Beijing Holds 2nd Day of Drills Near Taiwan; U.S. Hits Venezuelan Dock | NTD Evening News (Dec. 30)

Welcome to End Evening News. Our top story tonight, the US military striking another drug vessel in the Eastern Pacific. Mari Oatsu with more on that and what President Trump has to say about the United States first land strike in Venezuela. A US official is casting doubt on Russia's report of an attack on the residence of President Vladimir Putin. Russia has not yet provided evidence for its accusation. Arian Pastar with the latest. The Department of Homeland Security says most illegal immigrants arrested in 2025 have a US criminal record. Jason Blair brings us the government stats that close out the year. Tensions in Yemen between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The latest moves after Saudi Arabia strikes a port in Yemen targeting an alleged weapon shipment from the UAE. Beijing stages a second day of drills around Taiwan. Some experts say the Chinese Communist Party is rehearsing for an invasion, not simply conducting military exercises. Could the so-called drills eventually evolve into an actual assault on the island? Luis Martinez reports. This is NTD Evening News live from our global headquarters in New York City. Here's Tiffany Meyer. >> Good evening. Thank you for joining us tonight. I'm Paul Grainy in for Tiffany Meyer. The US striking a drug carrying vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Monday amid a massive military buildup in the Caribbean. It comes as President Trump says the US hit a drug boat loading facility in Venezuela last week. We go now live to Entity Washington correspondent Mari Otsu at the north lawn of the White House. Mari, good evening. Paul, good evening. That's right. The US military is escalating its campaign in the Caribbean amid efforts to put further pressure on Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro's regime uh with pres which President Trump recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Uh the US is now announcing yet another kinetic strike against a drug carrying vessel in the Eastern Pacific which is now bringing uh the total count to around 30 kinetic strikes under Operation Southern Spear. And this is coming as President Trump says uh that the US also struck an area on Venezuelan land just last week. Take a look. >> 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 the implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around. This Christmas Eve strike marks the first known time that Washington has carried out land operations in Venezuela. An escalation the president has repeatedly warned about. >> Anybody getting involved in that right now is not doing well. And we'll start that on land, too. It's going to be starting on land pretty soon. >> US officials say the target was a dock believed to be where Trena was storing narcotics and preparing to move the drugs onto boats. >> The drug lords, the drug dealers were all sent into our country. But think of it what he's done. >> Trende Ragua probably the worst gang. They cut off people's fingers. >> In October, President Trump authorized the CIA to conduct operations in Venezuela. >> I authorized for two reasons really. Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America. They've allowed thousands and thousands of prisoners, mental institution, people from mental institutions, insane asylums. Many many countries have done it but not like Venezuela. They were down and dirty. And the other thing are drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela. >> And now he emphasizes that since the beginning of Operation Southern Spear, >> 97% of the drugs coming in by sea stopped. We're trying to figure out who the other 3% are. Every boat that we take out, we save 25,000 lives of Americans. And meanwhile, over the weekend, Venezuela began shutting down its oil wells uh in the Oruronokco Belt, which is a region with the world's largest oil deposits as its storage tanks overflow. And this is following the Trump administration's blockade of all sanctioned vessels going in or out of Venezuelan waters um and US interceptions of Venezuelan oil tankers, which has been a crippling uh revenue for the Maduro regime. And China is Venezuela's main oil buyer and is hit hardest by these disruptions uh which have cut Venezuelan oil experts uh by half compared to the month of November this month. Paul, back to you. >> Important developments. Mario, thank you. And the Department of Homeland Security says that seven out of 10 people arrested by ICE in 2025 have either been convicted of crimes or have pending criminal charges. Entity correspondent Jason Blair has more. Rounding out 2025, the Department of Homeland Security says 70% of illegal immigrants arrested by ICE so far have a criminal record or have been charged with crimes in the US. Government data shows that during the Trump administration's ongoing crackdown, 595,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested as of December 11th and that about 416,000 fit in the criminal category. The DHS says that only crimes committed in the United States are counted in the stats which do not account for criminal convictions in other countries. In July, White House borders Tom Hman said that most of those arrested without criminal records in the US are classified as national security threats. >> We arrest national security threats by the thousands since President Trump's