Fulton County DA Asks for March 4 Trial in Trump Case; Biden to Visit Hawaii After Deadly Wildfires

could we next see former President Trump in court? A Georgia court document released this afternoon proposes an arraignment date and a trial date. NTD's Melina Wisecup is in the Fulton County Courthouse and she joins us with more. Melina, tell us about this new motion. So I do want to be very clear here because we did just get clarification from the Fulton County Sheriff's Office that arraignment and booking are actually totally separate. So there is still an August 25th, that is a next Friday deadline for all 19 of these defendants to come here to be booked by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office. But now there is a newly proposed date for arraignment that is the week of September 5th. The DA just filed that motion to the court today. She also proposed a March 4th trial date. If we could just show up on the screen here exactly what this document shows, the motion that the DA filed, if we could just pull that up. So I'll read the reasoning for this requested arraignment date and trial date. They said they don't want it to conflict with other court hearings and trials that Trump has, stating the state of Georgia proposes certain deadlines that do not conflict with these other courts, already scheduled hearings and trial dates. I do want to point out the March 4th trial date because that is a very special day. So it is Super Tuesday, a day before Super Tuesday actually. And that's the day that the greatest number of US states hold primary elections. So that's a very interesting timing for this trial to unfold for former President Trump, considering he is the leading candidate in the GOP primary race right now. Now, just in case you missed it, a quick update. The first person to respond to these indictments was Mark Meadows. He filed for the court, the case to move, to be moved to a federal court, arguing that he does have protection because he was a sitting official at the time that these actions took place. So, Melina, on a separate but related note, there's emerging information about the DOJ's 2020 election case against Trump. Special Counsel Jack Smith got very personal information about Trump through issuing a warrant on X, formerly known as Twitter. Tell us more about that. Yes, so Jack Smith, the special counsel from the DOJ, who's leading that investigation in that case into President Trump's 2020 election case there in the D.C. court, he obtained very, very personal information. It was so personal that Twitter actually called it confidential information. The things that he requested and actually got access from a judge are things such as he got all records from October of 2020 to January of 2021. That includes anything that Trump searched on his personal Twitter account, as well as any posts that he made, even those posts that were just drafts. They also got those records, also messages, direct messages that may or may not have been sent that may have only been drafts. They also got information on locations of users' accounts and also any people who Trump blocked or followed during that time period, as well as any users on Twitter who liked or shared the president's posts. So it does stretch further than just former President Trump. Now, Twitter, knowing this was confidential information, did try to block this warrant that Jack Smith was requesting, but a judge ultimately sided with Jack Smith. And furthermore, the judge even ruled that Trump was not even allowed to know that this data on him was being collected and shared with special counsel Jack Smith. Thanks for those updates, Melina. We'll be checking in with you again tomorrow. And next, the death toll from the Maui wildfires climbs to 106 and the Biden administration now promising a full reimbursement for some emergency work. That he has approved the governor's request for 100% reimbursement for the emergency work that's being done for a period of 30 days within the first 120 days at the governor's choosing. It's been a week since the wildfire began in Maui. The blaze traveled from grasslands all the way into popular tourist destination Lahaina. 2,200 buildings burnt down in a matter of hours, and the scale of the damage is becoming clear as search and rescue continues. To rebuild Lahaina, FEMA said that the estimated cost could total up to $5.5 billion. What are conditions like there now? A highway into Lahaina reopened at 6 a.m. local time today, allowing residents and first responders back in for the first time. Communication remains difficult as much of the electricity is still off. Although power companies said it's back for about 80% of the island. A small aircraft flew along the coast using loudspeaker to tell people where to get water and supplies. But folks on the island are questioning the state's emergency notification system. Sirens stationed around the island never sounded, and the early stages of the Lahaina blaze are caught on camera. A Maui resident called the fire station and attempted to hose down the flames himself. The footage points to a downed power line as a possible spark. NTD's Andrew Thomas has more on the riveting footage. Roaring winds woke Shane Troy as they tore through his Maui neighborhood. When he walked outside at dawn, he saw a wooden utility pole suddenly snap with a flash. The line sparked and fell, igniting the dry grass below. The fire from there, to me, it simulated a fuse, like somebody lit a fuse for