Capitol Report Full Broadcast (Nov. 12)

Tonight on the Capitol Report, President Trump threatening a sharp tariff increase on Mexico unless it stops a migrant caravan headed for the southern border. Are migrants now feeling emboldened by the midterm results? Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO of NVIDIA in the wake of the recent scandal. What questions remain unanswered and who will be replacing him? We need a classified briefing made available to members of Congress as it relates to the NVIDIA situation. And what is the Department of Labor doing to crack down on unemployment fraud? And how does it protect your tax dollars? We'll speak with Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito for the latest on the war on fraud. And a new report raising alarms about forced organ harvesting in China. Researcher Sarah Cook joins us on who's responsible and what must be done to stop it. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. President Trump threatening to sharply increase tariffs on Mexico unless it stops a migrant caravan making its way toward the United States' southern border. NTD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has more. President Trump threatening to double tariffs on Mexico if they don't stop a migrant caravan of around 1,500 currently heading to the southern border. Writing on Truth Social, the invasion of our country is taking place again. Huge caravans are forming and beginning their illegal march through Mexico. Mexico must stop them now, and if they do not do so, the tariffs on Mexico will be immediately double. The Trump administration has repeatedly warned that migrants traveling in caravans will not be allowed to cross the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully. Many of the migrants in the caravan are optimistic, though, that with Democrats winning the House, Senate, and state-level races in the midterms, A change in immigration policy will occur. At least the governor, who won in Texas, said she will open the way for us. And we are waiting for that. That is why we are heading up to see if we can achieve it. But Borders R. Tom Holman says a change of leadership won't impact border security. Congress may be more blue. Texas may be more blue. But the White House is red, bright red. And again, President Trump created the most secure border in history. These caravans can come to the border all they want. They're not going to be released into the United States. I am sure that the new governor is going to want to have security of this Texas border. And if they don't continue my policy, I will. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum hasn't directly responded to the threat of tariffs, but she did say that the caravan now in southern Mexico is dissolving thanks to local authorities, and she wants them to return to their home countries. It's against the law in Mexico to transit that country, if you're from another country, without a transit visa. So they're breaking Mexico's law, too, so Mexico needs to step up. And we haven't seen a caravan of that size since President Trump established much stronger border policies since taking office. Meanwhile, the president also commenting on Jensen Huang, NVIDIA's CEO, stepping down and suggesting that Tim Cook of Apple should lead the company. That's after Huang admitted to engaging in an extramarital affair with an alleged Chinese spy. Cook was the CEO of Apple for 15 years. He now serves a leadership role after stepping down As CEO in September, and he has not publicly responded after President Trump made those comments. Steve, it'd be a short lived retirement for Tim Cook of Apple. If he comes back, we'll have to see and watch what what happens with that one. And to these Jack Bradley, thank you. And another Senate seat flipped by Democrats this time in Mississippi. And in the lower chamber of Congress, both parties are trying to push forward their agendas as far as possible. this lame duck session NTD's Fiona Ghire reports. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying he is not worried about the upcoming speaker elections despite certain objections. Confident that we're on a positive trajectory as it relates to the vote next Wednesday and then the vote on the floor in January. But we take nothing for granted because all of us in the House of Representatives are on a two-year employment contract. Jeffries says his party will work for everyday Americans. We're going to fight for small town America. We're going to fight for rural America. We're going to fight for urban America. We're going to fight for the heartland of America. We're going to fight for black and brown communities all across America. Taking a look at the remaining midterm races, Democrat Scott Colome has flipped Mississippi's U.S. Senate seat blue. He won against incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith by only around 0.5 percentage points. I have the courage to believe in Mississippi. I have the courage to understand that we can show the country that Mississippi matters. Colome is Mississippi's first Democrat senator in over 40 years. Hyde-Smith conceding the race to her opponent. While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters. I want to congratulate Scott Colome and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state. Colome's win gives Democrats another seat in the upper chamber of Congress. Right now, Democrats will hold 55 seats in the Senate in the 120th Congress. Republicans will hold 44. The final seat left to be decided is up north in Alaska, where Democrat Mary Peltola currently leads Republican Dan Sullivan by around 1.6 percentage points. On Wednesday, a judge ruled against the lawsuit filed by the Peltola campaign, which had asked for access to more information about rejected absentee ballots. Her campaign claimed that they needed the information to make sure that all legitimate votes were accounted for. Right now, Peltola leads Sullivan by less than 4,000 votes. The outcome of the Alaska race will determine the final majority that Democrats will hold in the Senate come 2027. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Fiona Gee, NTD News. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's admitted affair with an alleged Chinese spy is raising national security questions in Washington. An expert says the real risk may have been access to policy information rather than technical secrets alone. And today Jason Perry takes a closer look. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's admitted affair with an alleged Chinese spy has raised national security questions. According to New York Times reporting on U.S. intelligence assessments, the suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang allegedly had the task of gathering intelligence on Jensen Huang and U.S. AI chips. She was also allegedly tasked with trying to encourage NVIDIA to make its most advanced chips available for China. According to procurement records, a military-linked Chinese university bought two of NVIDIA's powerful H200 AI chips last month from another company, and that Chinese university was able to purchase NVIDIA AI chips while being on a U.S. export blacklist. Some U.S. lawmakers say access to NVIDIA's most powerful AI chips can accelerate China's development of AI systems for weapons design, intelligence analysis, and military modernization. In a recent interview on NTD, Chinese espionage specialist Nicholas Diamantis said the chips continue to reach China through third countries, such as Singapore and Malaysia. He calls the flow an open secret in China, and he also notes that the U.S. Department of Justice has made related arrests. Diamantis adds that the real prize in a case like this is not the technical secrets themselves, but access to policy information and the ability to influence that policy information. He says Alice Huang was in a great position to collect information and then provide it to the Chinese Communist Party. Meanwhile, NVIDIA said on Sunday that its board has no reason to believe that either U.S. national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised. Now Congress is wanting answers. We need a classified briefing made available to members of Congress as it relates to the NVIDIA situation. And to the extent that our national security has been compromised, the American people deserve answers. And we're going to work to make sure that happens. Jason Perry, NTD News. Jensen Huang has agreed to brief lawmakers on his relationship with that suspected Chinese spy after resigning as CEO of NVIDIA, one of the nation's largest tech companies. Joining us now, Democratic strategist Nate Lerner and David Pollock, host of the David Pollock Primetime Show on One American News Network. It's great to have you both with us. I want to play a quick soundbite from Hakeem Jeffries once again on the questions. He's looking to have answered in a future briefing with Huang. We need a classified briefing made available to members of Congress as it relates to the NVIDIA situation. And to the extent that our national security has been compromised, the American people deserve answers, and we're going to work to make sure that happens. Nate, Democrats are asking the Commerce Department to keep all records on NVIDIA's chip sales to China. Is this a sign Democrats are reaffirming that it treats the Chinese Communist Party as an adversary rather than just a competitor? I mean, I wouldn't necessarily say that. I think it just shows that Democrats are committed to national security, to economic security, especially in regards to AI. I think, look, Democrats, Republicans alike both recognize that China is both. a, you know, economic competitor, but also, you know, a military competitor, a country that we work closely with, but a country also we need to be wary of and that we're, you know, in direct competition with in all these different areas. And, you know, I think to say one party or the other is soft or stronger on China is deeply inaccurate. Both parties have shown consistently pretty similar positions on China. I think it's important that we're smart moving forward and we recognize that we need to continue growing our own AI industry. And, you know, continue investing and developing it while regulating it appropriately. That's actually the bigger concern in my mind in this scandal. But at the same time, recognizing that China is a direct competitor in this arena as well. David, the Trump administration led NVIDIA export certain chips to China, but only after they were imported to the U.S. for a security review. NVIDIA paid a tariff on those. The U.S. has long restricted... Certain components has very strict export controls on many military restricted chips, but China gets creative with third party countries. How might this risk be mitigated going forward? You know, I don't know how it gets mitigated other than having a tougher foreign policy discussion with China, because if they're going around the regulations we already have in place to procure what we don't want them to have, well, then maybe we go after those third parties And try to make deals. But this all depends on how. How influential the United States can be in this space and as AI and as some of these data centers come online, this is really the competition and what motivates China to do all this is the direct competition with the United States. I would say they're adversarial in this capacity. Whoever controls SI in the future really has a hand up on all the future technology. I mean, this is the newest, latest weapon in so many things. And so we do need to be careful that we're not. China's own military doctrine states that they are in an asymmetric War with the United States of America, between fentanyl being sent into the United States and influence operations, espionage popping up with our government officials on a regular basis, it seems like nowadays, it is a threat that needs to be confronted, no doubt. Switching