Trump Meets Netanyahu; Putin: Russia Will Review Peace Talks Stance | NTD News Today (Dec. 29)

Welcome to NTD News Today. Here are today's top stories. Moscow says Ukraine tried to attack President Putin's residence, possibly trying to kill the Russian leader. The Kremlin now reconsidering its stance in the peace talks. How Ukraine is responding. The US is working to maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which is [music] heading into a complicated second phase. Both President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister today. A $50 billion fund for rural health care. The White [music] House provides an update on what the money aims to do and how much each state will get. [music] This is NTD News Today live from our global headquarters in New York City. >> And a striking new development in the Russia Ukraine peace negotiations. President Putin told President Trump today that Russia would review its position in talks. It comes after Moscow said Ukraine tried to attack President Putin's residence overnight. Ukraine denies it. The claim by Russia comes just a day after Keev announced that multiple parts of a peace proposal were between 90 and 100% agreed to. According to the Kremlin, Ukraine aimed at Putin's residence near St. Petersburg using 91 long range drones. Russia says it destroyed all the incoming drones, but it's not yet clear if Putin was in the residence at the time. Moscow is vowing retaliation, saying targets have already been selected. Kev, meanwhile, denies the accusations. President Zullinski says the claim is a lie, adding that the Russian accusi accusation is an attempt to undermine peace talks. It comes after Ukrainian President Vimir Zalinsky said today that the US is offering 15-year security guarantee as part of any proposed peace plan. Though Zalinsky said he would prefer a US commitment of up to 50 years to deter Russia from further attempts to seize land by force. On the Russian side, the Kremlin said today that Ukraine should withdraw its troops from part of Donbass that is still controls if it wants peace. His spokesman said another call between President Trump and Russia's President Putin would happen soon. Zalinsky met with Trump at Mara Lago over the weekend. Trump said the talks were getting very close to a deal to end the war in Ukraine. >> Not too many people. >> They've been very fair actually for last three days. >> President Trump, are you going to green light for another attack in >> Iran? Mr. President, Mr. President, go ahead. >> Mr. President, how quickly move to phase two of the peace plan for >> as quickly as we can, but there has to be a disarmament. You know that we have to disarm with Hamas. So, one of the things we'll talk about certainly, but there has to be a disarming of Hamas >> otherwise very quickly. Yeah. Attorney, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any? >> Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's a implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around. Is that the only strike that the US >> I don't want to comment >> yesterday there was an explosion overnight in the Russians say that Ukraine tried to hit the residents of President Putin. Do you have any information? >> No, I don't know about it actually and I don't uh I just heard about it actually but I don't know about it. >> Did you speak with >> that would be too bad. That would not be good. What was the outcome of your telephone call with President Putin? >> I had a very good talk this morning. I waited till this morning because it was pretty late by the time we finished like 2:30 in Russia at 2:30 in the morning and we had a very good talk. We spoke at 8:00 in the morning hour time and it was a very productive talk. I mean we have a few very thorny issues as you can imagine. He knows about thorny issues probably better than anybody in the world, but it's working out. We have uh a couple of issues that we're going to get resolved hopefully. And if we get them resolved, you're going to have peace. You're going to have uh Ukraine losing 26,000 soldiers a month. Can you believe it? A month. 26,000 young, beautiful soldiers. And plus some people in Kiev and relatively small, but a lot, you know, still people. And it's a lot of people, but 26,000 soldiers were killed last month. Yes. >> President Trump, >> are you going to allow Turkish forces or do you expect Turkish forces to be stationed in Gaza? >> So, uh, I have a great relationship with President Erdogan and we'll be talking about it and if it's good, I think that's good and a lot will be, uh, having to do with BB. We're going to be talking about that. But Turkeykey's been great and he's been, you know, excellent as far as I'm concerned. I don't know about you, but >> to me he's to me he's been very good. >> Sure. Please tell me a little bit about your relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu and how important it is for you to see him be pardoned by the Israeli president. >> Look, he's a four-time prime minister. He's done a phenomenal job. He's taken Israel through a very dangerous period of uh trauma. Uh Israel with other people might not exist right now if you want to know the truth. That's a pretty big statement, but it's true. I feel that you had the wrong prime minister. Israel right now would not exist because they were >> they were met with a force the likes of which very few countries could have handled. and uh we worked together and we were extremely victorious to put it mildly. Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again and if they are we're going to have to knock them down. We'll knock them down. We'll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that's not happening. I heard Iran wants to make a deal if they want to make a deal that's much smarter. You know, they could have made a deal the last time before we went through, you know, a big attack on them and uh they they decide not to make the deal. They wish they made that deal. So I think again they should make a deal. They want to make a deal, but sometimes that doesn't happen. Yeah, please. >> Mr. Trump for News Israel, would you support the overthrow of the Iranian regime? >> Who? >> Iranian regime. >> I I'm not going to talk about overthrow of a regime. It's uh they've got a lot of problems that I have tremendous inflation. Their economy is bust. economy is no good and I know that people aren't so happy but don't forget every time they have a riot or somebody forms a group little or big they start shooting people you know they kill people and the people tend to I've watched this for years there's tremendous discontent they form a 100,000 200,000 people all of a sudden people start getting shot and that group disbands pretty quickly ly. So I've watched it for years. They're vicious, vicious people. Yeah. >> Mr. President, will you support an attack Israeli attack on Iran if Iran will not have a deal? If Iran will continue with their ballistic missiles and also nuclear weapon. >> If they will continue with >> uh the missiles, yes, the nuclear fast. Okay. One will be yes, absolutely. The other was we'll do it immediately. >> Mr. President from China to ask you, what are your plans regarding Gaza for the next few weeks? >> Well, we're going to be yelling on Gaza. That's why uh this very great prime minister is here right now. We're talking about Gaza. We're talking about a lot of things. We have about five major subjects that we're discussing and Gaza will be one of those subjects. >> Mr. President, can you guarantee that the last hostages and Philly will be released before will continue to the second phase of the gas plane? >> Well, let's put it this way. Every hostage just about that's been released was released because of me, uh, Steve Whit, Jared Kushner, my whole team, Marco Rubio, Pete Hexet, they were all released because of us. None were released in the Biden administration. None. They were all released because of us. Then we had a lack of releases with respect to the dead and all of a sudden they started coming back because they said nope. You said you're getting we have one wonderful young man whose parents are right now inside and he's what beautiful parents, a beautiful brother, sister and uh like a beautiful family and they're waiting for their son. It's the only one left and we're doing everything we can to get his body back. And the parents just said hopefully he's alive. And I said I'd love you to think that way. >> Okay. So, we're doing everything we can. >> Do you have evidence? >> But but think of it. >> Out of all of these people, and I'm not just talking about the final 20, >> right? >> Look at all of the people. What do you think the total number is? >> 255. >> 255. >> 254 came out. One more. Think of that. And we got them all. >> Nobody else got them. >> Construction of President Trump. >> Hold it one second. Y'all do you just let her go. Go ahead. >> The reconstruction of Gaza will begin even before Hamas is disarmed. >> I think he's going to begin pretty soon. >> Before >> he's he's looking forward to it. So am I. Look what a mess. What a mess it is. And it's been a mess for centuries. really. It's been a mess for a long time. It's uh seems to be born for that, but we're going to we're going to straighten it out. Uh no, we're already starting certain things. We're doing things for sanitary conditions and others, but Gaza is a tough place to you know the expression, it's a tough neighborhood. It's truly a tough It's truly a tough neighborhood. Yeah. You had a question. go. >> I'll ask about I'll ask about the relationship between you and the prime minister. >> There is no relationship good relationship between you. >> I don't think it can be better. We just won a big war together. You know, if we didn't beat Iran, you wouldn't have had peace in the Middle East because nobody would have been able. The Arab countries who have been fantastic would not have been able to make a deal. If we didn't wipe out their nuclear, we wiped it out. If we didn't wipe out with our beautiful B2 bombers, if we didn't and we sent a lot of tomahawks in there also, by the way, from a submarine. >> And what's about the pardon that the president of Israel needs to give the prime minister >> a pardon? >> I think he will. How do you not He's a wartime prime minister who's a hero. How do you not give a pardon? You know, I think it's a very hard thing not to do it. Uh, I spoke to the president and I it's on I mean he tells me it's on its way. Mr. >> can't do better than that, right? >> Please, can I follow up on Venezuela? Was the facility taken out by the US military or was it another entity like the CIA? >> It was along Well, I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want to say who