a firework. And it just followed a straight line all the way up to the pole where the thing was, and it landed in a bigger pile of dry grass, and that just ignited. Troy called 911 before live-streaming his attempt to fight the blaze on Facebook. He started recording at 6.40 a.m., just moments after authorities received the first report of fire. They came up with a water truck, started dousing it, had another couple local construction companies brought up their water tankers, just also helped and assist in just knocking down the fire. His footage captured the early moments of what would become the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century. The video also points to fallen utility lines as the possible cause of the blaze. It's super crazy, and then, on the other hand, it's like maybe it'll bring closure to some of the families, answer some of the questions, help determine what was the start. A class action lawsuit alleges that Hawaiian Electric was aware that shutting off the power could prevent wildfires, but the utility company never did. Hawaiian Electric's president and CEO noted several factors go into making that decision. Some experts say the fire may have started in multiple locations. Andrew Thomas, NTD News. Amid GOP backlash, President Biden is touting the Inflation Reduction Act on its one-year anniversary. That's as the White House tries to defend Biden's climate investments by citing the Hawaiian wildfires. NTD's Iris Tao has more from the White House. It's been exactly one year since President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which the White House touts as the largest climate investment in U.S. history, with nearly $370 billion going into environmental projects. And President Biden on Wednesday called it... One of the most significant laws I think has ever been enacted. This law is helping families save thousands of dollars in energy bills every year. But the question is, did it actually reduce inflation? Inflation did come down over the past year, dropping from its peak at 9% last summer to now just above 3%. But economists say that decline came mostly from the Federal Reserve's intense rate hikes, not from the Inflation Reduction Act. And President Biden himself admitted as much last week at a private fundraiser, saying quote, The Inflation Reduction Act, I wish I hadn't called it that, because it has less to do with reducing inflation than it does to do with dealing with providing for alternatives that generate economic growth. And the White House on Wednesday was asked... What should you call it? Well, he said, following that sentiment, because I think it's a complicated bill, that it also has reduced costs. And I think it's very important to note that both on the health care and as I noted on the energy side. That's as Republicans say Bidenomics isn't working. Congressman Greg Stubbe wrote on Wednesday that... The so-called Inflation Reduction Act had absolutely nothing to do with targeting inflation. One year later, American families are still struggling in the Biden economy. Meanwhile, the White House is now trying to defend its massive spending on climate by linking it with the Maui wildfires. To stop these disasters from getting even worse, we have to cut the carbon pollution that's driving the climate crisis. And that's what the Inflation Reduction Act is all about. The White House announced on Wednesday that President Biden is traveling to Maui on Monday. Reporting from the White House, Iris Tao, NTD News. And here to discuss the most ambitious climate bill ever to be passed in the U.S. is Kelly Sloan, senior fellow in energy and environment at the Centennial Institute. We spoke earlier today. Kelly, good to have you on our show. White House Deputy Chief of Staff John Podesta said today the Inflation Reduction Act is all about cutting carbon emissions. And Senator Joe Manchin, who helped the bill over the line, is now vowing to push back against what he calls the radical climate agenda that's being implemented through the act. Does this come as a surprise to you? No, it doesn't. I guess it's a little bit of a surprise that now they're not even trying to hide the fact that this is a climate bill, not an inflation reduction bill. We all knew that. I guess the only surprise is that they're being bold enough now to just freely admit that, yes, this is a climate bill, not an inflation reduction bill, and that really those two goals are sort of counterintuitive. The amount of money that's being spent in this bill, billions of dollars, is only going to add to inflation. We all know that inflation is caused by public spending. The private sector hasn't figured out how to cause economy-wide inflation yet. As for Senator Manchin, I'm not surprised by his reaction at all. I was a little surprised at the time that he allowed himself to get as duped as he was. He got sold on the deal because of promises for some leasing reforms, which really haven't happened. In fact, what we're seeing is they're kind of going the other way on leasing rules. The Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee say that the act lacks accountability, that the environmental programs funded under this act don't have to prove that they're reducing emissions. Is that the case? And what kinds of issues could this create? Well, it is the case. And part of the reason it's the case is because those goals are, A, so difficult to attain, B, they are difficult to measure. A lot of these things were