NYC Mayoral Candidates Face Off in Debate; Trump to Meet with Putin | NTD Good Morning (Oct. 17)

Welcome to NTD Good Morning. Here today's top stories. President Trump is eyeing a ninth peace deal as he says he's plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton indicted. We take a look at the charges he faces. President Trump, crime, Hamas and prostitution were just a few of the topics at last night's lively debate. Candidates in New York City race to be the next mayor. An up-close look at the race for Attorney General in Virginia in last night's debate. Incumbent Jason Mayeres faced off against challenger Jade Jones. We're gonna have the highlights. Democrats reject a bill to reopen the government for a tenth time. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries makes it clear that Democrats will consider ending the shutdown only when their policy demands are met. The maker of chat GPT has released a new social media platform called Sora intended to compete with Instagram and TikTok. We'll speak with an author on the positives and the negatives of these new AI capabilities. This is NTD Good Morning. Live from our global headquarters in New York City here are Stefania Cox and Kerry Dunst. Good morning. Thanks for joining us. Today's Friday, October 17th. You're watching NTD Good Morning. In today's top news, President Trump is welcoming Ukraine's President Zelensky back to the White House today. It comes just one day after speaking on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. And Trump issues a new warning to the Hamas terror group. NTD's Russian correspondent Mari Otsu has the latest. President Trump is saying that he's going to meet Russia's President Vladimir Putin in about two weeks in Budapest, Hungary and that this meeting will come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, quote, very soon. Take a look. We're going to be meeting in Hungary. Viktor Orban is going to be hosting. And we think we're going to get we hope we're going to get it stopped. This coming after President Trump called President Putin saying they spoke about U.S. Russia trade when the war with Ukraine is over. The president calling it, quote, very productive. And as Ukrainian President Zelensky arrives in D.C. for his Oval Office meeting with President Trump Friday, where they're expected to talk about sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Meanwhile, President Trump issuing a harsh warning on Hamas. We're going to find out if they behave, if they behave good. If they don't behave, we'll take care of it. Saying if Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, quote, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them. But the president clarifies there will be no U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza. Meanwhile, President Trump is announcing that the largest fertility drug manufacturer in the world, EMD Sirono, will significantly reduce the cost of fertility medication to help make IVF more affordable. And we want to make it easier for all couples to have babies, raise children and start the families I've always dreamed about. The fertility drugs will be available on Trump Rx dot gov, EMD Sirono says, at an 84 percent discount. The White House saying that last year, three point six million babies were born in the U.S., half a million less babies than is ideal to replace our current population. But it turns out that it's about one in three families, a much higher number that don't have the number of babies they desire. They're under babied. President Trump is also saying that the White House is working to expand insurance for fertility care so that people could get fertility insurance like they would dental or vision. And this is now the third time in the past few weeks that the Trump administration has struck a deal with pharmaceutical companies to significantly lower drug prices. Mari Otsu, thank you. John Bolton, President Trump's former national security adviser, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland. The Justice Department sought the indictment over alleged unlawful handling of classified information. An investigation says that Bolton used a private AOL email account to store and transmit classified notes during his 2018 and 2019 White House tenure in the first Trump administration. In August, the FBI conducted a search on Bolton's home in Bethesda, Maryland and in his Washington office, where agents seized devices and documents marked secret or confidential, including materials on weapons of mass destruction. The indictment charges Bolton with 18 counts of transmitting and retaining national defense information. And in a statement last night, Bolton called the charges an attempt by President Trump to intimidate his opponents. He said he looks forward to defending his, quote, lawful conduct. The first televised debate of the candidates to be mayor of New York City took place last night. That's right. Ntd's Daniel Monaghan has key takeaways from the lively face off between former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Democrat Zoran Mamdani and Republican Curtis Lewa. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo took aim at Zoran Mamdani's experience. I have the experience of having served in the New York State Assembly for five years and watching a broken political system. The experience of seeing a governor in Andrew Cuomo who would rather have served his billionaire donors in the working class New Yorkers who voted for him. This is not a job for someone who has no management experience to run 300,000 people, no financial experience to run $115 billion budget. He literally has never had a job on his resume. It says he interned for his mother. Thank God I'm not a professional politician. We have the architect and we have the apprentice of no cash bail, which has been a disaster. We have the architect and the apprentice here have raised the age. My own son was almost killed because of that in a gang attack on failing to call for Hamas to lay down their arms. Mom Of course I believe that they should lay down their arms. I'm proud to be one of the first elected officials in the state who called for a ceasefire. I'm hopeful that it is just and for it to be just. We also have to ensure that it addresses the conditions that preceded this conditions like occupation, like the siege and apartheid. Assemblyman will not denounce Hamas. The Assemblyman will not denounce Hassan Piker who said America deserved 9 11. The Assemblyman just said in his response, well, it depends on occupation. That is cold, meaning that the Israel does not have a right to exist as a Jewish state. The candidates also discussed the deployment of federal agents to handle crime. When Donald Trump sent ice agents on people in Los Angeles, Andrew Cuomo said that New Yorkers need not overreact. That is the furthest answer that New Yorkers are looking for. I went through this with him. He sent the National Guard to 20 cities when I was governor. You know what city didn't? He didn't send them to New York. Why? Because I said to him, don't you dare on protests, Lee was says