US, Ukraine Hold ‘Productive’ Meeting; Trump: Muslim Brotherhood as FTO | NTD Evening News (Nov. 23)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story tonight, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with a Ukrainian delegation in Switzerland today. The latest on the US brokered peace efforts. President Trump plans to label the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization, a step the state of Texas has just taken. The Israeli military killed Hezbollah's chief of staff in a strike on the outskirts of Lebanon's capital. The Israeli prime minister commented on the strike. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says he does not expect the US to be in a recession and is highly positive on economic growth for 2026. Airports nationwide are gearing up for the busiest Thanksgiving travel rush in 15 years. More than 52,000 flights are set for Tuesday, but major weather systems could cause delays. 50 of the more than 300 abducted school children have successfully escaped following Nigeria's worst mass kidnapping. What we've learned so far. And former Brazilian President Jaier Balssonro said hallucinations caused him to violate his ankle monitor. That was one day after the federal police took him into custody, citing a potential flight risk. This is NTV Evening News live from our global headquarters in New York City. >> Good evening. Thank you for joining us tonight. I'm Arlene Richards. According to online outlet Just the News, President Trump will give the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization designation. Colin Frederickson has more. The group has long been seen as a destabilizing factor in the Middle East. The group is also credited with radicalizing young Muslims worldwide. Just the News says President Trump has considered the designation since his first administration. At the time, Muslim Brotherhood said it will continue its work in accordance with moderate and peaceful thinking and to serve communities and humanity in the way it thinks is right. The Texas governor last week designated both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American Islamic Relations or CARE as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational crime groups. Governor Abbott's proclamation said the group's goals are to rule humanity under Islam and that the groups have supported global terrorist actions. K has since denied the labels and sued the Texas governor and attorney general. Some countries in the Middle East already have policies against the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt and Jordan have banned the group. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have labeled it a terrorist organization. >> The Israeli military today killed Hezbollah's top military official in a strike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital. The strike came in the midst of a year-long ceasefire. >> So, the IDF assassinated Ali Tabatabay, the chief of staff of the Hezbollah terror organization. Tabai is a murderer. His hands are stained with the blood of many Israelis and Americans. And it is no coincidence that the United States offered a cash reward of $5 million on his head. Topi served as a senior commander in the Radwan force. This is the force that prepared to conquer the Galilee and slaughter many of our citizens. Recently, he led the renewal of Hezbollah's efforts to rearm. Hezbollah later confirmed his death, hailing him as the great jihadist commander. Israel already eliminated most of Iran backed Hezbollah's leadership. The war started in October 2023 when Hezbollah sent rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. It ended in November 2024 when a US broker truce was agreed to. The Israeli military said Abu Ali top led Hezbollah's operations division and rose in rank as other top commanders were eliminated. It also said the strike was the first on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital in months. Lebanon's health ministry said it killed five people and wounded 25 others. A senior Hezbollah official said its leadership would decide whether or how the group would respond. Israeli air strikes over southern Lebanon have intensified in recent weeks. Israel and the United States have pressured Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah. Pope Leo I 14th is scheduled to visit Lebanon in a few days. It's his first foreign trip. >> Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with a Ukrainian delegation in Switzerland today. He praises the progress in the current peace efforts. And today's international correspondent Arian Pazdar has the latest. >> It is in my personal view that we've had probably the most productive and meaningful meeting so far in this entire process since we've been involved. >> Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Switzerland on Sunday meeting with a Ukrainian delegation in Geneva. He says that changes to the latest peace proposals can be made to work towards a solution that both Ukraine and the US are comfortable with, but he did suggest that the situation is not an easy one. >> Well, I'm not going to get into the details on the issues. This is a very delicate moment and it's important. Like I said, there's not agreement on those yet. Some of it is semantics or language. Others require higher level decisions and consultation. On Sunday morning, President Trump said Ukraine leadership has expressed zero gratitude for our peace efforts. The US has been making efforts to stop the conflict for months now. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zilinski responded later on Sunday. He says Ukraine is grateful to the United States, to every American heart, and personally to President Trump. Arian Pastor, NTD News. Ukrainian, US, and European officials met in Geneva today to discuss a draft plan presented by the Trump administration to end the war in Ukraine. President Trump has championed a 28-point plan that would require Ukraine to seed territory to Russia, something Ukraine officials find difficult to accept. Trump said that Ukraine had not been grateful for American efforts over the war and he's given them until Thursday to approve the plan. Will they capitulate or will the war continue? Joining me to discuss the plan and Ukraine's options is Lieutenant Colonel Darren Gob, a geopolitical strategist and former Blackhawk helicopter pilot battalion commander in the US Army. Thank you so much for joining us. >> Hey, thanks for having me on. >> Now, we've got a draft plan confirmed by the White House a few days ago, and it seems the plan is not being well received, not only by Ukraine, but by some of US senators and European countries. and they're all seem to be concerned about Ukraine seeding this territory to Russia. So why is it important to all of these leaders that Ukraine hold on to its territory? >> Yeah, I think the reason why they're all concerned about this is because they view this as a capitulation or a surrender by Ukraine to Russia who was the aggressor in the war in in their perspective. So that's that's how they're seeing it. And I don't doubt you're going to see a lot of people in Ukraine that would see it the same way. there's going to be this desire to say that we're not going to give up anything to Russia. Well, you know, by saying that, there's a very good chance that the only thing you're going to come up with is either the war continues on for years longer because you refuse to uh seed any kind of land or you end up losing a whole lot more as a result of continuing the war. And Ukraine is frankly at a point of exhaustion anyways. I don't think they could continue this for a for a whole lot longer in the first place. Well, what else is in this plan that might make Ukraine feel like they're up against the wall here? >> Well, there's a lot of history repeating itself here when it comes to postconlict scenarios that could lead to future wars and tend to sometimes feel like they're getting punished on the wrong side. So, what does that look like? Well, Ukraine is being told, "Okay, we're going to be limited in the size of the military that we can have after the war." something we did to Germany and Japan after World War II or and specifically I should say Germany after World War I. Um there are looking it looks like there's some economic requirements such as uh trade and making America part of that deal like hey you know we're going to try to get some of our money back in the process of settling this conflict. Um, but I think Ukraine ultimately is seeing this as uh they're they're bearing too much of the brunt of what it would take to settle a war and Russia is not bearing enough and even though Ukraine didn't start it. >> So we do have these officials from the US, Ukraine and Europe meeting in Geneva today or they've already met and the European officials have said they are committed to helping Ukraine keep its sovereignty but some are calling the plan a Russian wish list which I think you've been kind of alluding to here. So meanwhile, Russia was not at the table. So what do we expect to come out of this meeting today? >> Well, I think they're going to redefine the red lines again, and it's going to look remarkably familiar, such as the the size of Ukraine's army, the the uh what they're actually willing to do. Um the not wanting Ukraine to be a part of NATO will come up again, as it always does. But they're also going to ask themselves the question of what do security guarantees look like from the United States or any other nation. And what and which part of this just looks like NATO light as a result of those security guarantees? Because there's a lot that's written in there that just says we're going to respond if there are threats against Ukraine again. Well, that's essentially just NATO already. But so there's 28 points. There's a lot to talk about. any one of them can come up and they're going to be asking for a lot of definitions and restrictions and and doing some horse trading trying to figure out maybe not give Russia everything it wants from their perspective. >> So let's go over some of these details. You talk about security interest Ukraine um one of the things in in the details is that Ukraine would keep its sovereignty which we've talked about. Ukraine will receive reliable security guarantees and it will not join NATO which you just mentioned. So starting with the security guarantees, what would that look like for Ukraine? >> Ultimately, I think that would look like uh something that is not NATO but more of a coalition of those nations who would be willing to sign on to a treaty that says if you are threatened again by Russia or frankly anybody else that these nations regardless of their individual affiliations to any other organization are willing to come to your collective defense. Uh Ukraine is probably a little bit skeptical about that in the first place because we gave Ukraine security guarantees back in 1994 when they gave up their nuclear weapons and then we proceeded to ignore those security guarantees for years also. Uh so I don't I understand their security