NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (Dec. 6)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story tonight, the manhunt continues. The suspected murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO may have left New York City. Authorities say he took a taxi to the bus depot. Chris Spears has the latest. The judge in the trial of Daniel Penney dismissed his manslaughter charge today after the jury reported being deadlocked. Penney is accused of manslaughter in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway last year. Christina Corona reports. Chinese-owned social media app TikTok loses its bid to block a U.S. law that will ban the platform in January. An appeals court says the app is a national security risk. President-elect Trump nominates a long-time critic of the Chinese Communist Party to serve as ambassador to China. Jason Blair takes a deep dive into David Perdue's background, while Jack Bradley brings us an update on Trump's and vice president-elect J.D. Vance's latest movements. Qatar says they will help bring the war in Gaza to an end after threats this week from Trump that there will be all hell to pay if the Israeli hostages are not released when he re-enters the Oval Office. Malcolm Hudson brings us details from the ceasefire talks. And French President Emmanuel Macron is facing opposition in Parliament after the ousting of his Prime Minister. And a new poll finds a majority of French citizens want Macron to resign. David Vives in Paris. This is NTD Evening News. Live from our global headquarters in New York City, here's Tiffany Meyer. Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight. The suspect in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have fled New York City by bus. That's according to the NYPD, who also said he took a cab to a bus depot at 178th Street before departing. NTD's Chris Beers has the latest. Just in, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tish told CNN police have reason to believe the suspect in this case has left New York City by bus. We also recently learned the person of interest may have arrived in New York City by bus from Atlanta late November. To better understand the inner workings of an investigation like this, I spoke with former NYPD homicide detective Peter Forcelli. Well, it's an interesting case, but in some ways it's a typical case. The NYPD, I'll say, has the reps in on this. And the reason I bring this up is, look, it's uncommon to have a CEO, a person who makes $10 million a year, head of a health care insurance organization, get assassinated in New York City. But ambush murders are actually quite common in New York City. I mean, we see that a lot with the drug trade, where drug dealers would lay in wait and assassinate another drug dealer. So again, I bring it up only because the NYPD has the reps in. They've worked these sorts of investigations in the past. I would say they're at an advantage here because Manhattan has just an abundance of surveillance cameras. And then the reality is, unlike these other crimes when they would happen in other parts of the city, when a high profile murder like this occurs, the resources come flooding in, which is a benefit we didn't always have when I investigated murders in the Bronx. New details reveal the potential killer may have been the flirtatious type. A woman at the hostel at which his exposed face was captured by a surveillance camera said he pulled down his mask at her request. He was hitting on her and she asked to see his smile. And that's the only clear image they got of his face. So I mean, they have this much, this quickly is very encouraging. But I mean, there's always the possibility that this person doesn't get identified. A lot of folks forget some murders don't get solved. This one, I think they're on the right track. But my understanding is they have fingerprints from a candy wrapper and from some other water bottle. But if he's never been fingerprinted before, that becomes a problem. They may have DNA from these things. Same thing, if he's not in the DNA database, that becomes a problem. Investigators believe the person of interest in this case may have used fake New Jersey identification when he checked into a hostel on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Employees at the hostel said he almost always wore a face mask. How much planning might have the shooter put into this crime? Well, I mean, that's that's up to the creativity of the shooter, frankly. Look, some of them are very painstakingly clear at what they do. They do a lot of planning. It seems that this person did that and he may have made these moves to try to mask his movements. But there are other things that law enforcement can do to try to fill the holes, so to speak. Like, for example, they have a cell phone. My understanding is that it was a burner phone. They can track the movements of that phone. They'll probably try to find out where that phone was purchased and see if there's footage of the person buying the phone, wherever it was purchased from. So, I mean, there's also the ability to what's called geofence, like how many cell phones were active in that area where that shooting occurred. And identify phones that one of which might be that of the shooter and then see where had that phone moved in the past. This shooting has shocked corporate America, particularly the health insurance sector. Another Minnesota-based health care company said Friday it was temporarily closing its offices out of an abundance of caution. They're telling employees to work from home. Chris Beers, NTD News. In Daniel Penny's fatal subway chokehold trial, the