Michigan Supreme Court Keeps Trump on Ballot; Pizza Hut to Lay Off Delivery Drivers – Dec. 27

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to NTD Tonight. I'm David Zhang. Here is a preview of some of today's top stories. A shocking phone call showing Hamas terrorists could have controls over United Nations operations in the Gaza Strip. And Hamas releases a video secretly watching Israeli troops before the unexpected turn of events. Some California officials want to ban Trump from the 2024 primary ballot. But why does Governor Newsom disagree? Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy polls funding for TV ads. We'll take a closer look at his move. First up, Israeli forces released a recorded phone call that alleges Hamas controls the United Nations relief efforts in Gaza. Meanwhile, Hamas released a video that secretly recorded Israeli troops before the unexpected turn of events. NTD's Jason Perry has the latest on the Israel-Hamas war. On Wednesday, Hamas terrorists released a video of what appears to be Israeli troops recovering the body of a deceased soldier while other troops were standing guard. A terrorist inside a residence then throws a grenade at them and opens fire. Hamas also released footage of another terrorist inside a residence firing an explosive at an apparent Israeli tank. Hamas terrorists not only control the Gaza Strip, but according to a recorded phone call released by the IDF on Wednesday, Hamas also controls the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA. In the phone call, a Gazan resident explains that from the day Hamas rose to power, they took control of everything. After such a significant statement, the IDF officer asked him to clarify what he meant. And when it comes to humanitarian aid, he said Hamas provides it to their own people first. We reached out to UNRWA for comment, but we didn't get a response before airtime. Meanwhile, Hamas security escorted this convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including fuel, as it made its entry into the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Wednesday. Israel's government spokesperson Aylan Levy said this on Wednesday. UN agencies are currently struggling to distribute aid at the pace that Israel is inspecting it. Unfortunately to date, the UN aid mechanism in Gaza has been woefully unsuccessful because it goes through UNRWA. Aid simply isn't reaching the people who need it because Hamas hijacks it, and UNRWA covers up for it. He also gave this warning about Hezbollah's continued attacks across Israel's northern border. We are now at a fork in the road. Either Hezbollah backs off from the Israeli border in line with UN Resolution 1701 from 2006, or we will push it away ourselves. Levy's comments come just a day after Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon fired an anti-tank missile at a church in northern Israel. The attack injured two Israeli Christians, according to the IDF. Then, when Israeli troops responded to the injured, Hezbollah fired another missile at the church, injuring nine Israeli soldiers. Just after the attack on Tuesday, the IDF spokesperson accused Hezbollah of trying to drag Lebanon into the war Hamas had started. He said that if the attacks continue, Hezbollah will bear the consequences and responsibility of an unnecessary war, and it could bring unwanted destruction to the people of Lebanon. Jason Perry, NTV News. Now let's take a look at other national headlines. Crisis in the southern border. 2023 has seen a record number of unlawful crossers trying to enter the U.S., with Customs and Border Protection data sitting around 2.5 million encounters. Federal authorities say the average weekly illegal crossers reached 9,600 this month. That's up from around 6,800 weekly encounters last month. Community leaders in Mexico told CNN roughly 11,000 migrants are waiting in shelters in northern Mexico. Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller recently stated the surge is driven in part by pseudo-legitimate travel agencies running Senegal, advertising trips to the U.S.-Mexico border. CBP's senior official says the agencies connected migrants to smugglers that, in his words, recklessly put them in harm's way, like on train tops or crossing the Rio Grande. Over in Texas, Maverick County's sheriff says the crisis is impacting the local economy and community. Neighborhoods calling because they're afraid that people are walking, strangers walking around the area. It's a situation that law enforcement is getting under pressure. The Democratic mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas, is speaking on the ongoing border crisis. He says the U.S. should start deporting people. We need action. There needs to be a message to these people that if you want to come to the U.S., you have to do it in a legal manner, and if you don't, there will be consequences. Until we start deporting these people, they're going to keep coming and they're going to keep affecting the economy, the safety of my community, and it's just very, very frustrating that the United States of America doesn't care about the safety, the security of the border. A small victory for Apple. Today, a U.S. appeals court paused an import ban on some of Apple's smartwatches following a patent dispute with medical technology firm Massimo. The U.S. International Trade Commission had decided on the ban after Massimo sued Apple over its pulse oximetry technology. A pulse oximeter feature has been part of Apple's smartwatches since the Series 6 model in 2020. Massimo also accused Apple of hiring away its employees to steal the pulse oximetry technology. Apple has countersued, calling Massimo's lawsuit a, quote, maneuver to clear a path for its own competing smartwatches. A final decision over the patent dispute is still in progress. Former President Trump will stay on the primary ballot in Michigan. The Michigan Supreme Court has rejected an attempt to remove him from the 2024 ballot. Those who argued for Trump's removal cited the 14th Amendment's ban on insurrectionists. The ruling came after the Colorado Supreme Court took Trump off its