NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (March 18)

[Music] this is NTD Evening News live from our NTD Global headquarters in New York City here is Tiffany meer good evening and thank you for joining us tonight A high-profile case the Biden Administration denies their Communications with social media companies were censorship but Attorneys General from two conservative States disagree the Supreme Court now has to decide they heard arguments today we turn now to our legal correspondent Arlene Richards for the highlights arene what was the government arguing today so they were arguing that they should be permitted to communicate with the social media companies they said the lower Court's ruling wasn't clear in terms of what they could communicate and what they couldn't they say there are instances where it would be necessary for them to contact platforms such as a national security concern and in terms of monitoring speech they said platforms already have policies in place that monitor certain types of speech so if the government got involved it really wouldn't change that H and this case originated from two states suing the Biden Administration for allegedly pressuring these platforms to censor speech what are their arguments so this came in the aftermath of the covid pandemic and the 2020 election where platforms were actually uh blocking posts and suspending accounts and so the states are arguing that these action censored speech and violated the First Amendment they argued that the government was coercing social media platforms to censor free speech by for example saying we are considering making changes to laws that protect uh media companies or or or social media companies but then after they said that the the social media companies would then act in terms of what they wanted H now some news reports say that the justices seemed deeply skeptical of the state's argument that the government is violating the First Amendment what is your take on this well the justices on both sides were skeptical about the state's argument and they did ask the state to provide more clear examples of what they deemed as coercion now Justice Jackson was concerned that the government would be too restricted let's listen so my biggest concern is that your view has the First Amendment hamstringing the government in significant ways in the most important time periods um I mean what would what would you have the government do I've heard you say a couple times times that the government can post its own speech but in my hypothetical um you know kids this is not safe don't do it um is not going to get it done now three of the conservative justices were concerned that government restrictions could be problematic but other conservative justices were concerned about the government putting pressure on the social media companies let's listen and I see that uh the White House and federal officials are repeatedly saying saying that Facebook uh and the federal government should be partners we're on the same team officials are demanding answers I want an answer I want it right away when they're unhappy they they curse them out uh there are regular meetings there is constant pestering of of Facebook and some of the other platforms and they wow I cannot imagine Federal officials taking that approach to the the the print media now it's not clear in what direction the majority are leaning but I think that whatever the ruling is they're going to have to distinguish between what's acceptable speech and what's not Arlene thanks for that thank you and we do have some breaking news relating to the Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rejected former Trump adviser Peter Navarro's bid to stay out of prison this means Navaro will have to report to a Miami prison by tomorrow afternoon the former Trump adviser was sentenced to four month months for contempt of congress last Friday he made a last minute bid asking the Supreme Court to intervene while he appeals the sentence and now for some updates on the former president's legal battles Trump's lawyers say he is unable to get a bond to cover the $454 million New York civil fraud judgment in a court filing today Trump's lawyer said getting a bond in the full amount is quote a practical impossibility the legal team says they've contacted roughly 30 shity companies to no avail Trump has to post a bond for the full amount by next week otherwise New York attorney general Leticia James will be able to seize his assets while he appeals the filing says Trump and his organization need close to $1 billion dollar in cash to collateralize the bond and have sufficient Capital to run the business and satisfy its other OB obligations and Trump today seeking to appeal a ruling in his Georgia election case this after a Fulton County judge allowed district attorney fonnie Willis to stay on the case as long as she removes her top prosecutor and alleged ex-boyfriend Nathan Wade the judge concluded that Willis's relationship didn't warrant a disqualification but he scolded her for having quote a tremendous lapse in judgment Trump and his legal team have sought to disqualify Willis from the case citing her relationship with wait if the appeals court decides to take on the issue the former president could delay the election case by requesting a pause an appeal process could then take months to resolve meanwhile in Trump's so-called New York hush money trial a judge has rejected Trump's attempt in blocking his former attorney Michael Cohen and adult film actress Stormy Daniels from testifying Trump had previously argued that Cohen had a history of lying and would likely lie again he also said Daniels would make money off of her story through the trial the former president is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records