Brazilian Soccer Legend Pelé Dies at 82; Arizona Democrat Wins Election After Recount

Good evening and welcome to NTD News. I'm Don Ma in for Stefania. Here are today's top stories. Former President Trump no longer under pressure to testify to Congress on events related to January 6th. Why the committee dropped the subpoena? Over in Arizona, Maricopa County recounts the votes in its state attorney general race, a loss for the GOP. After two years, the founder of Libs of TikTok now reveals her identity. We'll show you highlights The Senate has confirmed 97 of President Biden's picks for the federal judiciary. How important are the numbers? And finally, the passing of a soccer legend. Peele won the hearts of many with his prowess on the field and his charisma off it. The January 6th committee has dropped its subpoena of former President Trump, saying it can no longer pursue the information since the committee has wrapped up its investigation. Trump previously challenged the subpoena in court. Here's NTD's Melina Wisecup with more details. The January 6th committee three months ago in October requested former President Trump to come to Congress and testify to the committee and also provide them with documents related to the events on January 6th. But the subpoena is now obsolete. The committee has withdrawn it. The chairman of the January 6th committee sent a relatively short letter to Trump's lawyers saying that since the committee is nearing its conclusion, they could no longer pursue the information that they were requesting. Also saying that former President Trump is no longer obligated to comply with the subpoena. But according to Trump's lawyers, he was never obligated to comply with the subpoena and he didn't comply. In fact, the way he responded was by suing the January 6th committee, his lawyers stating that there was long held president and practice that maintains separation of powers, which prohibits Congress from compelling a president to testify before it. Now Trump reacted to the withdrawal writing on Truth Social, they probably did so because they knew I did nothing wrong or they were about to lose in court. Now the committee just today released its latest batch of witness testimonies. One of those being Donald Trump Jr. The committee probed Don Jr.'s text messages that he sent to then Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Now this is just one of over 100 witness testimonies that the committee has released to the public. I would be more concerned if we weren't releasing the transcripts that Jim Jordan and others would cherry pick information that was not disclosed and make it public in a misleading way without revealing other material that contradicts whatever point they want to make. Now the committee has sent four criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, including a conspiracy to defraud the obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to make a false statement and inciting or assisting an insurrection. Now the January 6th chairman and others who are sitting on that committee say they believe the DOJ will prosecute Trump, but the DOJ has been rather quiet on this issue, although they did request for the committee to send them the materials that they've already gathered so that could use these materials in their own independent investigation. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to continue this investigation. Smith has already subpoenaed some election officials in battleground states, probing the conversations that those officials may have had with former President Trump during the time when recounts were happening. So this investigation will continue in the executive branch even as the January 6th committee dissolves next week. Reporting in Washington D.C., Melina Wisecup, NTD News. Today Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason ruled that Democrat Chris Mays defeated GOP candidate Abe Hamaday in Arizona's attorney general's race. The ruling came after a mandatory recount showed Mays defeated Hamaday by about 280 votes out of about two and a half million votes cast. Hamaday cut into Mays' vote total by about 200 votes. The November 8th election data had shown that Mays led by about 511 votes. Several weeks ago, Hamaday sued Mays and a number of state officials claiming there were procedural and tabulation errors that harmed his chances. But a judge tossed the lawsuit last week in Mohave County. In response to the ruling, Hamaday said his legal team is assessing their options. Meanwhile, Mays said she's ready to get to work. And President Biden today posted a Take a look. The White House. It took the president just over 10 and a half minutes to finish signing what he called bipartisan bills on Tuesday. The White House published a list of the bills he signed. For example, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act of 2022, which promotes the posting of contact information for the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Or the Strengthening VA Cybersecurity Act, which requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to obtain an independent cybersecurity assessment of its information systems. And an update on the FTX case. Missing funds are coming to the surface as court proceedings track down customer money allegedly misused by FTX. NTT's John Marshall has more. Trails of FTX customers' vanished deposits are starting to come to light. $200 million was used to fund investments in two companies. FTX Ventures, a corporate venture capital firm connected to FTX, invested $100 million in Dave, a financial tech company, and another $100 million in Mistin Labs, a Web3 company. The two firms aren't associated with any alleged criminal activity by FTX, but the SEC says the investments were funded with FTX customer money. Federal authorities accused