Trump, Xi Meeting in S. Korea; Dozens Dead After Anti-Gang Raids in Rio | NTD Evening News (Oct. 29)

Welcome to Entity Evening News. Our top story tonight, President Trump just hours away from his meeting with Chinese Communist Party leader Xiinping. It's in South Korea. What to look out for and what's expected from the high stakes event. Marios standing by with the latest in Korea. Authorities say over 130 people are dead after the largest ever police raid in Rio di Janeiro. Arian Pazdor is in Brazil with the latest on the country's crackdown on narco trafficking. Israel launches overnight strikes on the Hamas terrorist group after an Israeli soldier is killed in the Gaza Strip. Both sides now say they're still committed to the ceasefire. Jason Perry reports. Hurricane Melissa slams Cuba and causes widespread devastation across the Caribbean. Recovery and relief efforts now underway as communities begin the long process of cleaning up and rebuilding. Lawmakers seek to depose special counsel Jack Smith for his pardon operation Arctic Frost. Why the FBI subpoena and phone records of Republican senators during the Biden administration. Luis Martinez reports. Early voting began in New York City on Saturday. More than 300,000 people have already cast their ballots. What voters told Arlene Richards about whom they picked to be their next mayor. This is NTD Evening News live from our global headquarters in New York City. Here's Tiffany Meyer. >> And good evening. Thank you for joining us tonight. I'm Paul Grainy in for Tiffany Meyer. Over 130 people are reported dead in Rio di Janeiro, Brazil. Police conducted their largest ever operation against organized crime gangs in the city's history. Entities international correspondent Arian Pastor is in Brazil and a warning. This report includes footage that some viewers may find disturbing. A pastor is seen crying in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, a day after state authorities conducted a major police raid, the largest in the city's history. Around 40 bodies were seen lying on the ground waiting to be collected on Wednesday. Police raided two impoverished neighborhoods in the city, also known as favllas. Authorities were targeting one of Brazil's narot trafficking organizations called the red command or commando in Portuguese. Gangs in Brazil are in control of almost all favllas in the country. They use the territory to extort residents and sell drugs, weapons, stole merchandise and more. In the case of Rio de Janeiro, many of the favllas are located in the heart of the city. In some cases less than a mile from some of the country's richest neighborhoods. Police sometimes try to keep the criminals in check by conducting raids in the favllas, targeting the leaders of the gangs. However, Tuesday's operation is by far one of the largest and deadliest the country has ever seen. >> My cousin was decapitated by special force troops. He didn't have a single gunshot wound. They just tore off his head and left him hanging in the woods. Now, a major criticism people often have with the police raids here in Brazil is that innocent people die during the shootout between police and the gang members. But officials in Rio are now saying that this wasn't the case with any of the 130 casualties during this raid. That's because almost none of the shooting took place in the actual favllas. So, police knew that once they enter the favllas, the gang members are most likely going to escape through a nearby forest. So special forces waited in that forest and confronted the gang members there to not have the shooting in the favllas. >> It was all in the woods. So I don't believe anyone was just strolling in the woods on a day of conflict and that's why we can easily classify them. And if there's any error in classification it's certainly residual which is insignificant. People outside the favilla were affected as well. Armed gang members entered public buses, forcing their drivers to block major streets across the city. That's to prevent the police from getting through. Thousands of people report being in distress, not knowing what was happening as the city erupted in chaos. Now, the opinions here on the ground in Brazil regarding this raid are divided. Critics of the operation say that these raids never really have a significant impact. people die but in a few days drug trafficking and crime just continue. Supporters of these operations on the other hand say that of course police has to do something and try to keep the gangs in check at least a little bit because if you don't they will slowly but surely become stronger possibly even surpassing the power of the local government. Reporting in Brazil, Arian Pasar, NTD News. >> Arian Pasar, great reporting. And Israel is accusing the Hamas terrorist group of shooting and killing an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip. But even after Israel launched air strikes on the territory in response, both sides say they're still committed to the ceasefire. Entities Jason Perry has the update. >> Israeli forces released video on Wednesday of what they said was a terrorist infrastructure site in the northern Gaza Strip. And when the camera pans back, the man at the site appears to see the drone above him. Israel said they struck the site and that Israeli troops will continue to operate to remove any threats. Israeli forces said they had begun renewed enforcement of the