Tensions Between U.S., Iran; Sheriff: Guthrie Family Not Suspects | NTD Evening News (Feb. 16)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story tonight, tensions rising in the Gulf. The Trump administration insists diplomacy is the path forward with Iran, even as a second massive aircraft carrier heads toward the region. This as Iran is conducting live military drills in the Strait of Hormuz. Mario Tsu with the latest. A medical group in the Gaza Strip suspends some services over reports of armed men inside a hospital. Meanwhile, a former hostage shares details of how she survived captivity in the territory. Jason Perry reports. Borders are Tom Holman says a large number of agents have left Minnesota with more leaving soon. And Texas announces new rules preventing illegal immigrants from registering cars. Jason Blair reports. The Pima County Sheriff makes a plea to the public amid the search for Nancy Guthrie and what President Trump says he wants to see happen in the case. A powerful storm system is moving into Southern California and officials warn conditions could quickly turn dangerous. Evacuation warnings are already being issued for burn scar areas. Christina Corona reports. This is NTD Evening News live from our global headquarters in New York City. Here's Tiffany Meyer. Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight. The Trump administration insisting diplomacy is the best path forward with Iran, even as a second massive aircraft carrier heads toward the region. Meanwhile, Iran's regime is flexing its muscles with live military drills and the strategic Strait of Hormuz just one day before nuclear talks with the U.S. resume. NTD's Washington correspondent Mario Tsu brings us the details. Look, doing a deal with Iran is not easy. I said it yesterday. I'll repeat it again today. I mean, we have to understand that Iran ultimately is governed and its decisions are governed by Shia clerics, radical Shia clerics, OK? These people make policy decisions on the basis of pure theology. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that President Trump prefers diplomacy in dealing with Iran and that the administration is currently focused on negotiations, but adds that Iran is difficult to make a deal with. This comes as President Trump orders an additional aircraft carrier to the region, and Iran holds live military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz a day before U.S.-Iran nuclear talks are set to resume in Geneva. Well, it seems like that would be the best thing that could happen. Let's see what happens. In the meantime, we have tremendous power has arrived and additional power, as you know, and other carriers going out shortly. Senator Lindsey Graham meeting with top Israeli officials in Tel Aviv says President Trump is Here to tell you we're on the verge of eliminating the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the region. And with the fall of Iran comes the fall of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis. These nuclear talks come two days ahead of a Board of Peace meeting Thursday in Washington, President Trump vowing that the Board of Peace will prove to be the, quote, most consequential international body in history. He says that Thursday he'll announce that member states have pledged more than five billion dollars toward humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Gaza, while warning that Hamas must demilitarize. This comes as Rubio calls on European nations to stand up for their sovereignty, arguing that the U.S. wants allies who are proud of their heritage and willing to defend it. This is why we do not want our allies to be shackled by guilt and shame. And this is why we do not want allies to rationalize the broken status quo rather than reckon with what is necessary to fix it. For we in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's managed decline. President Trump, meanwhile, has made his demands for the Iranian regime clear, ending its nuclear program and discarding its enriched uranium, reducing its ballistic missile system, and ending support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Reporting from Washington, Mario Tsu, NTD News. The Trump administration is working to make a deal with the Iranian regime to disband its nuclear program. But at the same time, the U.S. is building up forces near Iran. But scale of military operation could be on the table. Here from national security analyst Taylor Hawthorne tonight on Capitol Report at 7 p.m. White House border czar Tom Homan says that over 1,000 immigration agents have left Minnesota, with more leaving early this week. Homan also responding to some of the demands that Democrats have made to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. NTD correspondent Jason Blair reports. Border czar Tom Homan says that over 1,000 ICE and federal agents have left Minnesota following a drawdown announcement last week. As of Monday, Tuesday, we'll remove several hundred more. Homan says that a small security force will stay behind while the team makes sure that agreements with local and state law enforcement remain in place. Our security forces that will respond to when our agents are out and get surrounded by agitators and things got to control. Homan says that during conversations with Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry, they didn't agree on everything, but he's happy with the results of the dialogue. Me and Mayor Fry will never agree on much, but you know what? His officers did respond to take down illegal roadblocks that made it unsafe for not only citizens in Minnesota, but our officers. The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down since Saturday after Congress failed to reach an agreement on funding. Some of the core demands from Democrats include restricting agents from wearing masks, ending alleged racial profiling, enacting stricter requirements for judicial warrants, and requiring agents to show ID and wear body cameras. Homan responded to some of the demands. He says that racial profiling isn't occurring. ICE will detain, briefly detain, and question somebody based on reasonable suspicion. It