NTD Evening News Full Broadcast Jan 11

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story [music] tonight, President Trump is warning Cuba to make a deal with the US before it's too late. More on Cuba's ties to Venezuelan oil and what officials say the country has been trading in return. What's next for Venezuela's oil? President Trump saying oil companies will spend 100 billion to [music] rebuild there. Our panel unpacks what this means for the region and the world. A neurologist explains why the onset of Alzheimer's isn't random or inevitable. Details on what steps we can take [music] right now to lower its risk. And mythical dragons and emperors have touched down in Paris with an exhibition capturing the mystery of China's mythological beast. Find out which eras the exhibition spans and what separates Chinese dragons [music] from those in Western folklore. [music] This is NTV Evening News live from our global headquarters in New York City. >> Good evening and [music] thank you for joining us tonight. I'm Tiffany Meyer. President Trump in a social media post warns Cuba to make a deal before it's too late. The post said Cuba lived on Venezuelan money and oil for many years. The Guardian reports that no Venezuelan shipments have let for Cuba since last week's capture of Nicholas Maduro. Trump's truth social post said that Cuba supplied security services for Venezuelan dictators in return for money in oil. Trump also reposted a social media post that suggested Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be Cuba's new president and Trump agreed. Rubio's parents immigrated from Cuba. Protests in downtown Minneapolis ending with thousands of dollars in damages to local hotels. Here's a look at what erupted on Friday night at hotels suspected of hosting immigration agents. >> Escalated by the area. >> From unlawful assembly to quiet streets, hotels in downtown Minneapolis quickly fixing the damage left by anti-immigration demonstrations late Friday night into Saturday morning. This is assembly is unlawful under the laws of the state of Minnesota. >> Metal fences and newly posted no trespassing signs zip tied outside the depot Renaissance Hotel after Minneapolis police reported graffiti caused $6,000 worth of damage to its windows. Minneapolis Police Department not taking any chances on Saturday night. cops maintaining a presence both inside and outside of the depot Renaissance hotel. The same goes for the Canopy Hotel. >> The US State Department is telling American citizens to leave Venezuela immediately. The notification also advises US citizens not to travel there. The statement says armed militias known as collectivos have set up roadblocks. They are searching cars for proof of American citizenship or US support. Collectivos are aligned with Nicholas Maduro and his socialist regime. They have been accused of terrorizing Venezuelan communities and squashing opposition to the ruling regime. The travel advisory comes from the US embassy in the capital of Colombia. Official operations at the US embassy in Venezuela were suspended in 2019. Venezuela maintains the State Department's highest travel advisory, level four, do not travel. It warns of arbitrary detention, torture, and kidnapping. Other countries with the same travel advisory include Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Ukraine, and Russia. From a dramatic capture of a dictator and a massive trade deficit drop to revamped health guidelines focused on natural foods, this week saw major changes from the Trump administration. Entities Daniel Monahan has your White House week in review. In a daring overnight operation last weekend, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his wife were taken into custody to face charges in the United States. >> The bravery was incredible, Lindsay. The they got off the helicopter and the bullets were flying all over the place. >> Maduro was flown to New York, later passing the Statue of Liberty and arraigned in a federal court on Monday where he pleaded not guilty. President Trump addressed questions about leadership in Venezuela following Maduro's capture. And uh don't ask me who's in charge because I'll give you an answer and it'll be very controversial. >> What does that mean? >> It means we're in charge. >> Massive protests took place all week in Iran with demonstrators marching through Iran's capital and other major cities. President Trump has repeatedly threatened Thran if it kills protesters. >> We'll take a look. We're watching it very closely. If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they're going to get hit very hard by the United >> President Trump proposed increasing the Pentagon budget by 66% to $1.5 trillion by 2027, saying it would deliver what he calls America's dream military, commenting on Fox News, >> we need it cuz there are some real threats out there. The trade deficit shrank to around $29 billion in October, the narrowest gap since June 2009 and a 39% decrease from September. CNBC called the numbers unreal. >> We haven't been that small in a long time. I don't have enough records here to go back that far. >> Vice President JD Vance called on Minnesota Governor Tim Walls to step down as the state has been wrecked by a massive alleged fraud