ceasefire in response to Hamas's violations. Overnight, Israel reported striking dozens of terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including weapons production sites, observation post, underground tunnels, and mortar firing positions. Israel also reported killing dozens of terrorists in the last 24 hours. And Israel says they are still committed to the ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after terrorists shot and killed an Israeli soldier in southern Gaza. Hamas said they were not involved in the attack and that they were also still committed to the ceasefire. President Trump, who brokered the Gaza peace plan, said this about the situation. >> We made a deal with them where they were going to behave and they have to behave. If they don't behave, they get taken out. And it could be from numerous countries. It could be from Israel, but it could also be from other countries. Numerous countries have already called me that are parties to the deal and said, "We'd love to do it if you'd want us to do it." And the prime minister of Qatar, which has been a key mediator, said they were trying to get Hamas and other factions in the Gaza Strip to lay down their weapons and to get them to move on to phase two of the agreement. Phase one says that Hamas must return the bodies of the deceased hostages. The mother of a deceased hostage, whose body has not yet been returned, shared her thoughts at a rally in Tel Aviv. We remain trapped in a nightmare that has lasted 753 days with no clear end in sight. We're fighting with every bit of strength for something no parent should ever have to fight for. The uncertainty surrounding the death of our son, Omare. It's an impossible struggle. >> The bodies of 13 hostages still remain in the Gaza Strip. And Hamas recently said they were postponing the release of a hostage body after accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement. Jason Perry, NTD News. >> Now, we'll keep you up to date with everything that's happening in the Middle East. And in just a few hours, President Trump will meet with CCP leader Xiinping in South Korea. Now, the meeting comes amid heightened trade tensions. And President Trump predicts the meeting to last 3 to four hours. And now, while the two have spoken just last month, this will be their first sitdown during President Trump's second term. We go now live to Entity Washington correspondent Mario, who's in South Korea. Good evening, Mari. What are we expecting both sides to bring up at this high stakes meeting? >> Paul, good evening to you. So, on President Trump's side, uh he's expressed his goals as finalizing a trade deal with China, increasing US access to Chinese rare earths and critical minerals. uh talking China into buying more US agriculture. In particular, President Trump has floated wanting them to buy more American soybeans quite a lot in the in the recent weeks uh and finalizing the sale of Tik Tok to the US. And on the other hand, uh CCP leader Xiinping's biggest goals include nixing that tariff on Chinese goods and avoiding export restrictions on American technology. Now, here's President Trump on Wednesday aboard Air Force One on his way to South Korea, uh, saying that he expects to lower US tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing uh, committing to curb exports um, on their fentinel ingredients to the US. Take a look. >> I expect to be lowering that because I believe that they're going to help us with the fentinol situation. >> I think we're going to have something that's going to be very, very satisfactory to China and to us. And earlier this year, uh, President Trump imposed a 20% tariff on Chinese imports over Beijing's failure to curb the flow of chemicals used in fentinel production to the US. He's also recently floated a 100% tariff over China's restrictions on rare earth exports, although uh, over the weekend the administration says the threat has gone away as China has backed down. Paul, >> so Mari, lots to watch on trade. What else is likely going to be in focus as Trump wraps up his Asian tour? >> Sure, Paul. So, another focal point could be uh China's weaponization of the South China Sea. President Trump has been encouraging Asian allies to boost their defense spending. And on this trip on on Tuesday, uh Secretary of War Pete Hegsath reiterated this need to counter Chinese threats. Take a look. >> The threats we face are real and they are urgent. China's unprecedented military buildup and its aggressive military actions speak for themselves. That's why President Trump's peace through strength agenda is so important. Now, this is coming as President Trump is now on his last leg of the Asia tour with President Trump just announcing a moment ago that a trade deal uh with South Korea has been done in which South Korea has agreed to quote pay the USA $350 billion for the US to lower its tariffs against them. He says new investments will exceed $600 billion and he's vowing to bring back trillions of dollars to the US. Um also securing investments from Japan and Malaysia on this trip. Paul, back to you. Mario Otsu. Thank you, Mari. And the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point today following this week's policy meeting. Now, the reduction marks the central bank's lowest rate in three years with Fed Chair Jerome Powell sharing insight into the decision and looking ahead to December. In the committee's discussions at