primary ballot. They said it was due to his role in the January 6th Capitol breach. However, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that said state law does not give election officials any leeway to police the eligibility of presidential primary candidates. The next step for both of these decisions will likely be appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. California's governor is not planning to follow in Colorado's footsteps to ban former President Donald Trump from the state's ballot. He said such efforts may serve as a deterrent. NTD's Aileen Ng has more. California Governor Gavin Newsom reacted to efforts from a top state official trying to bar former President Donald Trump from the state's ballot. This comes after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump should be dismissed from the Colorado ballot for the 2024 election. They say he violated Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. A majority of justices on the state court ruled that he engaged in an insurrection or rebellion against the United States under their reading of the provision. The decision has triggered more efforts across the United States, including in California, to disqualify Trump from appearing on ballots in 2024. But in a statement issued on December 22, Newsom told his fellow Democrats that he believes that, in California, we defeat candidates at the polls, referring to lawsuits against President Trump and that everything else is a political distraction. Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, who was running for governor as a Democrat in 2026, sent a letter to Secretary of State Shirley Weber urging her to find legal ways to remove Trump's name from the state's ballot. The letter reads, Based on the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling, I urge you to explore every legal option to remove former President Donald Trump from California's 2024 presidential primary ballot. Meanwhile, Senator Dave Minn, also a Democrat, announced that he would introduce a measure to allow residents of the state to file lawsuits to block candidates who are deemed ineligible. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is pulling funding for TV ads with just weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. NTD's Daniel Monaghan has more on the move. Ramaswamy's campaign spokesperson confirmed to NBC News that they stopped buying TV ads, which typically make up the majority of political advertising spending and have none booked for the immediate or distant future. Ramaswamy cast the move in a positive light on X, writing that, Presidential TV ad spending is idiotic. It comes with a low return on investment and is a trick that political consultants use to bamboozle candidates who suffer from low IQ. The biotech entrepreneur says his campaign is doing things differently. Spending money in a way, he says, follows the data. Ramaswamy campaign press secretary Tricia McLaughlin told NBC the campaign is focused on bringing out the voters they've identified, using mail, text, live calls, and going door to door. Ramaswamy continues to project optimism, writing, big surprise coming on January 15th. He told Fox News that the Republican Party has grown lazy and needs to offer a better vision to people hungry for change. What do we actually stand for? Individual, family, nation, God. That actually beats race, gender, sexuality, and climate if we have the courage to actually stand for something. Ramaswamy's move to pull TV ad funding sparked speculation on X that he would be former President Donald Trump's running mate. One user wrote, he's going to drop out and endorse Trump. It was his plan all along. Not running for president, but auditioning for vice president. While another wrote, this has VP written all over it. The latest national RealClearPolitics polling averages have former President Donald Trump in front with over 62%, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley neck and neck with about 11%, and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in fourth with about 4%. The Iowa caucuses are on January 15th, the New Hampshire primary on January 23rd. Daniel Monahan, 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. A new study ranks the country's neediest cities. Over two dozen California cities made the list. More on which ones and what qualifies as needy. Final touches are being added to floats for the 2024 Rose Parade. We'll take a behind-the-scenes look at the preparations. A new NBA record for most consecutive losses in a season. We'll take a look at the Detroit Pistons' recent game. Those stories and more coming up on NTD Tonight. Welcome back to NTD Tonight. I'm your host, David Zhang. As popular California cities struggle with homeless population, the state has again made it on WalletHub's list of neediest cities 29 times. David Lam has the details. A study by WalletHub compared 182 cities based on a variety of factors indicating poverty, unemployment, homelessness, education, debt, and as well as health and safety. The study found that Detroit, Michigan is the neediest city, in large part due to it having the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 8.3%. The second neediest city was Brownsville in Texas, with it lagging behind in education. 32% of its 25 and up population have not graduated high school. Fresno, California ranked third on the list. The study said Fresno has the highest rate of homelessness in America. 