NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (Nov. 22)

Welcome to NTD News, our top story tonight. What Trump's team is calling a decisive win for the president-elect. A new ruling today postpones the sentencing in the so-called hush money case indefinitely. What comes next? We also have the latest news on Trump's transition team. Iris Tao reports in West Palm Beach, Florida. The lame duck session of Congress, the one that happens after an election and before the new Congress' term, is proven consequential for the plans of the incoming administration. Luis Martinez breaks down the top priorities for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. International leaders are worried the Ukraine war may escalate. NATO is now preparing to hold emergency talks. Arian Pasdar has the war update. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces the ICC's arrest war and nations are giving their stances. To comply and arrest him, to remain non-committal, or to reject the warrant as political. Malcolm Hudson brings us the details from London. This is NTD Evening News. Live from our global headquarters in New York City, here's Tiffany Meyer. Good evening. Thanks for joining us tonight. I'm Paul Graney. In for Tiffany Meyer. President-elect Trump's team is hailing a new ruling that postpones the sentencing in Trump's New York criminal case indefinitely. It comes as Trump is set to announce more administration picks. NTD's White House correspondent Iris Tao has more from West Palm Beach. President-elect Trump will no longer be sentenced in New York next week as originally scheduled. It comes after Judge Juan Marchand on Friday officially adjourned the proceedings in the so-called hush money case against Trump without setting a new sentencing date. The judge also granted Trump's request to toss away entirely his 34-count felony conviction. Trump's team hailing it as a decisive win, adding all of the sham lawfare attacks against President Trump are now destroyed and we're focused on making America great again. While Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg says he's opposed to dismissing the case, he agrees that proceedings in this case may not resume until after Trump completes his second term in 2029. All this comes as the Justice Department is also moving to wind down its election interference case and its classified documents case against Trump, that to comply with the long-standing tradition that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted. And as Trump continues to staff his second administration, former Congressman Matt Gaetz, who on Thursday wished through as Trump's pick for Attorney General, on Friday said he's not returning to Congress despite just winning re-election. Gaetz also praises Trump's new pick for Attorney General, former Florida AG Pam Bondi. And on Friday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis set the dates for the special election to fill Gaetz's seat in the House. The primary will be in late January, while the general election won't happen until April That means that House Republicans, who already have a slim majority, will get an even slimmer one, at least for the first three months of Trump's new presidency. Reporting from West Palm Beach, Aris Tao, NTD News. And how are lawmakers reacting to Matt Gaetz's withdrawal from consideration for Attorney General? Senators from both sides of the aisle shared their thoughts with us. Well, I mean, there's a sense of relief about it, of course. I think he did a pretty noble thing, frankly, an honorable thing by getting out himself. I thought his statement was appropriate. And I look forward to a new nominee that we can get fully behind. The main message for me here is that my Republican colleagues who did the interviewing and made an assessment obviously sent a message. So the big question for the Senate as an institution, will we exercise our constitutional responsibility for advice and consent? I see this as a good sign that the Senate will do that. It's very respectful for him to make that decision, I think. Thinking with all of the, you know, we're all thinking about the administration coming in. We want to be positive and supportive in every way we can to make sure they're successful. I think every American should want that. And you don't want to start out with a mouth where you have to defend something all the time. And I think it's very respectful. I'd like to remind everybody that, you know, when the side that wins, they get to pick the people. And, you know, I hope and I expect that there's going to be enough that we can work together. And I'm looking to that. And then there's going to be some picks that are unacceptable. But I also want to remind you that they have the majority in the Senate and they are going to have the ability to pick whoever they want. President-elect Trump has nominated a number of candidates to serve in his cabinet who have faced a series of questions and issues. Given the abrupt withdrawal of former Congressman Matt Gaetz, there was some discussion about whether the next nominee would be someone who would easily be confirmed or not, whether the next nominee would fit more within the mainstream of who served in the past as Attorney General. So the lame duck session of Congress is already proving to be consequential for the Trump administration's nomination process. It's also proven consequential to outstanding budgetary bills that will determine policy right into 2025. Anthony's Washington correspondent Luis Martinez joins us from the Capitol with more on this story. The nomination of Peter Heksev for Secretary of Defense is next