civil disobedience has its limits. We have rampaging groups that go running through the streets that enter all kinds of facilities and violate other people's rights. And there's no one who's willing to stop it. If you had a leader like Andrew Cuomo, who was telling people not to overreact when they see ice agents abducting girls as young as six years old to deport them, many New Yorkers will take to the streets on crime. The candidates had this to say. We will have dedicated teams of mental health outreach workers in the top 100 subway stations with the highest levels of the mental health crisis and homelessness. The N. Y. P. D. is now down at one of the lowest levels of modern political history. I would add 5000 police put 1500 in the subways. The mayoral hopefuls also touched on the cost of living. We'll freeze the rent for more than two million rent stabilized tenants. And I will also build 200,000 truly affordable homes. Freeze the rent only postpones the rent because then you have to have an increase to cover the cost and discuss the sex trade and its consequences on the streets. Prosecuting women for prostitution is something that actually leads to less safety. And what we need to do is provide an economy of opportunity. You don't go after the women. The women are the victims here. You lock up the johns. You shame the johns. The election is now just two weeks away on November 4th. Daniel Monaghan N. T. D. News and N. T. D. S. Flora Hua spoke with some New York residents who shared their preferred candidates and their biggest concerns in this election. Let's I have to to keep Mondami out of office. The new candidate, the younger candidate. I think his views are radical. I think that he's connected with the younger generation because of that. I think Andrew, I mean, I want someone who's more moderate. I don't love Cuomo as as as the option. If you look at New York City, this is the 18th largest country in the world as far as economy goes. So you want to have somebody in office? You better get somebody that knows what they're doing. I would like more safety for police officers and I would like more safety with like public transit. I think that if he gets rid of the police or some of the other things that I understand his plan is, I think that New York would become a far more dangerous place for me in New York. I think crime in the subways. I think the mentally ill population slash homeless that are on the streets. I think that's a real problem. I think we need to open up the mental health facilities again because we're not really doing anybody any favors by letting them sleep on the streets or in the subways. I think definitely crime. I think that's the biggest issue for New York right now. I mean, you look around this neighborhood and there's just so much vacancy in terms of commercial and people are leaving the city. What I'm doing is I'm telling Republican voters in the state of New York, in the city of New York, to vote against Mamdani for Andrew Cuomo. And if Zoran Mamdani is successful here, they will replicate that playbook in every major Democrat run city. That's why this race is so important to send a national message that we do not accept communism in the United States of America. This is a Judeo-Christian capitalist society and country, and we must protect it with all that we have. You can't be an entrepreneur. You can't come up with new ideas. You can't thrive in a socialist or communist environment. I have my own business. I started my own business with $50. I grew it to a multi-million dollar enterprise. He's getting his point across because he's really pushing the whole free rent, free buses, free grocery stores, and so forth. And I don't know if that's economically even feasible. Free also equals laziness. And when you can sit on your couch, watch TV, and get everything for free, that means you're not going to go out and get a job and serve the community and pay your fair share of taxes. And joining us for commentary on last night's mayoral debate is Mike Leon, NTD News contributor, and the host of the Can We Please Talk podcast, as well as John Deaton, attorney with Deaton Law Firm and a former federal prosecutor. Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us. Mike, let's start on your overall reactions, and then we'll drill in on a few specifics. Your thoughts. Yeah, good morning to everybody. Yeah, I mean, good debate last night. Good, healthy debate. You know, I thought there was moments of, you know, animosity. Then there was moments of, how is that feasible? And then there was moments of, really? So there was a mixed bag of emotions. But I thought the standard thing for me is everything that just played in that package there, which I thought that package kind of summarized a bunch of New Yorkers over 60, you know, maybe one or two people that are in their 40s that lean in different directions, and then one student who's kind of unsure, right? And that's, I think, the the takeaway for New Yorkers right now. Do you want somebody who doesn't have true experience on their resume, but has some different ideas that they want to try in City Hall? Do you want somebody who's done some experience at the governor level, but has had some scandal and controversy? Or do you want somebody who's been in New York politics for over, you know, 25, 30 years, but has never really held any serious position in courtesy? Well, so those are the choices for New Yorkers. It is an important race like that guy said in the package, because I think it is a zoom out to what could potentially lead in 2026 with respect to all the elections that are going to be happening in the House and Senate. Great point. A microcosm of what could come in the midterms. John, your thoughts on last night's debate? Yeah, I would agree with Mike. Listen, I think that if you were a Mondami fan, that he did what he had to do. I don't think he lost anything. I think he came off much consistent like he has. Andrew Cuomo, you know, tried to take shots at his inexperience, you know, with the line that you've never held a job. Your resume has you interned for your mom. And, you know, a lot of people watching who are common sense, sort of like Curtis, but they know he doesn't have a chance. And so I actually feel bad for New Yorkers this morning after watching the debate and the choices they have. Yeah, you bring up that point. In some ways in a New York race, it almost seems like the Republican candidate is sort of not the one that's the third party candidate. It's sort of the independent versus the Democrat. Mike, affordability was one of probably the top two things, and we'll get into crime. It's also tied, of course, to maintaining the corporate tax revenue and not having an exodus of capital. Mamdani's calling for expanding programs such as free buses. Sliwa and Cuomo painted Mamdani as either disingenuous or naive, but Mamdani, as John pointed to, was able to stay smooth and practiced in his communication. Who do you think came out strongest in terms of affordability in the city and keeping revenues in the city? It's a great question because, Kerry, the