it was. >> But, you know, it was along the shore. >> Mr. President, have you or anyone in the administration talked to Maduro uh in recent days? >> Well, I spoke to him >> recently. >> Pretty recently, reasonably, but nothing much comes out. Yeah. >> Mr. President, can you explain the importance? >> You have to understand what he said. They've sent billions of dollars of drugs in, but maybe just as bad. They've sent hundreds of thousands of people in from jails, from prisons, from mental institutions, and insane asylums. Uh the drug lords, the drug dealers were all sent into our country. But think of it what he's done. Trend Ragua was probably the worst gang. They cut off people's fingers. One man made a phone call to complain about them. He cut off their hand. They cut off his hand. Don't ever make a phone call again. We'll cut off your other hand. After that, we'll kill you, they said. That was in Colorado. No. Uh they sent in all of the bad ones. They sent in some bad people and uh that to me was just terrible. And they sent in drugs. Now I will say this, 97% of the drugs coming in by sea stopped. We're trying to figure out who the other 3% are. That they have a hard time getting people to pilot those boats. But 97% of the drugs coming in by the ocean, by the sea, by water are gone. Every boat that we take out, we save 25,000 lives of Americans. Thank you very much everybody. We'll see you. We're gonna have a big meeting and we'll see you in a couple of hours if you'd like. And if you'd like, you can come up and have lunch like you did yesterday. Would you like that or not? Do you want that? >> Oh, yes. >> Because some of them think it's terrible. It's a bribe. >> But you know, a bribe for $25. I don't know. If you'd like, you can go. And if you don't, you can stand in a driveway and melt. All right. But if you want uh will you work on that, Margot? >> Yes, sir. >> Is Margot doing a good job? >> She's a star. She's too nice. >> Her only problem, she's too nice to you and you're not nice to us, but that's okay. Margot, take them up and have a beautiful lunch and we'll see you later. >> Are you worried that the strike the alleged strike ones? >> Yeah, I don't I don't like it. It's not good. Uh I heard about it this morning. >> You know who told me about it? President Putin told me about it early in the morning. He said he was attacked. That's no good. It's no good. >> Don't forget, you know, the tomahawks. I stopped the Tomahawks. I didn't want that because we're talking about, you know, it's a delicate period of time. This is not the right time. It's one thing to be offensive because they were offensive. It's another thing to attack his house. It's not the right time to do any of that and can't do it. And I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it. >> Do you not have service? >> What? >> US intelligence services that monitor that very closely. Is there any evidence? >> Well, it came out. It came out. Well, we'll find out. I mean, you're saying maybe the attack didn't take place. It's possible to, I guess. But President Putin told me this morning it did. >> Question, Mr. President. Can you expound on the important the importance of a strong relationship with the state of Israel? And Mr. Prime Minister, you've let you call President Trump the strongest friend for the state of Israel. You've worked with numerous administration, numerous presidents. Can you expound on that? What makes President Trump such a strong friend for the state of Israel? >> I'll say it again and again and again. We've never had a friend by President Trump in the White House. It's not even close. And uh I think you can judge that by the not merely by the frequency of our meetings, but by the content and the intensity. I think Israel is very blessed to have President Trump leading the United States and I'll say leading the free world at this time. I think it's not merely Israel's great fortune. I think it's the world's great fortune. >> Well, I just want to say that uh it's very important who the prime minister and president of Israel is. We have a great relationship. It was an honor to speak before your leaders. That was a great honor for me. I think it had not happened before or something they told me. But uh the relationship's been extraordinary and uh BB's a strong man. He can be very difficult on occasion, but you need a strong man. If you had a weak man, you wouldn't have Israel right now. Israel would have been, you know, Israel with most other leaders would not exist today. They would not exist and now they're stronger than ever. Yeah, please. Are you going to ask Napa to sign an agreement in Syria? >> Well, I hope he's going to get along with Syria because the new president of Syria is working very hard to do a good job. He really is. I know he's a tough cookie and he's uh you know, you're not going to get a choir boy to lead Syria. That's the one thing I will say. So, I hope they're going to get along because you know, I took I dropped the sanctions on Syria because otherwise they wouldn't have had a chance. We want to see Syria survive. So, we're going to be talking about Syria, too. Okay. Thank you very much, everybody. Have a good time. Go have a good lunch. >> Thank you. >> You know, after you hear these things, I think better to quit now. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That's great. >> And another military strike against Venezuelan drug traffickers. President Trump says the US took out a major facility in the South American country. here. He is speaking to WABC radio on Friday. >> We just knocked out, I don't know if you read or you saw, they have a big plant or big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from. Uh, two nights ago, we knocked that out. So, we we hit them very hard. But drugs are down over 97%. Can you believe it? >> The president didn't provide details about the strike. The Trump administration has been targeting drug boats in international waters in recent months, but this would mark the first time the US military has struck a land target in Venezuela. Trump added during the interview that the Venezuelan regime took US oil and sent millions of people from their jails to America. The president recently announced a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers to and from Venezuela and also did not rule out war with the country. And the State Department today said the US has made a $2 billion pledge for UN humanitarian aid. The US reduced its aid spending this year as did Western donors such as Germany, pivoting to increase defense spending instead. The State Department said the UN needs to consolidate humanitarian functions to reduce bureaucratic overhead on necessary duplication, what it called ideological creep. It said individual UN agencies will need to adapt, shrink, or die. Total US humanitarian contributions to the UN fell to almost 3.5 billion in 2025, equating to about 15% of the global sum. This was down sharply from around 14 billion the prior year and a peak of around 17 billion in 2022. The United Nations launched a 2026 aid appeal for $23 billion earlier this month. That's half the 47 billion sought for 2025, reflecting faller donor support. [snorts] And still to come, the man accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington the night before the January 6th, 2021 capital breach has [music] confessed. We have the update. And a viral video, a massive fraud investigation, and now a warning from the FBI. Federal officials say they've already indicted dozens in Minnesota. But the FBI director says what they've uncovered so far could be just the tip of the iceberg. Welcome back. I'm Paul Greeny. A man charged with planting two pipe bombs in Washington DC the night before the January 6th capital breach has confessed. That's according to court papers released yesterday. Brian J. Cole Jr. told authorities he felt obligated to quote speak up after he started to suspect the 2020 election had been quote tampered with. Cole was arrested this month and according to the government's court filing, he initially denied placing the bombs outside the Republican and Democratic Party headquarters ahead of the US capital breach. But then investigators showed him a surveillance image of what they said was him in a hooded sweatshirt carrying a backpack on the same route the bomber took. After that, according to the filing, he confessed. And the shocking scope of alleged fraud in Minnesota continues to come to light. Independent journalist Nick Shirley published an over 40minute investigative video of daycare and health care centers in the state. The video has already crossed a 100 million views on X. Here's part of the video and reactions from Shirley on Fox News. >> Hello. We'd like to ask where's the money's going? >> What do you guys think about the fraud that's taking place here in Minnesota? >> I don't think anybody is enabling fraud to happen. >> Hold Governor Walls accountable for this. >> What was this money spent on? >> 1.26 million. What was that money? There aren't any kids. >> Answer the question. Are there children? >> There's no children inside this building. We were able to crack over $110 million in fraud in one day. And that's just the tip. When people say it's the tip of the iceberg, it really is because there's billions of fraud inside the state of Minnesota right now. Oh, it's so obvious. If you're living in Minnesota, you have to raise your eyebrows and think what's going on. Every literally if you drive around Minnesota, around Minneapolis, you will see daycare centers, autism centers. You will then see transportation companies that have snow piled up as if they haven't moved in months. And then you also go into buildings where there'll be 20 healthcare companies, 14. In the video, Shirley visits multiple daycare centers where there are no kids in sight. Some have blacked out windows and no visible playgrounds. The centers allegedly received millions of dollars in government funding. A spokesperson for Minnesota Governor Tim Walls says the governor has strengthened oversight, including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed. And FBI director Cash Patel commented on Shirley's videos focusing on alleged fraud in Minnesota. Patel says the FBI surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota before the video was shared. Patel says the aim is to dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs. Federal officials have so far indicted 78 people and convicted 57 individuals in a $250 million fraud scheme in Minnesota. Charges included wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, and more. Patel says the FBI believes the cases uncovered so far are just the very tip of a very large iceberg. He says the