Judge Blocks Calif. Gun Show Ban; LAUSD Settles $19M in Sexual Abuse Claims | NTD Tonight – Nov. 2

Good evening everyone, welcome to NTD Tonight. I'm David Zhang, here's a preview of some of today's top stories. FBI agents raid the home of a campaign fundraising manager. The incident prompted NYC mayor to cancel his meetings in D.C. Israel continues its ground offensive, and troops are now past Gaza City. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken flies to Israel to try to minimize civilian casualties in the war. FBI also trying to address a rising hate crime. The director says anti-Semitic threats have been increasing lately. A last minute change in plans for New York City's mayor, FBI agents raid the home of his campaign fundraising manager. New York City Mayor Eric Adams promptly returned to New York after canceling several meetings in Washington D.C. on Thursday. This came as the FBI raided Breonna Sucks' Brooklyn home. The Democratic mayor shared this video this morning. We headed to D.C. to meet with the Dresden Brothers, who will be resigning in our city. According to Sucks' LinkedIn page, she managed fundraising activities for Adams between 2019 and 2021, raising over $18 million for his 2021 campaign. The New York Times reported that she has already raised more than $2.5 million for the mayor's 2025 re-election. Thursday's raid prompted the mayor to cancel his morning meetings to, quote, deal with the matter. A public corruption unit reportedly questioned Sucks during the raid. Tensions escalated in the Middle East. Israel and Hamas terrorists continue to have intense battles on the ground. The Secretary of State Anthony Blinken heading to Israel to address the dangers to civilians. NTD's Jason Perry has the latest. In a warning, this report contains footage that some viewers may find disturbing. On Thursday, the Israeli military released footage of more ground operations in the Gaza Strip. Overnight, IDF troops fought against a large number of terrorists who tried to ambush them. At the end of the battles, spanning a few hours, including fighting from the ground with air support from aircraft and missile ships, many terrorists were killed. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces have now moved past Gaza City, the largest city in the Gaza Strip. However, Israeli troops may need to be more careful about where they huddle up. Hamas terrorists released a video showing a drone dropping an explosive on what they claim are Israeli troops in Gaza on Wednesday. The IDF continues to attack through the air as well. On Wednesday, the IDF said they've struck over 11,000 Hamas targets. And recently, the IDF has struck Hamas terrorists in refugee camps for three consecutive days, twice in Jabalia refugee camp and striking Beirut's refugee camp on Thursday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now headed to Israel in an effort to help minimize civilian casualties. Other democracies, the United States, Israel, other democracies, have a responsibility to do everything possible to protect civilians who may be caught in harm's way. And this, again, is a crossfire, quite literally, of Hamas' making. This is something that the United States is committed to. I'm not going to get into the details here, but it's very much on the agenda. When I see a Palestinian child, a boy, a girl, pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building, that hits me in the gut as much as seeing a child in Israel or anywhere else. Blinken also said they've been able to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, about 50 or 60 trucks a day. And humanitarian aid has not been the only thing crossing Gaza's border with Egypt. Also on Thursday, President Biden said this. We got out today 74 American folks out that are still citizens. But this Palestinian American on Thursday said she has not been able to leave Gaza. We finally got the chance to almost leave Gaza. This is my fifth attempt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is helping to supply food, medicine and water to Gaza. But as for fuel, he said there's been no decision. Israel says the Hamas terrorist group steals fuel from the Gazan people to support its military operations. Jason Perry, NTD News. The Defense Department echoes the White House hoping to get more stranded foreign nationals out of the region. General Pat Ryder warned against a ceasefire, highlighting the need for deterring a broader conflict. U.S. Secretary Blinken is also scheduled to meet with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safad on Saturday. They're expected to discuss humanitarian aid needs and the attacks on the Gaza Strip. Now let's take a look at other top national headlines today. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. both testified on Thursday that they had no involvement with documents that a judge has ruled were fraudulently manipulated to inflate the value of their father Donald Trump's business. In back-to-back appearances in a New York courtroom, Trump's adult sons both said they were not involved in questionable valuations that now threaten to hobble the family real estate business. Trump put the two sons in charge of the business while he served as U.S. President from 2017 to 2021. Trump Jr. is an executive vice president of the family's Trump Organization. The lawsuit alleges that he is involved in all aspects of Trump Organization property development. The judge in the case has ruled former President Trump liable for fraud. Trump has denied wrongdoing. He is scheduled to take the stand Monday. The U.S. House voted to pass a GOP plan today to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel. The bill is the first major legislative action under new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, and it calls for cuts to IRS funding to pay for the additional support. Democrats objected to cutting money for the IRS, saying it will increase the country's budget deficit by cutting back on tax collection. The bill does not change tax requirements. President Biden has requested a combined package including funding for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine, as well as humanitarian aid. Senate Leader Chuck Schumer said the GOP bill will be dead on arrival in the upper chamber, and the White House has threatened to veto. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been subpoenaed in a criminal case in California for Dave DePapp. The Canadian citizen is accused of attacking Pelosi's husband, Paul, inside their San Francisco home last year. DePapp broke into the residence in early morning hours of October 28th. He then attacked the 82-year-old with a hammer, striking him in the head. Police said they later found a roll of tape, rope, a second hammer, gloves and zip ties inside his backpack. Prosecutors say the attack was politically motivated. Cornell University in New York has canceled classes tomorrow, this after the arrest of 21-year-old junior Patrick Dye. He is accused of posting online messages that included calling for the death of Jewish people and threatening to shoot up a kosher dining hall on campus. Students are extremely disheartened to hear that this is a threat from within our community. The students we spoke to said that campus as a whole felt off and strange today as they're trying to grapple with this news. The university newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun, also reported increased attentions related to the Hamas-Israel war and the incident of anti-Semitic threats. There was also a report of weapons sighting on campus yesterday. Cornell and Ithaca City police searched for a suspect and later called the report unfounded. For detailed coverage of these stories, please visit NTD.com. Speaking of anti-Semitic threats, the FBI addresses rising hate crime. New data from the agency reports hate crimes declined for anti-Asian incidents in 2022, but overall hate crimes surged. NTD's Stephanie Sekal has the details. According to statistics from the FBI in 2022, the United States saw a 33% decrease in reported anti-Asian hate crimes, with 499 incidents down from 746 in 2021. However, hate crimes in general have been increasing for several years, reaching over 13,000 reported incidents in 2022, primarily targeting race, ethnicity, and ancestry. Black people were victims in 52% of race-related offenses. The FBI adds that their annual report likely under-represents actual hate crimes due to under-reporting and data gaps and law enforcement participation variations. Here in the United States, our most immediate concern is that violent extremists, individuals or small groups, will draw inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks against Americans going about their daily lives. FBI Director Christopher Wray says concern is rising about anti-Semitism in the U.S., with the Jewish community representing 2.4% of the population, but accounting for 60% of religious-based hate crimes. We've already seen that with the individual we arrested last week in Houston who'd been studying how to build bombs and posted online about his support for killing Jews, and with the tragic killing of a six-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois in what we're investigating as a federal hate crime. The FBI is addressing this issue through law enforcement efforts and encourages vigilance in reporting of suspicious activities to ensure public safety. Stephanie Sikal, NTD News. We'll take a short break now everybody, but here's a look at what we have for you when we come back. California's ban on gun shows now blocked. A judge recently ruled that the regulation is more extensive than is necessary. The nation's second largest school district to pay tens of millions to settle sexual abuse claims. We'll hear more from the victims and their attorneys. Parents suing the state of California over vaccination laws. The state has a bill restricting religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations. Those stories and more coming up on NTD Tonight. Welcome back to NTD Tonight, I'm your host, David Zhang. A federal judge has blocked California from enforcing a ban on gun shows taking place on public property. NTD's Jason Blair has the details. Federal Judge John Holcomb temporarily blocked two laws that banned gun shows on California state property. Senate Bill 915 bans ammunition and gun sales on state lands and county fairgrounds. Senate Bill 264 bans ammunition and gun sales on Orange County fairgrounds. Both laws were authored by Senator Dave Minn, who represents parts of Orange County. I ask for your help to ensure, help ensure that fairgrounds remain safe, family friendly venues. Minn argued that the bills would end the gun show loophole and stop ghost gun sales, straw purchases and gun thefts from careless vendors. However, John Holcomb said the regulations are going too far, writing, quote, even if the court were to conclude that banning lawful firearm sales at the Orange County fairgrounds directly advances California's interest in stopping illegal weapon sales, the regulation would still be more extensive than is necessary to serve that interest. California's interest in stopping crimes committed with illegal weapons, as important as it is, cannot justify prohibiting the complete sale of lawful firearms at gun shows, especially when those same firearms are available for purchase at regular gun stores. In fact, the firearms purchased at gun shows must be retrieved at brick-and-mortar gun stores. Minn reacted to the ruling, posting online, quote, today's injunction issued by a Trump-appointed activist judge is an outrageous abuse of judicial authority that will undoubtedly make our communities less safe. Minn also said that he's confident the decision will be reversed on appeal. Jason Blair, Entity News. More on California, the nation's second largest school