thing is, I don't live in New York anymore. I've grew up in New York my entire life. Where do I live right now, Kerry? I live in Miami, Florida. You're the perfect example. That's what we're talking about. But let's go into why, Kerry. In 2020, during the pandemic, New York started to open up and get rentals back in, and they were offering 15 to 18-month lease with no rent increase. And the apartment that I was living in was a two-bedroom, two-bathroom. I was paying $3,300 a month for me and my family of four. That apartment is now $5,700, Kerry. On Zillow, you can look it up. It's 540 West 50th Street for folks out there. So that is what Mamdani has been campaigning on when he walked all the way down from the top of Manhattan all the way down to the bottom. There's an affordability crisis for people. And this is the reason why he has won so many districts of black and brown voters, whether it be Crown Heights or Prospect Heights, anywhere in Brooklyn, the Bronx where I grew up. He has won those areas because he's talking about the affordability crisis. My paycheck hasn't gone up. Rent is not, you know, for the rent-stabilized units, that's different. He's talking about for new units, there is just folks that want to make a profit, and they're overcharging in different areas, and we can't afford to live there. So what do we look to do? For people like me, you know, that has family in Florida, you can move to Florida. But what I think he has talked the most about the affordability crisis, and again he has drilled into the fact that he's been an assemblyman, Cuomo has actually done things at the governorship level to help New York City with the affordability crisis. So it goes back to what John was mentioning, right? Like, do you want the experienced candidate who has tried certain things that has actually signed legislation and worked with New York City on their budget, or do you want somebody who has some ideas that maybe don't make fiscal sense and won't get buy-in from the Tenants Association or the Renters Association? Like, those are the things that New Yorkers have to choose with. And back to John's point, Siwa is a typical guy who, like, if he wasn't so in politics for forever, like adjacent to it with the Guardian Angels, I think he would have a fighting chance. But he has this connotation that he's just not as serious to be taken as a candidate. Yeah, he probably had the best idea on the stage in terms of increasing supply of housing quickly in converting unused, you know, corporate space. But John, just as we're starting to run short on time, I really want to get to public safety. You know, I think one moment that really stuck out for me was where Mamdani compared a program in Eugene, Oregon, which is essentially a college town in a mostly rural state, and Siwa immediately was like, hey, that's not going to work here in New York. But, you know, they brought up prostitution, they brought up the mental health crisis, all though related to public safety. Who do you think came out on top on that one, John? Well, listen, I think Curtis actually won it on substance. And this is the weakest spot for Mamdani. I would say it's the softest spot. He actually was a defund-the-police person. His criticism of the police and that he believes that more police doesn't equal more safety. I certainly agree with him that we have a mental health issue for people in the subways, they need to be addressed. But this is the weakest spot. I mean, he wants to stick on affordability. No one's going to touch Mamdani on affordability issues. But on crime, I think it's his weakest issue. And I was hoping, or not hoping, was thinking, expecting Cuomo to drill that home more. And I thought it fell flat, to be honest with you. Yeah, I see your point there. And Mike, in terms of Trump having a big part of the debate, Mamdani said he will resist Trump. But Cuomo pretty eloquently said, if you're elected, that's what's going to lead to a more Trumpian, basically you're electing Trump as mayor. Did that land, do you think? If it landed, Mamdani's winning the election. Because Donald Trump just won in 2024, Kerry. I mean, so, and everyone has compared their political rise talking about affordability issues and going to poor voters, let's be honest, and saying, I can do something for you. But I thought the biggest exchange, I mean, there was a bunch. Obviously, we didn't even talk about Israel and Gaza and stuff like that. And again, 5,600 miles, New York City is from Israel. So why are we asking the mayor about that? We can get into that later. But the big thing that I noticed yesterday was about this push and pull of the National Guard and sending troops. John knows this as a lawyer. I've interviewed a lot of former federal prosecutors about the National Guard being deployed to cities. LA was different because they were protecting federal property and protecting ICE agents and enforcement. Chicago, there's like a little bit of a divergent there, right? When it comes to New York, neither of them, as mayor of New York City, would be able to protect from National Guard troops being deployed if there is a federal asset that needs to be protected. That is something that both of them can't do anything about. So anything, it's politics just saying that you would be able to protect the city from Donald Trump because it depends on the circumstance, right? It depends on the issue, cutting off federal funding and things like that. There are certain things that are not within the mayor's purview to be able to handle the president of the United States at that level. So a lot of grandstanding last night on that stage when we all know none of them would have any type of power as mayor, depending upon the situation of why the National Guard troops would be deployed in New York City. And just John, as we finish up in the last 10 to 20 seconds, there were several attempts by the moderators to give them opportunities to kind of show their personality, sports questions, you in your view come out the warmest on that? Um, I think that Curtis Silva was the most sincere New Yorker on stage who loves New York. But, you know, I think Mondami did what he had to do to secure this victory, which is in a couple weeks. And it really comes down to that affordability issue. And I think politicians across the world, America need to pay attention because, you know, people are hurting out there. That affordability issue. If you tell people, listen, if you have cancer and a doctor tells you I can cure your cancer, you're going to listen. If people can't pay their groceries, if they can't afford their rent and someone comes along charismatic and says, I can fix that for you, people are going to pay attention to him. Indeed, affordability and certainly public safety. Probably that among the top two to three issues here. Mike Leon, John Deaton. Great to see you guys have a great weekend. Thanks for joining. Thank you. Thank you. Virginia voters just got an up close. Look at what the state attorney general's race is happening. Incumbent Jason Meares and challenger Jay Jones faced off on key issues from