Nat’l Guard Allowed in DC; 4 GOP Join Dems to Force House Healthcare Vote | NTD News Today (Dec. 17)

Welcome to NTD News Today. Here are today's top stories. House Democrats say they now have enough votes to force action on health care subsidies. Four Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues. We have an update. Former special counsel Jack Smith testifying today before the House Judiciary Committee. What we know about the closed door meeting regarding his prosecutions of President Trump. Actor and director Rob Reiner's son Nick Reiner is set to make his first court appearance. The 32-year-old faces two counts of firstdegree murder in the killing of his parents. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant unveiled the official Trump accounts website, a new savings initiative for American children. What we've learned so far. Warner Brothers Discovery has rejected a more than$ 108 billion dollar hostile bid from Paramount Skyance, calling the offer inferior to its Netflix merger deal. This is NTD News Today, live from our global headquarters in New York City. A legal victory for the Trump administration. A federal appeals court says President Trump can keep National Guard troops deployed in DC for now. A lower court had previously ordered their removal. The appeals court then froze that order while they considered their decision. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals said today the troops can stay. Because DC is a federal district, they said Trump would likely win a lawsuit brought by the DC Attorney General that questioned their deployment. Under the new order, the National Guard troops can stay in the nation's capital until at least late February. Several thousand troops have already been there for months. Several House Republicans broke with the House Speaker on Affordable Care Act subsidies and signed onto a Democratic petition. House Democrats needed 218 signatures on their discharge petition to force a vote. All House Democrats signed along with three representatives from Pennsylvania, Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Pashannon, and Brian McKenzie, and New York Representative Mike Lawler. Their signatures force a vote on a three-year extension of Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire for millions at the end of the year. The ACA funding bill is expected to expire since the House will unlikely vote on the extension until the second week of January. This is due to timing on petitions like this and the upcoming twoe holiday recess. In response to a reporter question following the news, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he still has control of the chamber. Take a listen. >> Not lost control >> because there are many look we have the smallest majority in US history. These are not normal times. There are processes processes and procedures in the house that are less frequently used when there are larger majorities and when you have the luxury of having 10 or 15 people who disagree on something, you know, you don't have to deal with it. >> The Senate has passed the defense spending bill for fiscal year 2026. The vote was 77 to 20. The National Defense Authorization Act approves a record $900.6 billion for the Department of War. That's 8 billion more than what President Trump requested earlier this year. The bill is over 3,000 pages long. It covers a pay raise for troops, military assistance to Ukraine, and Pentagon weapons programs. The House passed the bill with bipartisan support last week. The bill will now head to President Trump's desk for signing. The committee said earlier the deposition relates to his two prosecutions of President Trump for his alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mara Lago resort and his challenging of the 2020 presidential election results. Smith ultimately dropped both cases after Trump won the 2024 election. In his opening statement obtained in part by the Associated Press, Smith told lawmakers that investigators developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt in the election case and that they had acred powerful evidence in the classified documents case. Ahead of the hearing, Smith's lawyer told reporters that his client conducted the investigations based on the facts and based on the law and nothing more. Trump told reporters at the White House that he supported the idea of an open hearing, saying, quote, "I'd rather see him publicly testify. There's no way he can answer the questions." Smith has continually denied his work was politically motivated and has said that he is willing to testify publicly. The FCC is facing scrutiny for pressuring broadcasters to take ABC late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel off the air in September. Here's FCC Chair Brendan Carr in an exchange with Senator Amy Clolobachar of the Commerce Committee today. >> But after Jimmy Kimmel's monologue, you went on a podcast and suggested that ABC should take Kimmel off the air saying we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Those were your words. Do you think it is appropriate to use your position to threaten companies that broadcast political satire? I think any lency that operates on the public airwaves has a responsibility to comply with the public interest standard and that's been the case for decades. >> I asked if you should if you think it's appropriate for you to use your position to threaten companies and this incident with Kimmel wasn't an isolated event. Uh you've launched investigations into every major broadcast network except Fox. Is that correct? >> I don't know if that's true or not. We do have investigations going on NPR and PBS. We have a number of investigations that are ongoing. I think if you step back over the years, I think the FCC has walked away from enforcing the public interest standard, and I don't think that's a good thing. >> Back in September, Kimmel's show stirred controversy over comments he made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Carr warned that local broadcasters who aired Kimmel could face fines or loss of licenses. ABC briefly suspended Kimmel's show following the warning. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz criticized the FCC, calling it unconstitutional coercion that chills protected speech. Last month, Carr also said the FCC was opening a review of arguments between national networks and local broadcast stations. This was after President Trump criticized ABC. Carr and the both FCC commissioners testified before the oversight hearing. Carr said his agency is working to drive down prices for consumers, restoring US leadership in wireless and countering national security threats. Actor and director Rob Reiner's son Nick Reiner is scheduled to make his first court appearance today. The 32-year-old faces two counts of firstdegree murder in the killing of his parents. Nick Reiner has been charged with murdering his 78-year-old father, Rob Reiner, and his mother, Michelle Singer Reiner. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Pokeman said his office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty. The couple was found dead from apparent stab wounds in their home Sunday in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Police arrested Nick Reiner hours later in Exposition Park about 14 miles from the crime scene. Nick Reiner is being held without bail. Authorities haven't revealed a motive for the killings. The manhunt intensifies for the Brown University shooter. Authorities shared a new video timeline and a clearer image of the suspect. Yet, investigators did not indicate they had moved any closer to knowing the shooter's identity. Here's more. As a manhunt for the gunman who killed two Brown University students stretched past 3 days, authorities once again asked members of the public for help to identify the suspect. In a news conference Tuesday, officials played several video clips taken from neighborhood cameras. >> In this video that you just saw behind me is all it all comes from the residential block of Waterman Avenue Power Ives and Hope Street. And it's those residential areas that we're asking the public to look if you have any camera systems or any Teslas like I mentioned that you look at that footage and that you can reach out to us and please provide us anything that you have. Perez said the suspected gunman was in the area as early as 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, more than 5 hours before the attack, and that he was likely casing the scene. >> There is no information that >> officials said they were confident the person in the video is the gunman, but added they have zero evidence as to the motive for the shooting. >> Authorities initially detained another person of interest, a man in his 20s early on Sunday, but they eventually released him after concluding that he was not involved. The news that there was no suspect in custody brought fresh anxiety to nearby residents who have opened their doors to police officers seeking camera footage that might have captured the shooter. On Tuesday, many anxious students were departing the campus, including Path Gupta. >> I don't think anyone feels safe right now, given the fact that the person is still on the loose. Brown said it had implemented enhanced security measures since the shooting, including doubling the University Department of Public Safety's staffing and restricting entry to campus buildings. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the United States. Australian authorities have charged an accused gunman in the Bondi Beach massacre with 15 counts of murder and dozens of other offenses. It comes as funerals begin today for the victims of the anti-semitic attack. Here are the details. >> The 24year-old accused in the terror attack on a Jewish crowd, Navidiv Akrim, has been formally charged after waking from a coma. Police say he faces 59 counts, including committing a terrorist act, 15 murders, 40 counts of wounding with intent to murder, and charges related to firearms, extremist symbols, and explosives. We're >> currently awaiting his medical condition to be appropriate for us to do that. It's important that he has appropriate cognitive ability at the time. When you're on medication, we would argue for his fitness. We need to make sure that he's able to understand exactly what's happening. >> Police shot him and his father, Sajjid Aram, at the scene where his father died. Australia's federal police commissioner said authorities believe the shooting was a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State. Meanwhile, hundreds of mourers gathered today for the first funeral of a victim, honoring a rabbi who organized the Hanukah event where the attack unfolded. after what happened. My biggest regret was apart from obviously from the obvious but from the things that I could have done more is to tell Ellie more often how much we love him, how much I love him. >> Those who knew him described Rabbi Ellie as a pillar of the community. He just wanted to bring light um to this community. He was proudly Jewish. He just had a fifth child, just weeks ago, and now his wife is a widow. >> Australian leaders and the Jewish community say the Hanukkah celebration will return to Bondi Beach in defiance of the attacker's intentions. >> Ellie lived and breathed this idea. We can never ever allow them not only to succeed but any time that they try something become greater and stronger. A Sydney shop owner is being hailed as a hero for disarming one of the gunmen while a couple and another man who were killed confronting the attackers are also being remembered for trying to save others. Prime Minister Albani identified the couple as Boris and Sophia German. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the couple were Russian Jewish. Boris was a retired mechanic and Sophia worked for Australia Post. Albanese spoke to the media today honoring the couple and another man who was killed while trying to stop the bloodshed. >> Well, I pay tribute to Boris and Sophia German, to Ruven Morrison who threw bricks and took action to try and stop uh this occurring. Also murdered by these terrorists. Uh these are Australian heroes. There has been reports in >> as the investigations unfold, Australia faces a political reckoning about anti-semitism and whether police protections for Jews are enough for the threats they face. New South Wales Premier Chris Mins detailed new proposals for gun laws following Sunday's terror attack in Sydney. M says he believes the legislation is urgent and should be passed before Christmas. Firstly, in relation to firearms legislation in the state, we are proposing a bill which hasn't been finally drafted, but we will share with the opposition as soon as possible to cap the number of firearms to reclassify straight pullup and pumpaction shotguns to look at reducing magazine capacity for shotguns for prohibiting beltfed magazines in those shotguns and crucially removing ENCAT as an appeal. mechanism once a designation has been made about withdrawing a license from the registered authority. >> Speaking at a press conference, Mins added that there would be restrictions on protests. The premier said demonstrations in Sydney would be quote incredibly terrible for our community. My concern is that a mass demonstration in this combustible situation with our multicultural community could light a flame that would be impossible to extinguish. Just ahead, fentinel, a weapon of mass destruction. President Trump slapped the powerful yet controversial label on the deadly drug. Is the designation overblown or can it counteract the cartels and send a strong message to the Chinese regime that produces the precursors? our guest with analysis. Welcome back. Turning to Venezuela's coast, President Trump has ordered a naval blockade targeting sanctioned oil shipments. And today's Daniel Monahan reports on that, plus updates on the National Guard members killed in Syria and a special presidential address to the nation. President Trump announced the move yesterday on Truth Social, writing that Venezuela is now surrounded by what he called the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America. Trump said the pressure will increase until what he described as stolen US oil, land, and assets are returned. Trump has designated Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro's regime a foreign terrorist organization, accusing it of using stolen oil revenues to fund drug trafficking, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping. Maduro denounced the American advances yesterday, saying imperialism and the fascist right want to colonize Venezuela to take over its wealth of oil, gas, gold, among other minerals. Congressman Waqen Castro called Trump's blockade an act of war. He said the House will vote tomorrow on a resolution pushing for an end to hostilities with Venezuela. The Maduro regime previously described the United States recent seizing of a tanker filled with Venezuelan crude oil as international piracy. The White House said last week the US was justified in taking the vessel. >> We're not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel naroterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world. Tensions are also extending to the skies. The FAA has issued an advisory warning airlines of deteriorating security conditions in Venezuelan airspace, citing heightened military activity. The warning runs through February 19th, 2026. And Secretary of War Pete Hegth said yesterday that the Pentagon will release to select lawmakers the full video of a September strike on a drug trafficking boat that killed survivors of an initial strike. Democrats have criticized the military strikes, especially the second one on September 2nd. They say it targeted shipwrecked survivors who otherwise would not have been able to conduct further operations. And on a somber note, President Trump will undertake one of the most solemn duties facing the commander-in-chief today. Trump will witness the dignified transfer for two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in the Syrian desert. The ritual at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware honors US service members killed in action. Trump traveled to Dover several times in his first term, describing it as the toughest thing he has to do as president. The men have been hailed as heroes by the Iowa National Guard. President Trump will also address the nation from the White House today. He's going to talk a lot about the accomplishments over the past 11 months, all that he's done to bring our country back to greatness, and all he continues uh to plan to do um to continue delivering for the American people over the next three years. >> The president's remarks are scheduled for 900 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast live on the White House's social media channels. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. President Trump designating fentinel and its core precursor chemical as weapons of mass destruction. This paves the way for enhanced sentences, the crippling of financial structures, and a bolstering of national security resources to disrupt those responsible for trafficking the deadly drug into the US. And here to give us insight on this is Steve Yates, senior research fellow for China and national security at the Heritage Foundation. Steve, thanks for your time. We know you lost your daughter to fentinel about two years ago and our condolences to you and your family. First, what does this executive order mean to you? >> Well, thank you very much. Uh, it does mean a lot to me and to many, many other families who suffered a loss to this scourge. Uh, this is, I think, the culmination of a series of tools that the president has put into play to try to get at the sources of the scourge. It's not necessarily targeting the street vendors uh and the networks within the United States. There are existing channels that are actively trying to prosecute that part of this effort to protect our families. This is explicitly looking at those that are manufacturing and transporting and financing that enterprise as it brings it to our shores. So this is a little bit analogous to what my experience was in the White House before, during, and after 9/11 where you not only designated organizations as terrorist concerns, but you also identified key materials uh that if they fell into the wrong hands would be part of a mass attack on the United States. So we had uh concern about uh not just nuclear and biological and chemical issues, we had an anthrax scare and other kinds of things. Uh so this designation of the substance gets beyond just the things that would be captured by going after the cartels as designated foreign terrorist organizations. >> Steve, thanks for juxtaposing the idea that just a few grains of salt equivalent of fentinel is a deadly dose. With this concept, the big picture of how this substance is changing dynamics on a global scale. Trump says the illicit fentinyl is more of a chemical weapon than it is a narcotic and it's killing hundreds of thousands of Americans. What message does it send to the Chinese regime which oversees the production of precursor chemicals? >> Well, it's sort of like the immigration debate where there's a big difference between legal and illegal. So, there's legal fentinel. Uh, ironically, my daughter went to the the intensive care unit because of an illegal dose of fentinel and the swelling of the brain that causes mass pain in the human body was treated by legal fentinel by the hospital while she was there. This action does nothing uh to affect the flow of legal fentinel through proper channels to be used for that pain management process but it does a lot to put reputational risk of financial institutions if they are involved in permitting this kind of illicit network to grow. So if like the select committee on uh strategic competition with the CCP identified entities within the people's republic that were manufacturing and exporting this uh illicit flow uh they are doing banking activity with a Chinese entity just like we have with regard to North Korean uh nuclear programs or otherwise we can label them as primary money laundering concerns. they're no longer allowed to engage in dollar denominated transactions and participate in the US financial uh network and so it's a huge almost nuclear level financial instrument uh and the Chinese government would have to be very very careful about having any exposure to it and the US can't bluff this. It would have to be serious about enforcement. Steve, I follow what you're saying. The the actual financial aspect is one part of this, but the intelligence, the DHS can now use the full weight of the weapons of mass destruction and the non-poliferation measures to address this and try to get to the root cause. At the same time, critics of the designation say that labeling elicit fentinel a weapon of mass destruction is overblown and that it could lower the bar for military intervention in this hemisphere. That's assuming these profit-driven cartels are terrorists and calling war on terror logic to combat drugs. How do you respond? >> Well, I just look at the accumulated death over the last 10 years. You have anywhere from half a million to a million Americans that have been killed by this chemical come in by illegal networks. Uh if this had been a bomb, if this had been some kind of an attack with a a a seable military, there wouldn't really be any question about the nature of the attack. It also has disproportionately hit the ages of 18 to 35 in the United States, the generation that should be getting recruited into the best military in the world or recruited into the best tech firms in the world to lead the future and to support our social safety net in our country. And so this in several respects is I think a very uh verifiable attack on the fabric of the American society. But even just in the tragic pure carnage of it, I think it is borderline immoral for people to try to minimize or categorize this as anything other than mass death. It's just not like what people had seen before. Uh, and I at least for one support use of all forms of pressure and legal instruments to try to minimize this enterprise. And I actually applaud the WMD designation as primarily going after financial instruments to keep us from having to deploy the military to do this as a first line of defense. >> I follow what you're saying. Now walk us through the new resources that this designation gives law enforcement agencies and if needed the military to combat fentinel and counter the cartels that are enriching themselves from trafficking it. Well, I would emphasize that this part is sort of like two sides of the same coin. The terrorist designation of the cartels opens up a lot of financial measures and also military measures to go after specific people, specific properties and things like that. The WMD designation goes after the substance and then those institutions that finance or enable the substance. It primarily opens up channels that would open reputational risk for governments that are uh condoning or giving safe harbor to these institutions and these enterprises. So it really expands sanctions and those kinds of tools less so on the military side of things. uh the terrorist