this meeting, there were strongly differing views about how to proceed in December. A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion. Far from it. Policy is not on a preset course. The decision brings the benchmark federal funds rate to a new range of 3.75 to 4%. Fed Governor Steven Mirren and Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmidt dissented. Mirren called for a steeper reduction in borrowing costs while Schmidt favored no cut at all amid ongoing inflation. Earlier this month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled more easing in response to a weakening labor market and the economic risks of waiting. Last week, the Labor of Bureau statist the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that annual inflation for consumer prices had inched up to 3% in September. The Fed's current inflation target is 2%. And newly released documents indicate that over 160 high-profile members of the Republican party, including lawmakers and current White House House officials, may have been investigated by the FBI during the Biden administration. Our Washington correspondent, Luis Eduardo Martinez, has more. If they would do that to the president of the United States, if they would do this to United States senators and members of Congress, what would they do to you? >> Senate Republicans have revealed further details on Operation Arctic Frost, an investigation conducting by the FBI during the Biden administration. >> 197 subpoenas were issued by Jack Smith and his team. Artic Frost was the vehicle by which FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus. Contrary to what Smith has said publicly, this was clearly a fishing expedition. >> The subpoenas requested records from over 400 individuals and organizations, all of them Republican. is revealed in those 1700 pages of documents in those 197 subpoenas is is nothing short of a a Biden administration enemies list. You know, I'm I'm old enough to understand how toxic a term that was under Richard Nixon. This is far worse, far worse, orders of magnitude worse. Senate Republicans called on whistleblowers with information to come forward and warn that FBI Director Cash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi were being sabotaged by embedded partisan agents within the Department of Justice. >> Merrick Garland was a member of Joe Biden's cabinet. He was willing to do whatever Joe Biden and his political operation wanted him to do, including destroying President Trump, including abusing our justice system for partisan purposes. Arctic Frost is Joe Biden's Watergate. Merrick Garland was a fundamentally corrupt attorney general. Jack Smith was a fundamentally corrupt prosecutor. This was a political enemies list from the beginning. >> It's important to note that not all tech companies that received subpoena requests from the Biden administration complied. For example, AT&T challenged the Biden administration subpoena request and then the DOJ desisted. Reporting from Washington DC, Luis Aluardo Martinez, NTD News. >> Luis, thank you. And the government shutdown is growing more painful for ordinary Americans. Republican and Democratic leaders spoke today as the situation intensifies. >> You will note that uh more air traffic controllers and TSA agents and park rangers are about to go without a paycheck. You've got families and children that rely upon SNAP benefits that are going to go hungry uh here at the end of the week. You've got more critical workers, by the way, including the people who are the stewards of our nuclear defense arsenal who are forced to stay at home as the government remains closed. This Friday, as window shopping begin, as window shopping occurs, window shopping starts today, tens of millions of American families are going to gather around the kitchen table and say, "What are we going to do? We can't afford an extra 10 or $20,000 a year, but we can't go without health care. What if our kid or our partner gets sick and there's no doctor? Or what if we just have we have to cut back so badly on our health care that we have to go to a doctor a 100 miles away or a hospital 200 miles away? What are we going to do? This is not true. >> The Republican leadership thanked essential workers who are still on the job without pay. They pointed out that the largest union of federal workers as well as the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers have come out this week urging Democrats to pass the short-term funding bill. Meanwhile, Democratic leadership is accusing Republicans of refusing affordable health care for Americans. They say Republicans, including President Trump, should come to the negotiating table on healthcare. And Hurricane Melissa has caused severe damage across the Caribbean after striking the region as a category 3 storm this morning. The hurricane has claimed several lives and recovery efforts are now underway. Entities Christina Corona brings us more. Hurricane Melissa struck eastern Cuba this morning as an extremely dangerous category 3 storm, causing severe damage. Cuban authorities report that over 700,000 people have been evacuated in the eastern part of the country. By Wednesday evening, Melissa had weakened to a category 2 and moved into the Atlantic, heading toward the Bahamas with heavy rain and flooding expected. >> Tropical storm warnings for the Turks and Caos. The most dangerous conditions will be in the next few hours