'Sad Day for America': Trump After 3rd Arraignment; Hunter Biden Associate: ‘Abuse of Soft Power’ #trumpindictment

Hi, welcome to our YouTube-friendly version of NTD News. What you'll see here is only the content that YouTube allows. For our complete uncensored broadcast, head on over to NTD.com. And you can click on the link below. See you there. Former President Trump was in Washington DC for his third arraignment this afternoon. NTD's Iris Tao was in front of the courthouse following the event, and she's joining us live now. Iris, give us a recap of what happened today. Charity-diving stuff. So today, former President Trump was arraigned at this federal courthouse in Washington DC right behind me. And the whole arraignment lasted for about half an hour, during which he pleaded not guilty to all four criminal charges related to his dispute of the 2020 election results. And Trump said right after the arraignment today that this is political persecution. And during the arraignment, one of his spokespersons came out of the courthouse to tell us that this is election interference targeting one of the leading 2024 presidential candidates. And we also know that inside the courtroom today, the Justice Department and Jack Smith, the special counsel, were also there, during which they insisted that they wanted a speedy trial. But Trump's lawyers instead said that they wanted more time because there was a lot of evidence to go through and they needed more time to ensure that this is a fair and just trial. And today I talked to the Epoch Times reporter Jackson Richman, who was inside the courthouse today. Let's take a listen. There's going to be a hearing on August 28 in front of Judge Tanya Chudkin, who has been known to be very tough on the January 6th defendants, even going above what prosecutors have called for in sentencing. So regarding what's next, the next hearing date has been set for August 28th, but Trump does not have to appear for that one. And now, starting today, the Justice Department has seven days to file a brief to propose a trial date, and it's basically how much time they're going to need to try the case. And Trump's team will also have seven days after which to respond. And also, Trump was released today without any travel restrictions, but there was a term that would require him to not discuss the case with any potential witnesses unless it's through attorneys. And Trump, who spoke right after the arraignment today, is expected to speak again this Saturday in South Carolina. And next Tuesday, he's also speaking in New Hampshire. So we do expect to hear more from the former president in the coming days about this indictment. Steph. Thanks for that update, Iris. And right after his appearance at the courthouse, former President Trump gave a brief speech calling today a, quote, very sad day for America and the indictment a political persecution. Here are his remarks in full. This is a very sad day for America. And it was also very sad driving through Washington, D.C. and seeing the filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti. This is not the place that I left. It's a very sad thing to see it. When you look at what's happening, this is a persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen in America. This is the persecution of the person that's leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary and leading Biden by a lot. So if you can't beat him, you persecute him or you prosecute him. We can't let this happen in America. Thank you very much. Joining me now is our legal correspondent Arlene Richards with a recap of the indictment. Arlene, what kind of picture does this indictment paint of the former president's actions? Thank you, Steph. Yes, the indictment does seem to paint a picture of a former president who was determined to maintain power. And he wanted to maintain power by telling lies. According to the indictment, he lied repeatedly about the election, claiming that there was election fraud when he had been told a number of times by several officials within his own cabinet as well as state officials that there was no fraud and that the election was fair. He continued to repeatedly say this and ultimately his goal was to overturn the votes. He wanted to have the votes changed from Biden to Trump. And according to the indictment, this was what he did throughout 2020, leading up to January 6th. And ultimately, this resulted in the in the breach on the Capitol. Now, there isn't a separate claim of a breach on the Capitol. There actually is a separate claim that he used the breach or he exploited the breach after it happened and that he after it happened, he used the breach to continually pressure officials to overturn the election. And all of this was done in an effort to basically take away the rights of the American people to a democracy. Right. So one of the defenses Trump's attorney has raised is the protections of the First Amendment. How does he think this will defend against allegations that Trump repeatedly lied? Well, according to his attorney, he didn't he actually believed what he was saying. So in that sense, he wasn't lying. But according to the indictment, after he was told that the election wasn't stolen or that there was no fraud, he continued to say that the election was fraudulent. And at that point, you know, in everybody's minds, he was lying. But to himself, he was telling the truth because he truly believed that the election was stolen. Now, this is according to his attorney. And any speech or any criticism that he gave of this election is considered political speech. And according to his attorney, political speech, all forms of it, whether