scandal. I think Tim Wall should resign because it's very clear either that he knew about the fraud in Minneapolis, he knew about the welfare fraud, or at the very least he looked the other way. >> Minnesota was also the site of an ICE officer involved shooting where an officer shot as a car sped toward him, killing the driver. Governor Walls criticized federal enforcement tactics. >> There is no verifiable evidence that any of this is making America safer. The way that the media by and large has reported this story has been an absolute disgrace and it puts our law enforcement officers at risk every single day. >> HHS announced new guidelines for a healthy diet. >> Real food, >> protein, dairy, fruit and vegetables and then grains, whole grains. That's what America should be eating and that is what the science says. >> We are going to finally address the root causes of our broken health care system. insulin resistance and general body inflammation advanced by the proteinpore micronutrientpore ultrarocessed refined carbohydrate diet that kids are addicted to today. The Trump administration announced the US will exit 66 international organizations and agreements, including 31 tied to the United Nations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said many were dominated by progressive ideology and detached from national interests. President Trump again described Greenland as vital to US national security. >> Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. >> President Trump also moved to ban institutional investors from purchasing single family homes, a policy aimed at lowering housing costs. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. >> The Trump administration's action in Venezuela is stirring up heated debate on Capitol Hill. Defense officials briefed lawmakers this week and Democrats forced a vote to limit further US military action in the country. Entities Molina Weissup has the Capitol Hill roundup. >> Republicans returned to Capitol Hill this week quick to defend the Trump administration's removal of communist dictator Nicholas Maduro from Venezuela. >> Under President Trump, the United States will no longer allow criminal regimes to profit from uh wreaking havoc and destruction on our country. The people in Miami, the people of the area that I represent are very happy uh that Nicholas Maduro is out of the way. And now hopefully it paves the way for a free and democratic [clears throat] Venezuela. >> Though most Democrats critical of the administration's choice to take military action without congressional approval. On Thursday, Democrats and five Republicans advanced a resolution to curtail President Trump's authority to order further military action on Venezuela. And then a debate finally after months about this military operation. >> Following a classified briefing from defense and justice officials, some lawmakers raised concerns about what they described as a lack of clarity on the plans ahead. >> There are a lot of questions from both both Democrats and Republicans about what comes next, what the timeline is. >> That's what you always say when it's the other party. The bottom line is we've gone into great detail with them about the planning. We've described it to him. Senator John Federman once again breaking with the general Democrat messaging, praising Trump's actions after the US military seized sanctioned oil tankers. >> I love it. I love it. Finally standing up and pushing back on on Russia. >> As for other key congressional action, House lawmakers held the first public hearing to expose a multi-billion dollar fraud scheme taking place in Minnesota. >> And Minnesota's Democrat leadership have either been asleep at the wheel or complicit in these crimes. But one state lawmaker revealed that people who tried to report the fraud faced retaliation. >> Threats of being fired with cause, which means you do not get unemployment insurance in the state of Minnesota, being blacklisted from all state agencies. >> Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz has repeatedly defended his handling of the massive fraud. But following national scrutiny, he decided to drop his reelection campaign to serve for a third term. Democrat Senator Amy Clolobachar is now eyeing the spot. In other news, lawmakers are grieving the passing of late Congressman Doug Lalfa. The longtime Republican from Northern California died on Tuesday. Lawmakers from both parties offered condolences. >> It really shook us. Um Doug was uh a great man. He really was truly a great man. He's a lifelong resident of Northern California and deeply loved the people he represented. He was a fierce fighter as you've heard. Democrat leader Hakeim Jeff in a statement wrote, "It was an honor to witness firsthand his passion and personal resolve for more than a decade. President Trump dedicated his speech to the entire Republican caucus to late Congressman Lamalfa. >> I was really saddened by his passing and was thinking about not even doing the speech in his honor. But then I decided that I have to do it in his honor. I'll do it in his honor because uh he would have wanted it that way. You would have wanted it that way. >> California will need to hold a special election to replace Lalfpha in the coming weeks. Reporting from Washington DC, Molina Weissup, NTD News. Coming up, what's next for Venezuela's oil? President Trump saying oil companies will spend 100 billion to [music] rebuild there while sending a warning to Cuba. Our panel unpacks what this means for [music] the region and the world. And a neurologist explains why the onset of Alzheimer's isn't random or inevitable. Plus, details on what steps we can take right now to lower its risk. All that in just [music] a minute here on NTD News. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. How did Venezuela devolve from a once prosperous country into an authoritarian hub for drug cartels and a key node of Chinese and Iranian influence? How does Maduro's capture affect Beijing strategy on Latin America? To understand the geopolitical implications of America's capture of Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro. America thought Leaders host Yanni Kellik sat down with Michael Waller. He's a senior analyst for strategy at the Center for Security Policy and author of Big Intel. Let's dive in. Michael Waller, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders. >> It's good to see you. >> Let's talk about Venezuelan leader Maduro being captured by the United States. What are the geopolitical implications here? What's going on? there potentially huge geopolitical implications because now no leader on earth is safe from the United States if if we have the capability to to un undetected come into a a huge fortified military base and break into the inner sanctum of where a leader is hiding and snatch him out undetected then the whole world has changed. What are the implications with respect to communist China? I've seen quite a bit of commentary on this issue. Notably, um there was actually a delegation from China there, you know, hours before the raid that took Maduro actually took place. What do you think? Well, it was interesting because just a couple days before uh Trump removed Maduro, the um Chinese regime had said, "We're not going to give up an inch of our gains in Latin America." So, Trump just went and took away a lot of those gains. Venezuela was a a an important lynch pin for the CCP and for its global strategy in building a bluewater navy that will ultimately be able to operate in any part of the world. Uh it will become a trans-Pacific power on the sea. It will become an Atlantic maritime power. it. The the PLA Navy will become would become under this plan a Caribbean power >> which means control over Panama Canal which means control over shipping from Houston, Galveastston, Mississippi River, Delta anywhere come to anywhere in the world. So it it it would use its belt and road dual use port facilities, both seapport and airport facilities to expand its power projection and then to potentially uh allow not potentially but this is the whole theory behind it to allow any Chinese warships existing now or those that are being built now to dock at these belt and road facilities anywhere in the world. So, Venezuela was a colossal asset for China as a piece of real estate from which the CCP could operate against us, but also a huge resource sitting on the world's largest reserves of oil. Once that infrastructure was restored, Venezuela could provide uh the the Chinese communists with with any amount of oil. And and for them, it's it's embargoed oil, right? It's under sanctions. So that so the Venezuelans can't sell it on the open market for dollars. They have to sell it at a steep discount. And the Chinese communists don't even have to pay in petro dollars. They're paying in yuan or they're paying in barter. So this is super super cheap oil that's keeping Xi Jinping's whole domestic and global agenda afloat and they've just lost it. >> There's this other dimension I heard about. There was commentary about how it was Chinese radar systems that had been basically evaded by the American force. Have you actually followed the dynamics of the raid and what we actually know as a fact? And how did this fit in? >> Oh, this is a big defeat for the CCP's military hardware industry and for the Huawei telecommunications industry because Venezuela is wired with Huawei. So, so, so Beijing is so smug about controlling the world through Huawei. Well, it looks like the United States was able to break in through cyber attacks into the whole Huawei system and shut it down and also to break in to the logic systems of the computers running the Chinese-made air defense systems and to shut those down. >> Fascinating. So, it wasn't that the systems weren't working, it was that they were disabled. they were disabled. >> So what is going to happen to Xiinping and his agenda? >> So you have these oil billionaires who are also CCP officials. You have provincial officials that depend on the oil refining industry who also have a lot of um power within the CCP and Xi Jinping's base within the C within the within the party. all right now while she is is purging the military yet again. So he's feeling unstable. So can you imagine how how you know he has to seem invincible? He has to seem flawless. His whole domestic image is one of flawless perfection and he's making China a a superpower and an extremely modern economically powerful um future of the world. Well, what's