Bankman Freed of stealing billions of dollars from customers of the FTX crypto exchange, and using them for personal investments, among other things. Most of that money was allegedly funneled to the hedge fund tied to FTX, Almeida Research. But money that Bankman Freed claims to be his is also coming to the surface. Bankman Freed also bought a nearly 7.6% stake in Robinhood, the popular stock trading app, earlier this year, with more than half a billion dollars borrowed from Almeida. It's not clear whether the amount included funds that were allegedly stolen from FTX customers. Sean Marshall, NTT News. Surging numbers of migrants are trying to cross through Mexico to reach the U.S. Along the way, some are taking advantage of their situation. A sprawling network of lawyers, fixers, and middlemen has taken root, and they're looking to turn a profit. NTT's Jeremy Sandberg has more on the growing corruption. Where some see despair, others see opportunity. Legal papers, freedom from detention, transit permits, temporary visas. All are available for a price via the network. Mexico has long been plagued by drug cartels that make millions from smuggling migrants. Now lawyers, fixers, and middlemen are also looking to get a percentage. Andre Ramirez, chief of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid, says corrupt practices such as selling documents have been on the rise since last year. It is a miserable thing to do as far as we are concerned, because how is it possible that the people who are in need of international protection suffer at the hands of officials of the body that is in charge of their protection? When Mexico's president took office in 2018, he said fighting corruption was a top priority and declared the National Immigration Institute as one of the country's most corrupt institutions. Yet only a small percent of internal investigations have even made it to the prosecutor's office, about one in every 1,000. This corruption is unbelievable, and I have had talks with people who are experts in migration, and they tell me that this is never going to end because many, many high officials are involved. Lawyers and brokers advertise prices for various safe passage papers through social media. Options range from $250 for transit to $1,100 for humanitarian visas for temporary legal stays in Mexico. Immigration officials are being accused of colluding with law firms. One such firm advertises on large signs outside its local immigration detention center. We are neither profiting nor stealing, nor doing anything outside the framework of the law. Working and working well does not imply doing something illegal. The firms allegedly get privileged access to migrant detention centers and to lists of those recently detained before they arrive, so they can offer their services as the only alternative. They asked for money at the migration detention center. First, you have to give the lawyers $150 to $500 to get you out of here. If not, they tell you they are going to deport you back to your country. They are colluding with the immigration authorities. In fiscal year 2022, US authorities arrested nearly 2.4 million people trying to cross the border illegally. That's up 37% from the year before. The annual total is more than twice the highest level recorded during former President Trump's time in office. The Trump-era policy Title 42 was set to end this month, but will remain for now. But many migrants had already set out with news that Title 42 would end. I endured cold and hunger and now will end up taking the illegal routes through the narrow paths. The record number of illegal border crossings is wreaking havoc on the system. In El Paso, Texas, a new processing center is being built. Officials say it will increase capacity by about 1,000 people. Jeremy Sandberg, NTD News. The founder of the Twitter account Libs of TikTok has revealed her identity. The account shows videos in which LGBTQ activists promote ideas that many consider radical. Almost 2 million people follow the account, but the founder hadn't revealed her identity until now. Libs of TikTok is a Twitter account that reposts TikTok videos that illustrate the LGBT agenda and other so-called woke ideas. For example, this one of a young person explaining his gender identity. Quick little pronoun update. So after a several days long gender crisis, I am pretty certain I use they, they, he pronouns. Or this one of a woman saying attacks against white people might be discriminatory but aren't racist. If BIPOC stand in the street and scream at the top of their lungs, I hate all white people. I want all white people to go die. Die white devil, you cracker. Um, that's still not racism. The founder started the account two years ago and now has 1.7 million followers on Twitter. It was never officially known who the founder was until this week. Chaya Rajchik, a real estate agent from New York City, revealed her identity in an interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News. She says being anonymous kept her from helping more people. I have mom groups asking me all the time, um, can you come help us? Um, I got invitations, you know, to, to help, to help people understand how to, how to expose the left and how to fight it. And, you know, being anonymous was sort of keeping me really, I was restrained from, from doing all those things. She says that she'll be more effective not being anonymous. And then now she's ready. According to Rajchik, most Twitter accounts are anonymous, which was one reason hers was as well, but there was more to it. I realized the hatred, um, that the left has and their violent nature. And I was like, I'm going to remain anonymous. People on the left often accused Rajchik of hurting the LGBT community and getting teachers fired by posting videos of them teaching sex