here as the center of Melissa moves through the Bahamas. Uh storm surge inundation of four to seven feet above ground level near and to the right of where the center of Melissa is moving. >> Though winds have decreased, officials say dangerous storm surges and rainfall remain a threat as Melissa moves toward the Bahamas and Bermuda. At least 36 deaths have been reported across Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. In Jamaica, the storm knocked out power to more than 600,000 residents, uprooted trees, ripped off roofs, and blocked roads in several parishes. One resident shared the terrifying experience as Melissa passed. >> Worst experience of my entire life. Um, to see my place being flooded out, it's it was terrifying for me and my child. The water level reached me to my waist. I was stuck in my house. They had to break into my home to save me. >> Rebuilding in Jamaica will be a long-term effort, officials say, as homes, hospitals, and infrastructure were heavily damaged and access remains challenging. UN officials report that immediate relief efforts are underway, focusing on providing food, water, and other essential supplies. And immediately some of the action that will be taken is really around life support uh initiatives or life sustaining initiatives making available uh water, food um and other resources that that immediately in need by the people been affected. >> Jamaica's UN resident coordinator says that at least one airport in Kingston will reopen tomorrow, allowing aid to begin flowing into the country. A Florida- based organization is assembling emergency relief kits filled with hygiene products and essential supplies to send to storm hit communities in Jamaica today. We got a lot of staff uh and we're going to get through uh and pack the remaining goods that we've got that will be in a form of a kit. So, it's uh it's the hygiene items. It's it's the uh the things that frankly just people need as an immediate response to a sort of a emergency, especially a water one. So you got everything from buckets that are the containers, but they also have all of the goods that we need in that as a sort of complete kit. >> Acue weather experts are initially projecting total damages and economic losses of around $22 billion. Christina Corona, NTD News. >> And our prayers are with everyone in the Caribbean. And 10 people have been arrested in connection with violence against federal officers during immigration enforcement operations this past summer. And a legal case involving National Guard troop deployment in Portland has now begun playing out in federal court. Anthony correspondent Jason Blair is in Portland now. Good evening Jason. Well, let's get to the case in just a moment, but what do you have on these recent arrests? >> Hey Paul. Yeah. So, acting US attorney for the District of Central California, Bill Ealey, says that 10 were arrested uh in connection for allegedly engaging in violence against federal agents and property earlier this year. He says among those is one person who was involved in a group that was seen throwing rocks at agents and their vehicles uh breaking windows while they were exiting a farm in the Los Angeles area after doing a raid. And he says the other nine are also connected to violence uh for allegedly attacking federal law enforcement in the LA area and in the city itself over the past summer. So Isa says quote peaceful protest is protected. Violence is not. Agitators who harm our officers, agents, and property will be brought to justice. And then Attorney General Pam Bonnie also commented saying, quote, "Let this serve as a reminder that if you commit violence against a law enforcement officer, you will face severe consequences." So, this comes as the DHS has repeatedly reported that their personnel are facing a a 1,000% increase in violence. Back to you. >> 1,00%. Jason, incredible. Uh, you're in Portland, Oregon. What is the latest there? Right. So, currently there is a court case playing out, a lawsuit, a case that began today. Oregon has sued the Trump administration for taking action to mobilize the National Guard here in Portland. The the deployment is currently blocked by the court while the case plays out. The case is expected to last about 3 days. Oregon is saying that deployment of the guard is not justified and the Trump administration says that it wants the National Guard here in Portland to help protect federal agents as well as the uh federal buildings here. But at the center of that is the ICE facility in Portland where ongoing protests have been occurring on a on a nightly basis for months. Um and then getting into the current situation of the protest outside of the facility. Interestingly enough, the past few days, it seems that the city has kind of taken a turn and been cracking down a little bit more on the protest. Uh since Saturday, the police did come into the area and take down a long-standing uh encampment put up by protesters that had been up there in one form or another for months. Um and since then the police have been having a much stronger presence in the area as well as reportedly recently uh they started enforcing some trespassing laws against an area right next to the facility where many protesters often stand and hang out. Reportedly they have been moving in and trying to clear protesters out from that area which is something that we have not seen before here in Portland. Back to