it's true or not, is protected by the First Amendment. And that includes any actions he took in furtherance of that political speech. Now, special counsel Jack Smith acknowledges in the indictment that Trump has a First Amendment amendment right to criticize the election and even to lie. But he says that Trump went beyond those rights through his actions to overturn the election results. What were some of those actions and identified in the indictment? So Jack Smith identifies instances where he says President Trump pressured different individuals and officials to overturn the votes or change the votes from Biden to Trump. For example, he and some of the co-conspirators allegedly went to the state legislatures and tried to get them to change the list of electoral count, the electoral votes or the electoral electorates from Democrats to Republicans. He also said that he tried to get the state legislature to change the votes from Democrats to Republicans or from Biden to Trump. He says he tried to pressure the DOJ to say that there was fraud in the election, even though there wasn't, and that he tried to pressure Mike Pence, the vice president who served as the president of the Senate, tried to pressure him to change the votes at the time of the proceeding. Now, all of this also centers around a lot of the indictment talks about fake electors. It details a conspiracy initiated by one of the co-conspirator attorneys to have several of these Republican electors send in a separate certified elector or certification of them being the rightful electors. So what happened was the state sent in certifications for Democrat electors and only one did they send, one slate of electors. But the president, Trump's attorney, convinced several other Republicans in several states to send a second slate of electors, Republican electors. And this was allegedly designed to cause confusion, cause disruption in the proceeding such that the Congress would argue over which slate of electors to accept. Now, the interesting thing about this is that there is precedent for this in history, that there have been in the past two slates of electors sent to Congress when there was a dispute or a challenge to the count of the vote. So this isn't something unusual. And actually the Elector, Elector Act, the Electors Act of 1877 or 1887 was actually created for this very reason, because there had been two slates of electors submitted back in 1876 and they didn't know how to address it. So there actually is a mechanism within the act to address two slates of electors being sent at the same time. And what happens is the Senate president can present both slates to the Congress and have them vote or debate first and then vote on which slate they're going to accept. And usually the slate that's accepted is consistent with the popular vote in that state. So in other words, if they received several duplicate or double slates of electors from several states, they would find out from the states what the popular vote was and then they would select those electors, whether it's Democrat or Republican, as the slate for the final electorate vote. And what the indictment is saying is that that wasn't the intent of what happened here. They didn't intend for this to be held in place while a challenge was resolved. They intended for this to actually disrupt the entire proceeding, delay it and give them time to take other measures to possibly overturn the election. And this is where they are alleging that they tried to influence Vice President Mike Pence to actually accept the second slate and submit it to Congress. So you know, there are a lot of different things that the indictment and Jack Smith say that former President Trump and his co-conspirators did and which they say is not really speech. OK, so next I want to look at what are legal experts saying about the strength of the First Amendment defense? It depends on who you speak to, but some legal experts are saying that if former President Trump raises this at the time of trial, he won't have a leg to stand on. Other legal experts say that this is the proper defense and that if it gets challenged and goes to the Supreme Court, former President Trump will likely win. All right. Thanks for that update, Arlene. We'll definitely be checking in with you again soon. Thanks, Deb. And the transcript of Devin Archer's interview with lawmakers is public now. Hunter Biden's former business partner spoke with the House Oversight Committee earlier this week. They discussed President Biden's alleged involvement in his son's business dealings. Here are the details. Devin Archer sat down for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee on Monday. On Thursday, the committee released the transcript, which many had been waiting for. During the interview, Archer, who's a former business partner of Hunter Biden, talked about President Biden's involvement in Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. Hunter Biden served on Burisma's board while his father was vice president. Archer told lawmakers that, I think Burisma would have gone out of business if it didn't have the brand attached to it. By the brand, Archer was referring to the Biden family. He talked about the same topic with Tucker Carlson in an interview that aired on Wednesday. When people say, well, there's some question about whether Hunter was trading on his father's name. If you live in Washington, like that's the whole city right there. Right. I think you know the answer to that. At the end of the day, he had the best advantage to do that because of where he was. And, you know, we thought that when we went into business, it was a great opportunity