FBI will continue to follow the money and protect children. The FBI director says many are also being referred to immigration officials for possible deportation proceedings. Meanwhile, Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Elon Omar has also come under scrutiny. Her net worth rose sharply to about $30 million, an increase of roughly 35fold from the year before. The wealth is largely attributed to assets connected to her husband's firm, Rose Lake Capital. And the one big beautiful bill allocates $50 billion to fund health care in rural America. The White House today providing an update on what this money will do. Dr. Meal's administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says the fund will be distributed over 5 years. His agency will be getting $10 billion every fiscal year and the first year's fund is already given out. Each state will get between $147 million and $281 million in 2026. The fund aims to address structural issues with rural health care such as lower life expectancy. Dr. Oz says the purpose of the fund is not to pay operating expenses, but rather to incentivize innovation. He says, for example, Alaska is exploring drone delivery of prescription drugs and Alabama is experimenting with robotics during ultrasounds on pregnant women. [snorts] And Lululemon founder and former CEO Chip Wilson is launching a campaign to shake up its board. Wilson, Lululemon's second largest shareholder, announced today he nominated three new directors to the board of the struggling fitness brand. He isn't nominating himself to the board, which he left in 2015. The looming proxy fight comes after a few weeks uh after Lululemon announced CEO Calvin McDonald is leaving, ending a tumultuous 7-year stint. The athleisure brand failed to keep up with competitors toward the end of McDonald's tenure. The company's stock has lost more than 40% of its value this year. Wilson stepped down as Lululemon CEO in 2005 and has routinely attacked the company's decisions. And silver prices soaring to a record high of $83 per ounce today before settling back to just below 72. The jump marked 175% increase since the start of the year. In addition to silver, gold prices have risen by more than 66% with a record high of $4,500 per ounce. That's up from just over 2600 at the beginning of the year. Today, gold hovered at around 4,300 an ounce. Platinum was at 2100, marking 137% increase this year. A meteorologist say a cold front that's sweeping east across the country is clashing with unseasonably warm air. The result is a string of brutal winter storms. Today, they're pummeling much of the northeastern quadrant of the United States. Here's a closer look at how the weather is impacting travel. >> This is kind of the last harrah for folks that haven't left already to return home. >> Many postol travelers face weather delays and dangers today. Storms spawning along a cold front are affecting tens of millions of people. Much of the Northeast is dealing with severe snow and ice storms. >> The ice is our main concern. I know temps are supposed to warm up. Ground temps are still cold. In the Midwest today, forecasters warned blizzards are the concern. They say snow could meet winds up to 60 miles per hour in some areas. The FAA says Chicago O'Hare Airport had a ground stop yesterday. >> Oh, shoot. >> Utilities report more than 100,000 recent power outages in the region. In Iowa, >> 14 vehicle crash just ahead of my vehicle that's being cleaned up now. zero visibility. >> Some communities, like this one in Illinois, are recovering from tornado damage. Meanwhile, FlightAware reports about 10,000 US flight delays and 800 cancellations yesterday. That follows another rough day for some passengers Saturday. >> I just want to make it home to my own bed tonight. >> Going with the flow wherever the wind takes me. In places across the country, the upside of the winter weather is the joy it's bringing children on holiday breaks. >> We're trying to find a good area to do a snowball fight. >> Still to come, three Turkish police officers killed in a clash with ISIS terrorists in Turkey. Officials say [music] six terrorists are also dead. Two-time heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua injured in a car accident in Nigeria. Police said the crash killed [music] two people after the break. I'm Paul Grainy. This is World Watch. Three Turkish police officers were killed in a clash with ISIS terrorists [music] in Turkey today. Six terrorists were also killed in the operation. Unfortunately, due to that treacherous attack, our three heroic policemen died. Eight other policemen and a security official were wounded. The operation was conducted with the highest precision due to the presence of children and women in the house. Officials say eight police and another security force member were wounded in the gunfight in the town of Yalova. Police launched the operation at 2 am targeting a house that was believed to contain terrorists. The ISIS members killed were all Turkish citizens. Five women, six children were brought out of the property safely. Turkish police last week detained 115 suspected [music] ISIS members. They were allegedly planning to carry out attacks on Christmas and [music] New Year celebrations in the country. And two-time heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua was injured in a car accident in Nigeria