gears a bit, Senate Republicans are rushing to confirm 161 nominees, President Trump's nominees, before Democrats take over both chambers. This while Democrats preparing to choose their own set of leadership in January. Nate, Republicans have finished their leadership elections, but Senators Chuck Schumer and Chris Van Hollen seem headed for a leadership contest. Which one of them do you think will be able to keep the Democrats' momentum going forward and deliver results for their voters ultimately? That's a good question. It has to be seen. I know Chuck Schumer is taking a bit of a victory lap. I don't know how much he necessarily deserves credit for that. I don't want to speak for the party and for all Democrats, but I certainly personally am not a fan of Chuck Schumer. You Hakeem Jeffries, I support a bit more. know, But at the same time, I think, look, we have a new generation of Democrats coming in who people are very excited about, who won in a lot of red states, you really without party support. They did it heavily on their own. very Because they recognize how to speak to voters, they spoke directly about issues that voters care about, affordability. And certainly while you know Schumer understands the importance much. of affordability, I don't know if he has the political acumen or courage or just will to actually get something big and bold done, which we're going to need. You know, I think I trust his ability to work with Trump, perhaps. But at the same time, we, the Democrats, are going to fight and continue keeping voters motivated and excited heading into 2028. I don't know if Chuck Schumer is really up for that. David, President Trump wants Republicans to use the lame duck session to pass a $350 billion reconciliation bill for the military. There's also 161 nominees, as we mentioned, who need to be confirmed. Can the Republican Party get its priorities through? And does the Senate have the will to get much done in this lame duck period? They haven't had the will to get anything done in the first two years before the lame duck period. I mean, even Thune, once he was given somehow, after a spectacular failure as leader, he was given the leadership role again as the minority leader of the Senate. And he committed, oh yeah, we're not going to rest until everything's confirmed and we get this all done. And now he just recessed the Senate so he can go on vacation for the weekend. I mean, if he was serious about actually doing anything, he wouldn't recess the Senate. Or Interestingly enough, recess the Senate for beyond the period of time necessary to allow the rest of President Trump's appointments to be appointed in the recess, which John Thune oversaw the first time in modern US history where a president's own party blocked his own recess appointments. John Thune has been nothing but an obstructionist, got almost nothing done for this president, continues to get nothing done for this president. And it's so interesting to hear Nate say he doesn't have a lot of confidence in Chuck Schumer and he talks about these younger people that he's more excited about in his party. I think Republicans feel the same way. I think all of us collectively are sick and tired of the old guard not doing anything for the base. And I think really what a lot of people are trying to put on President Trump is a referendum in this last midterm elections is a referendum against do nothing Republicans and we're sick and tired of them not giving Giving us what we vote for. Speaking of Republicans, House Republicans recently united tabling that impeachment resolution against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, at least for now. Nate, in January, House Democrats can bring impeachment resolutions to the floor. Does impeaching Hegseth remain a party priority, or will the focus stay on the economy? Yeah, it's an interesting conundrum because I think Democrats are very fired up and bold. folks in the Trump administration accountable I think pursuing a Trump impeachment is idiotic, but I think an excess impeachment actually makes a bit more sense. I think it's more doable. You have Republicans you can pull over, certainly enough Democrats behind it, and the justification is very much there due to the war with Iran. But at the same time, I think voters as a whole want to focus on affordability. So I think I'm going to defer to my more pragmatic side and say, look, let's buckle down, focus on affordability. We'll see what Democrats do. It's hard to say if I had a guess. I would predict that they try again, especially given they already tried just now, which they knew was not likely going to pass. You had many Democrats defecting. Thank So I would guess they're going to try again. And I think it's going to fail because you don't have too many Democrats defecting again. And, you know, I don't think that's why I wouldn't think it'd be worth it. I'd rather they focus on perhaps working with the president to get things done. David, some Democrats have floated impeaching HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well you. as some other cabinet members. Could that focus make Democrats look more interested in lawfare than in the economy? And do they run the risk of sort of losing the momentum that they have coming out of the midterm? I think the Democrats are gonna find out just how precarious it is to be in power and having made bold promises. And then finding the political reality of keeping some of those bold promises challenging. And so the reality is this, a lot of Democrats ran on getting Trump. I mean, you already saw the oversight, the incoming oversight chair say, lawyer up. But as you heard Nate said, affordability is what they wanna focus on. And honestly, what's gonna make everything better for the American people? What's gonna make things more affordable for the American people? You just saw bipartisan Affordability and Jobs Act passed the Senate on its way to the president's desk. That was a bipartisan bill. So