in the crosshairs of Senate Democrats who, with half a dozen Senate Republicans, have already rejected the nomination of Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. We're going to push for all of the files from local police and prosecutors, as well as whatever written interviews and testimony have been provided, and we're going to make sure that Pete Heksev is thoroughly vetted and all of the files are turned over to the committee. Making these decisions so quickly may have led to an early constellation that looks more like a reality TV show casting call than serious and credible proposals for cabinet. Senate Republicans are divided in between offering full support to Peter Heksev and demanding the release of investigations into sexual assault allegations against Peter Heksev. Pete Heksev is a Tennessean. We look forward to supporting him, and I'm so happy you all have something to say. Wasn't the first question of due diligence to be, let's see the full report, let's understand the context and also understand from the prosecutor who chose not to move forward with it, why? That seems like a logical question. In the House, Republican leadership have already shown their opposition to the President's $98 billion request of supplemental funds for FEMA and the President's decision to forgive nearly $5 billion in loans to Ukraine. I think President Trump is looking for persons who will shake up the status quo, and we got a mandate in this election cycle to do that. The status quo is not working for the American people, and so these are persons who will go in and bring real reform, significant reform to the agencies that they lead. House Democrats, who re-elected their leadership this week, are setting the tone for the culture wars that will surely take place in the 119th Congress. The first flashpoint being the incoming first transgender representative to Congress, Sarah McBride from Delaware. The notion that this incoming small House Republican conference majority is beginning to transition to the new Congress by bullying a member of Congress. The 118th Congress is expected to vote on a continuing resolution before December 20th, thus punting the government funding battle until 2025. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Luis Eduardo Martinez, NTD News. And staying on Capitol Hill, both sides will get their chance to choose which judges take the bench in several courts. It follows a bipartisan deal struck yesterday evening in the Senate. The deal comes as Democrats rush to seat as many judges as possible before losing their majority, while Republicans look to slow the process as much as possible. Anthony's Melina Wisecup reports. Democrats are inching closer to catching President-elect Trump's record for sitting judges. And now that their majority is nearing its end, the party has resorted to late nights to get more seated. And again, we're in strong position to confirm many more judges when we come back. We hope to make progress on as many as we can. Now I thank all my colleagues for their hard work last night and for being flexible amidst all the roll call votes. But Trump has repeatedly encouraged Republicans to block the process, writing, quote, Republican senators need to show up and hold the line. No more judges confirmed before inauguration day. Republican absences have not allowed for a full blockade, but Republicans have used floor tactics to lengthen the process. This led to a bipartisan deal that allows for Democrats to move several lower-level federal judicial appointees in trade for letting go of four appeals court nominations. Now Trump will have the ability to fill those higher court vacancies while Democrats fill the lower ones before going into minority mode. The Senate is now out for the week, but will return after Thanksgiving to confirm the remaining judges. Though Republicans say they won't use the same delay tactics, they will still put up a fight. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Melina Wisecup, NTD News. And Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania conceding his re-election bid to Republican David McCormick. The statewide recount shows no signs of closing the gap between the two. Casey's campaign also suffered blows in court in its effort to get favorable ballots counted. Casey's concession yesterday comes more than two weeks after Election Day. It followed a dragged-out ballot counting process. The tallying of votes became a prolonged process marked by lengthy election board meetings and some social media outrage. There were also lawsuits and accusations that some county officials were openly disobeying the law. Republicans argued Democrats were trying to steal McCormick's seat by counting what they called illegal votes. Casey's campaign said Republicans were trying to block legitimate votes. And fears are rising that the Ukraine war could go global. NATO is now preparing to hold emergency talks with Kyiv after Russia used a hypersonic missile for the first time. NTD's international reporter Ariane Pasdar has the latest on the war. Two people are reported dead and at least 12 more injured in Ukraine on Friday. That's according to officials from the northeastern city of Sumy, who say Russia launched a drone attack early Friday morning. This comes just one day after Russia attacked Ukraine using a hypersonic ballistic missile for the first time. President Vladimir Putin now says more such attacks will follow. We will continue tests, including in combat, especially since we have built a stockpile of such products and such systems ready for use. The use of stronger weapons is concerning some residents in