Texas Border Law Back on Hold; House Bill Aims to Ban DEI in Medical Schools – Mar. 20

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to NTD Tonight. I'm David Zhang. Here is a preview of some of today's top stories. Two of Hunter Biden's business associates testified before Congress today. But take a look at what the two men and House Committee had to say. Texas immigration law is back on hold. The reversal came just hours after the Supreme Court's ruling. A man arrested in connection to a fire that damaged a Jewish center in Florida. Authorities believe the man is a homeless individual. First up, two of Hunter Biden's business associates testified before Congress today. The House hearing is looking into the Biden family's business dealings, specifically into whether President Biden previously played a role in the family's business affairs that would constitute influence peddling. Let's take a look. Representative Nancy Mace from South Carolina fired off an intense round of yes or no questions aimed at President Biden's involvement in his son Hunter's business dealings. Two former associates of Hunter Biden, Bobulinski and Galanis, answered yes to each of Mace's questions. Mr. Bobulinski and Mr. Galanis, you both stated you were told not to use Joe Biden's name in communications. Correct, Mr. Bobulinski? Correct. Mr. Galanis? Yes. Okay. Is Joe Biden lying when he says he did not interact with Hunter Biden, Jim Biden, their business partners or foreign interests? Yes or no? Yes. Mr. Galanis? Yes. The Biden family promises Joe's power. Joe Biden shows up and millions of dollars come into the Biden's pockets. Joe Biden is the family's closer. How could he not be? The Bidens aren't doing any other work for these foreign companies that would warrant tens of millions of dollars. The president's son didn't appear in the hearing. His attorney cited a scheduling conflict for Hunter Biden, a court hearing tomorrow in California where the younger Biden is currently fending off three felony and six misdemeanor tax charges. His attorney called the House committee hearing a carnival sideshow. House Democrat Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez pressed the witness to name a specific crime that President Biden committed. Did you witness the president commit a crime? Is it your testimony today? Yes. And what crime do you have you witness? How much time do I have to go through it? It is simple. You name the crime. Did you watch him steal something? Corruption, statutes, Rico and conspiracy. What is it? What is what is the crime, sir? Specifically, you keep up. You asked me to answer the question. I answered the question. No. Go. You're obviously not familiar with corruption. Excuse me, sir. Excuse me, sir. Excuse me, sir. Rico is not a crime. It is a category. What is the category of crimes that you're then charged? You have charges long. House Republicans have long held that the president lied about actively participating and benefiting from his family members business schemes. But there is a long road ahead to get to the actual impeachment of President Biden. Now, let's take a look at other top headlines. Updates from the primaries held yesterday. Businessman Bernie Moreno won the Republican GOP nomination in the Ohio Senate primary. Trump backed Moreno will take on Democratic Senator Sheryl Brown in November in an attempt to flip his seat. Republicans are looking to overturn the slim 51 to 49 majority that Democrats hold in the Senate. Moreno campaigned as a political outsider pitted against the establishment. Speaking about his Democratic counterpart during his victory speech, Moreno said that incumbent Senator Brown has been in office since Richard Nixon was president. Voters in Ohio last night chose Moreno over Secretary of State Frank LaRose and State Senator Matt Dolan to be the GOP candidate to face Brown in November. But some Democrats see Moreno's triumph in the GOP Senate primary as a win of sorts. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan described Moreno as the weak candidate who would be least likely to beat Brown in November. There's a lot of voters who maybe traditionally haven't voted Republican or haven't voted at all, but who are interested in an outsider, someone who's going to go to Washington and shake it up. For now, Moreno is calling his win a victory for the America First agenda. A Georgia judge announced today that Trump and his co-defendants can appeal the order that denied and embattled DA Fannie Willis from being disqualified. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is now allowing the case to be revealed by a Georgia appeals court. Last week, he ruled against the defendants' efforts to disqualify Willis, but has since changed the course and issued a certificate of immediate review. McAfee said the issue is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had. The move doesn't pause the prosecution but allows appeals on the disqualification effort to play out before trial. It's now up to the Georgia Court of Appeals to reveal the decision not to disqualify Willis and decide if he wants to take up the case. Following last week's ruling that allowed Willis to stay on the case, the lead prosecutor Nathan Wade promptly resigned. Trump's legal team argued that a romantic relationship between Willis and Wade created a conflict of interest, and both should go. Steve Sadow, the lead defense counsel for Trump in the case, called today's motion by Judge McAfee highly significant and remained optimistic that the appellate review will lead to the case being dismissed. Updates on another major legal battle. Texas immigration law is back on hold after a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. The decision came hours after the Supreme Court cleared the way for Texas to enforce it. A three-judge panel at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to wipe out a ruling from another panel that had temporarily put the law into effect. The panel heard arguments this morning on Texas's bid to put the law back into effect during the appeal. The Supreme Court had cleared the way for the measure to go into effect after justices rejected the emergency appeals from the Biden administration and others yesterday. The appeals court will hold arguments next month over whether the Texas law is unconstitutional and should be blocked indefinitely. The case could end up back at the Supreme Court. California filed multiple felony charges against the three individuals suspected of organizing a retail crime ring. They sold hundreds of thousands of items from high-end stores across the state. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday felony charges against three suspects in an organized retail crime ring that targeted high-end retail stores. The California Department of Justice filed multiple felony charges including organized retail theft, robbery, and grand theft against the suspects. We're not turning a blind eye to these criminal schemes whether it's stealing hundreds of thousands or sometimes millions of dollars in merchandise. Operations like the ones we're discussing today, they disrupt our economy and they endanger the public. They endanger workers. They endanger customers. Between December 2022 and February 2024, there were commercial burglaries and attempted burglaries in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties that resulted in more than $300,000 in losses to the stores. The suspects, all residents of Los Angeles, allegedly conducted smash-and-grab style thefts by running into the stores, grabbing purses and other high-dollar items before running out. The suspects allegedly ripped the bags off the displays even when the items were connected to displays with locks. Merchandise was stolen from Burberry, Prada, Sunglass Hut, Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Michael Kors, Gucci, Coach, Versace, and Maison Margiela. Authorities say the crime rings are often dangerous. Quite often, we talk about some of the flash mob-style organized retail crimes that are occurring, and we think of them as nonviolent crimes. I want to bring the public's attention to the fact that we recovered multiple firearms, including a Glock handgun that was equipped with an automatic switch, which is a Class 3 device and is illegal to possess. That allows a Glock pistol to be fired in an automatic machine gun fashion. The investigation is ongoing. According to a 2020 national survey, U.S. retailers lose approximately $700,000 per every $1 billion in sales to organized retail crime. A Florida Jewish center sustained significant fire damage, with authorities suggesting that it might have been triggered by a mentally unstable homeless individual. NTV's Christina Corona has more on the story. The Las Olas Jewish Center in Fort Lauderdale was devastated by an act of arson, causing fire damage to the synagogue, Hebrew school, and community center early Saturday morning. The windows were shattered from the heat, and the entire back of the building, the kitchen was completely destroyed, and the rest of the building has a lot of smoke damage. Security footage showed a man placing what appeared to be a flammable substance into the grill of a minivan parked outside of the center. He can then be seen lighting a building on fire, damaging the area that houses a non-denominational program for teaching special needs children and young adults. The rabbi claims to have encountered the suspect the day prior to the incident. He was familiar to us, myself. I had three interactions with him, just all in the past two, three weeks. My last interaction was on Friday when we came here with my wife and family, and he literally stopped, sat down in front of the vehicle in the alleyway, not letting us pass, and saying negative things, and having us go around, and not letting us go through. The arsonist is currently in custody and has been identified by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department as Scott Hannaford. The police do not believe this was a hate crime. According to the Jerusalem Post, the Las Olas Chabad Center lacked insurance due to not owning the building, and is now striving to collect $1 million through a fundraiser for the center's reconstruction. We're overwhelmed with the support from the community coming together, and our unity is our strength, and we stand strong together, united, and this place is going to increase, and will be in a greater light for the people around us, and we pray for better days. The Las Olas Jewish Center in Fort Lauderdale will be closed indefinitely after Saturday's blaze. Christina Corona, 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. Some Congress members want to keep DEI out of medical schools. The bill proposes banning federal funding to med schools with race-based discrimination. Is your city the happiest in the nation? Find out as we unpack a recent study that found the top 10 happiest U.S. cities. A new statue unveiled honoring an iconic hockey player will reveal some highlights from his career. Those stories and more coming up on NTD Tonight. Welcome back to NTD Tonight. I'm your host, David Zhang. Congressman Greg Murphy introduced a House bill that aims to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion in medical institutions. The bill would ban all federal funding to medical schools that require race-based discrimination and adoption of specific beliefs. NTD's Jason Blair has more. The Embracing Anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth in Education, or the EDUCATE Act, was introduced on Tuesday. Patients trust their doctors with their lives. North Carolina Congressman Greg Murphy, along with several co-sponsors, spoke in support of the bill. We had a strong doctor-patient relationship no matter what we looked like. We had a strong doctor-to-doctor relationship no matter what we looked like. There was trust because we knew that everyone there had adhered to some high standards, standards that had to be met. Members of Do No Harm Medicine also advocated for the law. One medical student recently told my organization, I've learned more about pronouns than I have about kidney disease, and patients should be terrified about this kind of miseducation. That the idea that present and future discrimination is a remedy for past discrimination is not only contrary to American law and the Constitution, but it's dangerously anti-American at its core. If passed into law, the EDUCATE Act would, quote, cut off federal funding to medical schools that force students or faculty to adopt specific beliefs, discriminate based on race or ethnicity, or have diversity, equity, and inclusion offices or any functional equivalent. The bill is waiting to be heard by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Jason Blair, NTD News. Location serves as an essential backdrop to