for us. Archer said Hunter Biden used his father to make it appear that he could sell foreign nationals access to Washington lawmakers. Providing such access is illegal due to laws on foreign lobbying. One method Hunter Biden allegedly used was to put his father on speakerphone while in business meetings. A lawmaker asked Archer, how many times would you say that Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone or referenced his father being on the phone? To which he replied, in my whole partnership, maybe 20 times. Carlson asked Archer about those calls. Watch. I've got a lot of kids. I'm very close to them. Talk to them every day. Never called them on speaker during a business meeting. That's weird. Yep. In the rear view, it's a it's a it's an abuse of soft power, I'd say. An abuse of soft power. Archer also told lawmakers that Hunter Biden's most valuable asset was his power to improve Burisma's brand, saying people would be intimidated to mess with them legally. At one point, a congressman asked Archer, did Hunter ever indicate to you that the Chinese anticipated that after his father was out of office, he might join their company? To which Archer replied, it's not new to me. The U.S. attorney's office reportedly granted Archer immunity for testifying on Hunter Biden's business dealings in the past. Now turning our attention to the southern border, the bodies of two migrants were found there. One of the bodies is blaming the floating water barrier in the Rio Grande River. One of the bodies was that of a boy from Honduras found near Eagle Pass on Wednesday. The other body was found three miles downstream and caught in the barrier. It's unclear how the two of them died. The Mexican government announced the deaths and said it's connected to the floating barriers. Texas began constructing the river barriers weeks ago, saying they're trying to discourage people from crossing the river, which can be dangerous. Roughly a thousand feet of it has been completed. The Texas Department of Public Safety denied that the barrier caused the deaths. The agency said preliminary information suggests one person drowned upstream and floated onto the barriers. And a debate between two state governors. Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has accepted the challenge from rumored Democrat candidate Gavin Newsom. This comes as both men have been engaging in a war of words. In an interview on Fox with Sean Hannity, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he accepts Governor Gavin Newsom's debate challenge. Absolutely, I'm game. Let's get it done. Just tell me when and we'll do it. Newsom has been challenging the Florida governor since last year. We'll do a two hour debate with Ron DeSantis. I'd make it three. Three hour debate with Ron. Yeah, make it. Do I hear four? Do it with one day notice, with no notes. The governors have increasingly criticized each other in recent months. The two have exchanged war of words over Florida helping arrange the transport of illegal immigrants to Sacramento, a city that has pledged to be a sanctuary city. Newsom accused Florida of engaging in state-sanctioned kidnapping and said on Fox that what happened was a stunt. Florida officials have noted that the illegal immigrants signed waivers before they were flown from the border to California. Last September, DeSantis wrote on Twitter that Newsom's, quote, hair gel is interfering with his brain function. His remarks come after Newsom asked the DOJ to investigate Florida and other states for possible kidnapping crimes by flying illegal immigrants to other parts of the country. DeSantis has been governor since 2019 after several terms as U.S. congressman. Newsom has also been governor since 2019 after serving as the state's lieutenant governor. His name has circulated as a possible 2024 Democrat contender, particularly if President Joe Biden drops out of the race. Biden is currently running for re-election. Newsom declined to say whether people are asking him to run for president. There's been a surge in thefts occurring across California in broad daylight, causing concern among residents and leaving communities on high alert. NTD's Christina Corona has more. This week alone, California has experienced a troubling string of thefts. Shocking video shows a group of men stealing from the Gucci store at the Westfield Century City Mall at 3 p.m. on Monday. The video, which was posted on Twitter, shows the men rushing out of the store with several luxury bags and suitcases. Authorities said the group involved nine people. On the same day, Jewels by Allen, a jewelry store located in Irvine, was also robbed at 12.30 p.m. Surveillance cameras show three suspects rushing into the jewelry store with large, empty trash cans. The thieves were wearing all black and used hammers to break the glass display cases. Two women shopping immediately hit the floor. Allen, the owner of Jewels by Allen, told news outlets, I'm numb. I am absolutely numb trying to figure out what's our next step. He goes on to say, Irvine Police Sergeant Kerry Davies estimates the robbers got away with more than $900,000 in jewelry. Another video shared on Twitter this week by At End Wokeness shows the Louis Vuitton store in Los Angeles being looted in broad daylight. The quick video shows several people running out of the store with handfuls of designer luxury bags. And just yesterday, CNN reporter Kayung Law had her car window smashed while covering news in Oakland. She posted a video of the incident on her Twitter account saying, As of now, none of these thieves have been caught. Anyone with information on either of these cases is urged to contact authorities. Christina