Organized Retail Theft in Top Cities; Millions of Fruit Flies in LA | NTD Tonight – Oct. 27

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to NTD Tonight. I'm David Lam, sitting in for David Zhang. Here's a preview of some of today's top stories. 18 victims now identified in the recent shooting in Maine. The suspect believed to still be on the run as divers searched the rivers. Data shows organized crimes are on the rise nationwide, but which state is hit the hardest? Stay tuned to find out more. It's flies against flies in Southern California. Officials deploy millions of sterile flies to combat a local spike in destructive Mediterranean fruit fly populations. Suspects still on the loose, two days after a deadly shooting in Maine. The prime suspect continues to be on the run. has an update on authorities' search. Authorities in Maine are searching in the woods, on family-owned properties, and even in a river. That's after a gunman killed at least 18 at a bowling alley and a restaurant. That happened on Wednesday. And on Friday, still no sight of the main suspect. Authorities are now sending dive teams with sonar to the bottom of a local river. We will be putting divers in the water. The suspect's car was found close to the river. He reportedly owns a jet ski and a small boat. Authorities on Friday also said they found a note at the suspect's home. A law enforcement source reportedly said the note described how to find things and how to dispose of things. This could suggest that the suspect thought he will no longer be alive when the note is found. Authorities also recovered his cell phone. This makes the search more complicated because they can't use the phone to track him. And with the suspect on the run, Canada is ramping up border security. We have been engaged with our border services agencies and with appropriate police forces too. The main suspect is Robert Card. He's a certified weapons instructor and member of the U.S. Army Reserve. Officials did say he has reported mental health issues in the past, which included hearing voices. His longtime neighbor reportedly said Card is able to hide for an extremely long time. That's due to his military background, also the fact that he grew up in the area and knows the woods of Maine very well. Arian Pasdar, NTD News. Earlier this afternoon, the 18 victims who died have been identified. A spokesperson for the state medical examiner's office said Friday, victims ranged in age from 14 to 76. Family members have been confirming the names of their lost loved ones. So far, we know victims include Bill Young and his 14-year-old son Aaron, Peyton Brewer-Ross, Joshua Sears, a sign language interpreter, 76-year-old Youth Bowling League coach Bob Violette, Michael Delorier, Joe Walker, Trisha Asselin, and Arthur Stroud. Now to Israel, where forces have reported shocking intelligence that Hamas terrorist group's headquarters is located beneath a hospital in Gaza. The news comes after an Israeli naval unit conducted overnight operations off the Gaza coast. NTD's Jason Perry has the latest. The Hamas terrorist group is known for its complex network of underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip. On Friday, Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari reported new intelligence about these infamous tunnels. I repeat that Hamas uses hospitals as their infrastructures. Hamas has turned hospitals into command and control centers and hideouts for Hamas terrorists and commanders. He keyed in on Gaza's largest hospital, Al Shifa, which he says has approximately 1,500 patient beds, and beneath it, an underground terrorist base and Hamas headquarters. Hagari also played a recorded conversation in which a man refers to the al-Qassim brigades, a branch of the Hamas terrorist group. Hagari then shared another recorded conversation in which he said a senior Gazan energy official reported that Hamas has over a quarter million gallons of diesel fuel obtained through people in charge of the hospital. The IDF on Friday released another video of an overnight operation in the Gaza Strip, this one showing their naval commando unit in action. Also on Friday, Hamas called for a ceasefire, saying they would release the hostages if Israel stopped its military operations. But Israel appears determined to never allow Hamas to attack them again after they killed over 1,400 innocent civilians in Israel on October 7. This Gazan woman seems unphased by the ongoing operations. Also on Friday, a video captured a rocket hitting a building in Tel Aviv, for people were injured in the attack. Israel's defense minister said their ground offensive will be difficult, and it will require them to destroy the network of underground Hamas tunnels. Jason Perry, NTD News. As many as 7,900 people have been killed in the war on both sides, including at least 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers, and 33 Americans. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claims at least 6,546 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. And more than 17,439 wounded. At least 10 Americans are feared to be among the 224 people held captive by Hamas. Now let's take a look at other top national headlines today. Rep George Santos pleaded not guilty in federal court in Long Island Friday. He faces 10 charges alleging he stole donors' identities and ran up thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges on their credit cards, among other offenses. The U.S. Attorney's Office filed a 23-count superseding indictment against Santos earlier this month in New York. Santos is due back in court on December 12th. Texas is considering giving police new authority to arrest illegal immigrants and order them to leave the U.S. The proposed legislation could pit Republican Governor Greg Abbott against the Biden administration over immigration. Hispanic Democratic lawmakers led hours of protests, but House Republicans passed the bill on a party-line vote. A similar proposal has already cleared the Texas Senate. Republicans will have to agree on a final version of the bill before sending it to Abbott's desk. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried took to the witness stand Friday for the first time in front of jurors in his criminal fraud trial. Bankman-Fried is accused of stealing billions of dollars from customers. In his testimony to the judge without the jury, Bankman-Fried sought to distance himself from responsibility for his now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange by pointing fingers at FTX lawyers. And in his first statement, he testified that he knew nothing about crypto prior to starting his crypto exchange, FTX, and that he did not defraud anyone. Oil and gas company BP is buying $100 million worth of electric vehicle chargers from Tesla. It's building up its own charging network. The superchargers won't look like other Tesla chargers. They will be branded with a BP Pulse logo. BP plans to begin installing them next year at various locations, including some at third-party locations like Hertz Car Rentals. Currently, BP Pulse has 27,000 charging points. This is the first time Tesla has ever sold chargers to another company. For detailed coverage of these stories, please visit NTD.com. Organized retail theft has become more common around the country. An annual report lists the top cities that were affected in 2022. It also shows that shoplifters have become more violent. NTD's Jason Blair reports. From viral videos on social media to stores closing shop, organized retail theft has been affecting cities and retailers across the country. A survey says that the problem has gotten worse. The National Retail Federation survey says the overall national retail shrinkage increased by $112.1 billion in 2022, with organized retail theft and theft in general being major contributors. The top 11 cities for organized retail theft are Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Houston, New York, Seattle, Atlanta, Sacramento, Chicago, Denver, Miami, and Albuquerque. California is the only state to have multiple cities making the list with three. Los Angeles has been at the top the past five years, and the San Francisco area has been second the past three years. Eighty-eight percent of respondents also stated that shoplifters are more aggressive and violent than a year ago. The annual report surveyed 177 retail brands equaling $1.6 trillion of retail sales in 2022. Jason Blair, NTD News. Zooming in on California, an invasive fruit fly showdown. Los Angeles is under siege by destructive Mediterranean fruit flies. Entity Stephanie Sokal has that story. Los Angeles is facing an aerial battle against invasive Mediterranean fruit flies. Following the discovery of these destructive flies in Leimert Park, a 69 square mile quarantine was imposed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. To combat this threat, officials plan to use small planes to release millions of sterile male fruit flies into the quarantine area over six months or longer. This strategy aims to reduce the population as the sterile males mate with females, preventing offspring. The quarantine covers parts of downtown and South LA, with residents urged not to transport fruits or vegetables and to properly dispose of them within the zone. Local fruit vendors are aware of this. People from the agriculture department have come and told us that we have to cover this with a white fabric on top of the produce so that the insects stay away from the fruit and vegetables. So far it hasn't affected our business, but things could change. Mediterranean fruit flies, though small, can cause significant crop damage. The flies to be released in Los Angeles will be marked with a distinctive purple dye. In another incident, the Stephenson Ranch area faced a quarantine due to the discovery of invasive Tau fruit flies. Agricultural officials are addressing the apprehense of Queensland fruit flies in a residential neighborhood throughout a scheduled news conference in Thousand Oaks. Stephanie Sikal, NTD News, California. Well take a short break now everybody, but here's a look at what we have for you when we come back. A popular mural of the legendary Kobe Bryant has been saved. Fans came together to push for the artwork's preservation. Saudi Arabia joining the world of eSports? An annual eSports World Cup is set to launch summer 2024. A California institution pushes for more youth programs for EV technicians and nurses. New classrooms are now open in the Bay Area. Those stories and more coming up on NTD Tonight. Welcome back to NTD Tonight, I'm your host, David Lam. A beloved mural celebrating a legendary basketball star has been safeguarded, ensuring its preservation despite previous plans of removal. In the 90s, Christina Corona has more from the ribbon cutting in downtown Los Angeles. We're here in downtown Los Angeles where a popular mural of the legendary Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant is being displayed. With the help of Kobe's global fan base, this artwork is preserved for another year. The mural, located outside of Hardcore Fitness at 400 West Pico Boulevard, faced a threat as a building's owner allegedly insisted on its removal. 