public safety and civil rights to energy policy. Here's a closer look on that at a debate hosted by the Virginia State Bar. Democratic candidate Jay Jones and Republican State Attorney General Jason Meares squared off on civil rights, energy policy and the state's relationship with the federal government. Public safety was a major focus, with Jones emphasizing strategies to reduce violent crime and protect Children. Those three key pillars cracking down on violent crime and supporting victims. Ghost guns, which are untraceable and illegal. We took out the largest ghost gun manufacturer in the country. We can get that done and deliver results here in Virginia, and I look forward to doing that. And the last pillar is very important to me as a father keeping our Children safe. We need to establish a dedicated child safety unit to crack down on predators, domestic abusers and the folks who make our kids less safe and less secure. Meares highlighted his record prosecuting crime and his initiatives aimed at keeping Virginians safe, focusing more on illegal immigration. My office alone has prosecuted and removed enough fentanyl off the streets that would have taken the lives of seven million Virginians. And so I think it's important for us to recognize that what we're attempting to do is remove illegal immigrants that have committed violent acts and broken and committed felonies against Virginians. Energy policy also drew attention, particularly the regional greenhouse gas initiative, which Virginia withdrew from and utility rates. One of the biggest drivers of people's cost increase right now is their energy bill, and I will hold them accountable. I will make sure that we have a clean environment. We hold these corporate polluters accountable, and we lower costs and deliver results here for here for Virginians who are feeling the squeeze. I think working class Virginians can't afford a carbon tax on their every day of their monthly energy bills, which J. Jones supports will be between 200 and $500 million a year on the rate of on the rate payers. They simply can't afford that. Jones said he wants to protect access to abortion. We have an opportunity to enshrine a constitutional right to an abortion here in Virginia, and that is something that I look forward to protecting as attorney general. Civil rights enforcement was another key topic. Meares brought up a case earlier this year in which he successfully sued a landlord who evicted two families after discovering one family member was black. It's my office that secured the single largest civil rights protection verdict in the history of the attorney general's office on housing discrimination. As the debate concluded, both candidates outlined their visions for the future of the office. Jones said Virginia needs an attorney general who can stand up to President Trump. Virginians deserve an attorney general who will hold him accountable, who will protect us from the excess and overreach that you're seeing every single day, to fight for those Virginians who are illegally fired, to protect our pocketbooks, to protect our health care, to make sure that we use every ounce of our bodies to protect civil rights and civil liberties here in this Commonwealth. Meares touted his record as the state's attorney general, saying Virginians need someone who will fight for all of them. Virginians, four years ago you hired me to be your people's protector, and we're so proud of the victories we've done. You heard us talk about it tonight, a double-digit drop in our murder rate and our violent crime rate in Virginia, the biggest drop in addiction deaths of any state in the entire country. Because this office, it's not a partisan office. It's about protecting all Virginians. Virginia voters will decide on November 4th, and current polling shows the outcome could go either way. Jones opened the debate with an apology for text messages he sent in 2022 when he was a state lawmaker. At the time, he suggested that House Speaker Todd Gilbert should be shot, and also made critical remarks about his family. Jones called his words deeply wrong, and expressed regret for the harm they caused. So to come, Democrats reject a bill to reopen the government for a tenth time. The House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries makes it clear that Democrats will consider entering the shutdown only when their policy demands are met. And President Trump says his administration is negotiating to dramatically lower the cost of Ozempic in the U.S. He says the weight loss drug could soon be available for almost 10 percent of its current price. We're going to have that and more. We'll be right back. Welcome back. We're now in day 17 of the government shutdown as Democrats have dug in on their positions while Republicans are trying new ways to fund at least the essential parts of the federal workforce. Our Washington correspondent Luis Eduardo Martinez has the details. Continue to maintain the position. We will sit down, have a bipartisan discussion to reopen the government, to address the Republican health care crisis, and to enact a spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people. Because the American people are suffering. Democrats maintain that they will not consider reopening government unless their policy demands are met. This, despite the fact that the lapse levels of government funding were said by Democrats, and despite the fact that the health care program that they allege is not providing for the American people, and which has enhanced health care tax credits expiring by the end of the year, was established and set by Democrats. We're not asking Democrats to swallow any new Republican policies. We're not asking them to swallow any partisan policy riders. We're simply asking them to extend current funding levels for a few weeks while we work on four-year appropriations. The Republican proposal to reopen government would extend current levels of government funding to allow for a regular appropriations process that would also include negotiations addressing Democratic health care concerns. We're going to debate and discuss that, and there are debates and discussions going on on our side of the aisle and on theirs, but to get everybody together and build that consensus is not possible until we get the government operating again, and we stop holding, we stop, I'm sorry, we stop, I get very upset about that, we stop holding the American people hostage for these ridiculous political games. Senate Republicans put the House passed defense appropriations bill to a vote as part of the new strategy of continuing the regular appropriations process despite being in a government shutdown. So that if we can't reopen the entire government, we can at least make some progress toward securing paychecks for our troops and for defending our country. So this is Democrats' chance to make good on that promise. Democrats in the Senate rejected the House passed defense appropriations bill that would have extended annual funding for the Department of War. This means that active duty military personnel could miss their first paycheck starting next week. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Luis Eduardo Martinez, NTD News. Thank you, Luis. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says Admiral Alvin Halsey will be stepping down as head of the U.S. Southern Command at the end of the year. Halsey also confirmed his retirement on social media saying it will be effective December 12th, 13 months after he assumed the post. Halsey expressed gratitude for his career and praised the Southern Command team for their contributions to national defense. Halsey, age 60, a Georgian native and four-star admiral, previously served as Deputy Chief of the Southern Command and Commander of Navy Personnel Command. Neither the Navy nor the Southern Command have responded to requests for comment. The announcement comes amid ongoing U.S. military operations targeting drug trafficking in the Caribbean. Federal appeals court has denied the Trump administration's effort to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois. However, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday the troops can remain in the state under federal control. The opinion details the court's reasoning in a decision issued over the weekend. The judges wrote they cannot say the administration is likely to succeed in demonstrating that Trump lawfully federalized the National Guard troops. The judges also disagreed with the administration's argument that protests against its policies amounted to rebellion. A federal judge has ordered immigration officers in the Chicago area to wear body cameras. The judge said she was quote a little startled after seeing tear gas and other measures being used against protesters. District Judge Sarah Ellis pointed to images and footage of clashes between agents and demonstrators. Ellis said quote I live in Chicago if folks haven't noticed and I'm not blind right? Ellis ruled last week that agents in the area must wear badges as well. A Justice Department attorney said the images and footage in question were from quote one-sided and selectively edited media reports. He also said it wouldn't be possible to immediately distribute body cameras. Protesters have gathered outside ICE facilities and have filmed incidents involving agents in the nation's third largest city. The Department of Homeland Security says demonstrators are impeding their enforcement efforts. DHS added that immigration officers have been subjected to increasing violence and doxing. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is deploying the Texas National Guard and state troopers to Austin ahead of a planned No Kings protest tomorrow. The governor described the protests as Antifa linked. Antifa is a far-left extremist group that originated under the Soviet Union and functioned as the violent wing of Germany's Communist Party to target political rivals. The group generally labeled its perceived enemies as fascists. Antifa's mission is to stop people it deems to be fascists by any means necessary including violence, its leaders say. Abbott's action follow President Trump's designation of Antifa as a domestic terrorist group last month. The No Kings protests against ICE arrests of illegal immigrants are also planned tomorrow in Dallas, Houston and other locations across Texas as well as the country. President Trump says his administration is negotiating to make the weight-loss drug Azempic available in the U.S. at a dramatically reduced price. Trump says the drug will be sold at the lowest price available in other developed countries. The president highlighted the stark price difference between the countries saying a drug that costs $130 in London sells for $1,300 in New York. Trump said under the new pricing Americans will pay roughly $150. Yeah this goes to Trump's most favored nation clause that he's looking to implement with pharmaceuticals. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, clarified that the negotiations for Ozempic and similar medications are still ongoing and they're not yet finalized. And California is set to become the first state to offer affordable insulin through a state-backed program. Governor Gavin Newsom says the program will directly lower the cost for patients. NTV's Christina Corona has more on that. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday that beginning next year residents with diabetes can buy state-branded insulin at sharply lower prices. Starting January 1st, 2026, Californians will be able to buy five packs of insulin pins for a maximum of $55 per pack or $11 per pen. An agreement between Civica RX, a nonprofit generic drug maker, and Biocon Biologics allows Californians to buy an interchangeable insulin glarging pen under the Cal RX brand at affordable prices. This again is part of a new initiative to fundamentally lower health care costs. Newsom says the state-backed insulin program is different from past efforts because it actually lowers prices for patients rather than just shifting costs around. The Cal RX program was created following Newsom's 2019 executive order aimed at lowering prescription drug costs and increasing price transparency. We are taking out the middlemen and we are fundamentally reducing the cost to individuals, ultimately extending that to taxpayers themselves. The Cal RX insulin glarging pens can be used in place of Lantus, a daily insulin, which costs pharmacies over $92, though consumer prices vary by insurance. California pharmacies will be able to buy the state-branded insulin for $45 each. You don't need a new prescription, you just simply transition to this biosimilar insulin that now is being provided under this first-in-the-nation branding, Cal RX. Right now in California, insulin prices vary widely. Newsom said the lowest average price is around $89, while some cost as much as $411. Eight million Americans and more than a million Californians depend on insulin every day. For them, insulin is a life-saving medicine, not a choice, not a luxury, and it's not something they can cut back on when finances are tight. The launch comes during the state's ongoing effort to lower prescription drug prices and improve medication access statewide. Christina Corona, NTD News. Still to come, President Trump says the U.S. will not adhere to a proposed global carbon tax on shipping. What that new proposal states, how soon it could go into effect. And a new report reveals that more than 500 U.S. universities have cooperated with researchers linked to the Chinese military in recent years, a major concern for national security. Welcome back to NTD Good Morning. I'm Kerry Dunst. If you're just joining us now, here are some of today's top headlines. President Trump set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House today, where the pair are expected to discuss sending long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. The meeting comes just one day after Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone. Trump and Putin are expected to meet in Budapest, Hungary, in about two weeks. Trump says the meeting will take place after Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, quote, very soon. And President Trump's former national security advisor, John Bolton, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland yesterday. Bolton has been charged with 18 counts of transmitting and retaining national defense information. In a statement last night, Bolton called the charges an attempt by President Trump to intimidate his opponents. He said he looks forward to defending his, quote, lawful conduct. And the first televised debate in New York's mayoral race turned fiery last night. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo questioned Assemblyman Zoran Mondani's lack of management experience, while Mondani accused Cuomo of serving wealthy donors over working class New Yorkers. Guardian Angels founder Curtis Leigh Law criticized both for backing policies like bail reform and closing Rikers Island jail. And the government shut down now in day 17. No agreement is in sight. Democrats maintain they will not consider reopening the government unless their policy demands are addressed. Republicans are trying new ways to fund at least the essential parts of the federal workforce, putting up a defense bill for a vote. Democrats rejected the bill, which could lead to troops missing their first paycheck starting next week. Those were this morning's top headlines. Steph, with that over to you. Thanks, Kerry. Next, President Donald Trump says the U. S. Will vote against a proposed global carbon tax at the International Maritime Organization. In a truth social post, Trump called the proposal a green new scam tax, saying he's outraged the organization is voting on it at all. He said the U. S. Would not adhere to it in any way, shape or form. The plan would require large ocean going vessels of 5000 tons or more to meet a global fuel standard to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Trump's statement follows a prior administration warning that the U. S. Would retaliate against countries supporting the tax. Officials said the tax would impose fees on ships failing to meet emission standards targets, potentially raising shipping and cruise costs. If approved, the global carbon tax would begin in 2027 and marked the first time greenhouse gas pricing and mandatory emission limits would apply to an entire industry sector. The new report reveals that more than 500 U. S. Universities cooperated with researchers linked to the Chinese military in recent years. Experts warned those partnerships may be helping Beijing advances defense technology entities. Tiffany Meyer has that report. The study from private intelligence firm Strider Technologies found nearly 2500 joint publications in 2024 alone. They covered fields like physics, engineering and computer science. That's down from 2019 when more than 3500 joint research papers were published. But it's still a major concern for national security officials. Despite government efforts to limit these partnerships, Strider says the practice remains widespread. American institutions have been fueling China's military advancements in areas like anti jamming communications and hypersonic weapons. A House committee has been sounding the alarm to its urging tighter visa screening for Chinese scholars and stronger protections for U. S. Research. The D. H. S. Warns of the C. C. P. Continues to target American universities and companies to steal sensitive technology. The Justice Department says roughly 80% of economic espionage cases in the U. S. Have links to China. In response, Congress is moving to limit U. S. China research. It's introducing a new bill that would block federal funding for projects tied to China's military and putting tougher rules in place for university partnerships. And from our exclusive China news and in depth analysis tune into China and focus with Tiffany Meyer at nine p.m. Eastern right here on N. T. D. Members of the European Parliament have launched to make Europe healthy again. Initiative movement calls for a major overhaul of public health governance in Europe. N. T. D. S. International correspondent David V. Vest reports from Paris. A new transnational movement called Make Europe Healthy Again or Miha was launched Thursday at the European Parliament in Brussels. The initiative supported by members of the U. Parliament brings together doctors, researchers and policy advocates from several continents. Its goal includes promoting transparency in health governance and reducing private influence over public health decisions. Co chair of the C. D. C. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Robert Malone attended the event. He said his view did not represent the U. S. Administration or the C. D. C. In my opinion, in medical treatment matters, the patient is the lowest effective level of governance for if we're not allowed to govern our own bodies and what medical treatments we accept, then there can be no personal freedom and there can be no proportionality. The event drew a large audience and focus on concerns about the close ties between pharmaceutical companies and public institutions. One key motivation behind me has creation was Covid 19 policies that participants said were unethical. The cornerstone of this ethical structure is the principle of patient informed consent, which were widely violated during Covid. In a free society, citizens must have the freedom to decide what medical procedures they wish to accept for themselves and their Children. For me, have Vice President Rob Ross. There's a need to better monitor the European pharmaceutical industry. We have seen here in Europe what Big Pharma was able to do. They they they pushed for the vaccines, so called vaccines. It's not really vaccines, but let's say they push for the Covid shots and alternative ways to, um, to cure people or to keep them safe were just denied. Speakers criticized what they described as a growing dependence of the European Medicines Agency on industry founding and raised concerns over lobbying transparency and the independent evaluation of medical products. We have, of course, the European Medical Agency Emma here in Amsterdam in the But this is not independent. 