Corona, NTD News, California. And next, Bud Light's transgender controversy has cost the company close to $400 million in lost sales. The beer maker's parent company released its latest earnings report earlier today. The world's largest brewer, AB InBev, confirmed in its earnings report Thursday that Bud Light's controversy hurt the company's second quarter performance. AB InBev's U.S. revenue plunged by 10.5 percent compared to last year, primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light. Overall, revenue in North America declined by $395 million during the three-month period compared to the same time a year ago. In April, Bud Light's marketing partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender social media influencer. The ensuing backlash led to a successful boycott campaign. Dethroned Bud Light as America's best-selling beer of more than two decades. AB InBev didn't discuss the boycott, but said most customers still hold a favorable view of the beer maker. The company cited third-party consumer research they initiated. It shows 80 percent of those surveyed were neutral or favorable toward the product. The AB InBev CEO said during a Thursday analyst call discussing second-quarter results that customers want three things. Three, they want Bud Light to concentrate on the platforms that all consumers love, such as NFL, PODs of Honor and music. Reporting by Allison Lee, NTD News. The Biden administration is responding to Beijing's call for a nationwide counter-espionage campaign. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said China is encouraging citizens to spy on each other, calling it something that's of great concern. We are closely monitoring the implementation of China's new counter-espionage law, as we have been, which as written greatly expands the scope of what activities are considered espionage. In addition to being concerned about these new reports, we remain concerned about the risk of arbitrary arrest and detention. China's spy agency this week mobilized all citizens to participate in counter-espionage work. That includes setting up channels for people to report suspicious activities and rewarding whistleblowers. The notice follows Beijing's implementation of a new anti-spying law, which largely expands the definition of espionage. The State Department issued an updated advisory last month, warning U.S. citizens to reconsider traveling to mainland China due to the risk of wrongful detention. Miller said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had raised the issue during his meetings with Chinese officials. And authorities have indicted two U.S. Navy sailors on charges related to espionage for China. They allegedly provided sensitive information about the U.S. Navy and military to the communist regime in exchange for bribes. Two U.S. Navy sailors have been arrested on charges related to national security and tied to China. The FBI arrested 26-year-old petty officer Wen-Heng Zhao, also known as Thomas Zhao, from Monterey Park on Wednesday. He worked at Naval Base Ventura County. He is charged with conspiracy and receipt of a bribe by a foreign official. The charges demonstrate PRC's determination to obtain information that is critical to our national defense by any means so it could be used to their advantage. The alleged conduct also represents a violation of solemn obligation of members of our military to defend our country, to safeguard our secrets and to protect their fellow service members. The indictment alleges that Zhao received bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for disclosing non-public sensitive U.S. military information. In addition, we charge that Mr. Zhao took photographs of electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system located at a U.S. military base in Fukuyawa, Japan. We also allege that Mr. Zhao transmitted to the intelligence officer working for the People's Republic of China details about the Navy's operational security, including photographs and videos of the interior of naval bases located at Tura and at San Clemente Island, which is the Navy's only live-fire facility used for testing military equipment and operations. In exchange for the information Zhao provided, he was paid about $14,800. This reportedly began in August 2021 and continued through at least May 2023. If he is convicted, Zhao would face up to 20 years in federal prison. And in a separate case, 22-year-old U.S. Navy sailor Jin Chao Wei, or Patrick Wei, was also arrested Wednesday for espionage charges. He was stationed at Naval Base San Diego. According to our indictment, Wei provided China with photographs of military hardware, including guns, vehicles and planes. He delivered information about U.S. Marines involved in an upcoming international maritime warfare exercise. And he sold scores of technical and mechanical manuals related to the operation and power structures of amphibious assault ships. Some of the manuals contained information deemed, quote unquote, critical technology by the U.S. Navy. In both cases, the Chinese intelligence officer directed the Navy sailors to hide their conspiracy and destroy evidence of the schemes. And the IRS is going digital in 2025. Now, taxpayers will be able to submit more correspondence online and be able to e-file 20 additional tax forms. For further analysis, NTD businesses Don Ma speaks to an expert in everything tax related. And now joining me is Dan Geltrude, America's accountant. So the IRS allowing all digital submissions for 2024, maybe just start off. Tell us what does that mean? Well, the genesis of this is from the Inflation Reduction Act. There was 80 billion dollars