he has pleaded not guilty to all of them as a rift deepens over the war in Gaza President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally talking after a monthlong silence the White House while reassuring support for Israel highlights sticking points that still need hashing out nd's White House correspondent Iris ta has more the White House says President Biden told in Yahoo that while he supports Israel in going after himas Israel needs a more sustainable strategy that's not smashing into Rafa here's how the National Security adviser and characterized Biden's message watch that's what the president said today was I am for the defeat of Hamas I believe that they are an evil terrorist group at the same time I believe that to get to that you need a strategy that works and that strategy should not involve a major military operation that puts thousands and thousands of lives civilian innocent lives at risk in Rafa there is a better way the White House knows that while nyaho has his own view on a Rafa operation he has agreed to send a team to Washington for more talks before moving forward with any operation in Rafa which is where more than a million Palestinian civilians have taken shelter the call on Monday comes meanwhile just days after Biden prais sent a majority leader Chuck Schumer speech in which Schumer calls for new elections in Israel the Israeli Prime Minister firing back as Schumer's comments just this past Sunday watch I think what he said is totally inappropriate uh it's inappropriate for a uh to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there that's something that Israel the Israeli public does on its own and we're not a Banana Republic the White House declined to confirm whether Schumer's comments came up during Biden's call with n yahu but it admitted that n yahu has expressed concerns over quote a variety of things that have come out in the American Press meanwhile in another development related to the 2024 elections former president Trump on Monday slammed what he called fake news media and their Democrat Partners claiming they were intentionally taking his words out of context when they said he was threatening a blood bath if he doesn't get reelected here's a fuller clip of what Trump was saying this past Saturday in Ohio watch we're going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line and you're not going to be able to sell those guyss if I get elected now if I don't get elected it's going to be a blood bath for the whole that's going to be the least of it it's going to be a blood bath for the country that'll be the least of it while Trump says it was very clear that he was only referring to the Auto industry and President Biden is accusing Trump of endorsing political violence writing on X that quote this guy wants another January 6 reporting from the White House Aris how andd news President Vladimir Putin won by a landslide lied in Russia's election this weekend which many critics have called illegitimate ntid's Daniel Monahan has more on the win which means Putin is set to embark on a new six-year term Putin will overtake Joseph Stalin as Russia's longest serving leader in more than 200 years if he completes his term the Russian leader won nearly 88% of the vote the highest ever result in Russia's post-soviet history in a speech to supporters after early election results were in warned those who would try to frighten the Russian people or suppress their will no one has ever succeeded in anything like this in history it has not worked now and will not work in the future never on Monday morning Putin discussed what the presence of Western troops in Ukraine would mean but I've already said this and it is clear to everyone that this will be just one step away from a fullscale World War I I don't think anybody is interested in this Putin also commented on opposition leader Alexi naval's death for the first time on Monday saying he had supported a prisoner swap for him just days before his death protests were held in many countries on Sunday people gathered in front of the Russian Embassy in Washington DC in Berlin Julia navala the Widow of Russian opposition leader Alex naali took part in a noon protest against Putin Naval NAA was standing in line in Berlin where hundreds of Russians lined up to vote this Russian artist living in Berlin says the election in Russia is fake lots of people had to have to flee their country to be free to to have an ability to express their real opinion concerning this so-called election the United States Germany the United Kingdom and other nations have said the vote was neither free nor fair due to the imprisonment of political opponents and censorship at least 74 people were arrested on Sunday across Russia over the previous two days there were scattered incidents of protest as some Russians set fire to voting booths or poured green dye into ballot boxes Daniel Monahan NTD news we have more updates on the crisis in Haiti violence is escalating in the nation's capital as criminal gangs continue their attacks and just a warning some viewers may find the following footage disturbing gangs attacked two upscale neighborhoods in Haiti's Capital today the Rampage left at least a dozen people dead in surrounding areas gunmen looted homes in the communities Before Sunrise forcing residents to flee prior to today the neighborhoods had remained largely peaceful during the crisis local Witnesses said they woke up to see bodies lying on on the streets an ambulance arrived shortly afterward and collected the victims these attacks raise concerns that gang violence would not cease despite prime minister Ariel HRI promising to resign the US is evacuating Americans amid the crisis the first government Charter flight carrying over 30 US citizens landed in Miami on Sunday