specifically written to be very broad, very open to interpretation. And what that does is it just gives a lot of the authority to implement this law to the executive agencies, to the administration, whether it's EPA, even Janet Yellen in the Treasury, where she's the one that kind of expanded the interpretation of the EV credit to include just about anything, whereas it was initially meant to be very narrow and only EVs manufactured in the U.S. So that's a problem when you have a very broad, ideologically focused bill like this. It doesn't have strict guardrails and it's essentially Congress once again giving away its authority to the executive. And I'd like to look at China now. It's previously come to light that Chinese solar companies qualify for benefits under the Inflation Reduction Act, and now European companies are saying they're struggling to support the green industry while facing dependence on China. What are your thoughts on that? Well, again, the Biden administration has talked about trying to decouple the American economy from China. On the other hand, when he passes and implements laws like the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, it's counterintuitive. You can't have a climate bill and put all these programs in place to subsidize solar and wind and some of these other programs, all of which are dependent on materials and processing from China. You're not going to be able to decouple your economy from them, especially when you have a weak trade policy like the United States does right now, where we're not looking at alternative supply chains. We're not opening up trade. We're not getting involved in the CPTPP, so we're not involved in trade in non-Chinese Pacific nations, which could provide some alternative supply chains for some of these things. So you put all that together and yes, we have a bill here that is increasing our dependency on a nation that is a strategic and economic competitor to us. Kelly Sloan, always great to hear your thoughts. Thank you so much. Thank you. North Korea has broken its silence on a crucial matter. The nation has confirmed detaining the U.S. soldier who recently crossed the border into North Korea. NTD's Jason Perry has the latest. On Wednesday, North Korea officially confirmed it has detained the U.S. soldier who ran across the border. Witnesses say the soldier sprinted across the border while on a private tour of the demilitarized zone. The newly released statement by North Korean state media says Travis King, a private second class in the U.S. Army, illegally intruded into the territory of North Korea. It added that during an investigation, King confessed that he decided to go to North Korea because he, quote, harbored ill feelings against inhumane maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army. The statement also said that Travis wanted to seek refuge in North Korea or another country. There was no immediate verification that Travis actually made these statements. But his uncle said previously on ABC that King had said something similar and that he appeared to change after getting into a fight and going to jail. The messages became strange. I was like, you OK? And he's telling me, you know, they're trying to kill me. And you're saying things like said they're racist. I don't know. It made me seem like something was going on with him, like he was fearing for his life. And his mom said prior to King crossing the border that she got a strange call from him in the middle of the night. And I was half asleep and he just called me to scream. I'm not the army soldier you want me to be. And he kept screaming that out loud. And then all of a sudden the phone hung up and they're taking him to the hospital. And King's grandfather previously said this on AP. I think something wrong with me. He ain't thinking clearly. I don't think he would just ran out there like that. I would like to see him come back and they get him some medical help. On Wednesday, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel was asked about North Korea's recent statement on Private King. What I can say is that we cannot verify the comments attributed to Private King. What I will say is, though, that we remain focused on his safe return. And our priority is to bring the private King home. And we are working through all available channels to achieve that outcome. Patel added that since King crossed the border, North Korea has not responded to any messages from the State Department. A spokesperson for King's family, Jonathan Franks, recently posted a message on X on behalf of the family. It says King's mother is worried about her son and she would be grateful for a phone call from him. Jason Perry, NTD News. Now over to Europe. A wildfire broke out on one of the Canary Islands in Spain. Villages in the surrounding area are evacuating. The blaze broke out Tuesday night in a national park on the Spanish island of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands. It has spread to over one square mile and authorities have ordered people in five villages to evacuate. The regional president said this fire is in a complicated area. During the last week, a heat wave in the Canary Islands has left many areas bone dry. About 10 helicopters were at work today dropping water. One hundred fifty firefighters and fifty military personnel in total were trying to contain the wildfire. The goal is to protect residential areas along the coast. Authorities said it would take more than a day