designation on the cartels is much more of a straight line into use of military force. It isn't eliminated from the the substance designation. It's just part a sort of another side of the same coin that really ought to clamp down on the flow before you get to the transport into our country. >> Steve, as the DEA says, it's the number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 45 in years past. Just incredible. Something that that really needs to be dealt with. Now, this order states that foreign terrorist organizations and cartels are using the profits from fentinel for assassinations, terrorist acts, insurgencies around the world that undermine the US. Is this designation strong enough to sever their funding and protect Americans foreign interests? Does Congress have a role to play here? >> Well, it is definitely a step in the right direction. Uh, and obviously there are not good moral people of good faith engaged in this kind of enterprise. If you are involved in smuggling illicit chemicals and bringing mass death anywhere, you're obviously an enemy of civilization and people need to provide for the common defense. It's one of the reasons we have a military and a federal government in the United States. Uh so I think it's a step in the right direction. Uh it's fine if Congress wants to pass legislation that is supportive. Uh the authorities that are being used for this have been legislated before. Uh this does not require a new law. Uh but I would be shocked if there was a critical mass of Congress that really saw this as problematic unless they're looking through a distorted political lens. Uh this really should be something that has a heart for and a shield for American families and communities who have been literally nuked over the last 10 years. And we should put politics aside and put the defense of these families and communities first. >> Okay, Steve, let's expand on this while we have you here. By some accounts, President Trump is exhibiting very strong behavior. Even even Europeans consider him a strong leader as well as Americans. He's taken out the Iranian nuclear program. He's taken military action against narot terrorists in the Caribbean. That said, is there more that President Trump should be doing beyond this designation andor are there some guard rails that he needs to keep in place to make sure that things don't spill over too far? >> Well, he's done a few very big things that get at this. Uh I think right at the beginning of the administration there was an imperative to secure the border. That is where a lot of this flow was going for years and years and so that effort at the southern border uh was extremely important. He also put the tariff in place from the get-go. A 20% tariff it's been reduced recently on the promise that the PRC was going to get serious about stopping the flow. Uh but even the 10% tariff is more than has been done previously to put a price on the Chinese government for these goods coming in that are illegal in the People's Republic and that they clearly have the ability to try to crack down on. Uh and then he's also put pressure on other governments including the government of Canada to do more. or when the cartels were pinched at the southern border, uh they were some enterprises that would go to the northern border to bring things into the country. And then of course last but not least there is the demonstration effect of hitting the boats that if the land bridge has been better secured the sea lanes are the other area uh that there's been pressure recently to say if you're if you're going to be going at sea whether it's fentinyl or other drugs you're in the enterprise where as you were alluding to the finances are fungeable. you make profit in one area, it can be used in another area that's detrimental to our communities and our security. Uh air is another area where there's a dimminimous uh notion where packages worth less than a certain amount had kind of free transit into the United States. That was a huge challenge for a lot of our overnight carriers. Uh new regulations were put in place to try to get after that. But I think the administration has been doing almost all that you could do to really get at where the avenues of coming into our country with this angel of death were coming in. Is it enough? We'll have to let the numbers speak to it as we get through first quarter, second quarter numbers of next year. Are the number of emergency room cases really going down? Uh are we doing a better job of protecting our communities against these risks? That's where I think the rubber really meets the road. But the external threat, I think this is goes a long way from the border to the terrorist designation to WMD designation to getting serious about the dimminimous packages smuggling this in. >> Steve, I hear you loud and clear. Thank you for connecting the dots with us and sharing your insight on our show. >> My pleasure. Thank you so much for focusing on this. >> Billionaire investor Ray Dallio announced today that he and his wife Barbara will help fund the Trump administration's so-called Trump accounts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant touted the children's investment initiative. >> Ry has joined what we are calling the 50 state challenge. The 50 state challenge is a special initiative Treasury is launching today to rally the nation's philanthropist around a common cause. Through the 50 state challenge, we are inviting every philanthropist in every state across the country to part partner with us in building generational wealth for America's children through Trump accounts. There are four ways Trump accounts will be funded. First, through an initial $1,000 seed from the government. Second, through the donations of parents, friends, and employers. Third, through the gen generous donations of