education. Stanford University is drawing controversy over its recent harmful language guide. Following public criticism, the school updated its guide once again. A Stanford University guide regarding harmful language caused an uproar among the public. Published in mid-December, the language guide categorizes certain phrases and words into sections, including ableist, culturally appropriative, gender-based, imprecise language, and institutionalized racism. The guide provoked backlash, especially over its advice to replace the word American with U.S. citizen, which was listed in the imprecise language section. Following public criticism, Stanford backtracked on the move. Steve Gallagher, chief information officer at Stanford University, said in a statement that not only is the use of the term American not banned at Stanford, it is absolutely welcomed. He also admitted that the presentation, quote, missed the mark. Controversy surrounding the guide also stems from inside the university. Dr. J. Bhattacharya, a professor of health policy at Stanford's School of Medicine, said he opposed the elimination of the word American and added that universities shouldn't carry out, quote, word policing. He wrote on Twitter, I remember how proud I was when I became a naturalized American citizen. I'm still proud to be an American and I don't care that Stanford disapproves of my using the term. According to the language guide, the purpose is to, quote, educate people about the possible impact of the words we use. Currently, the language guide is accessible only to people with an internal login. As the year winds down to a close, we reviewed the Biden administration's record of federal judicial nominations. How many judges have been confirmed so far and why does it matter? NTD's Arlene Richards reports. In 2020, President-elect Joe Biden promised to prioritize more diversity for judges in the federal courts. In the last two years, the Senate has confirmed 97 of Biden's nominations, including 68 district court judges, 28 appellate court justices and one Supreme Court justice. Over half of them have been women or minorities. What do women and minorities bring to the table that maybe white males don't? Well, they bring the so-called diversity to the table. Some people think that if you appoint people that are more diverse, minority candidates, people of certain ethnicities, that's sort of a substitute for a certain political philosophy. Attorney Jim Berling said Biden is fulfilling campaign promises but also appointing people that reflect a left-leaning liberal philosophy. He adds that the nominations should focus on the qualifications and not be a numbers game. Critics of diversity goals say they stem from a sense of competition and divide people against each other. But others point out that one-third of Biden's confirmed judges have experience as public defenders. It's believed they may have a perspective that's been missing. President Biden isn't slowing down. He recently announced six more district court nominations. Berling says there's a rush to get them in before the Senate seats switch in January. Senators can have a veto power over a federal district court nominee in his or her own state. And so federal senators have a power that they might not have when the election changes. And getting more nominations confirmed is important to the administration. These are judges that have lifetime appointments, and they will be making decisions that will affect the next generation for some time. And if you have a substantial number of judges and justices who meet your criteria, your political criteria, your diverse criteria, you are going to have a tremendous impact that goes beyond your tenure in office. Arlene Richards, NTD News. The year 2022 was filled with events that changed the world and affected the lives of many. NTD's Jason Perry gives us a look back at some of the major events of this past year. I'm here at Times Square in New York City where tens of thousands of people will gather this weekend to bring in the new year. But before that happens, let's take a look back at this past year and see the major events of 2022. Hey, it's time to hold the line for freedom. In February 2022, Canadian protesters blocked the Ambassador Bridge, which connects to Detroit. Many were fed up about the COVID vaccine mandate to fly or to work a government job. Many of those protesters would later be arrested. And on February 24th, Russia invaded Ukraine to achieve what it called a special military operation. And almost a year later, Russian President Putin vows to continue fighting. He totally underestimated the strength and the will and the ability of the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian armed forces to defend themselves. And in May, in the city of Uvalde, Texas, an 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary. The responding officers faced harsh criticism for waiting over an hour to take down the gunman. Once you start hearing gunshots and you know that the gunman is in a room with people, you can't sit back and wait. We are here to help you if you are pregnant. And in June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, a decision that was in the books for almost 50 years. This is amazing. Probably the best day of American history in my lifetime. People who are out here contradict themselves in everything that they do. They are not pro-life. They're pro-hypocrisy, pro-birth and pro-control. I, Katonji Brown-Jackson, do solemnly swear. And at the end of June, Katonji Brown-Jackson, who was nominated by President Biden, became the newest Supreme Court justice. And in September, Hurricane Ian ripped through Southwest Florida, killing at least 126 people. We're working with Elon Musk and Starlink satellite. Starlink provided internet service to areas affected