guarantee skepticism but I think it's basically comes down to a coalition of the willing again whoever they may be. >> So we talk about Ukraine skepticism. Uh Ukraine's president Vladimir Zalinski has said that Ukraine could face a difficult choice and that includes a loss of dignity, accepting 28 difficult points or believing someone who has already attacked us twice. So is there anything that Ukraine would absolutely have to accept in order to end this war? I I think in the end they're going to have to accept some sort of land concessions because that's what I've thought from the beginning was that there would be a newly redrawn map that would go somewhere from near Odessa up to the northeast in the Russian border. Um that's not something that necessarily I'm saying is is a good thing. But there's a military reality on the ground of what can Ukraine accomplish with what it has left both manpower and other resources and what can't it? especially if America specifically withdraws its support and other European nations uh stick to about the level that they are now which would leave Ukraine not with very much in the first place. >> Now we talk about this being a Russian wish list but there are some things that Russia would have to agree to like not invading Ukraine and and if it does invade again all benefits of the deal are off. Now the benefits are significant but can we trust Russia to keep its word? Well, it it's always a challenge in this case to trust either side to keep their word. It's going to come down to self-interest and and do the benefits outweigh the cost of any further action if they want to get aggressive again either side. Uh so if Russia looks at this from the perspective of continuing to sell energy to Europe freely for the most part um the ability to get the land concessions that they want out of Ukraine and just the formal recognition of Crimea which has been the reality anyways on the ground for over 10 years that may be enough for them because they've consumed the mostly Russian speaking eastern regions of the Donbass which has a lot of their industrial capability or formerly did anyways. Uh if Putin says that's enough for him to end this and that he thinks his strategic objectives are are achieved as a result, I think you got a pretty good chance he won't go any further. >> And but the land that he now he wants all of Ukraine. Will he be willing to accept just the portion that he's taken over so far? >> I think so. I think he's overstating his objectives when it comes to taking the entirety of Ukraine because what he doesn't want is a Russia bordering on NATO nations. Taking over the entirety of Ukraine would put Russia on the border of United of NATO nations. Anyways, it's better for him and better for Russia in general from their perspective of having Ukraine remain a buffer state between NATO and Russia, but uh maybe some semblance of neutrality even though the security guarantees would make that a little bit difficult to to define. So that that's part of the challenge I think they're having to address while they're in Europe. Now, now the European countries were not happy with this 28 point plan and one of the reasons was because they weren't consulted or included in in creating it. So, they've now come up with a counter agreement and one thing is it it does is to replace an item in the 28 point plan that removes NATO from further involvement with Russia and the European plan uh gives NATO more responsibility to have a dialogue with Russia. So, what are your thoughts on that? Yeah, this is constantly a challenge. I mean, going back to the fall of the Soviet Union or basically the re redefining of the Soviet Union, uh there was a point in time where Russia was getting looked at as a potential future member of NATO due to the threats from places like China and elsewhere. I don't think Europe is interested in in trying to re-engage on that topic again now or anytime in the future. Um finally, they brought forth a plan even though it's different. you know, they they can talk a lot about and complain about the plans we may bring, and our plans may not be perfect either, but at least we're trying. Whereas most of what the these European nations have been doing is trying to find ways, it seems, to keep the war going for as long as possible and potentially even escalating it. So, you know, whether it's a hybrid between the two plans that everybody can come to an agreement on or it's purely theirs or purely ours, I think as long as we can stop people from getting killed in a war that's not going anywhere, it has no purpose, uh, we can only go forward from there. >> Now, you said something that I've heard other experts and individuals say that the European countries want to keep this war going on. Why do you say that? A lot of their language is very specific about how saying we want to get our militaries involved in Ukraine. We want to put our soldiers on the ground in Ukraine, NATO soldiers in or individual nations soldiers, which Russia will just look at as NATO anyways. So when these NATO nations keep or European nations in general keep pushing the buttons that they know are red lines for Russia, the only conclusion is that they're doing it for a reason because they they want to keep this war going on. they, you know, cheap energy from Russia maybe in in some cases. Um, sadly, I think that it just seems like they they think they have a lot of strategic advantage to gain by keeping a war going in in Ukraine in order to reduce the capabilities of Russia. >> Oh, I