NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (Dec. 13)

This is NTD Evening News, live from our NTD Global Headquarters in New York City. Here is Tiffany Meyer. Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight. The House has just voted in favor of formalizing the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. It's a major next step in the House GOP's probe into the Biden family's business dealings. NTD's Melina Weiskopf joins us from Capitol Hill with more. Melina, talk to us about what this vote means for the investigation. Good evening, Tiff. The impeachment inquiry that the House just passed along party lines essentially authorizes the House to keep doing what they've been doing with regards to finding more information on the Biden family's cash flow as well as trying to answer the question as to whether or not President Biden had a direct involvement in his son's foreign business deals. One key thing to point out about this impeachment inquiry is that Republican leadership has been hammering the message that there is a difference between the impeachment inquiry that just passed the House and taking a vote to directly impeach the president. This distinction allowed them to shore up more Republican support from skeptical Republicans, especially those from swing districts who are not ready at this point to vote to impeach the president. Meanwhile, some other Republicans say that the evidence is enough for them and they're hoping this process moves quickly. Here's what lawmakers were telling me ahead of tonight's vote. I think we should be bringing the case already. It seems like the evidence is just incredibly hard to ignore at this point. Direct distributions of hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions of dollars into 20 different accounts, five different family members, at least I know of, from five different countries. Show me where you gave the loan. Show me. Show me where that money went out because that's pretty easy to prove. One of the reasons why Republicans say that they want to have the impeachment inquiry vote is to back up their subpoenas like the contempt of Congress charges that they might press on Hunter Biden. Do you think that will have any legal standing? Should it go to court? No. Why? Because we made the same mistake in 2019. We formally voted the inquiry because we thought it would help us with enforcing subpoenas. It did not. And that last point you just heard, Tiff, speaks to another meaning of this impeachment inquiry, and that is that Speaker Johnson and his leadership team have insisted that this will give them a better legal standing in court. This will better allow them to enforce their subpoenas. Although, like you just heard from Congressman Jerry Nadler, who's the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, from his experience, it may not actually play out that way for Republicans. Some other Republicans whom I spoke with about this told me that they are skeptical of the DOJ's role in this and how well the agency will enforce those subpoenas. Tiff? To that point, Melina, Hunter Biden defied his subpoena today. What can we expect to see from the Republicans? Well, Republican Chairman James Comer and Jim Jordan say they're ready to start those contempt of Congress proceedings against Hunter Biden. He did not show up for that deposition this morning at 930, though he was here on Capitol Hill as a way to show that he's trying his best to comply with Republicans' demands, although he's insisting that he'll only testify in a public setting instead of a private one. Here's what the president's son had to say on Capitol Hill this morning, as well as how Republicans responded shortly afterward. It's shameless. There's no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen. What are they afraid of? I'm here. I'm ready. If you do it in an open format now, you're going to get filibusters, you're going to get speeches, you're going to get all kinds of things. Now, Republicans have offered to let Hunter Biden testify in a public setting after that closed-door portion is over with. But now they're moving forward with these contempt of Congress proceedings, which carries a maximum of one year in jail for Hunter Biden if he is found guilty here. Tiff, back to you. Thank you for that update, Melina. The White House reaffirming U.S. support for Israel after President Biden issues a cautious warning to the Israeli government. NTD's Iris Tao has more from the White House. The White House today tried to make clear that U.S. support for Israel is not diminishing and that President Biden was only voicing his concerns when he said at a private fundraiser yesterday that Israel is losing international support because of what he called indiscriminate bombing that takes place. Here's the White House trying to clarify what President Biden meant yesterday. Watch. Is the U.S. government's position that Israel was engaged in indiscriminate bombing in Gaza? The President was expressing concerns again, as I said, about the civilian casualties that we've seen. We know they've stated their intent to reduce civilian casualties, and they have acted on that. Biden's Tuesday comments sparked questions over whether the U.S. now believes that Israel is violating international laws. But National Security Spokesperson John Kirby at the White House briefing today gave us examples of