to bring it under control. New York Governor Kathy Hochul says the illegal immigrant crisis in Manhattan is the city's own fault in response to Mayor Adams' recent request for more help. NTD's Arlene Richards reports. In a 12-page letter Tuesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul blamed Mayor Eric Adams' lack of coordination for New York City's illegal immigrant crisis. The letter responds to the city's request last week for help in managing the crisis. The state can support us by taking reasonable actions to ease the burden of our city. We need a statewide decompression strategy to help free up space in our shelter system and reduce the pressure on our city's resources. The state recently announced humanitarian relief centers that they will reimburse us for but we need more. The New York Times reports that Adams had written a letter to the state in response to a Manhattan Supreme Court order. The court's order comes in response to a claim filed by the Legal Aid Society asking the court to enforce a years-old decree. The decree requires the city to provide a bed to anyone who asks for it. Adams' letter laid out numerous requests, including asking the state to cover two-thirds of the cost of shelter in the absence of meaningful federal funding and asking for a statewide relocation program to resettle groups of new arrivals throughout the state's counties. The governor's reply criticizes the city for failing to accept numerous state offers of assistance over the last year. For example, she says the state offered more than a dozen state-owned sites that could provide temporary shelter to more than 3,000 migrants. But the city did not accept the offer, the letter states. Mayor Adams' office had no immediate comment on the state's letter. But Hochul herself has been criticized by the mayor and community organizations for not taking a more proactive approach to ease the city's burdens. Without help from the state and federal governments, Adams fears the worst. If we don't get the support we need, New Yorkers could be left with a $12 billion bill. Arlene Richards, NTD News. Smash and grab robberies have hit Southern California once again. The thefts are happening more frequently in Los Angeles County. NTD's Christina Corona has more from the two latest stores that were hit. On Sunday, a shopper recorded two suspects stealing from a Nike store in East LA on Whittier Boulevard. A video posted on the Citizen app shows the suspects running in with trash bags and taking off with about $1,000 worth of shoes and other items. No injuries were reported. We asked local residents if this makes them afraid to shop and what to be aware of. In a way it does, you know, because I have a kid, so I'm always looking out for his safety. So yeah, it's just sad that they're, you know, going into our community in that way, being that it is a low-income community, you know. We're lucky to have a Nike store here. You never know what the person's going to have. A knife, a gun, they're not thinking straight. It doesn't matter. Just be careful. But people are going to come in and try to find easy places like this. Now, there's a lot of requirements with companies. They tell you, don't follow them. Don't talk to them. Don't see them. Just leave them alone. It's not worth it. Because the thing is, that loss will be written off. It'll be a write-off for taxes. It'll be a write-off for insurance. Whatever it is, nobody loses. We reached out to the Nike store, but they declined to comment. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said this particular store is targeted weekly. And on Saturday, video posted on the Citizen app captured 20 to 50 thieves swarming a Nordstrom at the Westfield Topanga Shopping Center in Canoga Park as they cleared out the store during a destructive robbery. The video shows thieves wearing all black, violently grabbing whatever merchandise they can carry, with many thieves seen ripping off the security devices attached to designer purses and luggage items. Officials say $60,000 to $100,000 worth of merchandise was stolen. Police are still searching for the suspects involved. Following the viral video, rapper 50 Cent wrote on Instagram, I told you LA was finished. They are gonna have to lock the doors. Appointment only. SMH. This comes just weeks after he commented about the reinstatement of the zero bail policy in Los Angeles County, saying, LA is finished. Christina Corona, NTD News, Los Angeles. Work from home notice for federal employees in San Francisco. They were told to work remotely for the foreseeable future due to drug use and rising crime around their office building. Congressman Kevin Kiley of California had this to say. Nowadays, when you think about the city, you're less likely to think about the Golden Gate Bridge and the trolley cars and the wharf than you are to think about bashed in windshields and open air drug markets and waste littered streets. The issue was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. It involves an 18 story building that houses various federal agencies. A video posted on social media platform X shows dozens of individuals simultaneously using fentanyl steps from the federal workplace. The video was posted by a longtime San Francisco resident, Darren Stalkup. He says he's seen San Francisco go from being the cultural capital of the world to the technological capital of the world to now the fentanyl capital of the world. The guidance for federal employees to teleconference