been over office. Who else is that 30%. People with fin order deportation. People who had due process at great taxpayer expense were ordered removed by an immigration judge. Our job is to remove them. There's also gang members. >> And with a temporary incentive in place until Wednesday, the DHS says that self-deportations come in at 1.9 million from January to December. Voluntary deportations can be initiated by the Customs and Border Protection Home app, which was created by the Trump administration. The app facilitated roughly 76% of all deportations in 2025. And ICE director Todd Lion says that Homeland Security is still active on the ground in Minnesota doing fraud investigations. He tells Fox and Friends that the department has quote learned a lot. obviously looking at any type of links to any criminal activity, obviously terrorism activity, you know, and one thing you will see is that ISIS is actually out there uh going with criminal warrants to conduct these investigations. >> And one daycare center in Minneapolis was thrust into the spotlight after independent journalist Nick Shirley visited it, allegedly showing it suspiciously empty and not operating. a man who's reportedly the manager of that center went public saying that fraud investigations are false and the video was taken outside of operating hours. Yesterday, the Department of Justice said that fraud investigations in Minnesota have been going on for months and that 98 people have already been formally charged. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that more than 60 have been found guilty. Reporting in Washington DC, Jason Blair, NTD News. And Russia still hasn't provided any evidence that Ukraine launched an attack on the home of the Russian president Vladimir Putin. Now the US ambassador to NATO is casting doubt on Moscow's accusation. NTD's international correspondent Arian Pazdar has the latest. Russia on Tuesday again saying it will toughen its stance in the peace talks with Ukraine. That's over an alleged attempt by Ukraine to strike Russian President Vladimir Putin's residence overnight Sunday. This is indeed a terrorist act aimed at disrupting the negotiations. >> The diplomatic consequences of these actions will be a tougher negotiating position of the Russian Federation. Russia says Ukraine fired over 90 long range drones at Putin's residence. But so far, Russia has not provided any photographic or physical evidence to back the claim. >> As for the drone wreckage, I can't say. That's more a matter for our military to deal with. >> Also on Tuesday, the US ambassador to NATO cast doubt on the accusation that Ukraine attacked the residents. He told Fox News, "It is unclear whether it actually happened. It seems to me a little indelicate to be this close at a peace deal and then do something that would be viewed as reckless or not helpful." The ambassador added that he wants to see US intelligence on the incident. Russia's claim of a Ukrainian attack came just one day after Kiev said there was agreement on most parts of a possible peace deal. >> We have a great achievements 20 point peace plan 90% agreed and US Ukraine security guarantees 100% agreed. US Europe Ukraine security guarantees almost agreed. Military dimension 100% agreed. And Ukraine accuses Russia of attacking Black Sea ports and firing on civilian ships on Tuesday. According to the Ukrainian Navy, two Panama flag civilian vessels were attacked by Russian drones as they tried to load wheat. But despite the back and forth, Russia says it won't leave the peace negotiations. Talks between Russia and the US are expected to take place soon. KF also continues talks with Washington, partly focusing on security guarantees. Zalinski says he discussed the possible presence of US troops in Ukraine with President Trump. >> The president of the United States should confirm this. These are the troops of the United States and therefore it is America that makes such decisions. Zilinski added that a coalition of Western partners is scheduled to meet in Ukraine on Saturday to discuss security guarantees among other things. Arian Pastor, NTD News. And tensions are rising in the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates says it's voluntarily withdrawing its last remaining forces from Yemen. The UAE announced today that it has ended its counterterrorism units in Yemen, the only remaining forces it had in the country. The move comes after Saudi Arabia bombed a southern port city in Yemen earlier in the day. Saudi Arabia says it's targeted a shipment of weapons that arrived from the UAE to support separatist forces. Saudi Arabia also demanded that UAE forces leave Yemen within 24 hours. Yemen has been at war since 2014 when the Iranbacked Houthis seized the capital. Saudi Arabia and the UAE then entered the war as partners against the Houthis, but have since backed competing allies. The UAE supports the Southern Transitional Council, which seeks to restore an independent South Yemen, and Saudi Arabia backs the Central Government and allied tribal forces. We'll keep you updated. And still to come, harsh winter weather storms are sweeping across the US from the Great Lakes to the Northeast. Millions of Americans are facing strong winds, heavy snow, and major travel disruptions. And the New York City government is prepared to keep millions of tourists safe during its New Year's Eve celebrations. Sean Marshall has what Mayor Eric