Ukraine. Of course I'm afraid. Every sane person is afraid. You're afraid for yourself, for your relatives. NATO and Ukraine are now planning to hold emergency talks on Tuesday. And Poland's prime minister says the conflict is taking on dramatic proportions. The threat is serious and real when it comes to global conflict. The British military, meanwhile, says this about the possibility of Russia invading Europe. If the British army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight. Putin accuses the US and the UK of expanding the conflict by allowing Ukraine to use long-range weapons. The White House on Thursday denying those claims. The escalation at every turn, at every step is coming from Russia. They're the ones who are escalating this. They're the ones who started this war. It is because of their aggression into a sovereign territory, Ukraine. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky also says Putin is trying to take the conflict to the next stage. That is why the world must sound serious in response to make Putin really afraid of expanding the war. Zelensky added that by using new weapons, Russia is mocking the global powers that are calling for restraint. Ariane Pasdar, NTD News. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects the International Criminal Court's warrant for his arrest for alleged war crimes. The United States says the court has no jurisdiction over it. But other Western nations have given mixed responses, from a full commitment to the arrest to a total rejection of the court's warrant. Chinese international correspondent Malcolm Hudson has the details. With arrest warrants out for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Galant, nations are making their stances known. The International Criminal Court, or ICC, has accused the two of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza, accusations the Israeli leaders completely reject. Germany said it will study the ICC's warrants, but a spokesman refrained from complying with them. I find it difficult to imagine that we would carry out arrests in Germany on this basis. He suggested Germany would not arrest Netanyahu due to the country's Nazi history. The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas terrorist leader Ibrahim al-Mazri, related to his role in the October 7th attack. Israel claims to have killed Mazri in July, but Hamas has not confirmed or denied this. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said the ICC is interfering with an ongoing political conflict and has chosen to defy the warrant. So today I will invite Israel's Prime Minister, Mr. Netanyahu, for a visit to Hungary, and in that invite I will guarantee him that if he comes, the ICC's ruling will have no effect in Hungary, and we will not follow its contents. The Czech Prime Minister said the warrants undermine the court's authority by equating elected democratic leaders in Israel with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organization. Meanwhile, nations such as the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and Ireland have said they will comply with the warrants and would be willing to arrest Netanyahu if he travels to their country. Other nations were non-committal. The French Foreign Ministry on Friday said the court's decision was not a ruling, just a formalization of an accusation. France has declined to say if they would arrest Netanyahu, saying it is legally complicated. Britain said it respects the court's independence, but also declined to commit to arresting the Israeli leader. Italy said on Thursday it would consider, alongside its allies, how to interpret the court's decision. Separately, Italy's defence minister said they would be obliged to arrest Netanyahu if he came to the country. Netanyahu on Thursday completely rejected the warrants. Israel will not recognize the validity of this decision. We will continue to do everything we must do to defend our citizens and defend our state against Iran's axis of terror. He also said in Hebrew the arrest warrants against him and Gallant were morally bankrupt. It violates the natural right of democracies to defend themselves against murderous terrorism. The United States also on Thursday rejected the warrants. We fundamentally reject the court's decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israel officials. The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter. You've heard us say this before. She added the U.S. is discussing next steps with its partners, including Israel. The ICC does not have its own police force to carry out arrests. It relies on its 124 member states to do so, with only limited diplomatic means to force them should they not want to follow through. Malcolm Hudson, NTD News. Still to come this evening. Risks of flash floods and rock slides still persist on the West Coast. But a new storm could bring more damage to the area. David Lam brings us the weather report. And Senate Republicans introduce a bill to abolish the Department of Education. We take a look at how the GOP plans to reshuffle the agency after the break. Welcome back. A new storm could bring more damage to the northwestern coast. Forecasters warning about continued risks of flash floods and rock slides. NTD's David Lam has the details. A new storm is strengthening off the northwest coast of the country. It could bring more damage to the west coast after the area already was hit by a strong bomb cyclone. Forecasters warned the risk of flash flooding and rock slides would continue. And scores of flights were cancelled at San Francisco's airport. The storm system has dumped nearly 18 inches of rain