you. >> Incredible images. Jason Blair in Portland, Oregon. Thank you Jason. And here in New York City, early voting began on Saturday and already more than 300,000 people have cast their ballots. Entities Arlene Richards spoke with voters in Chelsea, Manhattan, who talked about their choices for the city's next mayor. On day four of early voting in New York City, we visited a polling place on 28th Street in Chelsea at FIT's Feldman Building. The afternoon was slow, but early voting has hit record numbers as New Yorkers make some tough decisions. Some of the latest polls indicate that former Governor Andrew Cuomo is narrowing the gap, now trailing front runner Zoron Mandani by 10 points. Mamani is pled at 43%, Cuomo at 33, down from 20 points a month ago. New York icon Curtis Leewa is also picking up some votes, but still lags behind in last place at about 15%. Now that voting has started, it's a race against the clock. All three candidates were out canvasing on Saturday. Manny spent part of the day Monday at a polling site on the Upper East Side and campaigned in the Bronx on Wednesday. While Siwa hit the subway stations a day after early voting started and greeted Staten Island voters at the ferry terminal Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, Cuomo teamed up with Mayor Eric Adams and former Governor David Patterson on Tuesday and headed to Staten Island later on Wednesday. Voters on Wednesday were excited about the mayor race. >> I am waiting with baited breath because as we can all tell with uh polls, they mean nothing. One voter said he chose mom Donnie because he's concerned about his children's future. >> A lot of the things that he's looking to do um I've like I don't need health care for my children. They're already college age and all of that and um and a lot of the other things that he's talking about with rent civilization. I own my home so I don't have to worry about that. But I do see how that's very beneficial to other people inside the city and want to be able to look towards the future and where my kids come back to the city after college, what are they going to be able to be able to live like. >> He also praised one of the other candidates. >> I think that uh SE was very entertaining uh and is definitely a real New Yorker. Um I think that he has um the heart of New York in his in his best interest. So I am I am a fan of that. >> Fran said Cuomo's campaign was too negative toward mom Donnie. Voter Dave Ron who was born and raised in the Chelsea area voted for Siwa. >> Curless Siwa stood up against a lot of people that I don't think uh Cuomo or Mandami would have the the goal to do. uh you know and I think that's big because a lot of uh native New Yorkers are are losing their voice here in New York City because of the way uh the the city has grown and the the city has changed. It's changed for good reasons. It's changed for bad reasons. Uh but I'll tell you uh being a New Yorker since before the bike lanes uh I'll tell you that this is a very very important time in our city. And I think uh dealing with somebody who knows New York, who knows the politicians in New York, who has never done anything to be cast aside in New York and who stood up for New Yorkers, whether they were black, white, yellow, Puerto Rican, or Haitian, or whether they were Democrat, independents, or Republicans. He stood up there with his red beret shoulder-to-shoulder with other real New Yorkers. And I think he's the one to save New York. >> The candidates continue to make their final pitches on the campaign trail. Polls are open until 800 PM Wednesday night. Arlene Richards, NTD News. >> Exciting race in New York City. Still to come this evening, new polls indicate that the Virginia Attorney General's race has flip-flopped. That's after the release of some disturbing text messages. Dave Martin joins us to look at the before and after polls when we return. Welcome back. I'm Paul Grainy. Joining us now at the data hub is election data analyst Dave Martin. Dave, good to see you. >> Good to see you, Paul. >> Dave, Virginia, a couple tight races I think must have been impacted by some, you could say, disturbing text messages from one of the candidates. Is the impact showing up in the polls, though? >> It definitely is. Yeah, you could definitely say these are disturbing. This was revealed earlier this month that Jay Jones, who's a Democratic candidate for Virginia's attorney general position, it's a fantasized I guess about killing Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert. These are in text messages back from 2022. But since those texts were revealed, which was just early this month, really the first week of October, this race has completely flipped. Let's first like look at where we he was pulling before this came out here. Here we go. Choice for attorney general September 2025. Jay Jones at 49%. Meanwhile, incumbent attorney general Jason Mier at 44%. So Jones with a fivepoint lead here in September. Now fast forward one month and one scandal later. This is completely flip-flopped. October though completely changed. Jones is again RCP average of eight polls uh in October. Mier is now with a threepoint advantage. So that's an eightoint swing in just one month here. completely flipping the race. Now, I will point out Jones is within the margin of error in four of these eight polls that are included in the average, but he does not lead in any of them. So, quite the scandal here. >> Okay, Dave, this is the attorney general's race. We saw the incumbent Democratic governor was asked about these text messages during a debate. She didn't really have a good answer. How how is she polling ever since this revelation? >> Well, ever since this revelation, uh, for for sure, it's it's definitely changed. a minute. Let's actually take a look at a poll about how people feel about political violence here. Now, if this is a Yuggov poll from September 2025 asking the specific question here, do you think it is ever justified for citizens to resort to violence in order to achieve political goals? Now, you can see here the large majority of Americans, 72% say flat, no, it is not justified. 