how Israel is taking steps to protect civilians, including by reducing airstrikes and also putting out maps that show people where and where not to go. Watch. They have published online maps of places where people can go or not to go. That's basically telegraphing your punches. And there's very few modern militaries in the world that would do that. I don't know that we would do that. And President Biden did say in his Tuesday comments that, quote, there is no question about the need to take on Hamas. And regarding his comments that Netanyahu needs to make changes with his government, the White House says that Biden said that out of affection for the Israeli democracy, adding that it's all up to the people there to decide on their government. Back to you. As the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists intensifies, the IDF has now suffered one of its worst days on the battlefield. And Israel's prime minister gave the troops an encouraging message amid international calls for a ceasefire. NTD's Jason Perry has the latest on the war. And a warning, this report contains footage that some viewers may find disturbing. Hamas terrorists continue to battle Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, Hamas terrorists released a video showing attacks against Israeli troops, including this one where a terrorist spots what appears to be an Israeli soldier popping his head out of the top of a tank before the terrorist fires at him. And another terrorist planting an explosive device underground, then detonating it as an apparent Israeli tank drove over it. On Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces suffered their worst day on the battlefield in weeks, with 10 Israeli troops killed in a single day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the losses and said this to the soldiers over the radio. I say this in the face of great pain, but also in the face of international pressures. Nothing will stop us. We will go to the end, to the victory. No less than that. I thank you. We do it because of you. Through you, with God's help, and with your help, thank you so much. On Wednesday, the IDF released its own video of terrorists operating in the Gaza Strip. It looks as if the terrorists were preparing to launch a rocket, but an Israeli airstrike hit them before they could launch it. Israeli troops continue to press forward through the Gaza Strip to defeat Hamas terrorists and bring all of the hostages home, although many people have been calling for a ceasefire. Israel's government spokesperson explained how Hamas has been able to affect people's view of the war. Now we know that some nations are perhaps losing nerve. They're losing nerve because Hamas is working very hard to manufacture a humanitarian crisis. In Gaza, it continues to operate in civilian dress, out of civilian areas, deliberately trying to put civilians in harm's way, because it knows that those images will generate sympathy, and sympathy will generate diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop defending ourselves. He went on to say that he was thankful that Israel has the support of the United States to defeat the terrorists responsible for the massacre on October 7th. U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller also commented on the international pressure for a ceasefire. We want this conflict to end. We don't want to see it go on a day longer than is necessary. But we also don't think that stopping the campaign right now and allowing the plotters of the October 7th attacks to continue to operate, to continue to command fighters, to continue to sit in their tunnels, stockpiling weapons and maintaining the ability to continue to launch terrorist attacks against Israel is in the long-term security interests of anyone in the region. Also on Wednesday, President Biden met with family members of some of the eight American-Israeli hostages still in Hamas captivity. One of the family members said she is hoping for a Christmas miracle and to have all of the hostages back for Christmas. Jason Perry, NCD News. Turning now to some court actions. Former President Trump catches a break. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan today halted all proceedings in his federal election case. Trump is appealing to have the case dismissed on grounds of presidential immunity. The decision could potentially lead to a significant delay in all future proceedings. But Judge Chutkan said that it doesn't necessarily cancel the pretrial deadlines. As of now, prosecutors are urging Chutkan to stay on track and keep the March 4th trial date in place. To speed things up, Special Counsel Jack Smith is hoping to skip the appeals court and instead let the Supreme Court hear the case. Despite the temporary pause, Chutkan noted that the gag order is still in effect. The Supreme Court today agreeing to accept two new cases, both with broad implications. One on the January 6th Capitol breach and the other on access to an abortion drug. The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear an appeal by Joseph Fisher, a January 6th defendant. The Justice Department charged Fisher with obstructing an official proceeding for his actions during the Capitol breach. It's the most common felony charge brought against hundreds of January 6th defendants. Fisher faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the charge. He's