judge has dismissed the manslaughter charge after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked. But Penny still faces the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. NTD's Christina Corona tells us more. After a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict, a judge has dropped the manslaughter charge against Daniel Penny in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely. But the trial continues as Penny still faces the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. Penny, a 26-year-old former Marine, continues to claim he acted in self-defense while restraining Neely on a New York subway last year. Penny was initially charged with one count of second-degree manslaughter and one count of criminally negligent homicide. The jury will now be deliberating the lesser charge which carries a maximum sentence of four years. Penny's defense team has opposed the dismissal of the manslaughter charge, likely aiming for a full acquittal. Members of Jordan Neely's family spoke outside the courthouse on Friday. Giving us a guilty verdict would bring my family closer and it'll make New Yorkers feel closer as a family too, to where we as a group collectively in its totality are not going to tolerate anything and we don't have to be afraid. We can protect each other now. This is, we need a guilty verdict for the future but we need a guilty verdict now. The jurors, seven women and five men will resume deliberations on Monday. Christina Corona, NTD News. A federal appeals court panel today upholds a law requiring the sale or ban of TikTok in the U.S. TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance on Friday lost its bid to block a U.S. law that's set to ban the platform by January 19, 2025 unless the company agrees to sell TikTok to a U.S. buyer. The law in question called Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act identifies China and three other countries as foreign adversaries of the U.S. It prohibits their social media apps from being distributed in the country. TikTok and ByteDance argued that the law is unconstitutional and violates free speech rights, saying it had been singled out under false pretenses because data collection was not the government's real concern. The Justice Department said the app poses a serious threat to national security as it has access to the personal data of a large number of Americans and because Beijing can covertly manipulate the information Americans consume through TikTok. Senior Circuit Judge Douglas Ginsburg writing the opinion for the three-judge panel said the parts of the law that were being challenged did not violate the First Amendment because there was a compelling government interest in blocking China from manipulating personal data rather than a desire to interfere with speech. However, Ginsburg wrote that potential content manipulation by the Chinese regime could infringe on Americans' First Amendment rights. The panel was persuaded that the Chinese communist regime presented a national security threat, citing high-profile cases of Chinese state-backed cyber attack and cyber espionage campaigns. In a statement, TikTok indicated it would appeal the decision. Company spokesperson Michael Hughes said, quote, the Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans' right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue. He said the pending ban on TikTok will result in outright censorship of the American people. In a statement for the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, today's decision is an important step in blocking the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to collect sensitive information about millions of Americans and to undermine our national security. He added that the Justice Department was committed to protecting Americans' sensitive data from authoritarian regimes. President-elect Trump has tapped former Senator David Perdue to be his nominee for U.S. ambassador to China. NTD correspondent Jason Blair brings us a look at Perdue's background and his actions involving China when he was in the Senate. Former Senator David Perdue was nominated on Thursday by President-elect Trump as U.S. ambassador to China. Besides serving in the Senate, he also has an extensive business background, being the past CEO of Dollar General and the top executive at Reebok and Sara Lee. He's lived in both Singapore and Hong Kong and has done a significant amount of business in Asia, particularly involving China and Hong Kong. And while serving as a Georgia senator from 2015 to 2021, he took a tougher stance on China in numerous areas like trade, national security, and human rights. He supported tariffs against Chinese goods as part of Trump's trade war strategy and has been a frequent critic of the Chinese Communist Party or CCP. In 2018, he posted on X, China must stop stealing our intellectual property, forcing technology transfers, and waging cyber attacks. They also need to comply with the WTO and allow equal access to their markets. He also criticized the CCP's Belt and Road Initiative, which is also known as One Belt, One Road in 2018. He said on X, the goal of China's Belt and Road Initiative is the creation of an economic world order that's ultimately dominated by China. The U.S. must counter China's attempts to hold other countries financially hostage. Also in 2018, Purdue co-introduced a bipartisan Senate resolution condemning Beijing's persecution of religious groups and urging the president to use the International Religious Freedom Act of 1988, the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act and the Global Magna Sky Act to promote religious freedom in China. Chairman John Mueller of the House Committee on the Chinese Communist Party reacted to Purdue's nomination, saying Senator Purdue will bring a clear-eyed perspective to the role and will help the United States combat the malign behavior of the Chinese Communist Party. Purdue posted on X on Thursday that he is honored to accept Trump's nomination. He said, having lived in Asia on two occasions, I understand the gravity of this responsibility and look forward to implementing President Trump's strategy to make the world safe again and to represent the United States' interest in China. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, Entity News. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance is in North Carolina speaking to residents that are still recovering from the deadly Hurricane Helene. Entity's Jack Bradley joins us live now from Palm Beach outside of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. Good evening, Jack. What was Vance's message to the hurricane victims and first responders? Good evening, Tiffany. Well, he said that the Trump administration, the incoming Trump administration, will do a lot for the hurricane victims of Helene that are still feeling the effects today, saying that the victims experience difficulty communicating with one another, even now, because of the damaged infrastructure and that that will be a major priority for the incoming Trump administration. Watch. We have really got to do a better job when it comes to communications infrastructure in this country. It is frankly a disgrace, given that we have Starlink, given that we have access to modern technology. One of the things that we're going to focus on in the next administration is to make sure that our communications infrastructure is in a place that if, God forbid, another area like this is affected by the storm, at least we have the communication in place to minimize the damage and to allow people to communicate with the people that they love. Less than a month after Trump visited North Carolina on the campaign trail. Now, when Trump was there in North Carolina, he criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency's efforts to respond to Hurricane Helene. And this comes right after, you know, just recently where the FEMA administrator said that they're out of funds to respond to a new natural disaster should one occur in the near future and that they need more funds because of the incoming hurricanes and President Biden asking Congress also after that to fund a package for FEMA about a hundred billion dollars worth. And this comes amid a Republican congressional scrutiny about FEMA having a program that houses illegal immigrants. But officials in FEMA have assured them that none of the funds coming from hurricane victim relief goes to that program. And just earlier, just this evening, President Biden passed another more federal funding for debris removal for these hurricane-stricken states by Helene. Tiffany? Jack, President-elect Trump is saying that his nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, is getting a lot of support. Is it enough for him to win the nomination? It appears it will be. All of Trump's nominees are having an advantage in the next Senate with a 53 to 47 Republican senator majority there. And so all of the people that have come forward that will confirm Hegseth have spoken highly of him and spoken positively, except for Senator Joni Ernst, who after meeting with Hegseth, has not indicated either way how she'll vote. Earlier this morning, President Trump on Truth Social said that Hegseth is doing very well and his support is strong and deep. And J.D. Vance also echoed these comments, saying that after speaking with Senator Joni Ernst and other senators, that he is very confident that Hegseth will make it through. Watch. I fully support Pete. I think Pete's going to get confirmed, and we are completely behind him. I have talked to Joni. I've talked to a number of my colleagues about this nomination and about other nominations. All I'm asking is that people actually allow the Senate process to work. Now, this comes after reports that Trump was considering alternatives to Hegseth for that nomination. Our sister media, The Epoch Times, confirmed that a source familiar with the Trump transition said that Trump was considering choosing Florida Governor J.D. Vance as an alternative. And this comes amid allegations that Pete Hegseth was involved in sexual misconduct, as well as over-drinking, all of which he has denied, Tiffany. It would be interesting to see Ron DeSantis there. Well, Jack, switching to another one of Trump's nominees today, the National Police Association endorsed Trump pick for FBI Director Kash Patel. What did they say about how Patel would lead the nation's law enforcement agency? That he has a record of accountability and transparency as well. Now, this is a big endorsement here. This police association represents over 240,000 police officers. And they said that Patel would be a very good pick for this nomination. Now, he's the former Pentagon chief of staff. We know that Patel wants to do a complete reform of the FBI, particularly when it comes to the FBI's surveillance on U.S. citizens. Now, in order for Patel to take office, he would need to win the nomination. And then the current FBI director, Christopher Wray, would either need to step down or be removed, Tiffany. All right, Jack, thanks for those updates. Now, let's turn to NTD's Luis Martinez to give us a closer look at Kash Patel's career and policy proposals. That's right. Let's take a look at the career path that Kash Patel took in becoming