Republicans criticizing the Biden Administration over border policies today that's after the New York Post published a report about an illegal immigrant caught by border patrol who claimed to be a Hezbollah terrorist he admitted he was trying to build a bomb and was heading to New York City 22-year-old bosel bosel a body from Lebanon entered the US illegally on March 9th that's according to the New York Post which received this internal Memo from the US Customs and Border Protection or CBP Fox News on Monday confirmed the authenticity of the document the illegal border Crosser told law enforcement in a SW an interview that he hoped to make a bomb and his destination was New York and he had trained with Hezbollah for 7 years several Republicans are now blaming the Biden Administration for the incident Senator Rick Scott tweeted Biden refuses to shut the border and terrorists who hate our country and want to destroy our communities are pouring in as a result Senator marshia Blackburn said Biden's open border is enabling terrorist threats to our nation the number of suspected terrorists trying to enter the US between ports of Entry went from just three in the fiscal year 2020 to over 170 in fiscal year 2023 and this number doesn't include so-called gotway who haven't been apprehended Senator Ted Cruz on Monday said he can't find out what the actual number is And yet when we ask how many Hezbollah terrorists have you encountered how many Hamas terrorists have you encountered they won't answer that they Stonewall the Biden Administration does not want anyone to know the White House also on Monday said President Biden is focusing on policy changes to secure the Border he's going to continue to to call on Congressional uh Republicans to pass the bipartisan uh border security agreement that came out of uh the Senate uh just a couple of months ago the Senate passed that bill with bipartisan support but house Speaker Mike Johnson refused to bring it to a vote Republicans argue the bill would just allocate money without tackling underlying issues such as making sure the border authorities enforce immigration laws already on the books and breaking news regarding the southern border Texas is still not allowed to arrest or Deport illegal immigrants just a few moments ago Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito extended a temporary pause on a Texas state law known as Senate Bill 4 the bill was set to Mark a historic precedent because immigration has always been the purview of the federal government not individual states alito's pause gives the justices more time to consider whether to allow the law to take effect his order did not specify a deadline he or the full Supreme Court could take further action at any time the government once again facing the possibility of a partial shutdown this week lawmakers haven't yet presented their plan to fund over two-thirds of the federal government our Washington correspondent Luise Martinez joins us live from the capital Louise what can you tell us about the Appropriations process good evening Tiffany Congress has until midnight Friday to reach an agreement on the second batch of six appropriation bills in order to keep government funded through fiscal year 2024 the first batch of six appropriation bills passed on March 8th those accounted for nearly 30% of annual federal budget close to $460 billion this second batch of six appropriation bills due this Friday contains funding for Department of Homeland Security Department of Defense defense um also for the state department the legislative branch Health and Human Services labor and education those account for close to 70% of the annual federal budget Tiffany approximately $1 trillion and Louise what's holding the lawmakers back why haven't they reached an agreement yet yes the main obstacle is the funding for Department of Homeland Security Democrats submitted a last minute request demanding a salary increase for TSA officials while Republicans insisted on more funding for detention facilities for immigration and custom enforcement also known as ice lawmakers are even considering A continuing resolution to fund Homeland Security for the rest of the year and continue with the other five appropriation bills now time is of the essence remember that once an agreement is reached lawmakers will have 72 hours to read the bill and vote on it and once reaches the Senate the Senate would have to uh unanimous unanimously consent uh to vote on the bill without a debate in order to meet the Friday midnight deadline Tiffany Louise thanks for that update as we reported earlier in the show former president Trump's bloodbath comments made headlines over the weekend but now some news outlets are Under Fire for taking that term out of context joining us now to discuss the media coverage of Trump's comments is 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 here now Trump is dominating headlines but this is for a speech where over the weekend he was talking about the automobile industry and he was saying that if he is not elected there will be a blood bath for the automobile industry because China is skirting tariffs and setting up plants in Mexico and creating cars there which is then going to kill the US automotive industry meanwhile media reports are calling that he is saying there's going to be a blood bath as in Civil War if he's not elected what's your reaction to the way the media has been covering this well I I have a couple different reactions to this but I think it's important to view this as a sequence in an already number of events that have transpired and my own personal reaction to this is to take it a lot more seriously than I think that it's actually being taken um you know there's seems to be kind of this element of uh you know almost a sense