has nothing to do with profiling. He says that agents already wear identification placards and also comments on the masks. As far as the mask, look, you know, I don't like the masks either, but because threats against ICE officers, you know, are up over 1,500 percent. Actual assaults and threats are up over 8,000 percent. These men wouldn't have to protect themselves. And now in Texas, if someone wants to register a vehicle with the DMV, they must first submit proof of legal status. The Texas DMV voted unanimously to approve the new rule. Some critics say the change will put more unregistered cars on the road and make it harder for police to locate some people of interest if there's a witness to a crime. The push for this rule was started last fall by Texas State Rep. Brian Harrison. Reacting to the decision by the DMV, Harrison said, proud to have forced the DMV to stop allowing illegal aliens to register vehicles in Texas, and saying that this was happening for so many years. The decision was made on Thursday, and some counties have already started implementing the new requirement. Jason Blair, Entity News. The latest on the Nancy Guthrie case, the Pima County Sheriff urging the public to stop speculating that Guthrie's family members could be suspects. In a statement today, the Sheriff says, quote, the Guthrie family, to include all siblings and spouses, has been cleared as possible suspects in this case. The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case. The Sheriff says it's wrong and cruel to suggest that the Guthrie family could have been behind the kidnapping. Meanwhile, President Trump is threatening the kidnappers with the death penalty if Guthrie is not returned alive. In an interview with the New York Post today, the president says the kidnappers will face the most severe federal penalties if Guthrie is found dead. No big breakthrough in the case so far, but the FBI says it has more definitive updates. Here's the latest. NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie Sunday posting another video to Instagram two weeks after her mother Nancy Guthrie's disappearance. Savannah Guthrie once again asked whoever might have taken her mother to release her. It's been two weeks our mom was taken and I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope and we still believe and I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is that it's never too late and you're not lost or alone and it is never too late to do the right thing and we are here we believe and we believe in the essential goodness of every human being and it's never too late. Investigators have so far not indicated any big break in the case, but the FBI says there have been strong definitive updates. A spokesperson for the FBI told the Epoch Times yesterday that a glove found near Guthrie's home appears to match one worn by a suspect seen in footage from the doorbell camera. The FBI says the found glove contains DNA and they are waiting for results from forensic testing. The county sheriff's department says investigators collected DNA from Nancy Guthrie's home that doesn't belong to Guthrie or those in close contact with her. They are working to identify who it belongs to. Based on the doorbell camera footage, authorities have described the suspect as a man about 5'9 to 5'10 with an average build. The FBI also said he was wearing a 25 liter Ozark trail hiker backpack. The bureau has announced a $100,000 reward for information that could lead to Nancy Guthrie's recovery or the arrest and conviction of a suspect. Guthrie has been missing from her Arizona home since January 31st. Since then, several media outlets have received alleged ransom notes from an abductor. However, despite several pleas from the family, no one has been in touch. The FBI is asking anyone with information concerning the case to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tips can also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov. A tragic shooting at a Rhode Island hockey rink this afternoon. Authorities say three people were killed, including the suspect. It happened in Pawtucket, a town just north of Providence. A youth hockey game was taking place at the rink. The police chief says three other victims are hospitalized in critical condition. She also says the shooting was a targeted attack in what appears to have been a family dispute. According to NBC Boston, the superintendent of the local public school district says no student athletes at the game were injured. An FBI in Boston says there's no imminent threat to public safety, but the public should avoid the area as police do their work. We'll keep you updated as we learn more. Heavy rain is beginning to drench parts of Southern California, marking the start of a powerful series of storms expected to impact the region throughout the week. Officials are urging residents to prepare now as conditions could quickly worsen. NTD's Christina Corona reports. Southern California is bracing for a powerful series of winter storms set to bring heavy rain, mountain snow, and dangerous conditions starting Monday. Forecasters say the first storm could bring one to three inches of rain in coastal and valley areas and two to five inches in the mountains by Monday evening. Flooding, mudslides, and debris flows are expected in areas including downtown LA, Pasadena, Burbank, Santa Monica, and Long Beach. Evacuation warnings have been issued for the Eaton and Palisades burn scars and LA Mayor Karen Bass is urging residents to sign up for alerts at notifyla.org. Officials are also warning that the system could bring thunderstorms, strong winds, and even the chance of a brief and weak tornado. According to the National Weather Service, the heaviest rain is expected Monday through Wednesday with additional storms possible later in the week. LA County health officials are also warning residents to stay out of the water. They say storm runoff can carry bacteria, chemicals, trash, and debris into the ocean, especially near storm drains, creeks, and rivers. The Ocean Water Quality Rain Advisory is in effect until at least Saturday morning. Residents are urged to monitor