adds to the growing office space vacancy in the city. Congressman Kiley also wrote on X, In recent months, San Francisco's decline has reached a point of total collapse. The state announced the deployment of the National Guard to the area. The number of police officers doubled in June. NNTD's David Zhang spoke with Darren Stalkup earlier today. Here's a clip of that. Personally, I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've seen firsthand pounds of fentanyl are distributed and used right there on the corner of 7th and Mission. And you know, I've personally seen countless people overdose. And it's a very pressing issue in San Francisco right now. When did you see a noticeable decline? This happened over a period of 10 to 20 years. You know, 2015, there was so much hope and aspirations for San Francisco. The South of Market Area was transforming faster than ever before. Somewhere between all this advancement in technology, there was a decline in humanity. And for many years, the community has been voting progressively for liberal ideas. And personally, I believe that, you know, what's happening in our community is a direct result of electing corrupt Democrats who have placed profits above the families of our community. Progressive policy is making everything progressively worse. Harm reduction is causing more harm. And here to take stock of the economy and the Inflation Reduction Act's impact on it is Samuel Gregg, Distinguished Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, with whom I spoke earlier today. Samuel, welcome. One year since the Inflation Reduction Act, has it reduced inflation in your view? In my view, no, it has not, because the Inflation Reduction Act actually has very little to do with inflation at all. It's primarily about spending. It's about injecting government money into different parts of the economy, favoured by the administration, which of course is lobbied to push funding in particular directions. And much of that funding, of course, has gone into things like green energy. So to that extent, it's actually stimulating spending. It's pushing more money into the economy. And we all know that inflation is essentially and always a monetary phenomenon. So to the extent that the Biden administration is using this to increase spending in different parts of the economy, well, that's about many things, but it's not about inflation. If anything, I would argue, it's probably slowed down the rate at which inflation has decreased over the past year. Now, President Biden himself has said that the act has less to do with reducing inflation than it does with providing alternatives that generate economic growth, in his words. Would you say that the money was spent productively? Well, in my view, that's also a question. Insofar as this is a case of the government intervening into different parts of the economy to try and stimulate particular parts of the economy that the market itself won't. So if you look very carefully at what the administration has spent the money on, it's essentially very close to what you might call a green new deal. So it's in non-fossil fuel energy sources that the administration has primarily directed much of this spend. And that, of course, is not as efficient, as productive as fossil fuels. And it's also, interestingly enough, provided a lot of money to companies that otherwise would not have received the same amount of funding that they would have from private sources because private sources are much more careful about how they invest their money. They're less politically driven. And if you look at what the Biden administration has done in this, it's very politically driven. It's not particularly efficient. So to that extent, I think the money has not been spent particularly wisely. Now, the Atlanta Federal Reserve estimates now that the U.S. economy is on track to grow at a 5% annual pace in the third quarter. Would you say that this act has helped or hindered that? Well, it's certainly spurred on some degree of spending in the economy. So to that extent, it's bound to increase some degree of growth. But in the long term, I think, because it generally will produce a fairly inefficient allocation of resources, both human and capital, across the economy, it's very doubtful that this will produce long term growth. You can pump money into the economy and that will certainly produce short term spurts of growth, maybe even long term. But the type of spending that the administration is engaged in is not the type of spending that's likely to produce the type of growth that will last in the long term. Much of the act aims at enhancing competition with China. How is it tracking on that front? Again, I'm afraid to say the report is generally negative. For one thing, many of the tax breaks and subsidies that the Inflation Reduction Act is giving is going to Chinese companies. The Wall Street Journal, a very long article about this detailing just how much spending from this particular act is being taken up and benefited from by Chinese companies, including Chinese companies with strong links to the Communist Party of China. So to that extent, I think it's fair to say that this is not enhancing competition with China. If anything, it's simply mimicking particular policies that China itself has followed in terms of trying to subsidize and promote particular sectors of economic growth. But as I've said before, that is a very inefficient way of going about trying to boost economic