91% of their funding is coming from the big pharma industry. While while people really believe this is a governmental institute funded by the European Union. As a matter of fact, the funding of the European Union is less than 10%. And if this money is coming from the big pharma itself, it is like Maria yesterday said. It's like that you let the dog watch the saucer sausage. You know, they called for full public financing of regulatory functions. The initiative also includes the creation of a network of independent experts and a legislative task force to support national and EU level have proposals. David Vives NTD News Paris. So to come, the maker of chat GPT has released a new social media platform called Sora intended to compete with Instagram and Tiktok will speak with an author on the positives and negatives of these new a I capabilities after this. Welcome back to NTD. Good morning. I'm Carrie Dunst. The maker of chat GPT has a new social media app called Sora intended to compete with Instagram and Tiktok. It means users can make fully a I generated videos of themselves doing a variety of implausible things, such as going to the moon or in a tate it entertaining a stadium full of people joining us to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of these new a I innovations is K. Ruben check. She's an author, writer on human value and a I. Hey, always good to see you. It really is a brave new world where if you can imagine it and you can prompt it, you can create it. Let's start with some of the potential good opportunities for these new video creation capabilities. Well, it is certainly creative entertainment. So compared to Instagram and Tiktok on those platforms, the it's just a platform and you have to upload your own video. Whereas what Sora has done, they have not only created the platform but allow you to create your own videos on the platform and not the way that we've thought of creating videos. It's by typing in words that describe what you are imagining. And then the computer, which is using a I capabilities to generate creates these images, videos that are extremely realistic. They're hyper realistic that we've never seen anything quite like this before. And it really there's been more than a million downloads in less than five days. And this was invitation only and only in North America. So you can imagine if that had been opened up to the whole world, the type of numbers that we would have been looking at. So people are really have been very excited about this coming out. Yeah, you can imagine charities, very small community organizations who've never had the budget budgets to do essentially professional grade video creation now have this democratized technology. But of course, with anything good comes bad side effects and risks. What might some of those be? Well, there are a lot of concerns that have come up. The main ones is this concept of deep fakes, where you can create something of someone else's likeness. So we're seeing brand logos and mascots, very famous characters, people like, for example, Robin Williams, his his daughter took to this week to the internet to ask people to stop sending her deep fake recreations of her father doing all types of things that people had imagined. So it brings up a lot of legal issues as to whose likenesses are being used, because you can basically take any photo of anyone in the world that ever existed and make them do whatever you like in a video. So there's a lot of legal issues that we have never had to deal with before. And it seems that no one really knows how to deal with them. And this is just flooding out all over the internet as people are experimenting in real time. Yeah. And as you pointed out in our last conversation, the rate of these new capabilities are far out pacing governors, legislators in any way, shape or form to keep up with and then create guardrails. So it's somewhat of a self-regulated space that we find ourselves in. So we talked about the good, we talked about the bad of these new innovations. Let's just go to the ugly now. What might that be? Well, there is this new term that we're going to be hearing a lot more of, and it's called AI slop. Now, AI experts have been throwing this term around for quite some time now. Well, in terms of technology, it's been some time, a few months already. But it's only now that major media outlets are starting to talk about what this term means. And you would have seen it. Anyone who's using social media, you have witnessed AI slop, but you may not know it. And that's where you're seeing maybe ads where maybe something doesn't quite look right, or the skin doesn't look right, or maybe it just looks perfectly right, because they're getting so realistic. And because they are so fast to generate, literally within seconds, you can generate a whole five-second video of any person doing anything that you can imagine. So people are just churning out so many of these videos. And that's what is where the term slop comes from, is that if you think about what we are digesting when we eat, we consider the types of food that we eat and the health benefits for our bodies. It's similar with our mental content. So whatever we are absorbing through screens, through our ears, through our eyes, that's the mental content. So the slop word comes from being sloppy food. This is fast food for our brains. And having too much of it does not do us any health benefits. But that's the new term, AI slop. You bring up many very interesting and important points right there, Kay. Obviously, we're in a mental health crisis in the country with many signs of gun violence and all of these societal things. And people obviously think about their caloric intake as to affecting their body, but maybe not as much emphasis on what we consume in terms of imagery and content and messages and potentially a renewed focus on that needs to happen. But the other part is this like Frankenstein effect, you know, where it almost looks right, but it, you know, as for almost that Halloween, there's like a little duct tape in the wrong place. And it just it being almost human is very much not human. Right. So but either way, the genie's out of the bottle here. Right. These these technologies are proliferating. They're democratizing the ability to basically do what Hollywood has been doing, you know, right at your personal computer. So, you know, where do you see this going and what what can parents and people do to sort of make sure that they get the good while avoiding, you know, the bad and I guess the ugly here? Well, I think where is this going in terms of industry? Well, there's a lot to cover there with potential. Will this be replacing production people that that may have had the jobs creating these videos in the past? That's a whole another area. But for parents and families, I think really to consider, we think about you are what you eat, you are what you think you are what you see. And when we start to talk to our families, talk to our kids about what they're eating, also talk to them about what they're looking at and what they're thinking about. Because when we only consume very fast five second videos, then our brain starts to forget how to, we're not practicing critical thinking or deep thinking, which allows us to reflect and to really resolve a lot of the problems that we have and deal with mental health issues. But when when those just build up, and we have no mental release for all of the input that we're gaining, we're unable, our brains aren't processing that and that that is leading to anxiety and depression. So I think to really start to talk about the health of our brain being very much connected to the consumption of what we see on our screens. And if we can start to have those conversations, it can really make a big difference, I think. And just Kay, in our last question here, it seems like if parents and workers don't lean in a little bit, they do risk falling behind. I've personally been using it almost instead of a search engine for research, but not for creation of original thought, but just for background research. But what are