the first ever Indian American to be nominated to be the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Now, this career path starts in Florida after Kash Patel graduated law school and got his criminal justice bachelor of arts. He went to Florida and became a public defender in Miami-Dade County. He did that for eight years. He also worked as a federal public defender. It was in 2014 that Kash Patel moved to the Department of Justice National Security Division. It's a division created in 2005 through the Patriot Act. It's an umbrella division of the DOJ that deals with all things national security there. Kash Patel was a prosecutor on international terrorism. And it was in 2017 that Kash Patel moved to Washington, D.C. There, he was tapped to be senior counsel for the House Intelligence Committee, a Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee. That same year, 2017, Kash Patel started working as a senior committee aide to Representative Devin Nunes, who was the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. In the Trump administration, as Deputy Director of National Intelligence, we put a priority on collecting against terrorists, collecting against cartels, collecting against foreign terrorist organizations, Iran, the IRGC, Hamas, Hezbollah. That was Kash Patel in an interview here in Capitol Report last year, commenting on his time at the Trump administration. Now, that time, the Trump administration started in 2019 when Kash Patel is tapped to be the senior director of counterterrorism. Now, one year later, he moves on to become the principal deputy for the Director of National Intelligence, so second only to the Director of National Intelligence. And then in 2020, right here, he becomes chief of staff of the Secretary of Defense, acting Secretary of Defense Miller. And these guys are career folks that have been there through multiple administrations, and they volunteer to sign up. No one forced them to go in and execute the mission of defense. And they have more important things to worry about for leadership than them being told that inside their ranks there's problems of racism. In November of 2024, Kash Patel is nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be his next FBI director. Now, it's very interesting because this nomination entails that President-elect Donald Trump will seek to either dismiss current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray or wait to see if Director Wray resigns before Donald Trump takes office. And when Joe Biden came in, they shifted the collection efforts, and this is not me making it up, they literally made a top priority collection effort climate change and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. Now, Kash Patel still has to undergo a confirmation process in the Senate and a confirmation hearing. And we already heard from the vast majority of Republican senators who have said that they would support nomination of Kash Patel for FBI director. Some, like Republican Senator Susan Collins, are holding out to see more information, background check information on Kash Patel before making a decision. Now, Kash Patel has already announced some policy proposals that he would bring to the FBI to reform the FBI, in particular, reforming the priorities that the FBI has in surveilling and their surveillance activities, in particular, the powers that the FBI has through the Patriot Act and through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Back to you. Qatar seeks to help end the war in Gaza by the time Trump is in office. Last month, they quit talks due to frustration at the lack of progress in negotiations. It follows a threat by President-elect Trump that there will be all hell to pay if the Israeli hostages are not released when he re-enters the Oval Office. NTD's international correspondent Malcolm Hudson has more on this story. Qatar last month suspended its role in ceasefire talks between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, frustrated at a lack of progress. But since talks broke down, there have been significant shifts in the global and regional landscape. Trump won the U.S. election and a ceasefire was declared in Lebanon between Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah. Trump this week called for the release of all Israeli hostages held in Gaza by the time he takes office on January 20, saying there would be all hell to pay in the Middle East if that doesn't happen. Qatar's Prime Minister told Sky News on Wednesday they are in touch with the incoming U.S. administration. We are trying to coordinate with them our efforts and all of us we agree and we are hoping to get over the situation before the president comes to the office. In the negotiations to end the conflict, Israel and Hamas have been at odds on some major points, including whether a ceasefire would be permanent or temporary, and whether Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza or not, and on what timetable. Israel rejects Hamas's demand for a complete withdrawal and demands that Hamas should have no control over the region. A Hamas official said Palestinian factions were making progress in deciding who would rule Gaza politically after the war, saying Hamas and its rival Fatah, which dominates the West Bank Palestinian Authority, have reached an agreement in principle to form a temporary committee that would govern Gaza in the immediate aftermath of the war. Under this agreement, Hamas would give up its political rule of Gaza but not lay down its arms. Israel says it will never let Hamas rule Gaza again and is demanding the group disarm. Malcolm Hudson, NTD News. The terrorist