alerts and prepare now. The LA Fire Department says free ready-to-fill sandbags are available year-round at neighborhood fire stations. Christina Corona, NTD News. A medical aid group in the Gaza Strip says it's stopping some medical services after receiving reports of armed men inside a hospital. Meanwhile, a former hostage explains how she survived captivity while held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group. NTD's Jason Perry has the details. Now that the Rafah border crossing is open for pedestrians between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, some patients have been leaving the territory for medical treatment. But patients who decide to receive treatment in the Gaza Strip could see armed men inside the hospitals. A medical aid group that has been working in the Gaza Strip recently suspended some of its services to a major hospital in the territory. The group says it decided to stop non-critical medical activities at the hospital after receiving reports from patients and its own medical staff of armed men inside the hospital. The group also expressed concerns over the possibility that the hospital was being used to transfer weapons. This appears to coincide with a report by the Israel Defense Forces that described a similar situation in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces recently released video of what they said were armed terrorists using ambulances to transfer weapons from a hospital to a school. Meanwhile, troops in Indonesia are preparing for a possible deployment to the Gaza Strip as part of a proposed multinational peacekeeping force. The Indonesian military says they're ready to deploy 1,000 troops to Gaza in April and another 7,000 to the territory in June. The preparations come as the Gaza peace plan is in phase two and all hostages, living or deceased, have been returned. A former hostage who was held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said she tried to end her life several times during her captivity. On Monday, Israel's foreign ministry posted this clip on X from N12 News. In one of those times, it was not long before my release, I got to see a drone photo from hostage square. I saw people holding signs of people I don't know. And suddenly, I saw signs of people I do know, and a sign for Ariel, and a sign for me. And the moment I saw that, I didn't try to end my life there anymore. Many residents in the Gaza Strip are looking forward to the reconstruction of the war-torn territory. But in the meantime, an artist has begun painting the remnants of the destroyed buildings. Here in Khan Yunis, we are bringing joy to the hearts of children, women, men, and all families in this most devastated neighborhood. Under the rubble beside us lie the bodies of martyrs. We are decorating this neighborhood to bring happiness and send a message to the world that we are a people searching for life. This comes just ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin in late February. Jason Perry, NTV News. Coming up, the Trump administration wants to change the ways the U.S. sells arms to allies. Our panelists discuss how the America First arms transfer strategy will work in real life. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the FDA will review a petition challenging ultra-processed foods with 70 percent of Americans either obese or overweight. Diana Monaghan brings us the details. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. How will U.S. arms sales change under President Trump's America First arms transfer strategy? We dive into the latest op-ed from Secretary of State Mark Rubio and War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Rubio's speech at the Munich Security Conference. Joining us now to discuss are Andrew Harding, Senior Associate for National Security Coalitions at the Heritage Foundation, and Mike Cirelli, U.S. Navy SEAL veteran as well as military and national security analyst. Thank you both so much for joining us. Now, Andrew, Rubio and Hegseth in the op-ed emphasizing President Trump's commitment to peace through strength, citing a recent executive order that will ensure U.S. weapons get delivered to our partners in a timely manner. How big of a shift is this from our current system? Well, it's good to be back. And I think this is a very big shift. It's President Trump making very clear that time is no longer on our side when it comes to getting the necessary reforms to put America first and to keep American citizens and allies safe. Whether we're thinking about a potential conflict with China, or as we're seeing right now with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and of course, monitoring the situation with Iran and always with North Korea up to something, it's very important that the defense industrial base is absolutely ready to roll to ensure that America and its troops have the platforms and munitions necessary to deter a conflict, but if needed, also to win a conflict. So this executive order ensures that these bottlenecks are addressed and ensures that allies that have strategic interests and geographies that are aligned with the United States are prioritized. And it also ensures that there's accountability with a quarterly report being introduced to ensure that those in the defense industrial base supplying America with its arms, as well as its allies, are able to be held accountable by the public, as well as Congress to ensure that America's security is put first, and that we're able to ensure that safety is maximized as quickly as possible. And Mike, what would this look like in practice? So ultimately, he's solving two problems here, one internal, and two external, our allies. But this is going to create middle class jobs, this is going to create logistical supply resiliency, and we're going to see private capital flow in. So Andrew is right, there's a very unique threat environment in front of us. And through this order, Trump, Higgseth, and Marco Rubio are really revitalizing Arsenal of Democracy 2.0. They're aligning diplomacy with industrial production. So it does aid us by giving our allies what they need, it holds ourselves