in parts of Northern California since Tuesday. An additional 5 to 10 inches of rain is possible into Saturday morning. Earlier today we responded to a vehicle in the flooded water as you can see behind me. It was unoccupied and we flagged it. There is markings on the road that the road is flooded. You can see the floodgates there too. We ask that nobody else drive through. Santa Rosa saw 6.5 inches of rain in the last 24 hours marking the wettest day on record since 1998. Out at the coast we've got high surf advisories and gale force winds out there. Please know that our coastline is absolutely beautiful but it is very dangerous. Stay out of the water. Gusty winds from the new storm would increase throughout Friday in Washington. As of Friday morning, more than 180,000 homes and businesses were without power for the third day according to PowerOutage.us. Hurricane force winds earlier this week knocked out power to more than half a million customers. David Lam, Entity News, California. Education officials in Texas have approved a new public school curriculum that would add lessons about the Bible to elementary school instruction. The material is written by the Texas Education Agency. Governor Greg Abbott has voiced his support for the state-written curriculum. Eight out of 15 state school board members voted this week to keep the curriculum. It would be for K-5 reading and arts materials. School districts are not required to use the new materials but adopting it can earn schools $40 per student annually. An additional $20 would be included per student for printing costs. And a Republican senator has introduced a bill to abolish the Department of Education. It follows President-elect Trump's campaign promise to do away with the federal agency. So here's what we know so far. Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota introduced the Returning Education to Our States Act on Thursday. It would eliminate the Department of Education and send some of its duties to other departments. In a press release, Rounds said the Department of Education has, quote, never educated a single student, adding that it does more harm than good. His bill aims to give states and local school boards control over education. Several Republican lawmakers spoke to NTD, arguing the Department of Education needs to be defunded. Stop spending some of the money that's allocated, called impoundment, for the Department of Education. You say, hey, we want to abolish it? Well, in the meantime, let's stop funding it. Let's stop letting them do some of the harmful things that are unjustified in the Constitution as well. So you just have to revamp the higher education system and send everything back to the states to let them allocate that money to do what is right at every level of education. Under the bill, some Native American education programs would fall under the Department of Interior, and loan and grant programs would pass to the Treasury Department. Also, the Department of Health would look after disability programs, and the Labor Department would oversee career programs. Some Democrats arguing a federal department could not be abolished so easily. We are the Article I branch of government, a co-equal branch of government. We still have a Constitution. I don't know that I can find any constitutional statutory basis for deleting agencies, as you described it. So House Democrats will remain clear-eyed about doing what needs to be done to protect the American people. Congressman Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico said the GOP needs to be careful about how they cut spending. Certainly, Americans want to see more control and better spending within the federal government and various different agencies. I think it's also a matter of how you do it. You have to be surgical, you have to have precision, and you have to make sure that you don't hurt the most impacted in this country. Democrats currently control the Senate, which would make it unlikely for Senator Rounds' bill to pass, but they will take control of the chamber in January. Earlier this week, President-elect Trump nominated Linda McMahon to head the Department of Education. She has expressed her support for charter schools and school choice. And the Justice Department is asking a federal judge to force Google to sell its browser, Google Chrome, as a penalty for finding Google to be a monopoly. What would that mean for innovation and competition and user privacy? Tune in at 7 p.m. to find out what an antitrust professor says about it on Capitol Report here on NTD. And still to come this evening, one of the largest grassroots movements in history celebrating a milestone in Capitol Hill today. 440 million Chinese citizens have quit the Chinese Communist Party two decades after the movement began. Jason Blair takes us there. The governor of Texas orders state agencies to stop investing in China and sell Chinese assets as soon as possible. An analyst joins us to break down what this means and why Texas is doing this now. According to the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, China just carried out the worst telecom hack in our nation's history. How concerned are Americans? Sam Wong was at the National Mall to find out. We have that and more after the break. On Capitol Hill today, a forum marking a major milestone, 440 million Chinese citizens cutting ties with the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliates two decades after the release of an editorial series, Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party, that was published by our sister media, the Epoch Times. Anthony Jason Blair has more