insurgency in Syria is growing in strength. Rebel groups say they reached the nation's third largest city of Homs earlier today. The insurgents also claim they've taken over two towns just north of the city. The terrorist groups have vowed to march on Homs and the Syrian capital of Damascus. The rebels made a last call on government forces in Homs to defect. Homs is a major waypoint between Damascus and two coastal provinces that are strongholds of the president's forces. If the rebels capture Homs, they would cut off the capital of Damascus from the coast. Videos show thousands of people fleeing the city. The White House says it is closely monitoring developments in Syria. Emmanuel Macron is navigating a political crisis following the resignation of his prime minister yesterday. The French president is expected to form a new government in the coming days. But he's facing public unpopularity and renewed opposition from party leaders in parliament. NTD international correspondent David Vives reports from Paris. President Emmanuel Macron aims to form a government of general interest after Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted in a no-confidence vote on Wednesday. Macron met with parties on the left and right Friday morning. Socialist party leader Olivier Faure urged Macron to appoint a left-wing prime minister. We reminded him that we wanted it to be a left-wing prime minister and that we would not participate in any case in a government that would be led by a right-wing prime minister. It's clear and simple. Public sentiment appears to be turning against Macron. A poll published by French polling company Odoxa revealed that 62% of French citizens now believe he should resign. According to best-selling author and policy analyst Laurent Aubertin, forming a new government may not address the deeper issues behind the crisis. The French are supportive of massive cuts in the budget, of controlled immigration, and more severity of the justice system. But what they had is the complete opposite. And they are only faced with a change of government, while what they really want is a change of leadership. The austerity budget proposed by former Prime Minister Michel Barnier is one of the reasons that led to the vote of no confidence. Aubertin says the increase in taxes was just too much to bear. Former economy minister Bruno Le Maire has increased the public debt by a thousand billions euros. It seems that's the way things work, as he got away with it. It has to be said that the government takes way more from us than what it delivers in terms of services. National rally leader Marine Le Pen predicted that any new government would face a similar gridlock and cushioned against dissolving parliament again. David Duves, NTD News, Paris. Coming up, what made President Biden change his mind and decide to pardon Hunter Biden? The White House fielding questions at its first formal press conference after the Sunday announcement. Who might be pardoned next? Iris Tao reports. And House Democrats are challenging current ranking committee members in reaction to November's election results. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is running for the top job on the Oversight Committee. Luis Martinez brings us more from Capitol Hill after the break. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer at the first press conference at the White House after President Biden announced a sweeping pardon for his son. The press secretary defending Biden's decision amid speculation that he will issue more pardons in the coming weeks. NTD's White House correspondent Iris Tao has more. This was not easy for the president. It wasn't. The White House on Friday seeking to defend President Biden's decision to issue a blanket pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, despite having previously promised that he wouldn't do so. Asked about what changed his mind, the press secretary stressed that Biden wrestled with the decision and was influenced by several factors. Republicans not letting up, saying they won't stop, they're going to continue to do this. Trump appointees of legal enforcement positions, right, that said during the campaign they would have, they were out for retribution. There was a sentencing coming up, as you all know. That was well known. I said there are multiple factors here, not one thing. Current John Peer also refers to Biden's Sunday statement announcing the pardon, in which he called his son's treatment a miscarriage of justice and pointed to political motivation behind his son's tax and gun charges. The White House's defense comes as Biden is expected to issue more pardons in the final weeks of his administration. The press secretary noting Biden's record of pardoning those with non-violent drug offenses and marijuana convictions. But in addition to more conventional pardons, like for those convicted of federal crimes, the Associated Press is reporting that Biden is also considering issuing preemptive pardons for allies and officials, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, who could face legal actions and probes in the incoming Trump administration. The White House, while declining to confirm any details, knows that it has been hearing from advocates lobbying for pardons and clemencies. We've heard from them. You all have seen it. So obviously we've heard them. I'm just not going to get into specifics of what we're going to do, not do. The White House also announced that President Biden would give a speech next Tuesday to talk about what the White House calls his economic record and legacy. Reporting by Iris Tao, NTD News. A January 6th defendant