of victory that we successfully push back on a false narrative and in a sense that's correct but this has just been one in a series of steps that have been taken by the DNC or really more broadly kind of the establishment because it goes beyond the DNC more sort of the deep State the embedded intelligence officials and you know although we've seen this for a while we saw it begin to take shape in real form at the end of last year when a guy by the name of Kagan put out an article that basically said we can't Trump's going to be president we have to do anything under our power to stop him he just so happens to be the husband of Victoria nulan the former uh Secretary of you know the state department official who just resigned um that was her husband we then had another article that was NBC news that probably everybody has seen that talked about warning again about the dangers of a trump presidency and in that article they reveal the efforts that were ongoing by what I effectively think of as kind of a war game team that's working behind the scenes one of those parties that they wrote that was quoted in that article was none other than Mary McCord um you know going back to uh she was an old Obama official and she's been involved in practically everything so there's a huge amount of groundwork that's going on behind the scenes that I think most of the public isn't aware about and this narrative this new Narrative of bloodbath is just another piece in this overall effort so for myself I'm I'm more alarmed than I think people should be more alarmed um and treat this a little bit more seriously than I think it's actually being treated because it's emblematic of a much larger effort that's ongoing expanding on this much larger effort the federal list has a piece out noting that a CNN National Security analyst Juliet cam is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to stop Trump and his so-called bloodbath now how could this be leveraged against Trump and using government institutions not just maybe the doj but also the DHS yeah that's one of the concerns and I think it's important to note the C isn't just a CNN analyst um you know her Biol lisser is a professor of uh I think it's at Harvard um but what she really is is she's a former um Department of Homeland Security official and a former doj official one who actually worked directly with Janet Reno so she's not just a CNN analyst um and I think she knows of what she's talking about and you know what she's public publicly putting out a call for is effectively an agency Le effort um an intelligence Community Le effort to effectively go after Trump that he's such an existential threat that he has to be stopped by any means necessary and you know the threat that he represents is a threat to National Security and using that as a GU they would like to mobilize other forces that can you know be utilized to either halt his presidency from happening or impair his presidency once it does has happen now Trump is firing back on Truth social calling out the fake news for this bloodbath hoax that we're seeing given that this is an election year what can voters do so that they get the information to make informed choices when it comes to voting when there is this sea of misinformation well you know I think fortunately one of the things that's really been taking root over the last year or so is kind of the death of corporate media they don't have the same sway um so people are able to find out information from independ more independent sources they can listen to you they can see what's going on on Twitter you know YouTube a variety of sources so they have that but that's part of what I'm talking about is that I'm a little concerned that there's not the proper level of seriousness of Gravitas being ascribed to this so I you know I think people need to look at the various actions that are taking place and try not to view them as a single item but rather look at them in sequence and see how they fit into a larger a larger puzzle to understand what's going on you know I I just it seems to me that the the kind of the deep State the intelligence Community the federal agencies feel that they have to stop Trump no matter what happens and I think that's what they're starting to expose here and again I think it's important that people see it as part of a larger picture and not just a one-off media narrative that they were able to push back against quite concerning indeed Jeff Carlson thank thank you so much for your time yeah thank you for having me the Supreme Court has declined a case from a January 6th defendant it's from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was barred from Office under the 14th Amendment that's the amendment that some try to use against Trump to keep him off the ballot the Supreme Court recently determined that states can't remove Trump or other Federal candidates from ballots however the justices said different rules apply to State and local candidates Griffin maintains he unknowingly entered restricted Capital grounds on January 6th and attempted to guide the crowd in prayer using a bullhorn not to incite violence this ruling in Griffin's case may reinforce actions against state and local officials implicated in the January 6th incident burglary tourism has become the latest Trend in international crime most of the suspects fly in from South America and plan a heist in a wealthy neighborhood before catching a flight back home the Los Angeles Police Department says burglary tourism from South America has been on the rise in The Last 5 Years authorities believe they fly in via the tourist visa system which does not require a background check for travelers grab their Loot and fly back home with their goods according to the Los Angeles Times police recently arrested a 