2K Games, the video game company that showcases the late Lakers legend on the NBA 2K24 cover, played a key role in reaching an agreement to safeguard the cherished mural. Rani Singh, the head of lifestyle and content marketing at 2K, tells us. There was a petition started, it got 90,000 signatures and as the brand that we are and the responsibility we feel that basketball is so important to us, we got involved and we're like, hey, look, any way we can save this mural, we're going to do that. Singh says 2K Games gave a philanthropic donation to the landlord. Weeks and months, people have lined up in front of this beautiful mural taking pictures and for us to be a part of saving this thing, it's just a celebration of basketball and something that means so much to us as a video game. The mural, created by At Slow Motions, is about a half mile away from Crypto.com Arena. Over 600 murals of Kobe Bryant are painted across dozens of countries worldwide. Basketball means so much and L.A. is the epicenter and one of the best places that basketball fans celebrate basketball, watch basketball, so for us it was very important for us to give to this community, the people that come and take pictures with us every day. We spoke to several fans who tell us what they admire most about Kobe Bryant. The mamba mentality was not, you can take that with your whole life, you just have to focus on basketball, just being dependable, being driven, wanting to be the best. So sometimes in the morning, I wake up and just listen to Kobe on YouTube, you know, motivational speeches, whatever he has to say sometimes, it's just a motivational thing. Kobe Bryant, what an unbelievable player from what I've seen, from what people say as well. You can only go based off what people say and the records that he set during his time and it's fantastic. The rededication ceremony took place just hours before the Lakers' home opener against the Phoenix Suns. The agreement to keep the mural up runs until October 31st, 2024. Christina Corona, Entity News, Los Angeles. Now we hand it over to Entity's Carlos Reyes for a glimpse into Saudi Arabia's leap into the world of esports. Saudi Arabia announced this week that it's launching an annual Esports World Cup, which will include the most popular games in the world and have the largest prize pool in esports history. The competition will be held annually in Riyadh starting summer 2024. Here's what CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation, Ralf Reischert, had to say about the competition. When I started my journey in esports 25 years ago, the best thing we could achieve for was not being stigmatized, right? We were playing in our children's bedrooms and were competing for a graphic card at best. The opportunity we can have now with the Esports World Cup to have players from all over the world from the most remote place to literally change their life within 12 months is something I hope we give the opportunity to many, many more people to come, to many, many more kids to come. Clubs will compete across games from various genres to become the ultimate Esports World Cup champion. Sports, esports, and gaming have been a part of the Crown Prince's transformation plan, known as Vision 2030, in which the government is porting hundreds of billions of dollars to diversify the kingdom's economy and reduce its reliance on oil. Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games Group, owned by sovereign wealth fund PIF, said last year it will invest 142 billion riyals. That's 37.8 billion in U.S. dollars in initiatives aimed at making Saudi Arabia a global hub for gaming. Under the plan, the kingdom aims to set up 250 game companies locally, which will create 39,000 jobs and raise the sector's contribution to Saudi GDP to 50 billion riyals in Saudi currency by 2030. Reicher said the competition will help achieve Vision 2030 objectives by boosting tourism, creating jobs, and providing entertainment for residents and visitors alike. As the nation pushes for more electric vehicles on the road, one California institution launches its youth programs for EV technicians as well as nursing students. The Metro-Ed or Silicon Valley Career Technical Education in San Jose, California, started in 1937 and said to have only two like it in the entire state. Saudi has a labor shortage and training students to fill the jobs where we have the retiring baby boomers is going to be really helpful locally and then statewide as well. The superintendent says there are 66 students in the nursing careers and 46 students in the electric vehicle program. So I see this class as one of my first steps to learn new skills so I can serve others. Leaders and the community toured classrooms in a ribbon-cutting Friday. One, two, three! Woo! If they're looking and that's our light, but it could be a horn, it could be anything. So that same test is done actual on a car. With a total of 25 career and technical education programs, the EV and nursing programs are two new additions this August. With County Supervisor Joe Simitian saying it fills the gap of technician demand and a nursing shortage and demand for health care workers. The programs aim to give junior and senior high school students hands-on learning. I think medical careers are always the need, it's always going to be needed. Also here in this class we learn a lot about different nursing, like so many different types of nurses. It's not just a registered nurse or a nursing assistant, we've probably learned at least 30 different types of nurses. In 2022, the EV and nursing science programs received a one-time grant of $250,000, but the superintendent feels it's not enough. Supervisor Simitian says programs like these allow students to find jobs, helping local businesses find talent, and provide services to the community. In San Jose, California, David Lam, NTD News. That's all we've got for you tonight. We'd like you to join us again on NTD Tonight every weekday at 9 p.m. I'm David Lam, signing in for David Zane. Have a wonderful weekend, and we'll be back with more on Monday.