worth of funding going into the IRS. Now, the IRS is taking a portion of those funds in an attempt to modernize their operations. And the way to do that is twofold. One, using artificial intelligence and to really be able to make that work. They need to have submissions being done digitally because once it's on a digital format, the IRS can process that information so much more quickly. And what a lot of people have found out there is when they've been filing paper, it's taking forever to get their refunds. So this is good news for a lot of people. And what they're doing is they're also converting paper tax returns to digital as of right now. Right. Yeah, they are. They're going to go through a process of all the historical data that they have on record, converting that over to a digital format. Now, why would they do that? Well, times the IRS, believe it or not, cannot find paper. So now this is going to give them the ability, particularly when it comes to audits, to be able to go back and historically look at tax returns very quickly to look at trends and other things that may seem suspicious. And I want to focus on your point that this is a good thing for taxpayers, maybe with some examples. How is this a good thing? Well, primarily, and I deal with the IRS all the time, it takes forever to get inquiries responded to. So as far as the IRS providing service to taxpayers, specifically with the speed in which refunds can now be done is going to be an advantage for everyone. So you get a notice. It takes a long time to correspond with the IRS. That time should be cut down significantly as well as refunds. But remember, Don, there's another side to this. Want to hear more? What is it? What is it? Tell us. The other side to this is what everyone fears. The IRS's ability to do more audits. What I believe is going to happen here is the IRS is going to digital format as well as using artificial intelligence. They're going to be able to shift their personnel away from those, shall we say, lower level tasks of inputting information to now be able to focus in on the audit process. So how it all comes together here, the IRS gets everything digitized. They have all the historical information digitized. They use AI to sort through all that and then they start targeting people for audits. So that's the other side of the scale here. There's some good and there's some not so good news for taxpayers. All right. Thank you so much. America's accountant. Great speaking to you. Thank you. There currently aren't enough teachers to teach America's children. One estimate says there are 36,000 vacancies across the country. One potential solution, fast track teacher training programs. But is that enough? NTV's Colin Frederiksen has more. An estimated 36,000 teaching positions in the U.S. are not filled. The alarming shortage is impacting children's education. When class sizes are much larger, when you have 30 plus, maybe even 40 students in a classroom, it's very difficult for students to get the individual attention that they need. Educator Brian Stewart says not having enough teachers may mean a lower quality of education for students. It's important for teachers to give students individual attention. This critical teacher deficit has given rise to fast track teacher credentialing companies. Becoming a teacher normally takes four years or more, but these fast track companies can produce a teacher in one year. Stewart has no problem with fast track teaching training programs. As long as the quality of instruction is there, they can be a great addition to other classroom teachers. And they're getting their education through alternative pathways, through years of experience in the private sector, military, other areas, so that they bring that to the table. One of the most prominent companies providing these services is iTeach. We provide an online teacher credentialing option that is low cost. It's accessible and it's streamlined. iTeach president Andrew Rozelle says iTeach has certified over 21,000 teachers over the past two decades. He says the teacher shortage is more significant than it seems because he sees fewer people wanting to become teachers, more retirements and larger classrooms. Some critics say that fast track teacher training isn't as thorough as a four year degree. But Rozelle says that iTeach takes rigor and quality very seriously. iTeach has been accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, or CAPE. CAPE is an independent organization that evaluates educator preparation programs and provides assurance that graduates are well prepared to teach. Yes, we have a faster track process, but we feel that it's efficient. We have pared down the core training that's needed for teachers to be successful and then deliver that in a model that accrediting bodies have seen to be the same rigor. States are trying to deal with the teacher shortage in other ways as well. About a dozen have either relaxed credentialing standards or are considering it. California eliminated two qualification exams. Arizona allowed substitute teachers to become full time teachers. And Oklahoma removed the requirement to take a general education exam. Colin Fredrickson, NTD News. And the use of deep fakes is skyrocketing and it can ruin victims' lives. It only takes criminals a few hours to create a fake image of someone, but the outcome can be devastating. Here are the latest numbers. Deep fakes are hyper-realistic fake images created using artificial intelligence or AI. The technology gives cyber villains an edge in the crime world. A company called SumSub recently found that between 2022 and the first quarter of this year, deep fake use in