accountable. And we've heard a lot of tough rhetoric from the Trump administration towards our NATO allies, not only the increase in their GDP spend for defense, but now we're looking in the mirror and saying, hey, if you pay a bill, you're not going to get hit with a five year waitlist, we're going to get you what you need now. It has security implications across the globe. But again, internally, we're answering our issues with the defense industrial base, how slow they've been, how they haven't been held accountable. And finally, we're putting policy in place. And you've got to applaud that this is what real leadership and foresight looks like from an administration. And Andrew, digging in here, the Secretary's highlights streamlining our diplomatic and defensive systems so that from the start, export of our weapons to our partners is a priority. What would a change like this mean for global deterrence? Well, I think this type of change is very helpful when it comes to deterring America's adversaries from taking any chance against testing America's armed services and those that keep us safe. I think what's very important here, and as Mike noted, as the executive order discusses, is that it's going to prioritize allies that are able to increase their defense spending, that takes their own defense seriously. And they're effectively showing that money talks, that they are backing their rhetoric with spending and ensuring that they're putting their sovereignty, their national defense first, and indicating to the United States that they are capable partners. President Trump and the administration has made very clear that the United States wants capable partners and allies, not dependencies. And this executive order is very much in that line that rewards, it provides an incentive structure for America's allies and partners to work closely with US interests, to identify where our interests align, and collectively ensure that we're able to have global deterrence against adversaries or actors that may want to act against us. But this accountability mechanism also ensures that defense companies that are providing these arms sales are not going to focus on stock buybacks. They're not going to focus on just purely the bottom line here, but they're going to focus on meeting their deadlines. They're going to focus on the top necessary platforms as the national security strategy identifies that's most essential for keeping America secure and safe from its adversaries. So I think from a deterrence standpoint, having this type of executive order supercharges America's ability to defend itself and ensures that the public and private sector are working more closely together. And it ensures that once again, America can feel safer knowing that we have the capabilities at home to produce the arms that keep us and our allies safe. And Mike, there's been a lot of focus and praise on Secretary of State Marco Rubio's speech in Munich. Many see it as a reassuring message of the US as a partner. Here's actually part of that speech now. Together, we can reindustrialize our economies and rebuild our capacity to defend our people. But the work of this new alliance should not be focused just on military cooperation and reclaiming the industries of the past. It should also be focused on together advancing our mutual interests and new frontiers, unshackling our ingenuity, our creativity, and the dynamic spirit to build a new Western century. Mike, what do you make of the tone here? It seems quite different from past speeches from the administration. Yes, much different than especially the World Economic Forum in Davos. We've given our very strong criticism of our NATO allies and other allies. And rightfully, that was well placed. But ultimately, when we look in the mirror, we come back and say, hey, we are not being quick enough with our industrial production, as well as delivery to our allies. Again, we're acknowledging that we've fallen short in certain aspects of our agreement as allies. At the end of the day, Tiffany, the U.S. controls about 40% of the global arms market. I think we have over $900 billion in orders, delayed orders with about 190 partners. The key thing here is that when we don't deliver on time, and it's no different than a consumer buying a product, if they know the lead time is going to be, let's just say, just extraordinarily ridiculous, they're going to look elsewhere for the arms. We know we produce the best tech. We just showed that with the raid to capture Maduro, where we defeated the anti-aircraft weapons of both Russia and China. Our military technology is the finest in the world. Our allies depend on that. Our allies deserve that. And to Andrew's point, stronger allies across the globe leads to more deterrence from the United States. So they definitely did a good job, Marco Rubio, with sort of bridging that criticism into, hey, we've said what we need to say. You are stepping up with your GDP defense, and we are going to step up in kind to get you what you need when you need it. And Andrew, going deeper into Rubio's speech here, what does a united Western civilization mean for adversaries like communist China? Well, I think it shows that President Trump has made it once again very clear, and through Secretary Rubio in his speech, that the United States wants to see a renewed U.S.