see. Okay. So now if if the US withdraws its support of Ukraine, takes away its weapons uh and stops sharing intelligence, would Europe be a or European countries be able to take this on by themselves? Does that does do they have enough weapons support or military backing to help Ukraine uh reclaim that territory from Russia or win this war? >> Uh no, not right now. And the European plans are to in uh increase their military both spending and equipment that comes along with it. But that's not like you can flick a switch and it happens all of a sudden because behind that also comes training and many other requirements. It could take a long time to do it. So if we if we walked back our intelligence support, walked back our logistics and financial support to Ukraine, I think you would find that Ukraine would have to come to the table a lot quicker or face a much more significant defeat to Russia as a result. But frankly, we're the only ones that are keeping them going at all right now for the most part. >> Well, it's a complicated situation. Uh it looks like Ukraine really doesn't have that many options. Lieutenant Colonel Darren Gob, geopolitical strategist, thank you so much for joining us. >> Thank you. >> As Ukraine peace talks go on, Ukrainians admitted to the US under a wartime humanitarian parole program are now losing legal status. Here are the details. Katarina Golizra is one of Ukrainian refugees living in legal limbo in the United States. The 35-year-old is waiting for President Donald Trump's administration to decide the fate of a humanitarian program that allowed some 260,000 people who fled the war in Ukraine to live and work in the US. After her home in the Kiev suburb of Bucha was destroyed in the spring of 2020, Golistra was resettled in Florida through the Biden era humanitarian parole program. When Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration froze parole renewal applications for months, saying it was needed for security reviews. Kolistra said she paid $2,000 to renew her status and apply for a backup option. But the applications stalled. Her legal status then lapsed in May, meaning she lost her work permit, health insurance, and was forced to leave her job. It's a constant stress, anxiety, what I will do next, what I will do tomorrow, for how long I can survive. Uh if like I will need to leave the states, then I have to build something again that I was trying to build for the last two and a half years. >> Reuters spoke with two dozen Ukrainians who lost their work permits and their jobs due to delays in processing renewals. They include tech workers, a preschool teacher, a financial planner, an interior designer, and a college student. They describe digging into their savings, seeking out community support, and taking on debt to support themselves while they wait for a decision on their status. Airports nationwide are gearing up for the busiest Thanksgiving travel rush in 15 years. More than 52,000 flights are set for Tuesday, but major weather systems could cause delays. Find out more after the break. Two possible winter storms could cause chaotic Thanksgiving travel for parts of the US. The first system could bring heavy rain to Texas and parts of the Southwest this weekend. Then midweek, a cold front could bring snow to parts of the Midwest with that same system bringing rain to the Northeast. Here's more. Airports across the country are bracing for the busy holiday season. The FAA is predicting this to be the busiest Thanksgiving travel period in 15 years. >> As we go into the holiday, it's going to be full. It's going to be packed. The airlines are ready. The air traffic controls are back. >> Tuesday is expected to be the peak travel day with more than 52,000 flights. But the weather could cause major disruptions in parts of the country. From this weekend into early next week, there's one system and then another system moving in. >> A large portion of the country could see rain this weekend with the worst hitting parts of Texas and the southern plains. The second system bringing a cold front where rain could turn to snow in some areas like Minneapolis as early as Tuesday. This comes asa expects a record-breaking 82 million people to travel 50 miles or more next week with at least 73 million on the roads. You should not be driving in inclement weather. >> AAA spokesperson Aayik Sadia says even a little bad weather can cause delays on roads as drivers hit the brakes. If you are driving, AAA says some of the worst times to travel are Tuesday between noon and 9:00 p.m. Wednesday between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sunday between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Homeland Security Secretary Christy Gnome was in Minneapolis today. She presented bonus checks to some TSA officers who worked through the 43-day government shutdown without pay. The secretary thanked them for their service. >> We are grateful that the government is back open, but what we saw during that time period was remarkable things. We saw people who recognized that their purpose for why they were created was to serve people, was to go out and continue to show up for work, sometimes taking on extra shifts, taking care of other individuals, but still making sure that we were keeping people safe. We have $10,000 bonus payments that we will be paying to each of the individuals behind us, recognizing uh that uh they are examples that we will continue to work to train every single individual under the department to do and to serve such as they did um during this last challenging and difficult time and also recognizing that this is a season to be grateful. According to the FAA, earlier this month, only 776 air traffic controllers and technicians who had perfect attendance during the shutdown will receive the $10,000 bonuses. Nearly 20,000 other workers will be left out. On Saturday, Gnome also announced a new $1 billion investment in TSA security checkpoints at airports across the United States. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant said the 43-day government shutdown caused an 11 billion permanent hit to the US economy, but he was optimistic about growth prospects next year given easing interest rates and tax cuts. >> Big picture, is the country at risk, the entire country at risk of being in a recession? No, I I am very confident about 2026 because what we are going to see is the the president has done peace deals, tax deals, and trade deals, but one big beautiful bill. I am very very optimistic on 2026. We have set the table for a very strong non-inflationary growth economy. Besson told NBC's Meet the Press that parts of the US economy that are sensitive to interest rates, including housing, had been in recession, but he did not see the entire economy at risk of negative growth. Besson said energy prices dropped in October while home sales rose, adding that the administration was continuing to work hard to bring down inflation, now running at 3% annually. He also said a cap on overtime taxes, tax cuts on tips, and social security are among policies that would boost real income levels for working Americans and help offset higher costs. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassid told Fox News that he expects 2026 to be an absolute blockbuster year, but he did mention there would be a hiccup in the fourth quarter of this year as an effect of the government shutdown. Some alarming health news from the state of Washington. The state health department reports an individual has died of complications from a bird flu strain never before reported in people. Authorities say the patient was an older adult with underlying health conditions. The individual was in a hospital undergoing treatment for bird flu when the person died. It is the first reported case of a person in the United States in nine months. And this is only the second reported death from the virus. The CDC says the risk of a person contracting bird flu remains very low. The disease usually infects domestic or wild birds and some other animals. Coming up, former Brazilian president Jaer Bosanaro said hallucinations caused him to violate his ankle monitor. That was one day after the federal police took him into custody, citing a potential flight risk. And 50 of the more than 300 abducted school children have successfully escaped following Nigeria's worst mass kidnapping. What we've learned so far. The US is signaling a stronger commitment to stability in the South China Sea through a steady naval presence and a new military partnership with the Philippines. Here's more. The USS George Washington is now in the South China Sea. It entered through the Luzon Strait last week, taking over as the Nitz carrier strike group wrapped up operations. Both carriers are nuclearpowered. On Friday, the George Washington group positioned near the site where two Navy aircrafts crashed last month. Before leaving the region, the Nimitz strike group joined Japan and the Philippines for a trilateral patrol near the Scarboro Shaw, a region heavily contested by both Manila and Beijing. China protested the joint patrol and even sent bombers to fly over the area. The Philippines Coast Guard also reported multiple Chinese Navy and Coast Guard vessels surrounding the Shaw. At the same time, Washington and Manila are taking a new step to counter Beijing's pressure. US War Secretary Pete Hexath and his Philippine counterpart announced a new joint task force aimed at deterring Chinese coercion. The task force will help US and Philippine forces react more quickly to Chinese ships in contested waters and improve coordination during any future crisis. Tensions have remained high for months with repeated close encounters around disputed shores. Both countries say this expanded cooperation is meant to reestablish deterrence in one of the world's most critical waterways. The Chinese military yesterday announced that the US and China have hosted their second security meeting earlier this week. China said the talk which took place in Hawaii from Tuesday to Thursday focused on the maritime security. And today's Flora Hua has more. >> The Chinese Navy posted on social media that the two sides had so-called frank and constructive exchanges regarding the current maritime and air security situation. But it also lodged a protest over US military transits through and over the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. China considers these areas its own territory, a claim rejected by the US and many other countries. Last month, US war secretary P. He hacks raised concerns over Chinese military aggression in these areas. Back to the talks. They come as the two countries try to ease trade tensions and boost military communications. Under a military maritime agreement, US and Chinese officials hold at least two such meetings every year. Their first meeting this year took place in April. Flora Hua, NTD News. >> Brazilian police have taken former President Jaier Bossero into custody. The country's highest court determined that he presented a quote concrete flight risk while under house arrest. That