wealthy Americans and philanthropic organizations. And fourth, through donations from state governments. >> The Dalio investment amounts to a $250 contribution per child for approximately 300,000 children in their home state of Connecticut. Ray Dalio took to acts posting quote by providing children with savings accounts that compound over time. We are providing them with early insights into financial literacy and a path towards financial independence. Entrepreneur Michael Dell and his wife Susan have joined the effort as well with a 6.25 billion dollar pledge backing the initiative. Trump accounts will be available for children born between 2025 and 2028. Warner Brothers Discovery has rejected a $18 billion hostile takeover bid by Paramount Sky Dance. Here are the details. Warner Brothers Discovery rejected Paramount Skyance's hostile bid on Wednesday. The Warner board argued Paramount's $ 108.4 billion offer failed to give adequate financing asurances. The board wrote in a letter to stockholders Paramount had consistently misled Warner Brothers shareholders. That was about whether its $30 per share cash offer was fully guaranteed or backstopped by the Ellison family, led by billionaire Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. The Warner Brothers board further said the Paramount offer posed numerous significant risks. It also said it found the offer inferior to the merger agreement with Netflix. The streaming giant agreed to buy Warner Brothers Discovery's TV, film studios, and streaming division for $72 billion earlier this month, but Paramount CEO David Ellison followed up with a $30 a share allcash bid for the whole company. Paramount has argued its offer is stronger than Netflix's and would have a clearer path to regulatory approval. Whoever buys Warner Brothers would have a big advantage in the streaming wars. They would be purchasing the owner of popular franchises like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and DC Comics. Paramount and Netflix didn't immediately respond to Reuters's requests for comment. A special programming note, Entity Evening News and Capital Report will be hosted live from America Fest 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona this Thursday and Friday. It's Turning Point USA's first major conference since the assassination of the organization's founder, Charlie Kirk. Speakers include CEO Erica Kirk, Vice President JD Vance, Tucker Carlson, and many more. Entities Tiffany Meyer and Steve Lance will be on the ground to bring us real time coverage and in-depth interviews. ENTD will have live special coverage of all four days of the event from December 18th to the 21st. That's this Thursday to Sunday. Don't miss it. And coming up, Russia warns that it'll expand the war in Ukraine if peace talks fail. The message President Vladimir Putin is sending to top Russian military officials today. And the Louv Museum in Paris partially reopens, but staff have voted to extend a strike over pay and working conditions. Stay with us for more. I'm Kevin Hogan and this is World Watch. Russia warns it'll expand the war in Ukraine if peace talks fail. President Vladimir Putin says he's sure the goals of Russia's military campaign will be achieved. Putin spoke at an annual meeting with top military officers earlier today. If the opposing side and its foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive dialogue, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means, the task of creating and expanding a security buffer zone will also be pursued consistently. He added that Russia would prefer achieving its goals using diplomatic means. This includes eliminating what Putin calls the root causes of the conflict. Moscow has long claimed that Russians who live in Ukraine are often being mistreated. The Kremlin has also against NATO's eastward expansion. But the US has been making rapid progress in recent weeks, meeting with officials from both Russia and Ukraine. Just on Monday, US officials said Washington might extend NATOike security guarantees to Ukraine. Kev says its officials are set to meet with American counterparts in Washington over the weekend to continue working on the peace deal. And the European Parliament has voted in favor of a proposal that would allow women from European Union countries with strict abortion laws to obtain the procedure in other member states at no cost. The plan is known as My Voice, My Choice. It would create an EU funded scheme to cover abortions for women from nations such as Malta and Poland. Supporters say the measure could reduce unsafe abortions. Critics argue it undermines national sovereignty and traditional values. The vote is advisory and the European Commission is expected to decide in March whether to advance the proposal. France's Lou Museum in Paris partially reopened today, but its staff unanimously voted to extend a strike they began yesterday over pay and working conditions. Unions say the staff at the Louv are overworked and mismanaged. They're calling for more hiring, pay increases, and a redirection of spending. The partial reopening means visitors will be able to see the museum's masterpieces, including the Mona Lisa. The strike comes in the wake of a jewel heist in October as well as a water leak that damaged ancient books. And the founder of South Korea's Quang did not appear in a parliamentary hearing today. The hearing concerned massive data breach at the e-commerce company, angering lawmakers who said they would hold him responsible. Kang CEO and chairman Bomb Kim declined to attend the hearing, citing his overseas residence and commitments as head of a global company operating in more than 170 countries. Lawmakers said they will file a complaint against Kim. Harold Rogers, the interim CEO of Quang, attended the hearing instead. And just ahead, London hotels give