the Democrats have a very interesting opportunity ahead of us, and also an interesting challenge. Because on one hand, if they don't give those voters what they want, and that's really that blood that they were asking for. Same thing like Trump voters. Trump voters wanted to see people in jail. They wanted to see everybody deported. They wanted all of that action immediately, and they were very upset when they didn't get that action. And as a result, they broke from the coalition. But at the same time, if Democrats do that, America's gonna turn and do exactly what they did last time. They're gonna reject that because it's not going to bode well with the people who just want affordability. The best thing the Democrats can do, and also the worst thing, so it's so interesting how this will play out in 28, is to find Republicans that they find reasonable to work with. With the president's willing to be reasonable on certain issues. Find a ways to win for the American people. And maybe the American people say, you know what, the Democrats offered us something different. They found a bridge and this is the country we want going forward. But if they go back to impeachments and indictments and investigations and obstruction, they're gonna lose just as quickly as they gained in 2026. And I'm sure Nate sees that same thing. Nate Lerner, David Pollak, appreciate you both. Coming up, the Labor Department's crackdown on unemployment fraud leading to more than $15 million in court-ordered repayments this month alone. Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito joins us to discuss just after the break. Normal mom life. Everything was pretty good. 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Day's Coffee at 28 North Street, Middletown, New York. Come experience a brew like no other. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. President Trump is directing Vice President J.D. Vance to focus his complete and total attention to fraud within several Democrat-run states. Joining us now to discuss the Labor Department's role in the war against fraud, Inspector General of the Department of Labor, Anthony D'Esposito. Inspector General of the Department of Labor, Anthony D'Esposito, thank you so much for joining. Of course, thanks for having me. You guys in the administration have been tackling fraud at an unprecedented rate. You've established an office and a partnership at the office of the Inspector General. Tell us about what you guys have been able to uncover so far and how it's actually protecting taxpayer dollars. Yeah, so I think that if you lean into the work that President Trump and Vice President Vance have initiated back in March, President Trump signed an executive order with a focus solely on fraud and tackling it, fighting the war on fraud, but probably more importantly for the future is to make sure that we codify legislation and steps that we're taking in order to protect the future, our nieces, nephews, children, grandchildren. And this task force that was formed as part of this executive order, which is led by Vice President Vance and Andrew Ferguson, really has created a whole-of-government approach. And now, if you historically look back at the work that's been done in fighting fraud, there are many administrations, and quite frankly, it's not a Republican or Democrat thing, but previous administrations have very often looked at fraud. As more of an accounting or a paperwork error and this administration and this whole of government approach has shifted that view that this is a paperwork error or an accounting error and really gone to the root of the problem. And that is that there are individuals both here in the United States of America and across the world who want to steal from the American people. And want to utilize that funding very often, you know, to to promote violence or to cause harm to the American people. So I think this whole of government approaches is extremely important. It's not just the work that we're doing in the Department of Labor and working on foreign labor visa fraud and unemployment insurance fraud and obviously COVID-era pandemic fraud, but this is HHS. You've seen the great work of Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Oz and the work that they're doing with Medicaid and Medicare and these ghost pharmacies. We just joined a task force with HHS back on Long Island in my home county of Nassau County. It's being led by the Nassau County Police Department to tackle These ghost pharmacies. So whether it is labor, whether it's HHS, whether it's small business, whether it is the Treasury, again, a whole of government approach with a central location of of this fraud task force that's being led out of the White House with and also a parallel sort of partner in that the Department of Justice. Under Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald have put together the Fraud Enforcement Division. So now all of the cases that we are presenting to prosecutors throughout the United States of America, every U.S. attorney's office in the country needed to identify to the Department of Justice a individual or multiple individuals within that office that their sole focus is going to be. on tackling fraud. So for me, as someone who does like to be hands-on, it's not often that in the history of inspectors general since the late 70s when the inspector general role was formed. You know, not not throwing shade on any of the former inspectors general, but very often they were bureaucrats. Right. They were accountants. They were lawyers. They were people who were a part of government. For me, you know, before I got into politics and government, before I was a local elected official, before I served in Congress, I served a career in the New York City Police Department as a detective conducting investigations. And I understand the work that my investigators, my auditors, the work that they do each and every day. So for me, who likes to have a hands-on approach, I'm not