Adams said about the big event. And a campaign group is reviewing whether to reform or replace the World Health Organization. It comes as the US is exiting the WHO early next year and wants a new organization to better fill the global health role. Malcolm Hudson with that story when we come back. Welcome back. I'm Paul Grainy. A powerful winter storm is sweeping across the US, bringing strong winds and heavy snow. Millions are facing travel disruptions as the year comes to a close. NTD's Christina Corona has the details. >> Millions of Americans are closing out 2025 under harsh winter weather. Nearly 67 million people remain under wind alerts across the northeast of New England. From Washington DC to Boston, gusts could reach 50 miles per hour in Boston, 45 in New York City, and 40 in the nation's capital. Lake effect snow continues across the Great Lakes. About 7 million people remain under winter alerts, including areas near Lake Erie. In northwestern Pennsylvania, snow warnings are in place through 700 p.m. January 1st. Areas north of the I90 could see up to 15 inches, while southern Erie County and parts of Crawford County may get up to two feet. In New York, Governor Kathy Hokll has declared a statewide emergency as the storm intensifies. Power outages have left more than 120,000 customers without electricity, mostly in Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania. Holiday travel is also affected. According to FlightAware, airlines reported over 300 cancellations and 5,000 delays as of Tuesday afternoon with the Northeast and Midwest hit the hardest. And in California, Pasadena's 137th Rose Parade faces a nearly 100% chance of rain. Showers Wednesday morning could affect those camping out with moderate rain continuing through New Year's Day. This will be the first significant rainfall at the parade since 2006. Christina Corona, NTD News. >> A New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, is staying busy right up until his last day on the job. Today, he and the police commissioner addressed the public about keeping the city safe during its New Year's Eve festivities. >> Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Police Department are working to have another safe New Year's Eve celebration all the way up to his last day in office. and we're looking forward to the ball drop as we stand on the eve of the ball drop. People will start lining up early in the day and they're here throughout the entire day to hold their spot. And we want everyone to have a great time and spend lots of money. For those of you who are tourists here, spend money in the city of New York. You're a tourist, spend money. This year's police detail is bigger than last year's with the entirety of the New York City Police Department working in between December 31st and January 1st. We will also deploy dedicated pickpocket teams, hotel response teams, and additional uniform patrols to address quality of life and public safety concerns. There will be assets that you will see and others that you will not see. Mayor Adams mentioned that there are no specific or credible threats regarding the New Year's Eve celebrations in Time Square, but they are operating at a heightened threat level. >> While people are here to enjoy it's a group effort that involve inter agency communications and coordination uh but I want to assure everyone maintaining a safety pole uh posture here during this celebration is something that we're focused on. The ball test was successful today. This year's New Year's Eve ball is set to be dropped going into the first day of the year. Along with Monday's confetti test, this year's Times Square New Year's party should be a big one. The ball drop has been a tradition in Time Square since the first drop in 1907. Sean Marshall, NTD News. >> And still to come, Beijing stages a second day of drills around Taiwan. Some experts say the Chinese Communist Party is rehearsing for an invasion, not simply conducting military exercises. So, could the so-called drills eventually evolve into an actual assault on the island? Luis Martinez reports when we come back. Welcome back. I'm Paul Grainy. The Chinese Communist Party fires missiles around Taiwan during the second day of drills encircling the island. Our Washington correspondent Luis Eduardo Martinez has the details. >> Taiwanese forces remain on high alert as the Chinese Communist Party continues for a second day its military drills encircling the island nation. I would like to speak about the multiple launch rockets. China fired two waves of multiple launch rockets. There were in total 27 rockets fired. I want to seize this opportunity to let the media know and as the spokesperson just mentioned that this targeted military drill is not only to intimidate Taiwan, but also severely influences international transport security. The Chinese Communist Party's military drills simulate a total blockade of Taiwan and are disrupting commercial activities in the region. >> Chinese around Taiwan are not exercising. They're not training except in a certain sense. This is rehearsal and they have the capability to go after Taiwan. They appear to have the will and really it's just a question of when and what they're going to do. The military drills come two weeks after the US announced an 11 billion weapon sales to Taiwan, which include 82 highmobility artillery rocket systems, otherwise known as highars. >> The Taiwan military