district is set to pay tens of millions of dollars to settle sexual abuse claims against one of their staff. Entity's Christina Corona has more on the story. We're here at the Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters, where a press conference is held by attorneys and the families of the victims who were sexually abused by a teacher's assistant, Lino Cabrera. The LAUSD will pay $19.9 million to settle claims against Lino Cabrera, who sexually abused 14 children at an elementary school in North Hollywood. The reason Lino Cabrera is no longer able to sexually molest children is because of the courage of the girls that this happened to in coming forward. Lino Cabrera was able to sexually molest these girls in the classroom with adult supervision present, while other children were able to see the abuse, were able to recognize the effect it was having on their classmates. The teachers, whose job it was to protect them, said they saw nothing. Attorneys mentioned Cabrera touched the girls in between their thighs and other private parts of their bodies. The girls were all in the fifth grade at the time, during the 2018-2019 school year. Seven of them got together, they talked about it. One of them said, he's making me feel uncomfortable. The others chimed in, and they so courageously all together went to the front office and reported what was going on. And their lawyers took the stance that these girls were either inflating or making up what they were saying, and that these teachers and principals somehow didn't see this serial molestation. It's gross. According to the victims' attorneys, Cabrera was sentenced to eight years in state prison. One of the victims recalled the horrific abuse. He hurt us in ways I can't even describe. He touched us physically and emotionally, because this, as much as I want to say it's over, and as much as I want to say I can look past it, it is a part of me now. It does affect us, it affects our personalities, the person we were, the person we were built to be. But I can't let him drag me down, and I really hope he does not drag any of the other 13 girls down. I know there are many more like him out there, and I really hope if it is happening out there, you guys say something. Please say something. Mothers of the victims said. No kid should be going through this awful pain. Why? Because it's hard for them. They probably don't have a future anymore because their minds are changed now. I can see it in my daughter. I felt, like any other parent, you feel safe dropping off your kids at the school. I'm dropping them off to someone who's certified and leaving them to the teachers and the principal, someone that's supposed to protect my child while I'm working, and it didn't happen. A Superior Court judge will host various hearings on November 6th and 7th to approve the distribution of the settlement to the minors involved. Christina Corona, Antony News, Los Angeles. A nonprofit organization consisting of legal counsels are suing the state of California over an existing bill that restricts religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations. They say it violates the constitutional rights of parents to make medical decisions for their children. This comes as the state plans to add the COVID-19 jab to the list of vaccines required to attend a school. Advocates for Faith and Freedom, a nonprofit law firm that aims to protect religious liberty, filed a lawsuit on October 31st against the California Attorney General Rob Bonta challenging Senate Bill 277. SB 277, signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2015 and took effect in 2016, restricts religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations. It eliminated nonmedical exemptions from state-mandated immunizations for children entering public or private schools. The bill applies to elementary or secondary schools, daycare centers, and public or private daycares and preschools. In the announcement, Mariah Gondaro, vice president of the nonprofit group, said, People of faith should never be discriminated against through legislation. We are standing up for parents of all faith backgrounds who want access to a quality education and medical autonomy over their children. This comes as Governor Gavin Newsom and some lawmakers have been trying to add the COVID-19 shot to the list of vaccines needed to attend school. In October 2021, California became the first state in the nation to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for schools during the pandemic. Now let's check in with NTD's Tyler Castillo on the baseball World Series. Texas Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks five to nothing in game five to win the World Series for the first time in its franchise history. During the postseason, the Rangers won 11 straight away games, which is the longest in MLB history. It's special to come here in my first year with a team that was determined to play winning baseball and never won a championship. But as far as me, that's a byproduct of what those guys did out there and what the front office did. I was alone for the ride, trust me. I was very fortunate and blessed, you know, to be able to get back into baseball in this type of situation. I was in Nashville just relaxing and had three years off and come back and be in this position. I've said so many times, I'll say it again, I'm blessed. Corey Seager was named Series MVP. That is his second time claiming the title. Truly is incredible. But it's not just me, man. What this team did and how we competed and all the guys in there rallying, we don't really have one leader. That whole clubhouse is the leadership. They're all professionals in there and we all knew we had a job and a task at hand and we competed and we did it. It's pretty cool. That's all we've got for you tonight. We would like you to join us again on NTD Tonight every weekday at 9 p.m. I'm David Zhang. Have a wonderful evening.