happening now? That whole thing risks collapse. The CCP is super leveraged out. It cannot afford to lose >> anything economically right now. >> Well, and you also said at the beginning that basically this is a message that the US if if you keep up bad behavior. If I recall the the something I believe it was uh Secretary Rubio said, he said, you know, we gave him lots of chances, right? And so, and I I'm not 100% sure what exactly the chances were other than kind of stand down around the cartell activity um and so forth. U that that that any anyone is fair game is when you say anyone is that does that include some of the great powers? >> Well, just think of what was done. you they were using the best air defense systems that the Russians and the Chinese regime could produce and they're complete failures. What does this say to everybody else in the world who wants to integrate themselves with Russian and Chinese military systems? It's like you're selling us junk. You're not making us safer at all. You're a terrible ally. And then both Russia and the Chinese government are completely helpless to do anything to help Maduro. If you're a a uh strongman somewhere, you're a dictator, you're somebody who's just on the take from the CCP, the party can't defend you. So, this is going to cause potentially, especially if Trump plays it right and keeps pushing. It's going to cause a complete change around the world in regimes that want to ally themselves with the Chinese Communist Party. To watch the full episode, go to epictv.com and look for American thought leaders. What's next for Venezuela's oil? President Trump telling oil executives in the White House Friday that oil companies will spend 100 billion dollars to rebuild the capacity and the infrastructure necessary in Venezuela. Joining us to break down what this means and the geopolitical implications are two guests, Ray Trevito, vice president of operations at Pico's country operating Texas, and Rod D. Martin, founder and CEO of Martin Capital. Thank you both so much for joining us. Ry, starting with you. President Trump saying the companies will have security guarantees and will be dealing directly with the United States, not Venezuela. What do you make of this and what this would look like in practice? >> Um, well, thank you as always for having me and what a change of pace to actually be dealing with the United States government in any form or fashion in any other country. Uh what the oil and gas companies definitely are looking for more than anything is stability. Uh when you look at what's gone on in Venezuela for decades, this unstability has been there this entire time. And companies like Chevron and uh excuse me, Chevron and Exxon Mobile don't want to continue to invest billions of dollars in a country that is uncertain. So to continue to work with the United States government and the Venezuelan government is what I expect to happen. And basically the United States administration will be the middleman. >> And Rod, President Trump saying in a truth today that Cuba should make a deal or face the consequences, adding no more Venezuelan oil or money will be going to Havana. How big of a deal is this for Cuba? How dependent is the island on Venezuela? >> Oh, Cuba's toast. They're really in trouble. They have been being subsidized for most of their history either by the Soviet Union or then after that, you know, slack taken up by by the socialists in Venezuela and that's gone. And it's in two different respects. First, they get a lot of oil that they use in Cuba from Venezuela, but they also resell a lot of that highly subsidized oil on international markets so that they can raise hard currency. And that's how Chavez and Maduro have have subsidized them in exchange for which the Cubans have provided security assistance in Venezuela and all kinds of technical expertise and that's great but that's also going away and we killed a decent number of their guys when we took Maduro. So this is catastrophic for Cuba and they're not going to be able to get oil there from Russia even if Russia could do that. We're going after Russia's tankers. The Shadow Fleet is in danger now. And Trump couldn't be any clearer that we're not going to allow that situation to continue. So, we're going to see Putin needing to come to the peace table in Ukraine. We're going to see Cuba needing to make a deal. And if the Cuban regime wants to make a deal that cha that Maduro did not make, they might survive in some form. Otherwise, they're gone. >> I want to dig into the geopolitical implications a bit more, but Ray first. Caracus and Washington are progressing on a two billion dollar deal to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the US with proceeds going to US Treasury supervised accounts. Talk to us about the Venezuelan crude, though. It's known to be quite thick. How easy is it to process? And where would this oil end up in the US, for example? Could we see prices coming down at the pump here at home? >> You know, that's a great question. And to actually begin to see the prices come down at the pump with Venezuelan oil will take months. The infrastructure alone will take months and then of course we got to start pumping it. So being ultra-conservative, we won't see