today. Police said the crash killed two people. Nigerian authorities said the British boxer sustained [music] minor injuries. Joshua is the son of British Nigerian parents [music] and attending a boarding school 50 miles from where the crash happened. The accident [music] comes just over a week after Joshua knocked out American social media influ influencer Jake Paul in the sixth round of the Miami fight. And Joshua is expected to fight fellow Brit and former world champion Tyson Fury next year. The families of 17 victims from Sydney's deadly Bondi Beach attack are calling for government action. A daughter of one of the individuals killed told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, "The public deserve to know more. >> It's been horrific. The fact that we do not have any answers from the prime minister, the fact that there's a lack of action, there's no accountability, there's no responsibility, it's making the hurt so much more. We need to take as much information as we can to see how this was able to occur and to ensure that this can never occur again. It was the deadliest attack on Australian soil. There have been royal commissions for banks into age care. We must have a royal commission for this. And families of the victims of the JJ air crash honored their loved ones today. They visited the site of the crash at Muan International Airport a year after the plane collided with a concrete structure. While attending the first anniversary memorial ceremony, the grieving families walked among pieces of remaining debris. Some families put a birthday cake near the crash site for victims that had birthdays this month. Others placed flowers and burned letters to [music] the victims. Families continued to demand answers. In a preliminary report released in January, investigators said both engines insane bird strikes, but they have yet to release a final report into last year's crash that killed 179 of the 181 people on board. And it's been nearly 40 years since the world watched in fear as disaster struck at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. But with the Russia Ukraine war raging on, the protection of the infamous nuclear facility remains as vital as ever. NTD's Daniel Monahan reports. >> Reactor number four of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in present- day Ukraine exploded on April 26th, 1986. The blast caused a radioactive fallout which spewed into the atmosphere. Dozens of people were killed in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. While the long-term death toll from radiation poisoning is believed to number in the thousands. Following the incident, so-called liquidators traveled to Chernobyl from all over the Soviet Union to try to eliminate the consequences and get the plant up and running again. >> A few months after the accident, the other reactors were started up again once they'd been cleaned up and um and and checked for safety and and additional uh safety measures were put in place to prevent hopefully another Chernobyl. Those reactors were gradually shut down over the next 14 years after the accident. The final one to shut down was unit 3 in the year 2000, which is the one next door to the one that exploded. To keep the plant operational, the damaged reactor was sealed off and a huge steel and concrete enclosure, which became known as the sarcophagus, was constructed between June to late November 1986. The plant remained operational during the fall of the Soviet Union and Ukraine gaining independence in 1991. >> So of course this was at times where you know it coincided the Chernobyl incident roughly with the with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ukraine is a new country. Um people needed electricity to maintain the grid to maintain um stability effectively. So it was all important to keep the lights on at this sort of time of political turbulence and change. >> However, in October 1991, reactor number two became damaged beyond repair after a fire and was taken out of operation. Reactor number one was decommissioned in November 1996. But it wasn't until April 25th, 2000 that then Ukrainian Prime Minister Victor Yusenko confirmed the site would shut. On December 15th, 2000, the final reactor number three was turned off, shutting down the whole site. >> Ukraine was very strongly encouraged by the US and and Western Europe to uh to shut the remaining reactors at Chernobyl down. Uh and they were given uh aid in the form of um help to rebuild the or or make the structure over the damaged reactor stronger. Between 2010 and 2016, the new safe confinement, a nearly 350 ft high and 850 ft wide metal structure, was built to cover and protect the concrete sarcophagus. However, since the start of the Russian Ukraine conflict, fighting around nuclear power plants has repeatedly raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe during the 3 years of war. The site was occupied by Russian forces for 35 days. And on February 14th this year, a drone armed with a warhead hit the protective outer shell of the plant, >> which punctured a hole in it and started a small fire in the in the new safe confinement building, but fortunately didn't um and probably wasn't designed to um get through the original giant concrete structure over the reactor, so it didn't cause a release of radiation or radioactivity. Keev blamed Russia while the