currently awaiting trial on other criminal charges. The justices are expected to hear arguments in the case in the coming months. By the end of June, they will rule whether the charge will stick. This appeal has potential implications for former President Trump's federal election case as well. He faces the same obstruction charge. Legal experts said Trump's lawyers could argue that the court's move should delay the start of his trial. It's currently due to begin in Washington, D.C. next March. And the Supreme Court on Wednesday also agreed to hear an appeal from the Justice Department. The Biden administration is seeking to maintain broad access to an abortion drug called mifeprestone. The justices will consider whether to restrict the drug nationwide. This will be the high court's most important abortion-related decision since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The FDA ruled mifeprestone safe and effective more than two decades ago. But challengers argue the agency didn't do enough to study the safety implications of the drug. For now, mifeprestone remains available as the legal battle plays out. When used together with another drug, it's one of the most common abortion methods in the U.S. Reporting by Allison Lee, NTD News. Donald Trump holds a commanding lead in Iowa. But that's not stopping Republican hopefuls from trying to close the gap. How are they doing it? NTD's Arlene Richards has more. As the Iowa caucuses are coming up in January, Republican presidential candidates are gearing up their attacks on frontrunner Donald Trump. Thank you. At a CNN town hall on Tuesday, Governor Ron DeSantis went on the offense. Debating is the bare minimum that a political candidate should do. And I would note Donald Trump has refused to debate throughout this campaign. He doesn't think he owes it to Iowans. He doesn't think he owes it to granite staters to show up and debate and answer questions. DeSantis went on to criticize Trump for a number of issues, including border security and abortion. I went to the rallies with Donald Trump. He said he was going to build the wall and have Mexico pay for it. And that didn't happen. One thing in this race that I think is important to point out is Donald Trump flip flopping on the right to life. But this is not the first time DeSantis has targeted Trump. In May, as he kicked off his first campaign, DeSantis bashed Trump on similar issues, including his COVID policy. Three months ago, DeSantis suggested Trump was too old. Presidency is not a job for someone that's 80 years old. Despite all the criticisms, a real clear politics poll shows Trump holds a commanding lead in Iowa and a national average of 60.3 percent. But that hasn't stopped DeSantis's rival, Nikki Haley, from also going after Trump. I don't think you should be president. The problem is you see our country is in disarray. Our world is on fire. And you can't defeat Democrat chaos with Republican chaos. And Donald Trump brings us chaos. On Tuesday, New Hampshire Governor Chris Tanuno endorsed Haley. Let's get this thing done. We are all in on Nikki Haley, undoubtedly. Haley is hopeful the popular governor's endorsement will move her closer to Trump. To go and get endorsed by the live free or die governor is about as rock solid of an endorsement as we could hope for. Will the endorsement be enough for Haley to make a splash in Iowa? Trump said in an ex-post that Haley has no chance of winning, even with the endorsement. Can another Iowa debate push her into the second position? CNN scheduled a debate five days before the Iowa caucuses. It's the last chance for candidates to attract attention in Iowa. The debate could be crucial for DeSantis, who has predicted he will win the state. So far, he will be the only candidate on the debate stage. Vivek Ramaswamy wants to participate, but he has yet to meet the criteria. And Haley hasn't committed to facing DeSantis one-on-one. Arlene Richards, NTD News. A new poll shows one in five mail-in voters committed some kind of election fraud in 2020. Former President Trump is now commenting, suggesting this backs up his years-old claim of widespread fraud. NTD's Arian Pasdar spoke with the pollster. A new Heartland-Rasmussen poll found that 21% of mail-in voters admitted to filling out a ballot for somebody else in the 2020 presidential election. 10% of all respondents said they know somebody who admitted to casting a mail-in ballot fraudulently. And 8% of likely voters said they've been offered a pay or something else for voting. Almost half of all 2020 votes were cast by mail, the most ever in U.S. history. Consider how close the 2020 election was. This is extremely troubling. Jim Lakeley is the vice president of the Heartland Institute, which conducted the poll. He said they expected that maybe 5% of mail-in voters would admit to some kind of voter fraud, and that they were shocked when they saw the number was over 20%. Former President Trump took to social media, commenting on the poll, writing, this is the biggest story of the year and Republicans must do something about it. Now, Lakeley told me that some states did actually have reasonable safety measures in place when it comes to mail-in voting, but that those were abandoned during the COVID pandemic. He also says that people are now being discouraged from talking about potential voter fraud in the 2020 election, but that