any true effects of increased barrels globally for months. Uh what this does for the American people though is give us that assurance that our strategic petroleum reserves are refilled after this previous administration that depleted them just for political points. Now to talk about why the president is going to be controlling this money, let's not forget the fact that in Venezuela money was going to China, Russia, and terrorist groups. So, we want to make sure that we when we hand them the money, we're not just blindly handing them the money so that they can turn around and give it to our adversaries. >> And Rod, how are you reading all this? Venezuela essentially turning over the oil to the US. >> Yeah, that's all exactly right. And what Mike Waller was saying in the last segment is right. Uh this is the basis of the future of the Venezuelan economy and Donald Trump does not mean for it to be stolen again. And and that's not just stolen from the Venezuelan people, but the CEO of Exxon Mobile made the point the other day that as they are, they're uninvestable. Exon Mobile alone has had its property in Venezuela stolen not once but twice by the regime. And you know, you can't go back in that situation. So, a lot of significant legal changes and guarantees are going to have to be made. And they're not in a position to really disagree because they just saw there's not a single member of this regime that can't be in the next jail cell from Maduro in New York tomorrow if Donald Trump decides to make it happen. They're all co-conspirators. They're all involved in the same crimes for which Maduro has been indicted. They're all in danger. They've got to play ball. >> And Ray, zooming out a bit here, the Wall Street Journal notes that bringing Venezuela's output under US control has the potential to upend the power balance in the world market. What does this mean for OPEC? >> Well, you know, let's keep in mind that uh Venezuela is part of OPEC. A lot of people think of OPEC as just being Middle East countries. And what this crude oil from uh Venezuela will provide here in America is just additional barrels. A lot of people also don't know that the United States refineries, majority of them refined crude oil and not that sweet Texas tea that us here at POS produce. So what this is going to do down the road is actually add barrels to the global supply. As Rod mentioned, we have the dark fleet or shadow fleet and that oil is not being accounted for right now on global numbers. So we could possibly see the price of oil even go down more again as this oil hits the market several months down the road. >> And Rod, I want to go to your earlier point about the geopolitical implications here, especially for China, Russia, Iran, etc. Specifically for China though, Venezuela signed on to the global infrastructure project known as the Belton Road in 2018 and when it couldn't pay its debts, it often used oil. Given that, how big of a blow is this specifically to China? Oh, it's a terrible blow. And and it's an even bigger blow to their geopolitical ambitions. We have a tremendous advantage over the Chinese by having the first island chain. So from Luzon, through Taiwan, up through the Ruku's to Japan, we're we're holding the Chinese Navy in check. And it's very very hard for them to get through that. If we wanted to blockade them, if we actually went into a war state, they would be in a lot of trouble from that. The CCP wants to duplicate that against us. We will see that growing in space over time. I was I was on another show talking about that the other day, but we're seeing it in the Caribbean. That's what this gambit about Panama and Venezuela and Cuba really is. Ultimately, that becomes the base for the bluewater Chinese navy. That's gone now. I mean, there's just no way for them to execute. So, this is a catastrophic blow at a grand strategic level. >> Rod D. Martin, Ray Trevino, thank you both so much for joining us. Coming up, a neurologist explains why the onset of Alzheimer's isn't random or inevitable. Details on what steps we can take right [music] now to lower its risk. and mythical dragons and emperors have touched down in Paris with an exhibition capturing the mystery of China's mythological beast. Find out which eras the exhibition spans and what separates [music] Chinese dragons from those in Western folklore. That and more after this quick break. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Thrron is threatening to attack US military bases amid widespread protests across Iran. While the US is showing support for the Iranian people as they rise up against the Islamic regime. NTD's international correspondent Arian Pastar has the latest. And just a warning, some viewers may find the following footage disturbing. [screaming] >> Protests against the Islamic regime continue spreading across Iran. The regime cut off its people from the outside world by shutting down the internet on Thursday night. Violence reportedly increased after that. A video released on Sunday shows body bags lining the streets. It's unclear exactly how many people have died since the protests began as different sources report different numbers. According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran, there have been hundreds