28 other California cities made the list of neediness as well. Los Angeles was ranked 15th. San Francisco also topped the list for the percentage of homes with inadequate plumbing and kitchens. In addition to Fresno, the top five cities with homelessness rates were also Honolulu, San Francisco, New York, and Long Beach. Three Louisiana cities made it in the top 25. New Orleans at number 11, Shreveport, and Baton Rouge. More than 1,000 delivery drivers in Southern California would be laid off at one popular pizza company franchise. NTD's Christina Corona has more on the story. Pizza Hut plans to lay off over 1,200 delivery drivers in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties within the next year. This comes ahead of a new state law that raises the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20. Pizza Hut franchises are shifting their focus to third-party apps such as DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats for pizza and food deliveries. A second Pizza Hut franchise, Southern California Pizza Company, is also preparing to terminate 841 drivers. The layoffs will affect drivers across various Pizza Hut locations, including those in Sacramento, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Central California, Southern Oregon, and the Reno-Tahoe area, among others. The current minimum wage in California is $16 per hour. The increase of $20 comes after the passage of Assembly Bill 1228, which aims to help fast food workers cope with the rising cost of living and inflation in the Golden State. Earlier this year, Chipotle and McDonald's said they planned to raise menu prices as a way to offset the costs of higher wages in California. The job cuts will take place through February 2024. Christina Corona, NTD News. A jury in Colorado found two paramedics guilty of criminally negligent homicide over the death of a Black young man in 2019. He died after the police detained him and the medics injected him with a sedative disproportionate to his body weight. Two Colorado paramedics were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide by a jury on December 22nd for their role in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Black man died after police detained him, put him in a chokehold, and medics injected him with a powerful sedative. McClain's mother wept outside the courthouse after the verdict. Police stopped McClain after a bystander reported he looked suspicious. He was not suspected of any crimes. The paramedics injected McClain with 500 milligrams of sedative ketamine, wrongly judging his weight to be 200 pounds when he actually weighed 143 pounds. In the third and final trial over McClain's death, prosecutors argued throughout the trial that the paramedics violated their training protocols by failing to exam McClain before injecting him with the maximum allowed dose of the drug. The defense said the paramedics acted appropriately based on the training available in 2019. Two police officers were acquitted in the previous trials while one was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide. Volunteers are getting to work and preparing floats for the 2024 Rose Parade. NTD's Christina Corona got a behind-the-scenes look at some of this year's parade creations. Fiesta Parade floats in Irwindale showcase some of their floats that will be participating in the 2024 Pasadena Rose Parade. This year the theme of the Rose Parade is celebrating the world of music, and every float that we're building here at Fiesta Parade floats is really bringing that musical element. We have five floats in the parade that we're building here. Every float has their own unique theme revolving around music. We have one for the State Office of Tourism for the state of Louisiana. They have a beautiful Mardi Gras theme. There are going to be all sorts of different musical elements to it. The UPS store has a float called the Beat of Achievement. 35-foot crocodile that is going to be rocking out all the way down Colorado Boulevard. A seasoned volunteer shared his contribution to this year's floats. I'm going to be very busy putting on seaweed today. So every surface on this float has to be covered with some kind of organic material. So whether it's seeds or flower petals or seaweed or actual live flowers, it will be 100% covered by the time the week is done. But there may be some challenges to perfectly craft the decorations. It's all trial and error because you know what they want. It's just how are you going to get there to achieve that goal. So they put us on it, we go up there, and we figure out a pattern, we figure out creative ways that we can apply the material. From children to adults, many individuals come out every year to volunteer their time to decorate such impressive floats. My mom asked, hey, do you want to go to the Rose Parade? I got volunteer stuff ready. I was just super excited because I just really wanted to go because it was so cool. I feel like it's just like you have to learn to work with other people around you because you're sitting in these little workstation tables and you have to learn how to coexist with the people around you. On December 31st, the float judges from the Tournament of Roses will view and judge all of the floats for the various prizes in the parade. Christina Corona, NTD News. Now let's check in with NTD's Carlos Reyes where the Detroit Pistons are making history for all the wrong reasons. The Detroit Pistons' 118-112 loss against the Brooklyn Nets not only marked their 27th consecutive defeat this season, but it also set a new NBA record for the longest losing streak within a single season. Their current record stands at a tough 2-28, a far cry from their promising 2-1 start earlier in the season with wins over the Charlotte Hornets and the Chicago Bulls. Their last taste of victory came back in October against the Bulls. Defensively, the Pistons have been struggling, allowing an average of 121 points per game while their scoring output sits at a measly 109 points on average, making them one of the lowest scoring teams in the league just ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trailblazers. This streak isn't just significant in the NBA, it ranks as the second longest across the NFL, NHL, and MLB combined. The Philadelphia 76ers still hold the longest losing streak overall at 28 games, spread across the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 campaigns. The Pistons are now in the company of only seven other franchises in NBA history that have faced losing streaks of 20 or more games in a single season. It's a challenging time for Detroit, but in sports, we've seen teams bounce back from adversity. Let's see how the Pistons regroup and respond in the games ahead. Carlos Reyes, NTD News. 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.