our happiest moments. NTD's Christina Corona highlights some of the most joyous cities across the nation for 2024. We're here in the city of Irvine, where it has been ranked number five of the happiest cities in the U.S., according to a study conducted by WalletHub. WalletHub compared 182 of the largest cities in the country, evaluating them across three dimensions, emotional and physical well-being, income and employment, and community and environment. In the rankings, Scottsdale, Arizona claims the 10th spot, followed by Columbia, Maryland, and Pearl City, Hawaii. San Francisco secures the seventh position, celebrated for its iconic Golden Gate Bridge and vibrant culture. Renowned for its stunning beaches, Honolulu, Hawaii secures the sixth rank. While recognized for its meticulously planned urban layout and educational institutions, Irvine, California claims the number five spot. Madison, Wisconsin, claims the fourth position, with San Jose, California taking third place. And Overland Park, Kansas, follows closely at number two. And Fremont, California earns the title of the happiest city in America. This is the sixth time out of the past eight years that we've been ranked the happiest city in the U.S., and there's reason behind it. We operate the city activities as the city government. We have to base on the residents' value and try to meet their needs. He says public safety is their highest priority, along with the latest technologies. Fremont is the first city in the nation to put out a program called a drone as first responders. When we receive a 911 call, the fire department or the police department will send out a drone first to the site to send back the real-time intelligence to the headquarters. Then the headquarters can use that information to decide how much police force to apply or how many fire trucks to send out. He says they also embrace innovations, not only to create new jobs, but to invite more companies to settle down in Fremont. We are very glad that we use so many ways to reach out to the community to understand their needs. Therefore, when the services we provide meet their needs, they're happy. According to WalletHub, Fremont tends to have high rates of life satisfaction, low depression levels, and holds the title of having the lowest separation and divorce rate in the country, standing at only 8.9 percent. Christina Corona, NTD News, Irvine. Chicago residents voted in the primary election on Tuesday to decide whether to raise the tax rate on real estate in order to raise funds for affordable housing and fighting homelessness. NTD's Christina Corona has more on the story. The proposed ballot measure would decrease property transfer taxes for most Chicago residents. Instead of taxing property specifically, transfer taxes only apply when a property is sold, whether that be a residential or a commercial property. Under the proposed referendum, the tax rate would be $3 for every $500 of a transfer price under $1 million, a reduction from the current flat rate of $3.75. Those in favor of the measure estimate that the changes would bring in an additional $100 million each year, which would be allocated for services to address homelessness. This initiative for Bring Chicago Home is our opportunity to really start building the permanent affordable housing that people need, as well as the wraparound health services and mental health services that people who've been afflicted by poverty deserve. The funds would be available to all residents, regardless of immigration status. We have over 68,000 people who are experiencing homelessness, either by living on the streets, under viaducts, doubled up in homes, over 80% of which are people of color, 17,000 of which are CPS students. However, it would introduce new tax brackets for the priciest properties in Chicago, including office buildings in the skyline, with rates of $10 per $500 between $1 million and $1.5 million, and $15 beyond that. This is going to make housing actually more expensive for existing tenants, whether it's office tenants downtown or neighborhood housing providers like myself that are in the neighborhoods. And for housing providers in the city, when the cost is increased, they're not going to be able to compete with bigger players that will come into the Chicago area, and they might pay the tax, but that will get passed down to the consumer at every level. As of Wednesday morning, results still had not been called, despite 98% of voting districts reporting. As of 9 a.m., results showed 54% of voters voting no on the referendum, while 46% voted yes. If passed, the Chicago City Council would be required to draft a final version of the ordinance and would have to approve it and send it to Mayor Brandon Johnson for final approval. Christina Corona, NTD News. One of the most important American hockey players just had a ceremony unveiling his new statue. Here's NTD's Tyler Castillo with more details. The Dallas Stars unveiled their newest statue in honor of franchise legend Mike Madonna. Madonna played in the NHL from 1989 all the way to 2011. He was drafted to the Minnesota North Stars who relocated to Dallas in 1992 and became the Dallas Stars. From there, Mike Madonna played 20 of his 21 seasons with the Dallas Stars. He is the franchise leader in goals, assists, and games played. Madonna also helped the team win their first and only Stanley Cup back in 1999. The statue is outside of the Stars' home arena named the American Airlines Center. The only other statue there is to honor Dallas Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki who has also helped the Mavs win their only NBA title. Mike Madonna finished his career with the Detroit Red Wings. For his final career tally of 1,374 points in 1,499 games played solidified him as one of the best American-born players in the NHL. He is only behind Brett Hull and all-time American-born point leaders with Patrick Kane slowly climbing from third. Mike Madonna also had his jersey number retired by the Dallas Stars. China In Focus with Tiffany Meyer is coming up next. And in more China news, a shot in the arm for Intel. The Biden administration awarding the chipmaker over $8 billion to spur domestic microchip manufacturing. A move to bolster America's technological advantage over China. Be sure to stay tuned for China In Focus with Tiffany Meyer at 9.30 p.m. Eastern Time. And 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.