fraud catapulted 1,200% in the US alone. Michael Roberts, a professional investigator, told the Epoch Times, I believe the number one incentive for cyber criminals to commit cyber crime is law enforcement and their inability to keep up. He said legal systems in the Western world are overwhelmed by online fraud cases. There are various ways of using deep fakes for fraud. One is voice cloning, where criminals recreate someone's voice. They then call that person's relatives, sounding distress and saying they've been kidnapped, asking the relative to pay money so they can be freed. Deep fakes are also used for blackmail, where criminals create a video of the victim in an embarrassing situation. They then demand a ransom, threatening to distribute the fake to the victim's co-workers, boss, family, and friends. And to create these realistic fakes, criminals only need to access material like photos, audio, and video. Roberts says if someone gets into your private photos in your iCloud, that gives all the sampling, all the technology to make hyper-realistic fakes. He added that deep fakes might even affect the upcoming presidential election due to fake videos of candidates. And now for your sports news, here's NTD's Dave Martin with an update on former NFL great Tom Brady. That's right Steph, former NFL great Tom Brady is looking to follow in the footsteps of Ryan Reynolds now, purchasing a minority ownership stake in English soccer club Birmingham City. Brady, who made the announcement via social media, admits he doesn't know much about the sport, feels he can still contribute. I know success starts with the work put in when the world isn't watching. I know that a team is nothing without the city that shows up and stands behind them. Most importantly, I know I like being the underdog. Brady, who won a record seven Super Bowls, retired in February after 23 seasons, three MVP awards, and a slew of records. Birmingham City, meanwhile, a second-tier soccer team, last played in the Premier League in 2011. And in college sports news, while the Pac-12 is struggling to keep their conference together, the ACC has some unrest as well, as Florida State may be looking to bolt if things don't improve. University President Richard McCullough says they'd have to consider leaving unless, quote, there's a radical change to the revenue distribution. Now the ACC recently changed that distribution model to give more to schools who do well in football and basketball, though FSU would also prefer a system that rewards programs that generate higher TV revenue and marketability. Numbers-wise, the conference paid on an average of $40 million to each member last season. Below the Big Ten's $48 million and the SEC's $50 million. But that gap will reportedly balloon to $30 million once Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC, and USC and UCLA head to the Big Ten. Meanwhile, the ACC's media rights agreement with ESPN, which provides the bulk of the conference's revenue, runs through 2036. That, coupled with a grant of rights agreement that essentially hands over each school's TV revenue to the conference, even if they leave, makes exiting an expensive position. And for your sports viewing schedule tonight, six baseball games are on, featuring an Angels-Mariners matchup with MVP hopeful Shohei Ohtani on the mound. And in the NFL, the preseason gets underway tonight, as Aaron Rodgers makes his New York debut as the Jets play the Browns in the Hall of Fame game. And that's it for your sports news today. Steph, back to you. Thanks, Dave. And next, it's back-to-school season, and thousands of California students are one step closer to being ready for school. Nonprofit organization Sacred Heart prepared 4,000 backpacks to make sure kids are fully supplied. NTD's David Lam was at the heart of it. Children got to pick their favorite backpacks and what to load them with before school starts. This is Sacred Heart's mission, to help families like Anna Bonilla's over its two-day event in San Jose, California. Basically, it's the most important thing to be ready for school. The backpack, pencils, notebooks, binders, binder paper, and all that, because in school, it's very important to be ready at all times. As a mother of four kids, Bonilla says it gets expensive. Today, three of her kids, one in TK, fourth grade, and ninth grade, all picked up something for school to begin in August. Do you feel ready? Yeah, somewhat. It's a blessing that we get it for free. It makes me feel normal, like how school already started, like almost. It makes me feel like I'm in school. The goal is to distribute 4,000 backpacks. That's the equivalent to 10 elementary schools, the most for the non-profit's annual pack-a-back drive since running it for nearly two decades. From transitional kindergarten all the way to 12th grade, there's a lot of backpacks to be given here. Now, how did it all start? Well, we spoke to one of the coordinators who said he was a student that benefited from one of these drives when he was younger. It's about almost 15 years ago, and it's something we've always been grateful. My parents have always been grateful about it, and that's why that was one of the decisions why I wanted to work here as a staff member, kind of for a full circle. Alejandro Gonzalez is one of the 300 volunteers, and he says the money that families save can be used for groceries and other necessities. All these students, they're the future at the end of the day. They're the ones who will be leading us here on out. In San Jose, California, David Lam, NTD News. And that's all for today's news. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Stefania Cox. Good night.