Americans, including Democrats, have routinely questioned election results in the past. For example, when George Bush won against John Kerry, or Trump's 2016 win. Yet suddenly, in 2020, when everybody can see with their own eyes that our election system has been thrown into complete chaos, that is the only election in which it is not proper to question whether the results are legitimate. There was no suppressing of those sorts of ideas and thoughts for every other presidential election since the year 2000. The poll was conducted in the first week of December, getting samples from over a thousand respondents, mostly equal parts Republican, Democrats, and third-party voters. Aryan Pasdar, NTD News. America's military is in crisis. Recruitment is at an all-time low. At a congressional hearing today, lawmakers asked military leaders how much woke ideology has to do with it. NTD's Arlene Richards has more. Military recruitment is in crisis. Young people are increasingly choosing not to enlist. The reasons? Complicated. The overwhelming perception is that there are rats in the barracks, suicide rates are climbing, opioids are everywhere, the food options are terrible or inaccessible, and there's a risk that your child could be raped or murdered. Lawmaker Jim Banks says America's national security is in danger if the recruitment problem isn't solved. He says politicization in the military is one key factor. Numerous studies show that service members think the military has become too politicized. With ideologies involving social justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion heavily involved. There is one service that hasn't tried to bend to the culture wars. The Marine Corps stayed on message and has met their recruiting goals year after year. Out of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, only the Marine Corps exceeded its recruitment goal, though by only 21 people. The other service branches missed their goals by thousands. What drove, what data drove the calling, which was a cartoon of a young lady with two moms that basically said, and then she joined. Is there a body of LGBTQ or of service members with LGBTQ parents that we were targeting? We were targeting two years, 2022 and 2021 of Gallup polling nationally shows that 20% of young Americans under 25 consider themselves part of the LGBTQ community. That's exactly the market that we're looking for. Military leaders dismissed politicization as a key factor. They said they believe that young people aren't well informed about what the military is like and that better communication is the answer. Arlene Richards, NTD News. Welcome back. Tesla is recalling nearly 2 million cars to limit the use of its autopilot feature. This comes after a review of nearly 1,000 crashes that happened when the feature was engaged. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the company agreed to an over-the-air software update, as well as mailing letters to owners notifying them of the change. The update would limit the auto steer feature if a driver repeatedly fails to demonstrate they are ready to resume control of the car while the feature is on. In a recent Washington Post investigation, auto assist was used when it should not have been in at least eight serious accidents, including some fatalities. Despite never smoking, Big Bang Theory actress Kate Micucci said she was shocked to find out when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She posted a video on social media after undergoing surgery. NTD's Jason Blair has more. Actress, comedian, and musician Kate Micucci posted on social media saying she is recovering from lung cancer surgery. It's pretty weird because I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. She said they caught it really early and the cancer has been removed. It's been a little bit of a trip and I'll probably be moving slow for a few weeks, but then I'll be back at it. Micucci is best known for her role in Big Bang Theory. She is also half of the comedy folk music duo Garfunkel and Odes. According to the CDC, about 10 to 20 percent of lung cancer patients each year are people who have never smoked or have smoked less than 100 cigarettes in their life. After tobacco smoke, radon exposure is estimated to be the second highest contributor to lung cancer cases. The American Cancer Society advises annual screenings for people between 50 and 80 years old who smoke or have a history of smoking. Jason Blair, NTD News. A teeth straightening company suddenly shuts down, leaving customers stranded mid-treatment. Now they are concerned about ongoing plans and support. NTD's Stephanie Sakal tells us more. Smile Direct Club, a company offering clear plastic teeth aligners, has suddenly closed. It now leaves customers stranded while urging them to seek their local dentist to continue any unfinished treatments. Smile Direct Club filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September but failed to find a new buyer. The subsequent shutdown has left customers without new aligners, and canceled orders. I haven't even tried to call them, but I went on the website and it had, you know, their little message to the world that they are currently no longer in business. And they had like an FAQ section, basically stating if you ordered something, you're probably not going to get it. Or, you know, if you need to order something, you're