of casualties since the internet blackout. The Jerusalem Post says 2,000 people died during this weekend alone. And according to Intelli News, up to 4,000 people died. But the people keep protesting. >> Iran's in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. >> Protests are not only taking place in Iran. They're spreading across the globe to London, Paris, and Washington in front of the White House. Protesters in DC say they're against the current regime and neither do they want to return to the dynasty of the previous leader which was Shia Muhammad Raalvi >> down with the oppressor be the sha or the supreme leader they're not settling for theocracy they're not going back to a dictatorship which they once overthrew >> a protester in Germany says he wants Europe to do more and take a stronger stance against the regime >> we need an position in Europe it's just like calling saying it it's a shame it's not enough now because people are dying. >> On Saturday, President Trump weighed in heavily, saying Iran is looking at freedom, perhaps like never before. The US stands ready to help. Iran responded, threatening the US with a possible preemptive attack on US military bases and ships overseas. Iran's parliamentary speaker says the regime might launch a preemptive strike based on any objective signs of a threat. President Trump issued a strong warning to Iran on Friday. >> Very carefully. I've made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved. We'll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. >> Trump added that this doesn't necessarily mean having boots on the ground, hinting at a possible operation similar to the one in June when the US bombed critical Iranian nuclear sites. Arian Pastar, NTD News. Switching gears to business, here's an update for shoppers that prefer brick-andmortar browsing compared to clicking add to cart. Macy's plans to close 14 of its department stores in 12 states across the country. The company says the closures are part of Macy's strategy to shrink its footprint in the United States. The department store chain says its goal is to better serve customers and support long-term growth. And the closures will allow Macy's to invest more in stores that are doing well and expand its digital presence. Nearly two years ago, the company announced plans to close 150 underperforming stores by the end of this year. Alzheimer's is a heartbreaking disease, one that can slowly erase a lifetime of memories, relationships, and identity. But what if the onset of the disease isn't random or inevitable? What if there are steps we can take right now to lower the risk? In this episode of Vital Science, a neurologist and fellow of the American College of Nutrition joins host Brennan Fallon to explain what drives this brain disease and what people can do earlier in life to help prevent it. >> The early changes of Alzheimer's [music] begin 20 to 30 years prior to the executive function failure. When our blood sugar elevates, it [music] tends to change our brain's immune system from being friend to being foe. The empowering part of that statement is the shift is [music] under your care. You can control that. >> My next guest is Dr. David Prmuter, a board-certified neurologist. I'm going to be talking to him about the idea that Alzheimer's may be a type 3 diabetes, a metabolic disease essentially. Dr. David Prmutter, why don't you start by telling us about um your qualification? >> Well, Brandon, thank you first of all for having me. I am, as you mentioned, a board-certified neurologist. Neurology has always been my passion, but I'm also a fellow of the American College of Nutrition. I'm the only only one with both of those designations. I'm a six times uh New York Times bestselling author and you my focus is really on neurodeenerative conditions uh in general and you mentioned we were going to start off with Alzheimer's and I think it's a very very important topic that we should open up. The first thing I'd like to ask you on that front, if someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, is it a foregone conclusion that they're going to be dead within 10 years, would you say? >> Well, I think if we just look at what mainstream medicine has to offer these individuals, the answer is yes. Almost will they be alive? Yeah. And what will that quality of life be like 10 years from now? It's hard to imagine what that's going to look like. But I will say on the other hand, right now as you and I have this conversation, there are some incredible advancements in the understanding of what is causing the brain to go bad in Alzheimer's disease. And why is that important? Because it's now giving us some incredibly important tools to really combat that problem. And I think, you know, to be fair, my mission is not so much focused on treating uh patients who are down the slope of Alzheimer's decline, although that's what we do. It's also, and I think equally important, to focus on how to keep your brain healthy today, and keep you from having to worry about what's my treatment going to be, rather make you the steward of your own brain's destiny. If you come to a patient who has an Alzheimer's diagnosis, let's say they could go back 30, 40 years, what is the main things they should