has finally changed its concept of operations to something that an invading force would find much uh more difficult than used to be the case. It's a more mobile dispersed force armed with lethal precision weapons that would make life very miserable for an invasion force. >> Last week, the US also announced new investment in naval power with the construction of the USS Defiant, the first Trump class battleship. >> They've got something like 28 ships or so, including Coast Guard ships in in around Taiwan at the moment. Well, that's about half of what the Americans have in the entire seventh fleet based in Japan. We've got about 290 ships to cover the world. They've got well over 300 and more if you include their their coastg guard ships that are actually warships and they've only got to cover a very small part of the globe which happens to be very close to China. The CCP has said that the military drills are in response to US weapon sales to Taiwan and recent comments from the Japanese government that it would come to the nation islands aid in the case of a potential invasion. But military experts suggest that the military drills have been in plans for months. Reporting from Washington DC, Luis Eduardo Martinez, NTD News. And a campaign group is seeking to either reform or replace the World Health Organization. It's a project aligned with the goals of the Trump administration. The US is exiting the WHO early next year, citing concerns over funding and Chinese Communist Party influence and wants a new organization to better fill the role. Entity International correspondent Malcolm Hudson brings us more. >> The United States is due to withdraw from the World Health Organization on January 22nd, citing numerous issues the Trump administration says the WHO has failed to correct. Campaign group Action on World Health is reviewing the WHO with the end goal to either reform or replace it. Their chief executive David Roach highlighted the WHO's funding model. >> Now the United States is leaving the largest funer has become Bill Gates through the Gates Foundation and the second largest funer is the Gabby vaccine alliance. Now between the two of them they're representing 25% of the whole funding model for the WHO. The WHO has become increasingly reliant on quote specified voluntary contributions from the private sector, governments, and public private alliances. These earmarked funds make up a larger part of its budget than the core fees paid by member states and are directed to causes of the donor's choosing. You you have to be able to trust that when the WHO is giving its advice, when it's formulating policy, it's doing so objectively and it's not doing so because people or organizations have bought influence. Political influence is also a major concern, particularly from the Chinese Communist Party. A December 2024 report by the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Corona virus pandemic described the WHO's response to the pandemic as an abject failure, saying it yielded to pressure from the CCP and placed China's political interests ahead of the WHO's international duties. Roach said WHO director general Tedros Adenom Gabriasus got far too close to the CCP and that's because Dr. Tedros was essentially China's pick and is China's pick. Um he very early on in the pandemic response was praising China um for its um actions. He was praising them for lockdowns and he actually said that this is a model that the rest of the world should behold and should follow. Speaking in November at a conference hosted by the campaign group Together Association, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Batacharia said the US leaving the WHO is a challenge to the quote ecosystem that produced the panic during the pandemic. >> If we can replace the WHO and this is the goal that the United States has to replace the WHO with a with a structure that actually cares about the health of the of the of the world's public. Roach said action on World Health's independent review panel will say which is the best route to take to radically reform the WHO or completely replace it with a new organization. Both of these options could potentially be um quite expensive, quite difficult to do. It requires on the consent of of member states. But we've got to do this because the WHO as it exists today cannot continue to fester in the way that it has been for for quite some time now. >> Action on world health is expecting to finish its review of the WHO early next year. Malcolm Hudson, NTD News UK. And big news in healthcare. The Trump administration has launched a $50 billion rural health transformation program. entities Daniel Monahan has more on the initiative which aims to reverse decades of declining rural health services. The Trump administration plans to distribute between around 150 million and 280 million to each state in 2026. The nationwide program is designed to improve access to medical care in rural areas and is part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The $50 billion will be spread over five fiscal years, making $10 billion available annually from 2026 through 2030 to all 50 states. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Memed Oz unveiled the plan yesterday. >> Our hope is that we all get healthier in America and no longer will allow zip code dictate our life expectancy. >> Oz says the system will be audited every year. We're going to ask you to do even better than the year before. And for the folks who do a great job, they're going to give it more money. And the folks who don't deliver what they promised, they might get some money taken away from them to give to the guys who are doing a great job. So this is a competition. America loves a competition. >> Innovation takes center stage. already have so many brilliant ideas from drones delivering medications to people being able to practice at the height of their lensure like nurses and pharmacists uh to robotic systems to allow us to ultrasound moms who have babies or in their belly but they're in remote areas. >> West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisy applauded the Trump administration for the program calling it a needle mover. >> This is really going to allow us to help improve health care in rural communities. Whether you're talking about diabetes or COPD or a number of other disease states, we have a chance to get a lot of our people healthier. >> Morrisy says the aim is to create a virtuous circle. >> Healthier people, more productivity in the workforce, more people overall in the workforce and then a stronger economy with a higher standard of living. Nebraska Governor Jim Pillan reacted saying President Trump's commitment to rural economic revitalization is real and today's announcement is proof. Alabama Governor K. Ivy says making America healthy again begins in rural America and that she looks forward to being able to improve health care across the state. This rural push aligns with Trump's fiscal 2026 skinny budget for the Department of Health and Human Services. Those reforms combine multiple agencies into a new administration for a healthy America. The agency integrates rural programs and redirects any savings to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s priorities, including environmental health, mental health services, and chronic disease prevention. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. And some breaking news just in. No more federal child care payments to Minnesota for now. That's according to a new announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services. In a video posted on X, HHS Deputy Director Jim O'Neal says there's been allegations of serious fraud involving daycare centers in Minnesota and millions of taxpayer dollars. He says the agency is taking action now. Intrepid journalists have made shocking and credible allegations of extensive fraud in Minnesota's child care programs. We believe the state of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake daycarees to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade. >> My office, ACF, provides Minnesota $185 million in child care funds each year. That money should be helping 19,000 American children, including toddlers and infants. Any dollar stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children. Yesterday, I spoke directly with the director of the Minnesota Child Care Services Office. She could not tell me with confidence whether those allegations of fraud are isolated or whether there's fraud stretching statewide. >> Today, we've taken three direct actions against the blatant fraud that seems to be rampant in Minnesota. First, I have activated our defend the spend system for all ACF childare payments across America. Starting today, we require a justification receipt or photo evidence before we make a payment. Second, I have just signed and sent a demand letter to Governor Walls. I required a full 360 review of these centers. This includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations, and inspections. The agency has also launched a dedicated hotline for the public to report fraud. Still to come, golf news. Tiger Woods turns 50 today. Does that mean he's done winning? Dave Martin joins us. And billionaires and entrepreneurs are reacting to a new tax proposal in California that targets the wealthy. The proposal will add a one-time 5% tax on residents worth more than $1 billion. David Lamb has the story when we come back. Welcome back. I'm Paul Grainy. Billionaires in Silicon Valley are threatening to leave California. It comes as some state lawmakers voice support for a special tax on wealthy residents. NTD's David Lamb has more. Entrepreneurs, including company founders and venture capitalists, took to social media criticizing support for a proposed 5% billionaire tax in California. Congressman Ro Kana argued for the tax, saying it would help cover Medicaid. Residents who have a net worth higher than $1 billion would face a one-time tax of 5% payable over five years. The New York Times reports that Google co-founder Larry Page and tech investor Peter Theal are considering leaving the state to avoid the proposed measure. The 2026 billionaire tax act was proposed by Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff of a California healthc care union. Under the act, the funds raised would cover equitable health care and support funding for kindergarten through grade 14 public education and food assistance. Around 90% of the revenue would go into health care and 10% into education and food assistance. According to the proposal, there are around 200 billionaires in California who possess a combined $2 trillion in wealth. If voters approve the measure, it would apply retroactively to anyone who lived in California as of January 1st, 2026. David Lamb, NTD News, California. All right, and now for your sports