a micromanager. I want my agents and my auditors, my analysts to do the work that they think is best for the American people. But I think that I do also serve a benefit and that I could look at a case and say, well, let me make this suggestion, or let me reach out to the local U.S. attorney and see why we're having issues with a prosecutor. And this whole of government approach that's been created by the administration, whether it's the White House Fraud Task Force, whether it's the Department of Justice Fraud Enforcement Division, it's really brought all the players to the table. And it has enabled us to do... really the right thing for the American people, and that is to identify fraud, to claw back money back into the treasury to hopefully make life more affordable. And again, when we're identifying this fraud that is fueling violent crime and that is really sending money to our adversaries, whether it's the Chinese Communist Party, whether it's South American gangs, whether it is other adversaries, we're identifying them, we're holding them accountable. And like I said in the beginning, I think that this is this should be encouraging to my former colleagues, both on the Senate and the House side, that, you know, this shouldn't be a political issue. This isn't a Democrat or Republican issue. This is an American issue. And we have an opportunity here where, I mean, I read polls pretty often. I mean, with the exception of election integrity, I think. Fighting fraud is like a 90-10 issue, especially after what we saw last Tuesday. I don't think there's many issues in the United States of America that 90% of the American people agree on. I mean, one thing I'm sort of shocked by is you're saying that you're tracking this type of fraud around the world. A lot of us probably think that this is domestic, but you're saying that our adversaries are involved in this? Absolutely. So, I mean, we just, about a week and a half ago, we unveiled the first ever Department of Labor Office of Inspector General Most Wanted Fraudster list. It's 16 fugitives that account for, I think, about $60 million in fraud. Um, one of them, we were able to identify, uh, he was wanted for a, uh, a labor trafficking, uh, issue and, and, uh, he was indicted while he was indicted. He was actually in Costa Rica. He fled to Hungary, uh, and we were able to, uh, to pick him up in Hungary and we're waiting to extradite him back to the United States of America. Uh, we also have three individuals on that most wanted list who are identified as part of a South American, uh, violent criminal a little enterprise. who were using unemployment insurance fraud in order to fund the gang violence that they're perpetrating against Americans, both here in the United States of America and in their home country. So we've also, you know, ran cases recently where there's tens of millions of dollars being funneled back. We did one case recently where there was basically a shell company, sort of like an an online marketplace with the money being completely... sent right back to the Chinese Communist Party. So the work that we're doing, you know, I don't shy behind the fact that I am a conservative Republican. I was an elected Republican member of Congress. I support the president and the agenda of fighting fraud. But again, when President Trump made a promise to make life more affordable and make life safer for Americans, fighting fraud, I believe, is one of those issues that should be very bipartisan, where both Democrats and Republicans can join together. And if we effectively work together, we can not only make life in America more affordable by identifying this fraud and stopping it and hopefully putting more money back into the Treasury, but we could also make America safer by cutting off the lifeblood of a lot of these violent criminal enterprises which are being funded by fraud. That was the Department of Labor's Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito. Tomorrow we'll bring you the second part of our interview. Coming up, a new report detailing organ transplant abuse in China. And many of the doctors are still employed in hospitals across the mainland. Sarah Cook, author of the newsletter Underreported China, will join us to discuss her recent findings. During high school, I hung with the wrong crowd and I never graduated. I helped Santiago in many different ways, like all fathers do, because he always wanted to go to college. I felt a little embarrassed to come back to school, but eventually once I came here, I knew that it's for a bigger goal. He was very dedicated, hardworking, he connected with his teachers, he connected with other students. That was one of the key reasons why he was able to keep forging ahead. It was amazing to see him graduate. This was one thing that meant so much to him and of course it meant so much to us too. With the help of my father and having my son, that was all the motivation that I needed. That support is everything. Find free adult education classes near you at finishyourdiploma.org. I debate all day. It's what I do. But there are some things that are undebatable, like your mental health. My own mental health. I was in a dark place when my brother passed away in a car accident. I've never been more devastated than the day I lost my mom. I was depressed, miserable, in ways I never imagined. I reached out, and my sisters came, my pastor, therapist. They helped me get through it. I found that the more I spoke up, the healthier my mind became. The chaos that was in me began to subside. I was more focused. When you love your mind, you go so much further. It's not up to you. Find mental health resources at loveyourmindtoday.org. If you love them enough to crawl into a play place to get them to come down, Get that! then surely you'll check NHTSA.gov slash the right seat to make sure they're in the right car seat. Thank you. What I thought was a complete life was nowhere near complete, but it is now. Learn about adopting a teen