was resentenced today to a lesser charge. This is following a Supreme Court decision earlier this year. Guy Raffitt of Texas gets a new sentence of six years and eight months. It's seven months lower than his original sentence. Prosecutors accused him of breaching the Capitol building with a plan to take over Congress and drag then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out. Raffitt's obstruction charge was dismissed following a Supreme Court ruling in June that limited the government's use of a federal obstruction law. The Texas man was the first person to go on trial for January 6th. He argued that he did not want to take over the government. For the final balance of power in the House, the attention now shifts to the committee assignments for the 119th Congress. House Democrats are challenging current ranking members in reaction to the negative electoral results on November 5th. NTD's Washington correspondent Luis Martinez has more on the story. In the next Congress, we can continue the fight for everyday Americans and push back against any effort and extremism that we see from the House Republican Conference or from the incoming administration. That was the current and the recently re-elected incoming Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Democrats are revamping their strategy to be in the opposition next year, and some believe that a change in the leadership and committee assignments is necessary to oppose what they call extremist policies. Well, it's certainly a sign of our extraordinary times where you have an incoming president of the United States who's making threats of prosecution and jail towards private citizens. And so it's obviously something that should be looked at. That was Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, who is the current ranking member of the House Oversight Committee. Raskin, who's a constitutional lawyer and a former Trump impeachment manager, has challenged longtime ally Jerry Nadler to become the next ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. And on Friday, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez launched her bid to replace Jamie Raskin as ranking member of the House Oversight Committee. She will face off against Congressman Jerry Connolly. House Republicans, who have term limits on their committee assignments, welcomed the new challengers in the Democratic conference. I think how they organize themselves is foolish though, where you essentially have to wait until the chairman or ranking member of committee dies before you can move up. And on our side of the aisle, we've always had a merit-based contentious process where you go in and you do the steering committee, you make your presentation, best person wins. I'm all for that. House Democrats are also challenging the current ranking members of the Natural Resources Committee and the Agriculture Committee. It is worth noting that the current ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and of the Natural Resources Committee have already announced that they will be stepping down to pass the torch to a new generation. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Luis Eduardo Martinez, NTD News. Coming up, a legal analyst joins us to react to the court ruling on TikTok. What arguments did TikTok present and how strong were they? A survivor of child trafficking after living under communist North Korean and Chinese rule, she shares her story of finding freedom in the U.S. When we come back. Welcome back. If you're just joining us now, here are some of today's top headlines. Police said the gunman who killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare may have quickly left New York City on a bus. The manhunt continues two days after the brazen ambush in Midtown Manhattan. The judge overseeing Daniel Penney's fatal subway chokehold trial dismissed his manslaughter charge after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Jurors will return on Monday to consider a lesser count of criminally negligent homicide. President-elect Trump nominated former Senator David Perdue of Georgia as the next U.S. ambassador to China. Perdue has been a frequent critic of the Chinese Communist Party and supported Trump's trade war. A federal appeals court panel upheld a law that requires TikTok to break ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance or be banned in the U.S. by mid-January 2025. The court denied TikTok's petition to overturn the law. Joining us now to react to the court ruling on TikTok is Gerard Felitti, a political strategist as well as a senior counsel at the Lawfare Project. Gerard, thank you so much for joining us. Good to see you again. First, what's your view of the federal appeals court upholding the law that requires a sale or ban of TikTok? The federal court ruled correctly, the appeals court ruled correctly that this is a law that implicates national security first and foremost and that the law was narrowly tailored to address the ownership of TikTok by a foreign adversary, not implicating the speech concerns that TikTok was raising. So what we see is a continuation of case law in the United States that favors legislators to be able to pass laws like this that limit the ability of foreign nations, foreign adversary nations, to control companies that do business in the United States. Now, attorneys for TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance say it's impossible to divest, that it won't sell the coveted algorithm, adding this ban would violate the Constitution on First Amendment rights. Now, the court argued that the law did not violate the First Amendment because the government