17-year-old from Chile who was suspected of stealing luxury goods from Los Angeles homes he and two adult accomplices admitted to their crime LAPD deputy chief Alan Hamilton told the Los Angeles Times that they often Target homes often connected to Open Spaces hiking trails and canyons that give them access and that they don't carry guns to avoid getting gun charges instead they sometimes carry jamming devices to disable home security systems according to Hamilton in 2023 burglary tourism is likely behind the 94 burglaries north of the 118 freeway police say South American gang members have been responsible for hundreds of break-ins in Orange Ventura Santa Barbara and San Diego counties in 2022 the affluent community of Hillsboro in Northern California was hit by a similar criminal tourism two thieves from South America were suspected of being responsible for a string of home burglaries during the supreme court hearing dozens of rally goers outside the building describing the censorship they say they experience from social media companies entity's Jack Bradley has the story the event dubb the rally to reclaim Free Speech was hosted by Children's Health defense dozens of attendees Brave the cold outside while inside attorneys argued in the mythy versus Missouri Supreme Court case many speakers said they were shocked when information they believed was accurate was censored and labeled as misinformation as it differed from the mainstream opinion those related to vaccines for covid-19 natural immunity election and integrity and other controversial topics behind me at the Supreme Court building there were oral arguments heard today on a case on whether the Biden Administration violated First Amendment rights when they pressured social media companies to censor posts now there was a rally held at the same time right outside the Supreme Court building here where we heard firsthand experiences on people who experienced the censorship take a look this is probably the most important Supreme Court case that we'll ever experienced in our lifetime we were shut down they they took our year L back which means our site was gone don't even have to hack it anymore because we've made the mistake of building our companies and our future in the backyard of these tech companies the video was going viral and it was just deleted off of our social media page just completely deleted and then we tried to upload it again deleted upload again deleted but even in 2019 we saw it happening where moms and dads were just telling their story about vaccine injury and that was being censored it is defending one of our most basic freedoms which is the right to free speech if we don't have speech then how do we communicate how do we disseminate information how do we share information how do we know what's going on for them to censor someone on their site they private company that's their freedom of speech but when our government steps in and makes any threat actually pushes on them at all clearly the only reason they're pushing is because they're not doing what the government wants which is censoring speech that is not making the government look good many of the attendees here told me that the fight to defend Free Speech does not end with this case and that we can continue to see more activism ahead reporting from Washington DC Jack Bradley NTD news the sec's new climate disclosure rules would require firms to report climate related risks the rules were recently blocked by a federal court but that didn't stop lawmakers from discussing how those rules could impact businesses nd's Virginia Gibson has more the SEC has finalized the climate rule leaving immeasurable burdens on stakeholders throughout the country a house hearing took a close look at the impact of nearly 900 pages of climate disclosure rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission among the rules many requirements companies would need to disclose actual and potential impacts of climate risks efforts to mitigate climate risks including quantitative and qualitative descriptions how the board of directors deals with climate risk the firm's processes for dealing with climate risk climate targets and goals capitalized costs caused by climate risk and qualitative descriptions of how climate has impacted the firm's finances climate reporting will impose significant costs on businesses companies will be will need to implement measuring and monitoring systems that in many cases do not currently exist professor of Supply Chain management Alex Scott says the rules would burden businesses significantly he said the rules were not even clear on how businesses should measure emissions there are several competing standards and a lack of clear guidance on the exact procedures that companies should follow when reporting emissions this leaves room for flexibility but can create confusion for businesses when determining what is reasonable or a faithful representation moreover it invites potential lawsuits Congressman Andy ogles questioned whether the SEC even has the power to make these rules he said the sec's role is to protect invest it's not the sec's role to demand irrelevant disclosures much less to demand companies report on political and social issues ogul said the sec's move is an unprecedented overreach of power one that would hurt farmers our profit margins are already very tight on our farm just based on the increased inflation of input cost and so to to afford these um Professional Services of an attorney and a chemist and extra people to do the data recording would have tightened that margin if not made it non-existent tomato farmer Renee Jones said many farms will go out of business if the climate rules are enacted especially in California where the government fixes crop prices Farmers wouldn't be able