from Washington, D.C. The Tui Dong or Quit the Party movement celebrates 20 years As one of the largest grassroots movements in history, it has helped 440 million people disconnect themselves from the Chinese Communist Party or CCP. Shi Van Fleet lived through the CCP's cultural revolution when millions lost their lives and Chinese traditional culture was attacked and ridiculed. She says that the CCP's communist ideology enslaved the minds of the Chinese people. And now I think they found an opportunity to participate in this movement to free themselves from this toxic, deadly ideology. Today also marks 20 years since the book Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published. The book details the CCP's record of propaganda, persecution, famine, massacre, tyranny and censorship to help people who grew up in the ideology to break free from its grip. John Lenczowski was the principal Soviet affairs advisor to President Reagan. He says the Tui Dong movement and books like the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party help support the breakdown of a communist system. He says the power of the Chinese Communist Party depends on lies and removing objective morality. There is a relationship between truth and morality. And if people stop and think and are exposed to alternative, to the real truths in the face of the party's lies, then they're going to be less inclined to cling to the reef and be accessories in the instruments of the repression of their own people. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, Entity News. And Texas Governor Greg Abbott is telling state agencies to make no further investments in China and to sell their current Chinese investments. Entity's Sean Marshall has more. The governor of Texas ordered state agencies to stop investing in China and sell assets there as soon as possible. Mentioning financial insecurity risks, a sign of rising U.S.-China tensions starting to impact global capital flow. In a letter to state agencies dated November 21st and posted to his website, Republican Greg Abbott said belligerent actions of China's ruling Communist Party had increased risks to Texas investments in China and told investors to get out. Different Chinese interests, as they have done in the past, they may want to challenge this. In federal court, they may want to say that their due process rights under the 5th Amendment have been violated by the states under the 14th Amendment, rather. Sorry, not the 5th. The 14th Amendment, because it's a state action. In the letter, Governor Abbott wrote, I direct Texas investing entities that you are prohibited from making any new investments of state funds in China to the extent you have any current investments in China, you are required to divest at the first available opportunity. Earlier this week, he issued an executive order to protect Texans from coordinated harassment and coercion by the CCP. FBI Houston also put out a warning to Texans that Beijing may be targeting and harassing individuals of Chinese descent in Texas who speak out against the Chinese regime. So the bigger weapon comes January 20th. Bigger weapons will be deployed January 20th when the Trump administration takes office, because that's going to be perhaps where the Chinese interests in the United States, as they have through different companies, the Internet component provider has challenged a number of these executive orders in federal court under the 5th Amendment. Texas has been taking an increasingly activist stance in its agency's investments. It previously restricted public pension funds from doing business with Wall Street firms that have embraced environmental, social, and governance principles. Texas state agencies include the Teachers Retirement System of Texas, which had $210.5 billion under management at the end of August, according to its annual report. The TRS has roughly $1.4 billion in exposure to Chinese yuan and Hong Kong dollar assets. It listed Tencent Holdings as its 10th largest position, worth about $385 million at current prices. Sean Marshall, NTD News. And joining us now to discuss the latest actions taken by Texas is Anders Kor. He's the Journal of Political Risk publisher and principal of Kor Analytics, Inc. Anders, great to see you. Thanks so much for coming on. Thank you. Now, Anders, it may come as a surprise to some viewers that a place like Texas would be investing in China at all. What kind of investments are they? Often these investments are broad portfolio investments diversified across many, many industries in China. And I think that, you know, we've seen the asset managers have put over $2 trillion in China in the past, and this just has to stop. I mean, it's crazy to essentially fund the adversary with so much investment. It's been going on, of course, since the 70s, and people are finally getting smart to it. Anders, are these perhaps state pensions, or where is this money originally coming from? The money on our side is coming from any number of big portfolio investors. I mean, asset managers, institutional investors. You know, with Texas, it's some of the educational institutions. And what we're seeing is that, you know, messages from people like Kyle Bass, the hedge fund manager who often said that China's not a good investment, are finally getting through to some of the top leaders. Now, how much does the Chinese Communist Party rely on this type of investment from somewhere like Texas? Well, it's a significant amount of money. I mean, we're talking over $300 billion just from a couple of the Texas investors that are affected by this new Texas order. And, you know, there's a