was before a planned supporters vigil near his home on Saturday. Here's what happened. >> In a court decision, Supreme Court Justice Alessandre Demoray said the gathering outside could undermine police monitoring of Balsinaro's home. The judge also noted evidence of tampering with the ex-president's ankle monitor the night before. Balsinaro is appealing a Supreme Court conviction and more than 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election. He's been under house arrest for months for a separate case, alleging he courted US interference with the criminal charges. President Trump, who was friendly with Balsinaro when they were both in office, said on Saturday that he had no knowledge of his latest arrest. Any comment about the former Brazilian president being arrested today? >> No, I don't know anything about her. >> Sir, are you willing to hurt? >> Mr. President, are you willing? >> I didn't hear. Is that what happened? >> Yes. >> That's too bad. >> In a statement, Balssonaro's lawyer said that what would be a quote prayer vigil was guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution under the right to religious freedom and that they plan to file an appeal. Biaakis, a federal lawmaker from Balssonsaro's party, called his arrest an injustice. He is someone who could have left Brazil. He didn't even need to come back. But he always said, "I will not leave. I will stay here and fight here." So, I don't believe in any kind of news. For me, everything they make up and say now is just the narrative of a case that is the real coup. The judge's decision to arrest Balssonaro will be submitted to a Supreme Court panel on Monday for confirmation. >> In a custody hearing today following his detention, Balssonso denied any intent to escape house arrest. According to a court document, Balsinaro said he had medicine induced paranoia which led him to violate his electronic ankle monitor. He said he had a hallucination that there was a wire inside the monitor. The judge overseeing the hearing decided to maintain the police custody. Turning to the West, Africa, 50 students from a Catholic school in Nigeria who were abducted last week have escaped. According to the Catholic Church and Christian Association of Nigeria, the kids have been reunited with their parents. The association's chairman said the students escaped between Friday and Saturday. A total of 253 school children and 12 teachers are still being held by the kidnappers. The recent mass kidnappings forced some northern states to shut schools. The government also ordered the closure of 47 colleges in the north. Pope Leo pleaded today for the immediate release of those kidnapped. Nigeria is seeing one of its worst kidnappings after over 300 kids were taken from school. Here's a look at what happened this week and what's driving the fresh surge of attacks. >> On Friday, the Christian Association of Nigeria said at least 227 students and teachers had been taken from a Catholic school in the northwestern Niger state. That would make it the biggest kidnapping of school children in the country since March 2024. The first mass abduction since March 2024 took place on Monday. 25 students seized from a predominantly Muslim girls boarding school in the northwest Kebbe state. On the same day, another armed gang abducted 64 people, including women and children, from their homes in Zanfara State, which borders Kebbe. On Tuesday, government attacked a church in the central Quir state, killing two and kidnapping 38 worshippers, according to a church official. The official said the government had issued a ransom demand for roughly $69,000 per congregant. No one has publicly claimed responsibility. However, most of northern Nigeria is blanketed by insecurity. In the northwest, where most of the recent attacks have occurred, armed gangs known locally as bandits carry out ransom kidnappings and hide in forests. They have no known religious or political motives. The fact of the matter remains there's just a lot of money right to to to be made in this enterprise. >> Ekimit Fong is a senior partner at the Lagosbased consultancy SPM intelligence. We have seen a notice a situation where uh groups that were more ideologically coherent have completely flipped their operations to just you know making money out of these practices in order to procure more weapons, secure a better, you know, means of of living for themselves. >> In the northeast, jihadist groups Boo Haram and Islamic State West Africa province are waging an insurgency. Over two million people have been displaced and tens of thousands killed over the past 15 years. In central Nigeria, where the mostly Muslim north meets the largely Christian South, there are deadly clashes over religion, ethnicity, and access to land and water. Nigeria says claims that Christians are facing persecution misrepresent the complex security situation and don't take into account efforts to safeguard religious freedom. defeat terrorism. >> The country has 230 million people across around 200 ethnic groups and tensions often flare. The US has said it is considering actions such as sanctions and Pentagon engagement on counterterrorism. That's part of its plan to compel the Nigerian government to better protect Christian communities and religious freedom. Coming up, this year's holiday train show at the New York Botanical Garden didn't disappoint the fans and families. We have that and more after the break. The New York Botanical Garden Holiday Season Train Show is in its 34th year. The show is modeled after