is not looking to, quote, suppress content or require a certain mix of content on TikTok. What do you make of that First Amendment argument? The First Amendment argument is the only one that TikTok can make, but it falls flat because, as you pointed out, the court looked at this and determined that there is no suppression of speech. You're not stopping or you're not dictating, you're not directing TikTok to make any particular speech. You're looking at who controls the company, and in this case, it's being controlled by a foreign adversary government. So that's really the issue that the court narrowed down on. This law does not limit what can and cannot be said. It doesn't impact speech in that way, but what it does is it limits the ability of a foreign adversary, the Chinese Communist government, to have influence and to control a company that is doing business and collecting data from millions of Americans. Now, President-elect Trump was against TikTok in the past, but on the campaign trail, he said he didn't support the TikTok ban drafted under the Biden administration. What do you see Trump doing in terms of TikTok once he is back in office? That's a very good question, considering that he's changed his opinion. Only time will tell. What's interesting here is that this law goes into effect the day before Donald Trump is inaugurated. So unless the U.S. Supreme Court steps in, which is highly unlikely, by the time Trump is actually sworn into office, this law will have taken effect. Now, what Donald Trump could do is he could direct the Justice Department not to enforce it. And by enforcing it, what's required is for the Apple app for Google Play to stop supporting TikTok on their servers, or risk federal prosecution. Donald Trump could order the Justice Department not to prosecute, but at the end of the day, this will more likely be resolved by Trump entering into some kind of a protracted negotiation with the Chinese government or allow the law to take effect. And Gerard, as you mentioned earlier, at the heart of this is the question of national security and the concern that American user data is falling into the hands of Beijing. Now, reports also note the outsized role TikTok has in shaping Americans' worldview as it serves as the go-to media for young Americans. Given that China has its own version of TikTok called Douyin, with a different algorithm, age caps and time limits, what do you make of TikTok's stronghold in the U.S.? TikTok's stronghold is very questionable in the U.S., and it is very concerning that it has grown in such popularity among a young demographic that seems to not be able to determine whether the content that they see is harmful, beneficial, truthful, or manipulation by a foreign government. So this is really why we have placed such an emphasis on TikTok and the dangers it poses to the young and to the future of America's democracy. And what you pointed out, by the way, also highlights why it is possible for TikTok to be divested from Chinese communist ownership. It's precisely because the algorithm is not the same one that they're using within China. So this could be sectioned off. It's very possible to have TikTok continuing to operate in the U.S., but not owned by the Chinese communist government. This is an argument that is very appealing, and we could see a deal potentially where the Chinese government does divest itself of this. Gerard Felitti, thank you as always for joining us. A pleasure. Thank you so much. A North Korean survivor of child trafficking shares her story living through communism. She's spoken to celebrities and has given talks at college campuses. Yunmi Park is a North Korean defector, and she spoke to students at UC Berkeley to share her experience about the price of freedom. She spoke at Turning Point USA's events on campus Thursday night. Park said while she was living in communist North Korea, people had concepts that were different from those in other countries, and there was a lack of certain words. In North Korea, we don't have the word stress, because how can you be stressed if you're living in a socialist paradise? You cannot be. So they took that word away. They took the word away also, love. The only love that North Koreans are allowed to know is our love for the leader. We are not, we don't know we are, we're supposed to love your parents. The activist talked about North Korean teachers reinforcing concepts that she called propaganda to have negative views of America. When Park attended a university in New York, she said she experienced something similar. I couldn't believe what was happening in front of me. My professors were saying exact same things that my North Korean teachers were saying. So they say all the problems that we have in the world right now is because of white men and because of capitalism. The only solution to all these problems is us tearing down the U.S. Constitution. The 31-year-old said during her escape from North Korea to China and then South Korea, she was separated from her mother after they were both sold to traffickers. That's what I was thinking. My professors were saying how America is horrible. Literally my mother was sold for $65 in the modern world. Right now there are 300,000 North Korean women and right now in China are being sold as slaves. She's continuing to share her story and one of her books is set to be turned into a feature film. In Berkeley, California, David Lam, NTD News. Coming up in NFL news, could six-time Super Bowl winner Bell Belichick have found a new head coaching job? Dave Martin joins us to discuss when we come back. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Job growth surged in the U.S. in November. It was an expected rebound after hurricanes and striking workers heavily impacted the October data. The government reports the U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs last month as striking and weather affected employees went back to work. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked off from 4.1 percent to 4.2 percent. Economists were expecting a net gain of 200,000 jobs in November and for the unemployment rate to remain the same. And now for your sports news, we're joined by NTD's Dave Martin. Dave, a lot going on today but let's start in the NFL where last night Detroit clinched a playoff spot with a win over Green Bay. The Lions have never even made a Super Bowl. Do you see them as contenders though? Yeah, for sure and that's really not going out on a limb at all. I mean, they have the best record in the league, 12-1. They've got the highest scoring differential but as you pointed out, they don't have a very storied past. I mean, this is just the second time in the last 30 years they've had back-to-back playoff appearances and that goes back to the days of Barry Sanders in the 1990s. Ironically, you could say this rebuild was jump-started a couple years ago when they traded away their best player, franchise quarterback Matt Stafford to the Rams. They got back Jared Goff and some high draft picks. It looked like they were starting over because Goff was really traded after sort of struggling there but he's quickly revitalized his career in Detroit. Meanwhile, Stafford already won a Super Bowl with the Rams. It's one of those few win-win trades really in the NFL. Looking at basketball news, the NBA announced a return to China next season with a pair preseason games for the first time in five years. Was there ever an official reason given for the league's absence? You know, I don't think there was an official one but it happened right after then Houston executive Daryl Morey tweeted out support for Hong Kong, you know, those sentiment many Americans had during those pro-democracy protests. In any case, the Chinese Communist Party does not share that sentiment and league commissioner Adam Silver refused to punish Morey. Now, this actually happened when the NBA was playing some preseason games over there. The league was criticized by politicians for still playing those games and not saying more about the Chinese Communist Party's egregious human rights record. In any case, NBA games were not shown for over a year after that in China. The league said that whole riff them cost them some 400 million dollars. Now, we both talked with, you know, former NBA player Enos Freedom about when he wore those shoes in 21-22 during NBA games that criticized China's human rights violations. Now, he was playing with the Celtics at that time. Their games were pulled in China as well. So, it seems that the health of the NBA's relationship with China is really somewhat dependent on their, you know, silence regarding their human rights violations. Well, shifting gears to college football, former NFL coach Bill Belichick has reportedly had discussions with the University of North Carolina about their head coach opening. Would he be surprised if he went there? I mean, somewhat. Only because he's coached in the NFL for like 40-something years. But it may give him what he reportedly had in New England, final say over the roster. Normally, in the NFL, you have a general manager who has that final say, you know, like what players to trade for or sign or select in the draft. Now, we don't know if that was the reason he was passed over for an NFL job last winter or not. But in college football, the head coach has that final say. Of course, the trade-off is that you got to get out there and recruit. But Belichick, he's got that name recognition. I wouldn't think he'll have problems attracting talent. Now, we don't know how serious these reported discussions he's had with North Carolina are. But if there's one strike against him, it's probably his age at age 72. Opposing schools will certainly use that against them called negative recruiting. In any case, I think it'd be a great hire by UNC. This is obviously in the very early stages still. Well, staying in college football, we have several conference championship games tonight. Which would you say are the most pivotal to the playoffs? Yeah, tonight we've got conference games with Conference USA, American Athletic, and the Mountain West Comets. As far as playoff spots are concerned, though, like you said, Mountain West title game, Boise State versus UNLV, that's the big one. If 10th-ranked Boise State wins, they're probably in as the fourth conference champion in the playoff ahead of whoever wins the Big 12 tomorrow. Now, that would give them the final first-round buy, while the Big 12 winner would probably get the lowest seed and have to be on the road for their first-round game. That would be a real tough pill to swallow for a power conference champion. But you have to remember, the Big 12 lost their two big flagship schools, Texas and Oklahoma, to the SEC last year. Now, if Boise State loses tonight to UNLV, tomorrow's Big 12 title game suddenly becomes even bigger. In that case, UNLV would be in. They'll probably be behind the Big 12 champion, you know, either Arizona State or Iowa State. Boise State, though, they are four-and-a-half point favorites. That is the one to watch tonight. Well, Davis Almas, thanks for joining us. Well, thank you, Tiff. And that's all for today's news. For around-the-clock coverage, visit us at ntd.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Good night.