news. We're joined by NTD's Dave Martin. Dave, good evening. Good to see you. >> Hey, good to see you, Paul. >> Dave, we got an update on Anthony Joshua you've got for us. You've got some college football as well. We'll start with the NFL. The Steelers hoping to have AllP Pro linebacker TJ Watt back. What's the status? >> Well, they're more optimistic anyway. They're getting more optimistic. That's that's following surgery to repair a partially collapsed lung. That's according to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin today who said he'd like to see Watt fully practice at some point this week. Now Watt was a limited participant last week in practice which usually means he was you know doing some exercises maybe on the sidelines but not really participating that much with the team. Now the Steelers then decided to hold him out against Cleveland on Sunday. Steelers ended up losing 13-6. Pittsburgh was also without their Pro Bowl receiver DK Metaf though who was suspended after making contact with the fan. Now both players losses hurt them. Watt he's a former defensive player of the year though definitely a differencemaker on the defense. Now this game against the Ravens Sunday is really like a playoff game. Whoever wins the game wins the division and so gets the final playoff spot left in the AFC. Now the Ravens meanwhile are hoping to have star quarterback Lamar Jackson back for that one as well. Jackson uh missed Sunday's game with a back injury. This game is going to be sun the Sunday night game on NBC uh this Sunday. So, >> he's a difference maker. TJ Watt, >> he's a differencemaker. >> Uh yesterday, Dave, we discussed Anthony Joshua, former heavyweight uh champion of the world in a car crash in Nigeria. Any update? >> Yeah, the the update is on the the two people who tragically passed away. Now, these were Anthony Joshua's friends and associates. Now, one was his strength and conditioning coach. The other was his trainer. That that's that's according to announcement made yesterday by Joshua's promoter, Matchroom Boxing. They also confirmed Joshua sustained injuries in a crash and was taken to a hospital. He was in stable condition there. Now, meanwhile, Nigeria's Federal Road Safety Corps said the accident happened as a result of quote excessive speed and wrongful overtaking end quote which caused the car to crash into a stationary vehicle that was just parked on the side of the road. Now, witnesses said Joshua's car sustained a burst tire. Now, Joshua, a twotime heavyweight champion, he was just in the United States uh about a week and a half ago where he beat Jake Paul in that match. So, very sad news there out of >> incredible footage of him being pulled out of the the wreckage there. Uh, golf news, Tiger Woods turns 50 today. Happy birthday, Tiger. >> Yeah, the great Tiger Woods 5 today. He's now eligible for the PGA Senior Circuit, which is really known as the PGA Tour Champions. Now, this is probably this past year was probably Tiger Woods's toughest year as a professional. He tore his Achilles back in the spring and then he had another back surgery in the fall. He did not play a single PGA event this year. He did play in that new TGL indoor virtual golf league, which was really a pretty cool new golf league that he was part of. That of course that took place before tearing his Achilles. Now, he said he is going to take part in this season, uh, which actually starts on this Friday, but he didn't actually say he would start at the beginning of the season, so we'll have to see when he does play. Now, for those of us fans who would still like to see Tiger win at least one more major, it's not completely out of the question. Remember, Phil Mickelson won a major that was a PGA championship back in 2021 at age 50 years and 11 months. So, it's certain I would certainly say if if Woods actually does this, it would be even bigger surprise though. Now, Wood's back injuries really robbed him of his prime years in his 30s. Uh but that car accident in 2021 has really slowed him down since he's only been do able to do three or four events per season. But he had 14 majors. Remember by 2008 most people thought he was going to catch Jack Nicholas's 18 record. It wasn't a question of if. It was a question of when. He's only got one more since. He's been stuck at 15 now for the last few years, too. So >> big big golf star. >> Big big golf star. A lot of fun to watch the guy. Dave, finally triple header of bowl games today in college football. What do you think? >> Yeah, we got three here today. One already one already finished. Louisiana Tech beat Coastal Carolina 23-4 already. That was in the Independence Bowl. That was the first bowl game today. The second bowl game, Tennessee versus Illinois in the Music City Bowl. The game was tied at 7 late in the second quarter. And this is a Big 10 SEC battle between two teams with identical eight and four records. Then tonight, probably the best match of the day. TCU versus number 16 USC in the Alamo Bowl. Trojans were very close to making the playoffs. Uh had the 9 and3 record. TCU would mean well went 8 and4 in the Big 12. That game starts at 900 p.m. Eastern time tonight. Paul, >> you'll be watching. >> I'll be watching that one, too. >> You are. Thank you. We appreciate it. >> Thank you, Paul. >> And that's all for today's news. For roundthe-clock original coverage, visit us at ntd.com/live or download our NTD app. Thanks,