be doing at that point in their lives? >> That's a fantastic question because the reality is that the early changes of Alzheimer's, we'll call them the metabolic changes in the brain begin 20 to 30 years prior to the memory failure, the executive function failure, you know, what we call the clinical markers of the disease where you're basically your brain isn't working right. So that's where we need to intervene. And we need to intervene in people your age and make them recognize that lifestyle choices you are making right now are going to play out when you're my age. So, you know, if you want to be cognitively intact, I'm 70 at 70 and have conversations like this, you better start doing the things at your age to re in your metabolism, your blood sugar, your blood pressure, your insulin sensitivity, your body weight, your serum lipids, your blood fats as it were. These things are critically important in terms of your metabolism and Alzheimer's is fundamentally a manifestation of problems earlier in your life with your metabolism. The empowering part of that statement is you can control that. >> What would you identify as the most compelling evidence that these metabolic factors are influencing Alzheimer's? Well, for me, you there's a lot of science out there that makes it very clear the the increased risk of developing Alzheimer's if you're type two diabetic is about 3.8fold, for example. That means, you know, you're more than triple at risk of getting Alzheimer's if you're type two diabetic. And these uh, you know, the incidence of diabetes is skyrocketing. You know, here in America, we have 40 million type 2 diabetics, meaning 40 million people whose risk for Alzheimer's has increased three-fold. And they don't have to be type two diabetics. We have about a third of our population pre-diabetic. That's worrisome. But even more worrisome is that 90% of those people don't know it. So they're on the continuum to become diabetic. They're on the continuum to increase their risk of Alzheimer's by about threefold. That's where we need to intervene. For me, if I'm thinking about all the literature, this is a little bit of an outsider for you. The most compelling thing that comes to my mind is an image, a picture. And what that picture shows, it's a special type of brain scan that looks at the brain's ability to use glucose, blood sugar, as a fuel, and shows significant issues with that early on, long before the clinical manifestation. So, what I'm saying is the brain's ability to use fuel appropriately is compromised decades before we begin becoming forgetful. And that's all about our metabolism. So with insulin resistance being the as I understand it at the core of of diabetes well first Dr. palm motor what is it that in terms of diabetes the phenomena of diabetes that is leading to to the brain degeneration that's a wonderful question and I'll tell you why because we've known about the statistic I just quoted about the three-fold increased risk but that was about as far as the conversation went and so now you asked the question okay why is that and I think that's a great place to go to see that full interview and others on how to optimize health go to epsvital Vital signs. Vital signs offers general health information not intended as medical diagnosis or advice. Please consult your doctor before undertaking a new health regimen. Coming up, reviving a traditional culture live on stage. The Lord Mayor of Oxford tells entity what struck her after seeing Shinyan performing arts. And mythical dragons and emperors have touched down in Paris with an exhibition capturing the mystery of China's mythological beast. Find out which eras the exhibition spans and what separates Chinese dragons [music] from those in Western folklore. That and more after this quick break. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Before you can find signs of life on other planets, you have to find the planets that could support life. That task is one of the goals behind NASA's newest small space telescope. and it's headed to the stars after blasting off this morning aboard a SpaceX rocket. Here's more. >> NASA's latest eye in space is called the Star Planet Activity Research Cubat or Sparks. It's a small space telescope that will monitor the flares and sunspot activity of low mass stars. It is uh 30 cm by 20 cm x 10 cm. Very close to a familysized Cheerios box in your kitchen that you might have. And so really it's very small, compact, and easy to launch. >> Astrophysicist Virginia Skolnick is leading the mission. She is a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. We know that these stars flare like crazy, much more actively, much more energetically, much more frequently than our own sun. And so the planets that orbit these smaller low mass stars are impacted much more uh intensely than we are here on Earth. >> The telescope will look at wavelengths of ultraviolet light that our eyes can't see. Stars send out this kind of light into space and towards the exoplanets that orbit them. The data should give answers to important space science questions and possibly clues about whether any of these exoplanets might have the right conditions to support life. Audiences across the world have been impressed by the artistry of