lot more in other states that could follow. And what we saw from that recent statement from the governor is that it had much broader effects on the market. There was a lot of downward pressure put on Chinese assets from that order just across the market because people look at it as an indicator that other companies, other investors will be pulling their money out as well. So you saw this in the stock market, perhaps the bond market, other Chinese markets, that actually this order from Texas had a negative effect on Chinese investments already. Absolutely. I mean, it's a big effect. And it's coming just three days after Governor Abbott, you know, basically also cracked down on some of the CCP espionage, made a new order on that issue. And then with Trump coming into power, we're going to get, you know, upwards of 60% tariffs potentially. Those could be gradually folded in over time. And it could actually be as low as 40% on China. And it's a huge bargaining chip in terms of Trump's negotiations with China on not only economic issues and trade issues, but political issues as well. Now, Governor Abbott, he would have known about these investments before today. So why do this now? He has actually told his asset managers and told the state to start decreasing investments quite a while ago. He has actually pushed that in the past. And this is just a further step down that road, thankfully. Now, you mentioned asset managers like Kyle Bass, who you rightly say has been raising awareness about Chinese investments, a danger to the Chinese Communist Party for a long time. Do you feel as well that in America, regular Americans are starting to realize perhaps their retirement funds or their investment funds are unknowingly or unwittingly funding Chinese Communist Party? I think people have started realizing this for a long time. And it's hard to push some of these big investors like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Vanguard, to do the right thing. They have these broad portfolios. Sometimes they have a set percentage. Like in the past, Texas had about 3% of their investments in Chinese companies. And they stuck to that as a form of geographic diversification across international markets. And pulling those bankers' heads out of that thinking process where they're just ignoring political risk and ignoring the dangers from the Chinese Communist Party, what could happen, for example, if there were a Taiwan war, a lot of those investments could actually be attached by the Chinese government, and the investors wouldn't get anything. So the risks, I think, are becoming more clear also as we get into 2027 when Xi Jinping told the PLA to be ready for a war with Taiwan. The risks are becoming much more imminent. Now, you touched on it just now. This isn't the only order that Governor Greg Abbott has signed this week. He signed another one yesterday. This particularly stood out to me. This executive order from yesterday was targeting Chinese Communist Party influence operations to forcibly return dissidents from America to China. Now, how is the Chinese regime able to exert that type of pressure from overseas? That's a very good point. We don't enforce our laws against the Chinese Communist Party sufficiently to keep their basically spies and their enforcement agents out of the country very effectively. They have ways of getting in. We have so much back and forth travel between China and the United States. There's so many students in the United States from China that it's pretty easy for these students. A lot of them are Chinese Communist Party members, especially when you get into the graduate levels, upper graduate levels, professionals. You can assume, I think, that most Chinese nationals are Chinese Communist Party members at those higher levels. If the Chinese CCP tells them to do something like get involved in a snatch and grab of a Chinese dissident, put them on a ship, on a cargo ship, and they take the slow boat to China. Shocking. Andrus Kor, thank you so much for joining us, sir. Thank you. It's been called the worst telecom hack in our nation's history by far. These are the words of Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He's referring to a Chinese breach into U.S. telecom companies including Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies. Authorities said China-linked hackers had intercepted surveillance data The hackers stole U.S. customer call records and communications from a limited number of individuals who are primarily involved in the government. That's according to a statement from the FBI. There were also reports that Chinese hackers targeted telephones belonging to then-presidential and vice-presidential candidates Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. Warner said this is an ongoing effort by China to infiltrate telecom systems around the world for huge amounts of data. What do Americans think about China potentially having access to our phone calls and text messages? Anthony Sam Wong was out on the National Mall in D.C. to find out. First question, are you familiar with China's social credit score system? No, I know. No, I have not. I have not, no. I think I did come across it one time on social media, but I didn't really go too deeply into it. So basically what that is, is China is compiling data from their citizens and tracking their behaviors and rank them accordingly. So just wondering, what's your reaction to that? Oh, it sounds like one of those episodes from Black Mirror. Wow, like I did not know that was a thing. That's crazy to think that, oh, you're getting scored based off your facial recognition and also