11% here at yes. 16% are either not sure or they do not want to say. Now, let's break these down actually by political affiliation. Gets very interesting here. As you can see, still the majority of Democrats, Republicans, and independents are giving this a flat no here. 72% for Democrats, 81% for Republicans. That's the highest. Meanwhile, just 65% of independents. And the reverse here, although these are all small numbers as is, don't worry, twice as many Democrats, independents as Republicans would say yes, it is justified. But meanwhile, there 22% here of independents either won't say or not sure, suggesting this number could be much higher. Let's actually take a look at this by age here. This very, very interesting here, too. Look at the youngest age group. Is political violence justified? 18 to 29 year olds, just 52% said a flatout no. Meanwhile, 20% that's about one in five say yes. Well, this number here nearly 30% are either not sure or will not say suggesting this number is much higher here I would say. But of course as they get older this 65 and older group 89% say no. So some very interesting numbers here. >> Why do you think this is Dave? Did they give any indication why the younger people were not sure or won't say? >> You know they did not. I mean they they broke it down for sure. I think there's like 15% here said will not say. I mean, I'm not quite sure why you wouldn't want to answer it, but in any case, I would think mo more of those anyway would be in the yes column than the no. It's just my my guess there. >> Okay, I'm going to hold you now to the governor's question. How's that showing up in the polls? >> Well, let's take a look. There's a change in here. It's not as dramatic, though. Let's take first look at September. Here we go. We've got Abigail Spanberger. She is a Democrat candidate. Meanwhile, the >> she is the incumbent if I'm not mistaken. >> Yeah. And we've got the Republican candidate here winsome Earl Sears. And you can see here in September, she's got a 9point lead here. Spamber does over Earl Sears. Now you fast forward one month here. There's a bit of a change here. She goes from 42 to 44. So that lead comes down to seven. So a twopoint swing during this. Now these of course the same. This is an RPC average of polls. I will point out of these eight polls though wins some series does not lead she is not even uh within the margin of error on any single one of them. So one race is really completely flipped I would say by this scandal. The other one is impacted but not a huge difference anyway. >> There you go Dave Martin you're going to be here for the rest of the week. >> I'm going to be here all week Paul. >> That's great. And for everyone at home stay with us because we will have election coverage from next Tuesday 700 p.m. until midnight. So stick with us. We have Steve Lance and Tiffany Meyer and all of our analysts Dave Martin and Kevin Hogan. The whole team will be here from 700 p.m. until midnight next Tuesday, November 4th. So, please stay with us. Welcome back. I'm Paul Grainy. Tonight at 1000 PM Eastern, President Trump is scheduled to begin a highstakes meeting with Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping. They're set to discuss the fentinol crisis, the trade war, and human rights. Joining us now to discuss is an ambassador Sam Brownback. He's the co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit and a former US ambassador at large for international religious freedom. He also has an upcoming book titled China's War on Faith. Ambassador, it's an honor and privilege to have you here as always. I'd like to begin by playing a clip from your speech yesterday at the Victims of Communism Memorial. >> This should move from being just a human rights issue to a national security issue for us, religious freedom. It is the most potent powerful tool that we have. >> Ambassador, what did you mean by that? I mean, it's a key hallmark of a western open society is religious freedom. You get to choose what you want to do with your own soul. And it is an existential threat to a communist regime. They have to and do spend billions of dollars to control people of faith. And so, one of the things that we can do is stand up for who we are and who we think uh what we think people around the world deserve, which is religious freedom. It's a fundamental UN uh bound human right. It's in the UN charter of human rights. China has signed that agreement. We should press it and it's one of those things that will drive freedom inside of China which will benefit us and the whole world. >> So, Ambassador, when it comes to human rights or religious freedom, what would you like to see come out of tonight's meeting? I'd