether Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three children. Her attorney Kevin Reddington argued that Clancy's mental health deteriorated after the birth of her third child and blamed what he described as inadequate medical care and medication for contributing to the crisis. The prosecution said Clancy complained to one doctor about depression. But even with Dr. Tufts she's still denied having a suicide plan, denied wanting to hurt anyone else, denied voices, denied visual visual hallucinations, showed no signs of psychosis all the way up to January 23rd. Nothing. They argued that Clancy consciously planned the killings. You know that she knew the difference between right and wrong during that time because she had those thoughts at the beginning of December of harming her kids and she told Patrick and her mother about them. But who she didn't tell is important and very telling. She didn't tell a single provider. The jury can find Clancy guilty of first or second degree murder or manslaughter but it can also find her not criminally responsible because of mental disease or defect. If she is found not criminally responsible she would be committed to a state psychiatric hospital rather than sent to prison. Arlene Richards, NTD News. And sweeping new efforts to make school lunches healthier and more nutritious for America's school children. Harvest to hallways will bring America's agriculture to America's school cafeterias. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says the administration is connecting schools with local farmers and investing in kitchen equipment needed to prepare real food. The goal is to feed America's school children better food, expanding markets for local farmers and strengthening communities. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says it will put nutrient-dense food back into school lunch rooms. The program includes up to 70 million dollars in investments in school cafeteria infrastructure as well as up to 25 million dollars in additional grants. 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. See you back here tomorrow.