everything that you got going on in your life. It seems quite restrictive. If it were me, I'd be, feel a little concerned. So recently the U.S. has found out there's a hacking campaign going around. Basically, they're going around compromising major telecom companies like AT&T, Verizon, and stuff like that. So just wondering, are you concerned that China is tapping into your messages and phone calls? Yeah, again, that's obviously something to be concerned about, especially being a young teenager with, like, always on our phones, social media, stuff like that. That's a very interesting question. When we're buying security systems, we have to make sure that those security systems that we buy off of Amazon, they're not using a Chinese cloud. It's always concerning when someone has your data that you're maybe not willingly giving to them. But also, I think the Internet these days, nothing is secure. To be honest, all governments do that. Do you ever read into China's, like, human rights record or anything else? Yes, I know a lot about Tiananmen Square and how people are, the Uyghurs in the northwest are being treated. I'm worried about people there. I don't know whether it's going to happen to people here. You know, that's a lot of privacy, and whatever information that you do throw out there, like, you could be texting your parents about information on their car, and next thing you know, you could just end up with, like, nothing one day. So yeah, I would be definitely concerned if that's the case, if China's tapping into our phones. Still to come this evening, an update in the doping case involving 23 Chinese swimmers. Just how was their positive drug test explained? You don't want to miss this. Dave Martin joins us to discuss. And the LA Auto Show is here. Christina Corona brings us an exclusive first look at the off-road vehicles, pickup trucks, and more, along with thrilling test drive experiences. Stay tuned for that after the break. And welcome back. We're going to jump right into our sports news with Dave Martin. Dave, great to see you as always. Yeah, great to see you, Paul. Dave, let's start with the Olympics case of the Chinese doping the swimmers. There's been an interesting update today. Yeah, the update is there was an explanation, anyway. You know, from the Chinese officials, how these 23 swimmers tested positive for a banned hard substance known as TMZ. Now, they said it was essentially from contaminated noodles, apparently. What was that? Contaminated noodles. You on the lookout for those? Yeah, well, I'll tell you why, all right? According to this Chinese official, this is the director of China's anti-doping agency, a pharmaceutical company that used industrial alcohol in the distillation process for making TMZ. The same alcohol, then, laced with this TMZ, enters the market through illegal channels, all right? That same alcohol was used to produce cooking wine, which is apparently an important seasoning in making beef noodles. And somehow these beef noodles were at the hotel kitchen where these athletes stayed and ate, thus causing the positive testing. Now, that was the explanation given. This is according to notes and emails recently obtained by the Associated Press regarding a meeting with the Chinese and the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations on April 30th. Now, that was just shortly after that story was broke by the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD. Now, the person who presented this noodle theory requested that it be kept confidential. Obviously, that did not happen. In any case, the World Anti-Doping Agency reverses course and sanctions them. I mean, it's been over. You know, 11 of those swimmers were at these last July Olympics. So, that's it. Are you telling me that if I eat more beef noodles, it's going to help me win games? Yeah, we've got to be careful. Next time we get beef noodles, we could get this TMZ in us, get a lot stronger, be ineligible for the Olympics ourselves. So, really, everybody's got to be on the lookout for these TMZ noodles. So, TMZ is like a performance enhancer? Well, technically, it's heart medicine, but apparently, some part of it helps performance out, all right? So, all of these swimmers ate noodles together, perhaps at some banquet. No, it was at a hotel, hotel kitchen. Yeah. They got these noodles, had the TMZ, boosted their performance. TMZ noodles boosted their, well, in theory, it boosts your performance, yes. I don't know. They've never been sanctioned, so I don't know if it was a lucky break or not a lucky break. Well, I think I would say it's a lucky break. They got their noodles. The TMZ noodles, they never got sanctioned. They went to the Olympics. They got their medals. So, I'd say it was a pretty lucky break. Now, with the Associated Press, they're kind of, in a sense, making a mockery of the explanation, right? They totally made a mockery of this explanation. I tried to do it as serious as I could. That was my best, serious way of presenting this story to you. Kudos to you. I hope you took it as serious as I could do it. Somebody will take it seriously, at least. Thank you, Dave. Hey, no problem. Shifting to women's sports, Caitlyn Clark is part of the ownership group looking to bring SWNWSL franchise, that's the National Women's Soccer League, to Cincinnati. It's becoming a new thing, athletes becoming team owners. Yeah, you know, Patrick Mahomes, NFL star, he's a part owner now of baseball's Kansas City Royals. You know, recently retired Tom Brady, he's now a part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Even NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant, they've