at AdoptUSKids.org. And welcome back to the Capitol Report, a new report raising concerns about organ transplant abuses in China. The doctors linked to past cases who are still practicing medicine today. Joining us to discuss these findings of that report, Sarah Cook, author of the underreported China newsletter. Sarah Cook, thank you so much for joining us. My pleasure. Sarah, you have a new report. It details organ transplant abuse in China. You've been following this issue closely for years. Tell us about why this new report was necessary and what you have discovered. Sure. So this report is the second in a series that I'm working on looking at what are any indicators of ongoing transplant abuse in China today. This particular report really actually looked at kind of the legacy and the ongoing footprint of very well-documented past abuses. And in particular, at where are some of the doctors now that were found to have essentially been involved or linked to the execution of prisoners via organ retrieval? And so what we did for this report was there was a peer-reviewed study a few years ago by two researchers, one of them a transplant surgeon himself, that looked at the papers that Chinese doctors had written and published. And they found, based on the way the organ procurements were described… that it became evident that as they said the retrieval of the organs and the procurement became the proximate cause of death for the donor. So in other words those who are involved in these surgeries did not properly The person who was providing the organs was not actually brain dead the way would be normal international standards, and instead that it was the organ retrieval that contributed to the person's death, they actually titled the paper Execution by Organ Procurement. So that was how direct and stark what they found was. Now those papers were published from 1980 up until 2015, so they're not necessarily evidence of things happening now. But very clear evidence of what happened in the past, what we looked at was they had listed hundreds of doctors and others who had authored these papers, where are those people now? And what we found is that many, many of them are still practicing in China. It's incredible. I guess, talk to us about how unusual this is based on your research and what that fact alone, meaning the patient or the donor, unwilling or otherwise, what does it say about who they are and the condition they're in when this is happening? Okay, so there's a very important foundational rule for transplant medicine. It's called the dead donor rule. And it's basically the rule that means that there's a very specific, it's very technical, very specific process through which a prospective donor is actually declared to be brain dead and therefore being able to be a viable donor. And it's what separates organ transplant surgery from effectively killing. Now, there's another layer of prohibition. In fact, even in many some countries in Europe, it's actually illegal for physicians to participate in the execution of prisoners. What seems to have happened here is that these doctors and surgeons violated both of those provisions. And this 2022 study found that based on the descriptions of the order in which and the process through which the organ procurement and the supposed brain death declaration had That, in fact, it didn't meet international standards and these people were not really brain dead. And therefore, that the organ procurement itself had very likely caused their death. And this was something, again, one of the authors on this paper is himself a transplant surgeon outside of China, a professional, and he was shocked when his co-author who speaks Chinese showed him these descriptions like, wait, this can't be right. I can't believe this. This is completely wrong. This is not how you, you know, go through the order for the organ procurement. And one of the things is that at the time these papers were published, even the Chinese government admits that there was no real voluntary donor system in China. These only prisoners were being used for organs. So that means that these the people who are supposedly donating their organs, they weren't volunteers. It wasn't someone in the ICU who got into a bad car accident or things like that that we might see in other countries around the world. These were prisoners. These were prisoners who were taken and were killed and their organs were procured. Now, one of the things, who are these prisoners? Well, some of them were very likely people, and this is what the Chinese government claims, who were like on death row and things like that. But in China, of course, there isn't real rule of law. So even someone who's on death row may not have actually even committed the crime they were accused of. But of course, there's also a lot of evidence that during this period of time, religious minorities and prisoners of conscience, especially members of the Falun Gong spiritual group, were being targeted and victims for organ harvesting. And in fact, when you look at these doctors' papers, 75% of them were published after 1999 when the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party was launched. So it's very likely... That the supposed donors in these cases that were killed via the organ procurement were in fact prisoners of conscience and not just necessarily death row prisoners. And in your research, you found that 100 of the 348 doctors who wrote these papers are still practicing in China. What does accountability look like and is there any? So that's what we wanted to look at here. You had this publicized study and there was an appendix with these names. And the reason we started looking into this, because as I got into working on this research, you know, I started to become familiar with some of the Chinese doctors and the leading transplant surgeons names. And one day I had this idea, you know what, let me see if they're in this appendix. And I was shocked because top heart and