growth. So to that extent, I think it's actually benefited Chinese companies. And it's also, I think, mimicking Chinese policies that at this very moment in time are failing in China itself. So to that extent, I think it's not helped in terms of the United States' place in the world vis-a-vis communist China. Samuel Gregg, Distinguished Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, thank you so much. Thanks for having me on. Moving on to George Santos' case. A person who raised funds for the New York congressman is now facing charges for allegedly pretending to be House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's aide and collecting his campaign donations. Samuel Millett was charged with one count of aggravated identity theft and four counts of wire fraud. The case alleges that Millett wasn't just collecting money on behalf of Santos. Parts of those donations also allegedly went to his personal earnings as commission. Millett was arraigned in Brooklyn, New York earlier this week and pleaded not guilty. Congressman George Santos himself was indicted back in May on 13 felony charges related to money laundering and misleading donors. As for re-election, he's now facing another Republican challenger, Air Force veteran and attorney Greg Hatch. A common abortion pill will remain on the market, but can't be ordered by mail. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled on Mifepristone today. The pill is one of two used in roughly half of abortions in the U.S. The FDA approved it in 2000, but began loosening restrictions in 2016, including letting non-physicians prescribe it, allowing it to be mailed, and changing the limit from seven to ten weeks of pregnancy. The appeals court upheld a lower court decision that the FDA didn't follow the proper procedure for these changes, but it didn't ban the drug altogether. And the appeals court's decision won't go into effect yet. The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to take up the case. The high court issued a temporary order in April, allowing Mifepristone to remain on the market temporarily. Banks, including JPMorgan Chase, could see their ratings downgraded. An analyst at Fitch Ratings is warning. That's if the agency finds the operating environment for the banking industry has worsened, according to a report from CNBC on Tuesday. For more on this, here's NTD Business' Don Ma. And now joining me is Joseph Trevisani, senior analyst at FX Street. So, you know, Fitch analyst Chris Wolff told CNBC yesterday that the ratings agency could potentially downgrade the banking sector operating environment. First of all, maybe just explain to our viewers so that they understand what this means and as a result, what this could actually mean for individual banks' credit ratings, you know, like JPMorgan's. Certainly. Good morning, everyone, also. Well, the Fitch, the rating agencies do, they rate two different separate, two separate things. They rate the overall environment for banks, then they rate individual banks. If they, but the way they work their analysis, that individual banks cannot have a higher rating than the overall industry. So right now, many of the best rated banks like JPMorgan and BOA have the same rating as Fitch just downgraded the industry to. If Fitch lowered that industry rating, that would be a problem because then they would have to reassess the ratings from many of the banks that they rate up to 70 or 80 banks. So that's what the issue is. It's not so much what happened now. It's looking forward. If the environment for banks continues to deteriorate, Fitch may lower their ratings for the industry again. And that would be an issue for individual banks. Right, right. I think the current operating environment for U.S. banks, according to Fitch, is double A minus. If that goes down by a notch, it would be A plus. And in turn, JPMorgan, a big bank, could be lowered accordingly. So should we take the warning seriously? I mean, is this going to happen? I don't think it's going to happen immediately, but it is something that Fitch is certainly looking at. I mean, the issue for banks, of course, is that if their ratings are lowered, that means that their profitability, their cost of doing business rises. They have to pay more for bonds that they issue and items along that line. So it is an issue. But I don't see that it's going to be one that's going to be immediate, because at the rate the U.S. economy is growing, it doesn't seem like we're going to run into this problem based on a recession or a deterioration in economic conditions. So I mean, what are the issues then facing the bank industry, in your opinion, that would justify a downgrade of the environment? Well, you know, it's interesting. You can tie this in with the Fitch downgrade last week of U.S. debt. And what it's speaking to specifically there is political issues in D.C. and the apparent inability to run anything less than a trillion and a half dollar deficit every single year. Over time, that deteriorates the U.S. economic condition rather dramatically. The U.S. is currently paying more over 8 percent of its income, U.S. government, in interest rates and interest charges on its debt. So that's the background. If in fact they continue to deteriorate, then it would affect the banks as well. I don't see that for the moment, but it is definitely the trend for the U.S. economy and the U.S. debt. So is the biggest threat here, I mean, for individual banks, that is, that it could