probably not going to get it. So I don't think, I guess there is no answer. Ruby Bui has been a long-time customer and was anticipating to follow up with another retainer order to continue her treatment. She says she hasn't had any issues with the company until now. It's just kind of dead. It's gone. So I guess, really, if there's any other similar company that's willing to do retainers, I'm all for it. The company has served over 2 million people since 2014 but customers now face uncertainties about their unfinished treatments. Smile Direct Club once promised to revolutionize the oral care industry by selling clear dental aligners. But last year, the District of Columbia Attorney General's Office sued the company and accused them of unlawfully using non-disclosure agreements to manipulate online reviews. Stephanie Sikal, NTD News. A new milestone for In-N-Out Burger. In its 75th anniversary year, the chain opened its first restaurant in Idaho. People waited as long as 20 hours to get in. NTD's Ai-Ling Eng has more. In-N-Out Burger opened its 400th restaurant in Meridian, Idaho on Tuesday. Locals have been anticipating the fast food chain. And when it opened, long lines formed. John Soule said he waited 21 hours in his car on the property for the grand opening. It was 37 degrees outside. Some people thought we were crazy. Why would you do that for a hamburger and stuff? But it's just that, you know, the opening of this store was a big deal for us to begin with. And then for it to be timed so that it was the 400th store of In-N-Out to have opened, then, you know, it kind of made it a double big deal. And years from now, we'll be talking about that, you know, In-N-Out, maybe they'll have 10 stores in Idaho by then. And you said, you know, we were there the first day that they were open in our state. Soule used to live in Orange County, California, where he would make a 30-mile trip to a local In-N-Out in Los Angeles. One of the things that I think attracts maybe the company even is that there's a lot of Californians that have moved to Idaho and that they've been clamoring for years to ask the company to set up shop up here. In-N-Out CEO Lindsay Snyder was present at the opening. She signed Soule's copy of her book. Serena Hollinshead, who also moved to Idaho from California, walked in with her husband and waited about an hour and a half to order and another hour to get her food. Everybody was so excited and all the employees just so kind and so helpful and just excited to be there. So the inside of the store looks amazing. Of course, everything's very clean and will stay that way because that's the only way I've known In-N-Out to be. They say the taste hasn't changed and is just like they remembered. One of the things that sets them apart is that all of their meat is fresh, just about every other fast food burger place uses frozen hamburger. In-N-Out cuts its own meat, so they're making their own hamburger patties. You know, just them basically even cutting the fries right there in front of you. So you see the products and the care that they take in for their consumers. There was also a merchandise truck that sold T-shirts, sweaters, mugs, stickers, and more. In-N-Out restaurants are located in eight states. Why did Hunter Biden decide to make a public statement outside the Capitol? And what was he trying to achieve? Joining us now to react to the younger Biden's surprising appearance today, we have investigative journalist Jeff Carlson. He's also the co-host of Truth Over News on Epic TV. Jeff Carlson, thank you so much for joining us. Great to have you back on the show. Yeah, thank you for having me. Good to be here. Now, Republicans are set to launch contempt proceedings against Hunter Biden. This is after he defied a subpoena to testify behind closed doors. How big of a deal is this? Well, you know, first it remains to be seen if Republicans will really follow through on this. But the manner in which Hunter handled this was pretty crazy. You know, to pull up in a car, jump out, do a quick interview where he claims that he's ready to answer questions, and then jumps back in the SUV and drives away. And, you know, he gave away a little bit of the game when he did that because at that press conference, he used a very select choice of words. And he said, my father has never been financially involved in my business. Now, The New York Times went to great effort to actually take that quote and manipulate it. In their tweet and in their article, they removed the word financial to leave the quote that my father was never involved in my business. But that's not what Hunter said. You know, what he said was actually potentially almost accurate, was never financially involved. He may have been the recipient of finances from Hunter, and he was involved in his business. So it was kind of fascinating how that played out. We'll see how quickly—it'll be a test for the GOP if they'll actually follow through on this. Because in theory, contempt charges have real teeth. If Congress wants to, they could enact enormous daily fines on Hunter. Let's see if they do it. And expand for us what you mean by the caveat that Hunter Biden's statement of his father not being financially involved left. First of all, it's a big difference to say my father was not financially involved as opposed to saying my father was not involved in the business, period. If you