Shunyan dancers and musicians. In England, Shiny Performing Arts took the stage this week for its first performance of the year in Oxford. Among audience members was the Lord Mayor of Oxford. NTD is a proud media sponsor of Shenuin, covering audience reaction since 2006. Take a listen. From flips and turns to gentle movements, Shenyun Performing Arts has a mission to revive China's ancient civilization through dance and music. It's a rich culture that in recent times was almost lost under communist rule. Among the audience watching Shenyun in Oxford's new theater on January the 7th was the Lord Mayor of Oxford. What a wonderful sort of joyful colorful but incredibly artistic afternoon. One interesting bit was when um all of the all of the female dancers sort of lift up one leg. I basically sort of kind of doing the splits holding one leg directly upwards and I felt the audience collectively go because that's you know that's just so dramatic to be able to do that. According to the program book, following the traditions of ancient China, Shenyan artists believe that to perform something truly good and beautiful on stage, they have to cultivate their inner beauty. The Lord Mayor commented on how this came through in the joy and the synchronicity of the performers. Every movement was in sync. Everything they do together, even just I was really noticing what they did with our hands. Every hand movement was beautifully precision, calculated, I could see, and moved together. So that sense that they were all acting as one came through very clearly I think. Um and also the the joy I think they all really enjoyed doing it. You know you can see they're smiling and enjoying it. So clearly I would I'd imagine that they are all good friends and that they really think of themselves as as a unit. The dancers are accompanied by a live orchestra that blends musical traditions from the east and west. Combining ancient Chinese instruments with a full western orchestra. Lovely to hear the really different kind of instruments, the Chinese musical instruments that we're not used to hearing, but with a lovely the backdrop of the more traditional sort of western orchestra. Um, but picking out the melodies with the traditional Chinese instruments was very special. Really interesting to hear. The Lord Mayor said she enjoyed the universal messages in the performance. >> It's not just an entertaining afternoon. It actually sends you away thinking, well, you know, I think there are more good people in the world than bad, and that's a good thing. >> NTG News, Oxford, UK. >> Mythical dragons and emperors have touched down in Paris with an exhibition capturing the mystery of China's mythological beast. Unlike the dragons of western folklore, Chinese dragons symbolize valor, power, strength, confidence, and ambition. >> The dragon is related uh to the sky, so to the the clouds, the rain, but also to the stars. So, the dragon is the the eastern constellation which appears in spring when the day gets longer uh and when the nature uh regenerates. The dragon is a transformation creature every creature. So it can takes a lot of different shapes. It can be represent in ceramic, in architecture, in paintings. So in any kind of um uh materials or shapes. So that's also one of the reason of his success because it's very graphic and design character. These beautiful and elaborate dragon costumes might be a familiar site, often coming out during Chinese New Year celebrations. They're part of a large exhibition in Paris in partnership with Taipe's National Palace Museum. According to the museum, what is on show takes us through the manifestations of the dragon since Neolithic times 5,000 years ago. One of the highlights is a jade dragon pig from the Hong Xen culture. The exhibit's associate curator describes this Neolithic artifact as one of the first three-dimensional representations of the dragon. But there's so much more in the exhibit. From bronze vessels dating from the Shang and Western Dynasties to a Ming Dynasty scroll where the dragon emerges through ink immortalized in a poem. Moving forward in time, a ting porcelain basin illustrates one of China's most popular legends, the carp leaping the dragon gate, a metaphor for praising hard work and perseverance. Dragons also played an important role for emperors, becoming the exclusive emblem of the Chinese emperor, the mediator between heaven, earth, and humanity, as seen here in an embroidered imperial robe complete with gold threads. One of the exhibition's most intimate treasures is the infinite circles box. Once cherished by Emperor Jaing, it features jade miniature zodiac animals arranged in a circle around a square table symbolizing the sky and the earth. Paintings of Ming andQing emperors, diplomatic documents, and jade imperial seals illustrate how deeply dragons permeated court life. As the curators note, the dragon continues to rise, bridging heaven and earth, tradition and modernity. Asia and the world. That's through dance, jade, bronze, ink, and more. The Dragons exhibition runs through March 1st in Paris. And that's all for today's news. For around the clock coverage, visit us at ntd.com/live or download our NTD app. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Good night.