Kremlin denied it was responsible. After the strike, repair work quickly began. >> So, they've put some um specialist workers uh who have sort of repelled down the side of the new safe confinement structure to try and put a membrane over the hole. Now, that physically helps to cover up the hole. Uh it doesn't help to form a hermetic seal, but at least it stops the weather coming in through the hole. Scott says ideally the Ukrainians need to accelerate the speed at which they're doing the decommissioning, >> but of course that's made very very challenging by the fact that they're still, you know, uh uh being invaded by by a foreign aggressor. >> With the sarcophagus still intact, the radiation risk is low. However, Scott feels it's only a matter of time before a new solution for the sarcophagus is needed. The radioactivity will cause the sarcophagus to continue to degrade. And it is a structure that is is really very old now. And just like any old building, it will continue to to fall apart until either someone takes it down or it falls down. >> On December 5th, the International Atomic Energy Agency released a statement saying that the new safe confinement has lost its primary safety functions, including the confinement capability as a result of the drone strike. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. >> And still to come in boxing news, former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua injured in a fatal car accident today. NTD's Dave Martin joins us to discuss when we return. And Shenune Performing Arts began its US tour over the weekend. A Houston city council member presenting Shenune with a certificate of recognition. >> [music] >> And now for your sports news, we're joined by NTD's [music] Dave Martin. Dave, happy Monday. Great to see you. >> Hey, good to see you, too, Paul. >> Dave Amni Joshua, big story about him again. Spoke about him, I think this day last week. First of all, NFL coming into the weekend. Three playoff spots still up for grabs. Well, how do we stand? Well, we've got one of them decided now. Those are the Houston Texans. They clinched a playoff spot with their win over the Chargers Saturday night. That marked their eighth straight win overall, third straight playoff appearance for this team. Now, elsewhere [music] though, Pittsburgh Steelers could have clinch clinched a playoff birth and a division title with a win over Cleveland, but the Browns pulled the upset. They won 13 to6. Meanwhile, second place Baltimore won as well at Green Bay. That was Saturday night. So now these two Steelers and Ravens will play next week for the division title. Now each division winner gets a playoff spot. So that that would be the final spot in the AFC. In the NFC, there's still one spot left [music] for which team whichever team wins the South Division. That's between Carolina and Tampa Bay. Both teams lost yesterday. That actually sets up another winner take all this Saturday for the division and last playoff spot between Carolina and Tampa Bay. So we had three spots up for grabs. One is [music] clinched, two will be clinched this coming weekend, which is the final NFL weekend. >> But what we do know is the Texans win eliminated the Colts. Now, what does that mean for the comeback the comeback kid, Phil Rivers? >> Phil Rivers. Well, it seems very unlikely that he's going to be playing next week. They have one game left still. Like you said, though, it's pretty much meaningless with the game with the with the really the team out of playoff contention. Now, we haven't heard actually from head coach Shane Stiken. I would think they would go with rookie quarterback uh Riley Leonard though. He was their sixth round pick out of Notre Dame. You want to see what you have with the rookie in a meaningless game pretty much for that. That said though, Rivers played very well for a 44 year old who hasn't played in 5 years. Of course, you know, and only had a couple weeks of practice. Yesterday, he was 17 to 30 passing for 147 yards, one touchdown, one interception. Now, overall, his, you know, his advanced numbers, the total quarterback rating 50.3. He was really right in the middle of the pack during these last three weeks here. 63% completion percentage is very good. Really just made for quite a story though. I mean, like you said, a guy 44 years old, out of the NFL for 5 years. He's coaching high school football. Comes back, gets to play three games. Unfortunately, the Colts lost [music] all three games while they were, you know, looking for a playoff spot. But it was a very exciting story. I really enjoyed seeing him play to be honest. >> Not bad for an oldtime. >> Not bad. Anthony Joshua, we had him beating Jake Paul. He's in a car crash in Nigeria. >> I know, right? Crazy. Uh Josh, we we don't have too many details right now, but he was in the back seat of a Lexus SUV in Nigeria when it reportedly hit a stationary truck that was parked alongside the road. This is according to multiple reports. Now, two passengers died in the accident tragically. It's not clear though yet whether they were in Joshua's SUV or in the truck. Now, police told ESPN this happened as a result of a burst tire on Joshua's vehicle, which caused the driver to lose control of the car and crash into the stationary truck. Joshua was taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical attention. It would appear that he is at least fared a lot better than other people in this crash. Now, Joshua is Britishborn. His parents, though, are from Nigeria. He went to boarding school there at age 11. Two-time heavyweight champion. Like you said, he just beat Jake Paul a week and a half ago in Miami. Looking to regain his heavyweight title too soon over Alexander Usyk, although it's not they're not scheduled actually to fight yet, but I'm sure he would like another shot to get a third heavyweight belt. But yeah, tragic news out of Nigeria. >> Yes. And and condolences to the people who died in that, but glad Andy Joshua was was just the same minor injuries if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. >> Well, let's see. Jay Martin, we appreciate it. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Paul. And Shenu Performing Arts has begun performances in the United States with shows over the weekend, including in cities like California, Connecticut, and Texas. A Houston city council member was at Shen Yune's opening performance over the weekend, and presented Shen Yune with a certificate of recognition. Let's take a look at some of the audience reactions, which NTD has been covering since 2006 as a media sponsor of Shenune Performing Arts. Shane Performing Arts gave their first performance in Houston, Texas on December 26th at the Jones Hall for the performing arts. Houston City Council member Edward Per was among the audience members and was there to present Shying with a certificate of recognition. He congratulated them on their 20th anniversary as they embark on their 2026 world tour. It was an incredible performance uh for Shin Yun to be back in Houston for the 18th year and the 20th year that the performance has been going on around our country. It's a blessing to have it back in Houston and the performers did an excellent job. >> Well, I thought it was a fabulous show. Very talented uh performers uh dancing with passion and excitement showing the true [snorts] richness of China uh and its heritage. Shing is based in New York where it was founded in 2006. Their mission is to revive 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture through classical Chinese dance and music from before communism. Audience members gave the impression of Shen's orchestra, which consists of both classical, western, and eastern instruments. >> The orchestra was great. I mean, all of the different sounds and the the the the music that they were able to provide while the dancers were performing went perfect. Uh but a big shout out goes to the MC's as well. Uh they really explained what we were watching, the importance and historical u history of each dance and I thought it was just excellent all around. >> Uh the music is great. I I really enjoy the uh mix of the uh western uh orchestra as well as the uh traditional Chinese instrument. So that's really uh very interesting, very unique for me. Theatergoers also commented on the spiritual themes present throughout the performance. >> It was more than just dancing. It was about us as human beings uh having traditional values, making sure that uh we understand our greater purpose and the dancers really reflected that. >> It resonates with sort of our Christian tradition uh in the United States and the rest of the world where the uh power and goodness comes from God and not from the government. And I think that's probably one of the reasons why this isn't shown in China. >> Their emotions definitely impact me. I can feel it. Even though wherever our seats are, I it can definitely it just reflects their emotions. I can feel every single one of them in their movements. Even though wherever we are, it's very smooth, too. It's very elegant. I'm I love it. >> Shane will be performing in Houston until December 30th. NTD News, Houston, Texas. And New Year's Eve is just two days away and the organizers behind the Times Square celebration tested confetti today ahead of the big night. They held a countdown at the Broadway Plaza between 45th and 46th Street. >> 5 4 3 2 1 Happy New Year. Oh my golly. >> The Times Square Alliance. One, Times Square and Countdown Entertainment attended today's rehearsal. The co-organizers of Times Square New York's Eve's event and sponsor Planet Fitness took part as well. The actual event on New Year's Eve will involve 30 involve 3,000 lbs of confetti. And a zoo in Tacoma, Washington is welcoming a new addition to its family. An Asian small clawed otter was born to firsttime parents last month. The Point Defiant Zoo and Aquarium says the pup is almost is most likely male and is developing well. The otter has not yet been named. The zoo also recently welcomed a male of the same species named Yuki. He was brought there as part of a breeding program and paired with a female at the zoo. The two have been getting along well so far. The zoo notes that Asian small clawed otter are the smallest of the world's 13 otter species. They're native to southern India, China, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. >> Sounds good. >> And if you have any feedback on the show, maybe you'd like to see us cover something in particular, send us an email at news.tent.com. We'd love to hear from you. We'll cover more news right after this break. I'm Kevin Hogan and on behalf [music] of the NTD News Today team, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season.