by the hurricane. And in October, Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion. He brought major changes to Twitter leadership and publicized internal documents about content moderation. And on to December, WNBA star Britney Griner was released from Russian prison in exchange for Victor Booth, also known as the Merchant of Death. Also this year, Americans saw the highest inflation in 40 years. And the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which they say could help fix that. Well, that's a wrap for this year's Roundup. We look forward to bringing you the rest of this year's news and keeping you informed in 2023 as well. Jason Perry, NTD News, New York. Taking a break now, but if you have any news tips or feedback for the show, you can email us at eveningnews at ntd.com. Coming up, the UK considers a testing mandate for travelers from China. If it goes through with the policy, it would join nations like the US and Italy. And in soccer, the passing of a legend. NTD's Dave Martin reflects on the life and times of Pele. That and more when we return. Not only can a CGM immediately reduce pain, it's accurate, easy to use, and helps you make better diabetes treatment decisions. And if you have Medicare, you can get a new CGM at little or no out-of-pocket cost. We'll also provide free shipping of your new CGM and we'll bill your insurance company for you. If you are testing your blood sugar four more times per day and injecting insulin three or more times per day or using an insulin pump, call now and learn how to receive your new continuous glucose monitor at little or no out-of-pocket cost. The British government appears to be backtracking on its suggestion that travelers from China will not be screened for COVID. UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said today that he expects to see clarification from the transport department, quote, in the next day or so. We noticed obviously what the United States has done in India and I think Italy has looked at it. We keep under review all the time, obviously, you know, health threats to the United Kingdom, wherever they may be. I think the Department of Transport will take medical advice, talk to the Department of Health and they'll come to some decisions depending on what we see coming out of China. But at the moment, it's under review. The comments come after Lord Bethel urged ministers to rethink their policy. Speaking to the Today programme on Radio 4, Lord Bethel praised Italy's approach of quarantining those who test positive on arrival. The Tory peer said this strategy would allow for genomic testing to be carried out to understand whether any new variants are emerging. Meanwhile, former Tory minister Steve Bryan echoed Lord Bethel's concerns, warning that the NHS would not be able to cope if travelers from China brought over a new variant. It comes after the US joined Italy, India, Japan and others in announcing new travel rules after the abrupt end of Beijing's zero COVID policy sparked a surge in cases. The island of Taiwan could soon increase its arms supplies. That's thanks to a potential $180 million arms sale approved by the Biden administration yesterday. It comes amid ongoing tensions between the island and the Chinese regime. Washington has long provided arms to the island under the terms of the Taiwan Relations Act. There is bipartisan support for supplying Taiwan with weapons. And now over to sports news. Here's NTD's Dave Martin with today's top stories. Thank you, Don. Sad news in sports today as soccer legend Pele passed away at the age of 82. His daughter confirmed the news on social media. Pele had been in and out of the hospital recently after a tumor was found on his colon. During his standout career, though, the Brazilian great scored a global record 1,281 goals and is still the only one with three World Cup titles. His first came in 1958 when he was just 17, making him the youngest player ever in a tournament. Yet in spite of his age, he starred for Brazil with a hat trick in the semis and then two more goals in the finals against the host team Sweden. Now Pele initially retired in 1974, but financial problems brought him out of retirement the following year to play in the fledgling North American Soccer League for a then-staggering His on-field talent helped lead the New York Cosmos to a title in 1977, while his charm and charisma brought millions of previously uninterested American fans to watch the world's most popular game. In fact, years later, when the U.S. was named host of the 1994 World Cup, the head of the U.S. Soccer Federation called Pele the most important reason why. Pele is survived by six children. And for your sports viewing schedule this evening, there are plenty of options as the NBA has five games on tap featuring the Mavericks and all-star Luka Jancic fresh off his 60-point triple-double performance taking on the Rockets in Dallas. And in hockey, the NHL has 11 games planned featuring one of the hottest teams in the league, the Washington Capitals, who won 10 of their last 11 games hosting the Ottawa Senators. Meanwhile, in college football, a pair of bowl games are on tonight as Oklahoma takes on Florida State in the already-in-progress Cheez-It Bowl while Texas battles Washington at the Alamo Bowl. And finally, for you NFL fans, the Titans host the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football. And that is it for your sports news. Back to you, Don. Thanks, Dave. And that's all for today's news. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Don Ma. Good night. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Did you know YouTube only keeps selected videos on its platform? So if you want to make sure you get the full picture, just subscribe to our newsletter. Go to newsletter.ntd.com and sign up. It's free.