lung transplant doctors, people now who are leading major transplant centers in China are among the people that that authored those papers. Now, when you're listed as an author on a paper, it's certainly at least one of those people, and probably more than them, were in the actual operating room. But even if they weren't, as soon as they were reading the description, they had to have been aware of what this practice meant, that there was very problematic procurement going on. And yet they still put their name on the paper. In fact, some of them put their names on two, four, six papers. So these are people who had a recurring link to problematic organ procurements. That that essentially were basically execution of prisoners. So we looked at where they are now. What we found was that over 100 of them are still active in China at 40 hospitals in 16 provinces. Within them, there's a subset of 39 who again were authors of more than one paper. Those people are concentrated. In like five provinces and at a smaller number of hospitals, but several of those hospitals are the same hospitals where the abuses originally took place. So you have this situation where you have institutions at which this kind of horrific problematic procurement occurred, and those same doctors, those same personnel have advanced in their careers and are still leading transplant programs. To that point, Sarah, I think this issue for the international community inside of the United States, it's such a difficult issue to kind of wrap our heads around because of the civilized society that we live in. It's almost unfathomable. What would your message be to an American doctor who's encountering this issue for the first time or may have heard about it, but as it starts to come into the discourse more and more, my colleague, Yanya Kalik, has written an excellent book called Killed to Order that explores China's transplants, malpractices. I think that's a light way to put it. But what would you say to them when this comes across their desk and they're just trying to wrap their heads around this? I think you have to understand how different the system is in China. And that's actually what the first report in the series looked at. We actually looked at How the Chinese Communist Party controls the medical profession and the transplant sector in China. I think a lot of doctors outside would be like, wow, how could Chinese doctors do this? It violates the Hippocratic oath. But we looked at it. Chinese doctors don't take the Hippocratic oath. They take a different oath that was introduced by the Ministry of Education that prioritizes things like loving the motherland, right? And that kind of CCP speak compared to what you would have in the traditional medical oath of do no harm. Many transplant doctors are themselves Chinese Communist Party members, we discovered. And that means they've taken another oath. They've taken an oath to protect the party's secrets. So when you see that there are no whistleblowers, well, that's because some of the people running these programs have given a vow to be secretive, to cover things up. And... One of the things, and then on top of that, of course, there's the entire repressive apparatus of the party that will just punish anybody whether they're a party member or not. So for the first report, we were actually able to find a doctor who's now in exile, not a transplant surgeon, but just someone who had worked for 15 years in the medical system in China. And we asked him, well, why don't people speak up if they're witnessing or being forced, right, by the party apparatus to even engage in these kinds of ethical violations? And he said, well, everybody in China knows if you speak up, you're going to be the next one to disappear. So I think that fundamental difference of what the incentives are and the culture is, of even the medical profession in China, it's very technical, very technocratic. There isn't this underlying ethical foundation that's the same as you might find outside of China. And there aren't the institutions to ensure that. Because what we also found is that All of these as part of their supposed reform. All of these supposed independent oversight bodies, we just went one by one. They're all controlled by the party. They're all dominated by party members. So it's entirely circular. So you can't really know what's actually happening on the inside. And of course, that has real implications for the risk for ongoing abuses, because they absolutely could be supplementing what is a voluntary system that does exist in some capacity and scale in China with ongoing organs from prisoners or prisoners of conscience, and nobody would know about it. So it's entirely secret, it's entirely enclosed, and it's run by people who have been sworn to secrecy. Sarah Cook, author of the Underreported China newsletter, great research. Where can we find your work and sign up for your newsletter? So you can go to Underreported China, it's a Substack newsletter, and you can find these reports on the website of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China. They're the one who published this report, and that's at endtransplantabuse.org. Sarah Cook, really appreciate you joining us. Thank you. Thanks, Steve. With the Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the next Congress, now they're urging the Trump administration and officials to, quote, lawyer up. We'll hear from folks right here in D.C. for their reaction when we return. How'd it happen? She showed up dead on arrival. This never gets easier. It does when you call CarShield before your car breaks down. Look at these prices. The camshaft, transmission, engine. Don't people know? A plan through CarShield could protect up to 5,000 parts and systems. You hate to see it. An out-of-warranty car is going to break down eventually. Right, which is why they need a plan through CarShield. Best of all, you'll get access to CarShield's concierge service, who can even help you find a