afternoon tea a Christmas twist, whether savory or sweet. Local establishments are providing diners a little culinary cheer, so stick around. London hotels are giving an English culinary tradition a Christmas twist this holiday season. Whether savory or sweet, local establishments are providing diners a little culinary cheer. Entities Andrew Thomas has more on the menu. The British are known for afternoon tea. At the Taj 51 in London's Buckingham Gate, the tradition is getting a festive touch. Manager Karina Lubie says the five-star hotel is offering something special this Christmas season. >> We have actually been using literary for our themes for afternoon tea for some time already. And this year it's the Midsummer Night Stream. We say it's in five acts. The menu includes chocolate and cherry mousse with winter berries, dill cream cheese, and smoked salmon on spinach bread provide a savory bite, but Lubie says they're still a classic touch. >> So, people can expect a very traditional afternoon tea to be honest with you. Of course, the scones uh we have we're very famous for our scones here for many years. We have been doing afternoon tea. Our company's originally from India. Down the street from the Bank of England, a restaurant called John is giving afternoon tea a Christmas twist. Pastry chef Lorena Tamasi said she tried to keep the menu fun but approachable. >> For example, this is roseberry and pistacho, but also if it's simple is very nice, as nutnut and hibiscus. So simple flavor but combined with something of particularly like for example inside we find as well the cherry gem. >> Meanwhile in London's Mayfair neighborhood, the Chesterfield Hotel is offering a selection of sandwiches with its afternoon tea. Festive items include prawn and merry rose on a brios bun and turkey mayonnaise and cranberry on white bread. Deputy general manager Joel Scott says the staff enjoy the Christmas touch. We do an afternoon tea all year round. Uh and normally it's our sweet shop afternoon tea. Uh but from mid November till the end of December, we run our winter wonderland afternoon tea. So it's really exciting time because it gives the chef some time to change up the menu, be creative, and the team really love it. >> In addition to the Christmas theme, the Chesterfield still offers some of the staples. >> We fe our traditional afternoon tea with a few classics. So, we've still got the egg and crest, the scon, but we feed it with some traditional Christmas items such as the turkey sandwiches. We've got the uh chocolate lure dual log. We've got uh the fra macaroon, which are my favorites. >> For locals and visitors alike, afternoon tea in London has something for everyone this holiday season. Andrew Thomas, NTD News. Swedish and Danish fighter jets took holiday cheer to the skies yesterday, flying in a festive formation over southern Sweden and Copenhagen to celebrate the season. 18 Swedish fighter jets took off from Kellanga in southern Sweden. They were joined by three fighter jets from the Danish military flying in formation. The aircraft formed the shape of a Christmas tree. They flew over towns and cities in the area then continued the festive flyover above Copenhagen. I would say the biggest challenges are the planning and also the safety part of it. Uh because when you're flying that many aircraft at the same time, safe position so close uh you don't want to end up with mishaps uh and ran into clouds for instance, which uh makes it a little bit too spectacular for the pilots. So we used to say mission first, flight safety always. So >> the Swedish Air Force performs the flights every December with jets from different units flying in a Christmas tree formation over different parts of the country. And the Air Force is buying two Boeing 7478 from German carrier Lufansza to support its future Air Force One program. The Air Force is paying $400 million for the planes. They will be used for training and spares as the Air Force prepares to replace the current Air Force One fleet. The first plane will be delivered early next year. The second is expected to be delivered before the end of 2026. The move comes after the Air Force previously announced they expect first two Boeing 7478 aircraft that are slated for use as the Air Force One won't be delivered until mid 2028. And in Australia, an unexpected sight on public transport. A koala has been rescued and released back into the wild after it was seen on a bus in the city of Brisbane. Pictures show the koala named Perry hanging onto a pole inside the vehicle. The footage was captured by Koala Rescue Brisbane South on Sunday. The organization said the animal was spotted dodging traffic on a nearby road before it climbed onto an outdoor light pole. A bus driver then retrieved the animal, moved it onto the bus, and called the koala rescue team. On the following day, wildlife staff from the organization then released the native animal into a nearby nature reserve. Koalas are listed as endangered in Queensland state as well as neighboring New South Wales and in the Australian Capital Territory. If you have any feedback on the show or have something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at news.tent.com. We'll cover more news right after this break. >> Don't miss our special coverage of Turning Point's biggest event of the year, America Fest 2025. >> This is the greatest nation on earth. >> Thousands of students expected to attend the 4-day event joined by some of the most influential voices in the conservative movement. All to honor Charlie Kirk and the principles he stood for. Watch our special coverage of the convention and our on the ground editions of NTD Evening News with Tiffany Meyer at 6 PM Eastern and Capital Report with Steve Lance at 7:00. Turning Point USA, America Fest 2025, this Thursday through Sunday on NTD.