to raise their prices no matter how much their expenses Rose you will see allive a lot of if not all of your small farms say I'm had enough we can't do this anymore the SEC said it considered over 24,000 comment letters before making the rules but they're now on hold as they face legal challenges in several courts the SEC has not commented on the current litigation Virginia Gibson ND news former president Trump promising to take action on Chinese cars made in Mexico this comes as Chinese automakers open factories in Mexico and enjoy the benefits of the usmca trade agreement joining us now to discuss is economic analyst and supply chain consultant Jim Nell Jim Nells thank you so much for joining us great to have you back on the show hey it's great to be back with you thank you now Trump is threatening 100% tariffs on Chinese main cars in Mexico as they're taking advantage of the US MCA trade law what's your reaction to this how feasible would this be well it's extremely feasible I don't know how practical it is though um 100% tariff is is quite an extraordinary tariff to put on someone but um would what Trump is trying to say is that we're not going to let you take advantage of the law in order to circumvent us trade policy and if you look at what they're doing now in in Mexico China has been building factories in Mexico since before covid started and they're doing that in order to be part of the usmca agreement they're also doing it now in order to not be part of any sort of covid shutdowns that the Chinese government might incur and they're also doing it to quite frankly shorten the supply line so so it makes sense for China it makes sense for Trump to say we're going to put a 100% tariff on you will he actually put 100% tariff I don't know but I bet you we'll do do at least 50% tariff absolutely now you mentioned how that's feasible but maybe not practical right from the business perspective what about the National Security perspective on this what are the concerns there about why we would be doing this well the National Security concerns are basically do we want China to be the the the country that owns all of the electronic vehicles that we're seeing and that's really what this is a play on this is not a play on regular Vehicles it's a play on electronic Vehicles right now China owns pretty much they dominate the market for the batteries uh they own all the mining which they do with slave labor in Africa and then um they then sell those batteries to the United States for extremely high profits and we don't even know what to do with the batteries once they expire so it's a very very strong issue for National Security because we just don't know what to do here and we need to make sure that we don't allow the Chinese to own a market that we cannot even play in at this point on that note Tesla's Chinese rival byd is set to open factories in Mexico scouring the US import terrorist but it's also qualifying for Biden's 7,500 EV tax credits now recent reports also note that for the first time in two decades the US bought more from Mexico than China what is the scope of Chinese owned and operated companies in Mexico it ranges everything from uh Furniture to these new car these new car plants so they're doing a huge amount of work in in value added um Manufacturing in China uh if you look in the Monterey region of Mexico the the the Chinese have spent billions and billions of dollars to build factories there and what a surprise Joe Biden is paying the Chinese to build cars in Mexico to then sip them to the United States why am I shocked at that Jim Nels thank you so much for your time thank you so much have a good day the last form of asbest is used in the US is now banned the EPA announced that it's the end of the road for the cancer-linked substance today the new rule Outlaws crystala asbest the only kind of asbest currently in use or imported to the United States it's used in car parts like brakes and Linings America's use of ASB bestus has been the declining for decades but exposure to the chemical has been linked to more than 40,000 cancer related deaths Nationwide New York City's congestion pricing could take effective in just a few months that's the plan that would charge drivers a $15 toll to enter Manhattan's Central business district at peak hours and some Industries are already capitalizing on the change including Realtors ntid's Chris beers has the latest on that and what New Yorkers have to say about the new fees New York realtor Glenn Barnett of Nest Seekers sends out listings with the words avoid congestion pricing he's marketing Apartments outside of New York City's soon Tobe congestion pricing Zone this law could go into effect in mid June according to an MTA attorney I think it's just making like many other things a lot harder for the average daily person to make it byy um I mean someone who lives in Midtown um and who like family lives in Brooklyn like every time they would like drive me in and out they'd be subject to this law and it just really adds up I have a business and so when I'm driving in Manhattan for me personally I'm only really driving because of business reasons and so any congestion pricing will be more than Justified but it it will make my business easier the law would cost a commuter entering Manhattan 5 days a week 50 weeks per year a total of 3 ,750 annually the city estimates fee revenues could be $1 billion per year that money would fund major improvements in New York City's public transportation system uh I believe it if I see it and I see that money being put into actually changing and improving uh the infrastructure uh to what whatever they want to put but I I don't know I I don't see it all going to that and I don't think we're going to see major improvements in um the infrastructure well if