like to see the discussion begin. Uh I this is a high stakes meeting and it's the first one of them face to face in six years. I wouldn't expect them really to get into much on the human rights territory because it's such a difficult issue for China. They've got three genocides going on in their country right now. They persecute everybody of faith in that nation. This is a tough one for them, but it's a fundamental one for us. And I would hope that the topic would just come up. Maybe it's through Jimmy Lie that they bring up the Jimmy Lie case in Hong Kong and start that discussion through that specific one. It would be great if they would bring up some of the cases like of the fallen gong family members of US citizens that have family members incarcerated in China. I would hope they would do something like that. I think that may be uh a little optimistic for a first meeting, but as the dialogue gets going, hopefully more of these cases can be raised. >> I know you touched on the fallen gong issue during your speech yesterday. I want to get there. Uh ambassador, I want to bring up another quotation that you made uh during your speech. You said, "Either the world will change China or China will change the world." Can you expound on that for us? I think it's just pretty clear. Uh China, a communist country, has a communist ideology. Uh it does not believe nor allow for a belief in a higher authority in God. Uh they control, as I said earlier, all people of faith. Uh it doesn't matter if it's Buddhist or Christian, Muslim, any group. They control and they demand that sort of control. And that's the world system they want to move towards. And with the authoritarian alliances that they have right now, that's what they're pushing. And they've got surveillance technology that they freely distribute to these countries to implement those sort of control systems. That's the world they want. That will change the world. So either China is going to change the world or we're going to have to change China to open up and to accept things like religious freedom and human rights for individuals. These two systems are in direct opposition to each other and you're going to see one of them win. >> It's incredible to think, Ambassador, how things have developed down these two paths over the past couple decades. It's incredible. As you brought up earlier, you you to say there are three genocides happening in China right now. We have the Tibetan Buddhists, which you call a cultural genocide, the Weaguer Muslims in Western China, and Fallon Gong. You said yesterday perhaps Fallon Gong probably gets it the worst of all. For anybody at home who isn't as familiar, Fallon Gong's principles, truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Yet, as you point out, they've been brutalized by the regime for over 26 years now. Uh for anybody at home, Ambassador, can you give some insight into the plight of the fallen gong there in China? >> It's horrific. I've interviewed a number of fallen gong family members who have lost loved ones, uh who themselves have been incarcerated, somehow got out. Uh there's forced organ harvesting taking place, which is to me just an unbelievably barbaric thing going on that the Chinese Communist Party has done. And here I want to make specifically this is about the Chinese Communist Party. China itself is a very spiritual country. The Communist Party is this forced outside ideology that was developed in Europe in the mid 1800s forced on the system and on Chinese people. And I say the fallen gong gets it the worst because it's the most of the indigenous faiths in China. It's it really is a homegrown faith that has millions of adherence and really scares the Chinese Communist Party because it appeals so much to kind of the the soil the natural environment in ch in in China. I say it's like sewing wheat in Kansas. It just grows, you know, that that's what's taken place there. And that's why it scares the Communist Party so much, I think. And I think it's why they've been so offensive and aggressive towards all faith, but particularly towards fallen gong. >> It's incredible. The fallen daffa information center, if you've seen it, ambassador, they're asking President Trump to make two requests of Xiinping during this meeting. One, as you brought up, was to free the jailed practitioners with US family ties. And number two is to end Beijing's targeting of Fallen Gong here in the United States. Now, given everything you've already laid out for us, like how the CCP is harvesting the organs of these practitioners, these latest requests seem quite humble. >> They are humble. They these are basic basic things here. And one of them is about US issues. It's about China not doing transnational oppression in the United States, not even in their country. I mean, that should be basic, you would think. It's just I don't know that those topics will come up because fallen gong is such a touchy issue uh to the Chinese Communist Party. So I'm I'm kind of doubtful it comes up in the first meetings, but it's the sort of thing that we really should be pushing for and more broadly really we should just push for this fundamental right of religious freedom for every person in China. It's that they're entitled to. It's agreement that China has signed on to in the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Uh it's fundamental to the individual. It's the human right of the soul. It's