want to cut to the chase of it, Joe Biden was the business. Hunter Biden had no business without his father. And we've seen that repeatedly. That's been the primary way that Hunter Biden would operate. His father would move into a new country and engage in foreign policy. That country was almost always typified by a high level of corruption. And immediately, sometimes within a matter of days or weeks, Hunter would move into that same country and start some kind of business, usually affiliated with representing someone or Burisma being on the board. And that's how they made their money. So without his father, Hunter Biden had nothing. Why would Hunter Biden say that? Is that going to help his father's case? Honestly, I was quite surprised to see that he both came and made a public statement like that. The fact that Eric Swalwell of Congress was right by his side, that was a shock as well. And I don't think that quote does his father's any favor at all to say that my father was not financially involved in my business. And that's a caveat. So I'm very puzzled at the legal strategy of having done this today. I understand why he doesn't want to testify. They're making a big to-do about the fact that he was willing to testify publicly, but that he didn't want to testify privately behind closed doors. Well, yeah, he probably doesn't want to because that was going to be in a deposition setting. He'd be deposed. The media circus would have been removed from it. And it wouldn't have been subject to these little three-minute sound bites that you see on TV when Congress holds their hearings. Here, he would have been actually questioned formally, and his remarks would be transcribed, everything else. And that serves as a moment of record for the follow-on public hearing. So not only do you do a much better job of getting to the heart of the matter and he's being deposed legally, it also helps to control the follow-on media circus. Now, President Biden has often been quoted as saying, where's the money now? Chairman of the House Oversight Committee James Comer says the GOP followed the money and that they identified 20 shell companies connected to the Bidens, noting the $24 million involved coming from China, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Romania. Now, you wrote that quote, we need testimony from two people, Rob Walker and Eric Schwerin. Tell us about that. How are these two people involved? Yeah, these two people are actually very important, although they're not household names. Eric Schwerin, and he's effectively the financial manager, and he ran the behind-the-scene finances for the Bidens. So he's very crucial from that vantage point. The other gentleman that comes into play is Rob Walker. And Rob Walker is the guy who's, he had a company called Robinson Walker LLC, and repeatedly money from China, money from Romania, would flow into his company, into that shell LLC, and then he would then disperse it to the Bidens. And it would usually be broken up into thirds. So his company is, if you're looking at it objectively, served as sort of a money laundering station for the Bidens, a way to hide the flows. A perfect example of that is Hunter's representation of Gabriel Popovich, a Romanian real estate tycoon. And payments from Popovich's company went into Rob Walker's company. Then disperse that money out to the Bidens. And so that's a perfect example of using these various shell companies as a means to hide money and then disperse it out. Now, of course, they're not dispersing it straight to Joe Biden. In this particular instance, that was a million dollars, and that payment went out to a combination of Hunter Biden, but also Haley Biden, Beau Biden's widow, and went into her account. So what you see is this pattern of disseminating money outward to the Biden family. And yes, as far as we know to this point, they've been careful not to directly cut a check to Joe Biden. But his family is absolutely receiving that money. And as these proceedings play out, what else should the public be paying attention to? Well, first of all, I don't think it's a done deal that we're not going to see direct links of payments to Joe Biden. But it's always crucial to be looking for where Joe Biden exerted influence. And I'll give you an example of that. I mentioned Gabriel Popovici, the Romanian tycoon. The way that representation all came about was Hunter Biden received an email from a law partner of his on September 1, 2015, saying, hey, it looks like we might have a really interesting opportunity here in Romania. Well, what happens next? Two weeks later, the Biden White House, out of nowhere, suddenly schedules a meeting with the Romanian president. And by the end of the month, those two meet at the White House. And five weeks after that, the first cash flows from Gabriel Popovici, this Romanian tycoon who Hunter is now suddenly representing, although he never seems to do anything for him, the first cash flows start flowing into Rob Walker's account and then out to the Biden family. Quite fascinating indeed, Jeff Carlson. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah, thank you very much. Good to be here. Welcome back. And Ocelot Kitten is captivating visitors with playful antics and the Los Angeles Zoo. It proudly welcomed the spirited new member of its family. NTD's Christina Corona has the inside scoop on the adorable new kitten. The L.A. Zoo revealed Monday that Maya, the kitten's mother, gave birth to an unnamed kitten on September 12th. The male Ocelot kitten weighed only 19 ounces at birth and has been living behind the scenes until he receives full vaccinations. The kitten's progress is being closely monitored by keepers who note that he has already achieved several developmental milestones and weighs six and a half pounds. Animal keeper Stephanie Zielinski said, his eyes opened after nine days and his teeth began to erupt after 20 days. At first, he was toddling around on unsteady legs, but he's become stronger and more agile every day. He has a big personality now and he's brave and curious. Ocelots, larger than typical household cats, but smaller than bobcats, are primarily solitary creatures often found resting in trees or brush during the day. The Zoo anticipates that visitors will have the opportunity to observe Maya and her kitten in their habitat in the upcoming days. Christina Corona, NTD News, Los Angeles. And now for your sports news, we're joined by NTD's Dave Martin. Dave, the fallout from leaving an undefeated Florida state team out of the college football playoffs continues as the state's attorney general is now investigating. What's the latest on this? Yeah, the Florida's attorney general is investigating to see if the committee was involved in any anti-competitive conduct. Now, I'm not sure what they think they'll find. I'm a little shocked they're taking this this far. I mean, I realize a lot is at stake with these playoff bids, besides even money. Now, the attorney general wants all communications between them and ESPN, which televises this, plus between them and the other major conferences. Plus, they want to know how much these committee members earned, who they each voted for, and even the software used to record the votes. Now, I didn't agree with the committee's decision either, but to suggest they did something illegal seems pretty far-fetched, so it's hard to see anything coming. Now, elsewhere in college sports, a lawsuit was filed against the NCAA to allow athletes who've transferred a second time to be immediately eligible to play. What are the arguments for and against this? Yeah, as it is now, you can transfer without sitting out a season one time. You do it a second time, you've got to sit out a year, unless you get a waiver from the NCAA. Now, up until a few years ago, any transfer required sitting out a year. On the one side, the argument is this can restrict a player's right to earn money from name-image likeness. On the other side, I think the argument is really from coaches that don't want to have one stability on their roster, don't want to have to re-recruit their team every year. I've also heard the argument that maybe there are some lessons to be learned if you have to persevere through a situation you don't like, like you're not getting enough playing time or something. That seems to have some merit, too. Now, right now, a federal judge has temporarily ruled that these athletes can play immediately. No word yet on whether the NCAA will appeal. Now, looking at the pro game, a situation we never thought was possible. Patriots coach Bill Belichick answering questions about his job security today. Does it really seem like his job could be in jeopardy? Not really. I mean, I don't know what's going on behind the scenes, but clearly he's shown he can win with an MVP caliber quarterback like Tom Brady. I mean, six Super Bowl titles is more than every other franchise, almost, let alone every other head coach. Right now, the Patriots are in last place, and this is the third time in four seasons since Brady left that they'll miss the postseason. Now, meanwhile, Patriots owner Bob Kraft said before the year that it was very important to him that they make the playoffs this year. To me, you know, not having Brady at quarterback really has exposed the rest of the roster. Now, who's in charge of picking that? It seems like it's Belichick. It's not really clear, though. Either way, I would imagine there could still be some internal strain over why Tom Brady left four years ago despite all that success, but I'm guessing we'll never know for sure. Well, now, elsewhere in the league, the league has announced plans to play a regular season game in Brazil, in addition to games in Germany as well as England. What's the league's logic to this? You know, I think the ultimate goal is to get a big TV deal overseas, like the NBA has with China. You know, right now, football is known as a different sport in Brazil, and really the rest of the world. American football hasn't been an Olympic sport because really it's only popular in the U.S., and it's number one here. The NFL gets roughly $10 billion a year from their TV deals, but that's just one country. You know, imagine if they could get similar deals from Europe or South America. So this is similar to the NBA's game plan a few years ago, grow the game internationally. Now, there's a number of pro leagues over in Europe, not quite at the NBA's level, but it really benefits the league by making it more popular overall. So the NFL seems to be laying the groundwork for that. They're just a little bit behind right now. Well, Dave, as always, thanks for joining us. Thank you, Tiff. And that's all for today's news. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Good night.