mechanic near you. They're notifying the family. Poor guy. He doesn't even know what's coming. Another victim of senselessly expensive repair bills. Can't save them all. But we can keep trying. Didn't have to end this way. If he'd have just called CarShield before his car broke down. Exactly. CarShield has an A rating with the Better Business Bureau and was voted America's most trusted auto protection company. It's time to call CarShield now. Call 800-879-9211. Just young people. Hungry, homeless, and vulnerable. Abused youth often feel safer on the street. Now, more than ever, that's the most dangerous place of all. Covenant House is helping young adults facing homelessness. We're providing safe shelter to thousands. But the need is overwhelming, and no young person is ever turned away. Please call or go online now with your gift of $19 a month to help a young person. You'll provide safe shelter, hot meals, and medical care. Your gift will show them they're loved. Homeless young people are afraid and alone with nowhere else to turn. You want to know that there's somewhere you can go that's safe. So the Covenant House did that for us. Please call now with your gift of $19 a month. We'll send you this blanket as a reminder of the comfort your gift provides a young person tonight. Please don't wait. Your gift is the lifeline a young person needs now. Call the number on your screen or go online to safeplacetosleep.org. Thank you for saving precious lives. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. The Trump administration putting millions to study something called Ibogaine as a potential post-traumatic stress disorder treatment for military veterans. It's part of a federal push ordered by President Trump back in April to speed up research into new treatments for the disorder. Today, Secretary Collins and I are announcing new investments with a focus on veterans and other Americans who continue The struggle with PTSD, with substance use disorders, and other serious mental illnesses. Health and Human Services announces a $4.9 million investment to study whether Ibogaine is effective at treating PTSD, especially for veterans. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says veterans have told us Ibogaine changed their lives. Their experiences demand serious scientific investigation. We will pursue the evidence, confront the risks, and put affordability at at the center of this work. Ibogaine is a powerful psychoactive compound that comes from the root bark of iboga, a shrub native to Central Africa, and it's illegal in the U.S. Beyond a Texas-based company that operates in Mexico and has a hospital there. Has treated more than 3,000 patients, 6,000 doses of Ibogaine. The HHS says the money doesn't pay for patient treatment or human trials, and it isn't FDA approval. Today's commitment is not a conclusion that Ibogaine is safe or effective for PTSD. It's a commitment to generate reliable evidence, be completely transparent about what the science shows. And expand access only if the data support it. However, if the studies show promise, more awards are expected. Ideally, over the next several months, the clinical trials, the first phase, will show they're safe enough to be used more broadly. Kennedy also says an additional effort will be announced by the end of the year to explore Ibogaine as a potential treatment for substance use disorder. Jason Blair, NTD News. In the White House, warning Democrats that threats against the Trump administration and administration officials could cross the line into criminal territory. The warning comes after Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia urged White House officials to, quote, lawyer up. So what do everyday Americans make of the escalating rhetoric? NTD's Sam Wong went out into the National Mall right here in D.C. to hear from the people. Right now, we're hearing some Democrats urging Trump admin officials to lawyer up. What do you think about that? I don't have an opinion right now on that. I think that's going to go tit for tat. I think there's a lot more that needs to be done in this country than going after either side of the aisle. Well, if it's going to be more of the same, they probably shouldn't do it. It's not going to do us any good. We're going to be right back to the same thing in two more years. You know, and then the presidential election, you know, who knows? But no more back and forth. Go to work, do your job, get stuff done, and just stop this foolishness. That's a distraction. From the nature of the problems, this is part of the problem that we're facing where all the people are trying to do is to make one party look bad or the other party look bad. Every single president did things that I didn't like. Right, and every single congressman stands up for certain things that I don't like. I just want them to unify on certain issues that are clearly what the American people want. What should the next congress prioritize instead? Well, getting everybody back on their feet, lowering the gas prices, creating more jobs. Closing the war down and just get us on a better path as a nation. Stop this division. We've had enough of that. We don't need no more of that. Everybody's angry at ICE. How about getting angry at the politicians who created laws that forced so many people to be forcibly deported? Why can't we come to some agreement on what should happen so that people can back ICE and they'll act in our benefit as opposed to becoming an enemy that is... The way so many people are presenting them. Well, health care, I think, would be, you know, would be on the top list just to see how much, you know, these hospitals and how much these pharmaceutical companies are charging the American, you know, consumer. That is all we have for you tonight on The Capitol Report. Stay connected to the stories that matter and be sure to visit NTD.com and the NTD mobile app from the nation's capital. I'm Steve Lance. Have a great evening. See you back here tomorrow.