invested in some pickleball teams. Now, for Clark, soccer certainly seems like a good investment here in the U.S. The sport is definitely growing in popularity. Her ownership of the group, they're one of several finalists bidding for an expansion team that would begin play in 2026. Now, the league already awarded a Boston franchise that would start that year as well. Now, how much the franchise fee will be hasn't really been announced. The Boston franchise paid $53 million. With all this interest in the 16th franchise, it seems like the league could command a lot more. In any case, the winner is going to be announced sometime before the end of the year. Caitlin Clark's not going to play in this league, is she? No, no, I don't think so. But I think her bid, her ownership group would have an advantage just having her as part of that group, I would guess. She'd probably be a pretty good soccer player. I think she would. I'd have her on my team. Seems like a good athlete. She knows how to pass the ball, that's for sure. Now, this day in sports, we're talking about a butt fumble by the New York Jets. What the heck is that? That is one of those infamous plays in NFL history. Now, I have Jets season tickets. This was a Jets game in 2012. Fortunately, I sold the tickets wide enough to witness this. This is Thanksgiving Day game between the Jets and the Patriots. Anyone that saw the play probably won't forget it. Chris Collinsworth was announcing for NBC. He said he'd never seen anything like it before. Basically, it starts as a bust play for the Jets. Mark Sanchez, the quarterback, goes to hand the ball off to the running back who runs the other way. I don't know whose mix-up it was, but Sanchez, he decides just to run with the ball anyway. Just to see if he can gain a few yards, live to see the next play. But big Vince Wilforka, the Patriots, he basically throws Brandon Moore, who's like 300 pounds offensive lineman, back into Sanchez as Sanchez is running with the ball. Sanchez falls back, the ball comes out, the Patriots pick it up, run into the end zone. So basically, Sanchez collides with Brandon Moore's backside, causing him to fall back. The ball comes out in the process. This is a permanent fixture on football follies everywhere. Meanwhile, for the Jets, this is the second of three touchdowns they give up in less than a minute. You give up two touchdowns in a minute, that's a lot. This was three it's unheard of. They were blown out on Thanksgiving. Butt fumble. Butt fumble, yes. That's a new one for you. Got about 30 seconds. College football this weekend. What are you watching? Ohio State-Indiana. That's the big game. Indiana, they're at 10-0. This is already the most wins they've had in a season. They face Ohio State ranked number two. Ohio State's 9-1. Of course, I predicted them winning the national title. You did, and that's your tip for this weekend, Ohio State? My tip is that Ohio State wins, all right? Okay, good. Dave Martin, we appreciate it. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend. You too. And the annual Los Angeles International Auto Show kicks off in California. Over the next 10 days, visitors can explore hundreds of latest car models and auto technology from manufacturers from around the world. Anthony's Christina Corona takes us behind the wheel with a look at the newest cars and an exclusive test drive experience. From off-road vehicles, pickup trucks, concept cars to supercars, the Los Angeles International Auto Show showcases many brand-new cars, attracting the attention of car enthusiasts and industry insiders around the world. On Thursday, Hyundai's 2026 Ioniq 9 SUV made its world premiere. This is Hyundai's largest electric vehicle, which can accommodate up to seven passengers. Ioniq 9 offers ultra-fast DC charging, 10 to 80 percent in as little as 24 minutes, faster than your iPhone. Ioniq 9's performance specs are just as remarkable, up to 422 horsepower. That's good enough for 0 to 60 in under five seconds. There are also a number of premier cars making their North American debuts, including the 2026 Kia EV9 GT and 2026 Honda Passport. People can also experience new car test drives and test rides on-site. NTD got behind the wheel for an exclusive test drive of the latest Ford Bronco Bandlands model. Now this is 40 degrees angle, and it's 30 feet high. We're going to turn on the rear locker, and as we go up, we're going to turn on the camera so I can keep us centered at the top. It is a lot like a roller coaster. All right, we're at the top. We made it, and the best part that I like to do is where we're parked right here. You ready for this? Yes. Let's go. As electric vehicles gain popularity, automakers are ramping up efforts to develop advanced charging technology and expand the EV market, all while continuing to cater to traditional gasoline-powered car buyers. I think the technologies, the advancements that we're making in fuel economy through using smaller engines and adding turbochargers, those sorts of technologies are helping us displace the use of gasoline overall so that fuel economy rises, but we're still committed to gas-powered engines. From November 22nd to December 1st, the Los Angeles Convention Center will host dozens of car manufacturers showcasing their latest models. Visitors can explore, compare features, and even place pre-orders on site. Christina Corona, NTD News. That's all for today's news, but for around-the-clock coverage, visit us at NTD.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for tuning in. Have a great weekend. Oh, Tiffany Meyer will be back on Monday. I'm Paul Graney. Good night.