they're revamping uh security infrastructure or improving the trains or definitely security uh I think that's great I think anything to make the Subways better I think it also would be a Greener solution and also is that money really going to be used for anything good because you know the state of New York and the city don't really ever use money correctly anyway so you know it's it's uh there's two tides to it this law faces backlash and lawsuits but Barnett the realtor I mentioned earlier is making lemons out of lemonade he joked with the New York Post saying if you know someone looking for a one-bedroom apartment send them my way this is Chris beers reporting for NTD news and now for your sports news we're joined by nd's Dave Martin Dave the NCAA tournament field also known as the brackets have finally been revealed what teams are considered the favorites to win it well all the number one seeds for sure I mean Houston North Car Carolina Yukon Purdue I think they all have a good shot at this I mean Carolina was just in the title game two years ago Yukon they're the defending champs although nobody well two teams in the last 50 years have managed to repeat it's very very difficult to do that was what Duke in Florida now Purdue they've got that seven fo4 All-American Center Zack Edy yet somehow Purdue was last year where they were a one seed and then somehow they lost in the first round I don't know what to make of them I doubt they Los in the first round here again this year though you know Tennessee and Arizona are also a couple of number two seeds that I think could do it I would say those six teams are probably the projected favorites but you know every fan knows that this tournament is pretty much impossible to predict now year in year out this tournament seems to have a lot of excitement around it why do you think that is you know it's mainly because anything can happen you know it's single elimination every game is played on a neutral court so they really level the playing field I think it makes upsets a lot more likely also you know the NBA's playoffs it's best of seven games the team with a better record gets home court AG it's completely different much more predictable really now here every game is essentially a win or take all game seven those are always the most exciting plus a neutral Court thing really favors the smaller lesser known schools I think you know for these locations for the first rounds two rounds really there are four teams there so that means there are fans of four different teams there watching the game if you're the favorite the top seed the fans of the other three schools are probably rooting against you because they want to see the upset everyone wants to see the upset so these number one seeds they go into these these places and it's almost like a road environment for them because all the fans are really much rooing against them hopefully they their fans travel very well but that's how you get you know Purdue losing to Fairley Dickinson like it was last year or Kentucky losing to St Peters like it was in 2022 uh so you never know what you'll see next with these games over in golf news several prominent players including Tiger Woods will be meeting with live Gulf officials from Saudi Arabia what are they hoping to accomplish they still want to unite the game it seems like you know they're still working on this merger between Liv and the PGA now these players they're all player directors on the pga's board you know it doesn't sound like they'll be able to hammer out the details of a PGA live merger today but I think it's becoming clear that both need the other now they had the framework of an agreement you know announced last summer but for whatever reason negotiations have stalled Liv has continued to poach off more PGA players ever since mean meanwhile the PGA they've turned around and found us investors instead but every time Liv takes one of the pga's best players like they just took John ROM it dilutes the pga's product yet Liv gets very little TV viewership or much benefit really out of this of course due to their you know human rights record which is really um keeping them down but the longer this takes the more players live is able to poach the less power the PGA is going to have in these merger negotiations so I think it's really in the pga's best interest to get this deal done sooner than later hopefully this this does happen because the fans want to see all the best players competing against each other at at the same events shifting gears to baseball the regular season kicks off this week what are some of the major storylines going on well for one thing everything sh oon does is becoming a storyline you know that won't include pitching this season because of course he's injured but he could actually be playing in the Outfield instead of just designated hitter now obviously he's very popular which is amazing for someone who doesn't really speak English here and he's on what looks like a juggernaut roster for the LA Dodgers but also there's a major story line brewing in New York you know the Yankees Ace Garrett Cole is out for a few weeks with a sore elbow he won the saang last year as the best pitcher in the American League now they they think rest is going to heal it we'll have to see but this is big big because the rest of Yankees pitching staff really has a lot of question marks and the team just swung a major trade for Juan sto and to do that they had to give up four young pitchers so they're not exactly you know deep in that area I'm surprised they haven't signed a free agent like Blake Snell yet maybe there were still waiting for the asking prize to come down but I think that's that's going to be an on ongoing storyline this year Well Dave as always thanks for joining us well thank you Tiff