famous buildings and monuments around New York City. And today's Shawn Marshall spoke with some of the people there about it. >> Kids and adults can all enjoy the New York Botanical Garden holiday train show. The intricate detail that goes into making these buildings is simply amazing. They're designed after buildings and structures all around New York City. And not only is the train show amazing, but you can also enjoy the magical aura of the diverse plants and flowers all around the botanical garden. Each year, the New York Botanical Garden team switches things up a little bit for the holiday train show with nearly 200 famous New York landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, and Rockefeller Center along with other popular and historical sites. Last year, the Bronx was displayed front and center. And this year, Central Park is in the hot conservatory main area. >> So exciting for kids to come. There's over 30 G-scale model trains here. We have our very famous Thomas the train that they can come and inter not interact with, but they can come and hang out with, watch him loop around the tracks. And of course, there's so many other types of trains that they can see going across bridges. Um, our famous Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge. Um, and then of course interacting throughout the various other um, scapes and models that have been created here. Famous Thomas the Tank Engine is so popular that it needs to be a little off to the side and a little bit back from the barrier so kids don't try to take him home with them. And for plant lovers, the train show gives an extra bit of fun to a botanical garden visit >> here with a botney class. Actually, we just visited the Arbarium, but also some phenomenal specimens and it's I mean this phenomenal here. I love seeing the detail on the trains. It's amazing just seeing how intricate everything is. I just heard someone say that it's all made from natural materials as well, this whole exhibition, which I just find so phenomenally impressive. Well, >> I mean, I would say get here, honestly. It's it's something you really should see. I'm here with our grandson and my wife and the whole family. And the only thing I could say is if maybe they had um a beer stop, maybe some draft beer that you could, you know, find every 30 feet or so. That's the only improvement I can think about. There are actually drinks available during the nighttime show. Energetic after dark celebrations where you can sip seasonal cocktails and mocktails around the Hut Conservatory. >> Yeah, the um the team is so creative in how they make all of the different models. They grab um various types of twigs, seed pods, um you know, bark from trees found in the forest of Kentucky, but also sometimes they find things here at the New York Botanical Garden um that has just fallen to the ground that they collect and they add to their collection for when they're making new models for us. So, it's all natural materials, which makes it even more special because it adds to the story. Here at the botanical garden, >> seasonal classics and holiday pop favorites fill the air as live performers bring musical sounds of the season to the garden during the night shows. Tickets are starting at $25. Just visit the website nybg.org for all the details. There you'll find tickets for daytime as well as the nighttime experience. Sean Marshall, NTD News. >> A new study published in the Lancet examines the link between ultrarocessed foods and health across the globe. My colleague Stephania Cox talked with nutritionist and registered dietician Cindy Chan Phillips for insights and tips. >> Here is why we care about this study. More than half of our population in the United States are living with one or more chronic diseases. And let's talk about children. One in three children are also living with one or more chronic diseases. So what change? We have to start looking for the answers. And if you look at uh the uh packaged food more than 70% this is according to um our government more than 70% of our packaged foods are ultrarocessed foods and if you look at children again twothird of the calories come from ultrarocessed food. So we need to find the answer we need to find a solution that exactly what the study does. Now the study set out to answer three questions but the most important question is set out to answer is whether the studies the evidence support the notion that ultrarocessed food lead to increase of chronic diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, um obesity and heart diseases. And based on analyzing hundreds of uh very strong uh studies, the conclusion is yes, ultrarocessed food leads to increased chronic diseases. But there are two um key takeaway from the study that I want to tease out for for for you and and that is the two dichconomy, two two things going on in here, two dynamics. One is eating ultrarocessed food displays the protective whole food diet that can protect you from getting sick and keep you healthy. That's number one. And number two, eating ultrarocessed food have also harms your body by increasing your risk of ultrarocessed food. So we need to do something about it. And that's exactly where I want to really pick your brain because you're spending all your time really helping people drive towards that greater health that should be their birthright. But all of these factors have kind of swirled around to you know impair people in so many ways in the way that impairing health just is does impact every part of a person's life. But