some ways that you can kind of have your cake and eat it too? Because, as I said, the genie's out of the bottle, AI not going away. But we also don't want to lose our humanity in that slop like analogy you had made earlier. That is the fundamental point, I think what you bring up there that we all need to be looking at. And I think really, we need to remember that information is not wisdom. Having more information doesn't make us better human beings doesn't make us more wise and more able to make critical decisions. We are just consuming so much that we're not processing what we have. So we can use all of these as tools. But when we start to allow these computer entities to make decisions for us, then we're really giving away our agency. And so that is another new term that's coming up with AI is this term of agents. And that's where they're making decisions on their own. So we need to be conscious, we need to be conscious of our decisions and what we're doing, and the way we use AI. And that a lot of it will come back to education, about how to use these tools in a way that really benefits our lives, our work and our communities. And there's certainly ways to do that. But we need to be having those conversations. Well, I'm glad we're having this conversation with you, Kay Ribichek, such an important topic. Hope to do this much more in the future as we see this evolve. Thank you for joining. Have a great weekend. Thank you. Fascinating. All right, folks, we'll be right back. Stay with us. We've got much more coming up in the next hour. Welcome back. At Rutgers University, the Director of Student Involvement and Leadership is pushing to remove two student officers from Charlie Kirk's group, Turning Point USA. The move follows the students setting up a petition to remove a professor known with alleged ties to Antifa. This, of course, happening in New Jersey. NTD's Daniel Monaghan spoke with the pair about the case. Turning Point USA Rutgers Treasurer Megan Doyle says students expressed concerns about Professor Mark Bray, especially after Antifa was declared a terrorist organization. Bray, nicknamed Dr. Antifa by students, is the author of Antifa, the Antifascist Handbook, a book that openly calls for militant antifascism. I believe that his rhetoric of political violence and harassment and doxxing against these people he calls fascists were concerning for conservative students. Despite authoring the Antifascist Handbook, Bray has denied his involvement with Antifa. But in his handbook near the introduction, he states that he would be donating 50% of the author proceeds from this book to the International Legal Antifa Defense Fund. This legal Antifa Defense Fund has notably given legal support to 10 suspected Antifa members who were charged with terrorism and attempted murder at an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas, on July 2025. Doyle says Bray is also advocating doxxing. Page 87 of Mark Bray's Antifa, the Antifascist Handbook. Doxxing is a very important tool to create conflict within far right movements because it establishes a constant mental burden. Doyle and Turning Point Outreach Director at Rutgers, Ava Kwan, started a petition calling for Bray's removal. He's very biased towards students with more conservative views, and we took issue with that. We decided that it was important that we take action, which is why we started the petition. Soon after, the Director of Student Involvement and Leadership, Karima Woodyard, began pushing to remove Doyle and Kwan from their roles at Turning Point, reportedly due to eligibility rules, and called for swift action on the subject. She knows exactly who we are. So for this investigation to be happening now is, of course, because of our outspoken opposition on Mark Bray, and it looks like to be a selective enforcement of the school's procedure, and it's completely unfair. Both women say the media has played one of the biggest roles in the pushback they have seen since the petition came out. They've been peddling Mark Bray's lies that he is not associated with Antifa, and we've had counter petitions come out that have stated that we're inciting violence and making threats, all baseless claims that are completely defamatory to our chapter, and it has led to now Megan and I receiving threats, and I've also been doxxed by, you know, many of these leftist activists. So it's just been peddling this wave of negative attention and lies that Megan and I have been receiving. And in another move against Turning Point at Rutgers, Professor Tia Kolbaba, an associate professor of religion at Rutgers, also signed a petition to remove the campus chapter of Turning Point USA, accusing it of promoting hate speech. Kwon says she got involved in Turning Point because she wanted to help build a safe community for conservative students on campus who want to voice their beliefs. And the main reason why I chose to join Turning Point was because of Charlie Kirk's videos. You know, he left a lasting impact on me, and there was not a chapter in my high school, so I decided to join one in college as soon as I found out about it. Kwon is calling on conservative students across America to keep up the fight. We need to keep living the way that Charlie Kirk lived, and keep speaking our minds. Rutgers responded to a request for comment saying the two Turning Point USA officers weren't properly registered or eligible under school rules. Professor Mark Bray did not respond as of broadcast time on his affiliation with Antifa. Daniel Monaghan, NTD News. Thank you for that report, Daniel. Meanwhile, thousands turned out at the Turning Point USA tour stop at the Oklahoma University, the group's first college campus event since the death of co-founder Charlie Kirk. The event kicks off a national tour with 11 campus stops planned over the next two months. Speakers include reality TV star turned conservative activist Savannah Chrisley, British comedian and actor Russell Brand, and Governor Kevin Stitt. What a great opportunity to celebrate the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk, and engage in this idea that is so foundational to our country. It's called free speech. This event was supposed to be in the Fieldhouse, but it sold out so quickly that they moved it right here to Lloyd Noble. You guys, you guys are amazing filling this up, and I know America is gonna be alright. Just look around, look around this room for just a second, and it's filled with students who are committed to godly conservative principles. And I'm telling you, Charlie would be so proud of the Turning Point chapter right here at the University of Oklahoma. A touching moment where the crowds sang happy birthday to Charlie. Stitt closed his remarks with a prayer, asking God to give us boldness to face the enemy. We've got to wrap up our show now. Be sure to stay tuned for NTD News Today at 10 a.m. Eastern Time coming up. Around the clock original news coverage. You can always visit us at ntd.com, or you can use our NTD app. Thanks for watching. I'm Cary Dunst. I'm Stefania Cox. See you tomorrow. See you Monday. Have a good weekend.