increase borrowing costs for the banks as their credit rating lowers? Absolutely. That is the biggest problem for banks. How does this impact the consumer if the overall environment is downgraded and then accordingly individual banks are downgraded? Well, it affects, it would affect their portfolios, their 401ks. It might affect mortgage rates and things like that that consumers have to pay. But overall, consumers pay much more attention and are much more dependent on the job market. And if we look at the job market and we look at the retail sales numbers, we see that that is still sufficiently strong enough to keep the consumer spending. And we know where that leads and what that means for the U.S. economy. All right. Thank you so much today, Joseph. Always great speaking with you. Thank you very much for having me. There were 156 golfers at last month's Women's U.S. Open. And though different players have different handicaps, there was only one who played with a baby bump in the way. NTD's Dave Martin has more. It's impeded the swing a little bit. I was about six months pregnant at that point, so that got a fair bit of media attention. Amy Olsen has played on the LPGA Tour for 10 years now with several runner-up finishes to her credit, including at the 2019 U.S. Open. The 31-year-old announced her impending pregnancy this past spring and managed to play four events this season despite the obvious obstacle. Yet it was her pro-life Christian View comments made last month that drew the most headlines. I knew when I had talked to Steve and reiterated some of my, you know, points, I knew that I could, I would experience backlash, but honestly, I didn't expect that it wouldn't go to print. The publication would only go to print without her pro-life comments, a dispute that reportedly led golf journalist Steve Eubanks to resign on the spot. Meanwhile, for Olsen, the foray into what's deemed to be controversial wasn't her first. A year ago, the Oxbow, North Dakota native was asked by Golf Week for her views on the overturned Roe vs. Wade decision. The writer, to her credit, wanted to show that there were both perspectives, and so I went on the record and just said that this was a good thing. At the time, I asked a question, which is, when does a woman's life begin? Because to me, that's a very relevant piece of the conversation, and I got a lot of backlash at that point. Now, a year later, and with a life growing inside her, Olsen says her situation on tour has been celebrated. The 31-year-old never previously gave an interview at the U.S. Open and notes the ironic reason for the sudden and positive tension. It's because of this unborn baby, and so now we can acknowledge it, but when we're talking about, you know, and once it gets political, oh, now we can't talk about the unborn baby. So that's like that tension I had lived through, where it's like, sometimes you can talk about it, sometimes you can't. Olsen, though one of the few public pro-life voices, uses the Bible as the foundation for her beliefs. No stranger to the ways of the current media landscape, Olsen has a message for those like-minded individuals who may be feeling alone in their views. There's probably a reason you're not hearing it, and it's not that nobody has that opinion. It's maybe just that it isn't making it kind of past the gatekeepers. And so I encourage people to be bold when they can, and to speak out, and you never really know what the boundary is until you test it. And I guess I apparently found it. Now Olsen, who's due next month, says she's done playing for the year, but hasn't ruled out a return for next season. I'm Dave Martin for NTD News. And a bakery in New York is making bagels entirely out of felt. Customers get to choose from 13 varieties of bagels, complete with cream cheese and lox. Let's take a look. Felt's Bagels is the latest addition to Lucy Sparrow's portfolio of felt exhibitions. When you come into Felt's Bagels, you have a choice of 13 different bagels, and you can put whatever you want into it. So here I have an everything bagel, and down here we have all the fillings. So you can have salt beef, you have American cheese, pickles. Inside the bakery, bins are filled with felt bagel replicas, but they're realistic enough to make you hungry. The creativity and the artistry of this shop is beyond impressive. You walk in as though you're walking into a real shop with real bagels, with real cookies, with real pastries, with real candy. Each piece is handmade. The installation took Sparrow eight months to complete. The felt really resonates with people because it's very much about nostalgia. It transports you into a place where, you know, when you're a kid where things were much more comforting. It was a lot more easygoing. Visitors can purchase any of the items on the shelves like they would in a normal bakery. The prices of my work are so accessible that it means that you can start a collection. It doesn't take it away from the fact that it's fine art. It just means that, you know, anybody can come in. The British artist's previous work includes crafting the interiors of a pharmacy, a supermarket, and a convenience store, all with felt. The shop that sells Felt's bagels is open to the public through September 4th. Andrew Thomas, NTD News. And if you have any news tips or feedback for our show, you can email us at EveningNewsAtNTD.com. That's all for today's news. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Stefania Cox. Good night.