something that they should do and it would be good for the Chinese people and it would be good for the country of China. I just don't know if we can get the Chinese Communist Party to move that way. >> Yes, Ambassador. Uh, finally, we've all read the news that the CCP has recently intensified its persecution of Christians in China, too. It's targeting an independent faith group known as the Zion Church. President Trump has been very vocal about protecting Christians around the world this term. Is they likely demand anything from she on this? I hope so. I think really the Zion church was targeted and these were hostages. I don't know that this is part of their overall plan to control religions. I think they're taking hostages as trading material. I think it was something they did just before the summit, something like the rare earths uh mineral and stopping those exports to the United States to create pressure uh against the United States. Uh I think we should demand their release uh of these individuals, these Christians that were simply practicing their faith in China. But I think it was a hostage move reminiscent of what China used to do uh when we had the annual most favored nation vote. They used to take Christian hostages and then trade them uh to try to get more favorable votes out of the Congress. >> Ambassador, you've given me shivers hostages. This is just incredible. Ambassador Brownback, we appreciate everything you do for religious freedom around the world. Thank you, sir. >> My pleasure. Take care. And to hear more from Ambassador Sam Brownback, be sure to tune in to his conversation with Yanji Kellik on American Daunt Leaders. That's premiering tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern time on Epoch TV. And still to come this evening, senators on Capitol Hill demanding answers from Google and Meta executives on censorship and alleged political bias. Jack Bradley has more on the hearing and the latest on lawmakers efforts to hold him accountable when we come back. Welcome back. I'm Paul Grainy. Executives from Google and Meta appearing before a Senate committee on Capitol Hill today. Senators grilled them on why they censored posts about CO 19 and election fraud. Entities Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has more. Senators on the Commerce Committee on Wednesday examining the influence of the Biden administration's pressure campaign on social media companies to take down certain posts. Post that question the efficacy of the CO 19 vaccine, voter fraud allegations, and the Hunter Biden laptop story among others. Now, this occurred at the height of the pandemic all the way leading up to the 2024 election. And Meta and Google even admit to this. We did feel pressure from the Biden administration to censor content related to CO 19. >> The Biden administration did press us to take action with regard to certain COVID 19 information that they thought was should be taken down. >> The executive from Meta says that his company regrets doing so. And the executive from Google, meanwhile, which oversees YouTube, says that they did not cave to the Biden administration's pressure and that their censorship was the result of their own independent choice. We made our decisions independently and would often say no uh when we were oppressed by the administration. >> It was your decision to ban Dan Bonino on YouTube and it was your decision to ban RFK Jr. on YouTube. Dr. Jay Bodacharia, who's now the NIH director. You banned content from him because he said masks were ineffective for kids. Many of the Senate Democrats on the committee did raise issue with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's recent statements in which he threatened to take action against ABC over comments made by late night host Jimmy Kimmel. That's because Kimmel accused the suspect involved in the assassination of Charlie Kirk of being a MAGA Republican, even though authorities said otherwise. They brought this up at the last hearing of its kind earlier this month as well. But what was particularly interesting here were that senators were asking the Google executive questions about why they censored certain posts and even accused Google and YouTube of political bias. This is videos of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump making claims of election fraud. YouTube blocked it. >> If you searched where can I vote for Donald Trump, Google showed nothing. I can assure you there is no political manipulation of our search results. >> Interesting. A search for President Trump and assassination, nothing came up. When you type in President Donald, Google would prompt you to President Donald Duck or President Donald Reagan, not President Trump, in the leadup to the 2024 election. Is that just a coincidence? Senator, we are very proud that Google search is the most trusted platform for information. Well, you have a monopoly. That's why. >> And coming out of this hearing, the chair of the committee, Senator Ted Cruz, is introducing his so-called job boning legislation that would require transparency when a government pressures a social media company and open up avenues for that company to sue the federal government. Reporting by Jack Bradley, NTD News. Incredible. That's all for today's news. For roundtheclock coverage, visit us at ntd.com/live or download our NTD app. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Paul Grainy. Good night.