I know that your masters was in fast food children's meals. So it was interesting that you mentioned there statistics alarming statistics for children's food as well. Um this is really impacting people from all generations and all across the g globe as this study also mentioned. But I mean what we're looking at here is how to get back to those kind of traditions, food traditions that carried through the generations that helped people live healthy lives while living modern lifestyles. And I know from your website, you also help people navigate those decisions between having busy lives and raising healthy children and living a healthy life. If you could speak more to the solutions that you see u people could start to use in their own lives. >> I like the premise of your question. How do we get back to it? Which means that some things some some dynamics in our lifestyle in the society have caused us to move away from the traditional whole foodbased diet pattern that are protective and keep us healthy. Look, um you also mentioned that we are busy and uh um you know ultrarocessed food are here to stay and they are you walk into a store all you see are beautiful packages with huge big health claim on the front um that screaming for you to buy them that they're ready consumed um and they are uh supposed to be tastier. So we need to understand that and that really leads me to uh uh speak about the uh the common mistake that we see as we think about eating uh whole food healthier uh would be too expensive and we are too busy for it and but there are easy solution for that. Um for example let me give you a few tips that you can do at the grocery store and also at home as well. when you're at a grocery store. The truth when you pick up a food package is to flip to the back of the package and choose the type of packaged food that has the shortest list of ingredients. Let me give you an example. Let's say you feel like having burger for tomorrow and you go and you pick up one package that's a um a burger patty and all it says is ingredient is beef and you pick up another package and it has like 20 list of ingredients with preservatives with uh additives with coloring. Which one do you want to choose? You want to choose the one with the shortest list that just says beef and shop the parameters. That's where the whole foods are. get the vegetables from the vegetable produce section and also um get the meat from the meat case. Now, to save money, I'm going to give you uh several easy things that you can do. And you can buy bulk, you can buy bulk beans, you can buy frozen. They are just as nutritiously superior as fresh food as well and save you money. And guess what? After uh Thanksgiving, get the turkey if you have the freezer space. That will be the cheapest protein, high quality protein you can ever find after Thanksgiving for the uh for the turkey. And when you bring the bulk, let's say you bring you bring bulk ground beef home, take like five minutes and separate them into dinner portion and you just put them in your freezer. Guess what? When time comes for dinner, when you open up your refrigerator, it's full of possibilities. It's like in the morning, you open up your wardrobe, you color coordinate your your outfit, all you see is possibilities because majority of Americans, they go in 4:00 p.m. They don't know what to fix for >> for uh for dinner. >> Yeah. >> So, meal planning is a way to go as well. Plan your meals for the week. It only takes five minutes to do that. That way, you save money, save time, and you will notice a difference in your health. A firstp person look at mind-blowing torpedo blasts and a group of farmers so shirtless for a good cause. Let's take a look back at the week's wildest and weirdest stories. Take a look at the week we had. Incredible video from cameras placed on an unmanned Norwegian frigot showed the moment it was hit by a submarine's torpedo literally lifting the decommissioned vessel out of the water in a spectacular blast. The POV perspective came courtesy of NATO, which shared video of the military live fire exercise, which was done to verify and flex military submarine might. A group of Illinois farmers went viral for striking sassy poses, and they did it for a good cause. Teaming up with a local photographer and project organizer, they produced a calendar described as a dudoir photo shoot. Money raised from the creative calendar sales will go towards an Illinois farmers mental health program, which operates a 247 confidential helpline for farmers and their families. A rare and spirited interaction between a dolphin and a family of manatees was caught on camera by the most unlikely of photographers, a police officer. A detective and licensed drone pilot with the Bradington PD in Florida was testing out a new drone as first responder program when he spotted the marine mammal meet and greet in the waters below. He said as a lifelong Fidian, the surreal sight was a first. Finally, in a first for a Utah animal welfare team, a wild owl that fell into a cement mixer was saved thanks to painstaking rehab efforts. The great horned owl was brought to the Best Friends Animal Society in Utah after being discovered inside of the mixer partially covered in hardened concrete. For 6 days, the team bathed the sedated owl and meticulously scrubbed the gritty substance from its face, chest, and wing. And owl scowl aside, the bird is now recovering and even making some short flights. >> And that's all for tonight's news. Thank you for tuning in. I'm Arlene Richards. Good night.