-Europe relationship and alliance, not a retreat. And that's important, as it makes very clear to the Chinese Communist Party that the United States is not standing back from the world, but rather realigning it to ensure that American interests are maximized, to ensure that our partners and allies are capable of supporting themselves. But it also ensures from specifically a European context that the U.S. and Europe are going to be as lockstep as possible in ensuring that our alliance is secure from Chinese malign influence, is protected from China's weaponization of supply chains, and should there be some type of conflict scenario in the years ahead, ensures that the United States and Europe will closely work together that allows the United States to fight any conflict necessary in the Pacific with European support in making sure that that is possible. But importantly, that the European continent is safe, that the Europeans can say, we have this under control. There would not be any secondary conflict that could come that could put the United States in a very difficult position. So I think the Chinese Communist Party should be well aware of President Trump and Secretary Rubio's commitment to the relationship, making very clear that there are pressure points, as noted that NATO has to step up, that there have to be some changes. But this is not a United States walking away. As the Secretary made very clear, sometimes there are disagreements, but America's disagreements is out of a love and a desire for Europe to be as strong as possible to ensure its own citizens are safe, and as a result, amplifying American security. That should scare any American adversary. Andrew Harding, Mike Cirelli, thank you both so much for joining us. Thank you. Thanks, Tiffany. Ultra-processed foods are under scrutiny by the Trump administration. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says the government will act on a petition calling for closer scrutiny of the food products. But the health secretary stopped short of promising new regulations. Entities Dana Monahan reports. The FDA will consider a petition to revoke the safety status of dozens of processed refined carbohydrates. That is, unless food companies can prove they are safe and not contributing to health issues and obesity. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says something has gone wrong in the United States food supply. Speaking on CBS's 60 Minutes. We're seeing in our population people who are obscenely obese and at the same time malnourished. The health secretary says 70 percent of Americans are either obese or overweight. And it's not because they got indolent or because we became lazy or because we suddenly developed giant appetites. It's because we're being given food that is low in nutrition and high in calories and it's making, it's destroying our health. The petition targets the so-called grass loophole, which was enacted by Congress in 1958. It has allowed the use of ingredients without a full government safety review because it lets food companies verify the safety of those items without oversight. That loophole was hijacked by the industry and it was used to add thousands upon thousands of new ingredients into our food supply. In Europe there's only 400 legal ingredients. This agency does not know how many ingredients there are in American food. Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler is behind the petition. He previously called out tobacco industry practices in the 1990s. He says the United States has been exposed to something over the last 40 years that our biology was never intended to handle. Energy-dense, highly palatable, rapidly absorbable, ultra-processed foods that have altered our metabolism and have resulted in the greatest increase in chronic disease in our history. Some diseases Kessler cites are type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, hypertension, abnormal lipids, fatty liver, heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. They took starch, right, those cheap, easy calories, and they converted those into a whole panoply of ingredients that it was able to reassemble. And those products are so rapidly absorbed in our system that they cause metabolic havoc. They target the brain reward circuits to keep us coming back for more. They trigger overeating. Kessler says such reassembled ingredients in ultra-processed foods deprive people of any sense of fullness. Those calories are not just empty. They're ending up in your liver. And that fat in your liver is going to migrate into other organs, and it's the cause of cardiometabolic disease. The Consumer Brands Association says there's no agreed-upon scientific definition of ultra-processed foods. It says companies adhere to what it calls rigorous evidence-based safety standards to deliver what it calls safe, affordable, and convenient products. Meanwhile, former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson had some advice for people to combat chronic disease and obesity, telling them to walk more and to be active. And as time goes on, you do more and more, and you be more consistent with it. And it's not about how much you do. It's about the consistency. Health Secretary Kennedy has stopped short of saying he would call for more government regulations. He says the government's job is to make sure the public is informed so everybody understands what they're getting. Daniel Monaghan, NTD News. Coming up 48 hours after his release by ICE, a Chinese whistleblower with evidence of Beijing's alleged human rights abuses sat down with us. He crossed the U.S. southern border in 2021, hoping to escape persecution by the Chinese regime. Laura Hua brings us the exclusive interview. Young teens in Britain could be restricted from using social media. The UK wants tech companies to comply with new online safety measures as technology advances. David Lam has more. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. February 3rd marks a special day, not only for a Chinese family, but for many U.S. asylum seekers as well. Wang Hun was released one week after a New York judge granted him asylum, following more than five months in immigration detention. He's a whistleblower who documented evidence of Beijing's human rights abuses against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. Wang sat down with NTD's Laura Hua less than 48 hours after his release from immigration detention to unpack his journey. Let's dive in. This is Wang Hun. He was born in China and lived there for more than three decades. So what drove him to flee from his home country? It all started in 2020 when Wang traveled to China's Xinjiang region on a secret mission. So what prompted you to go to Xinjiang? Let's start from here. I read some reports on China's persecution of Uyghurs. Given my understanding of the Chinese regime, and as an ordinary citizen whose freedom of speech is restricted, I was sympathetic for what they were going through. I thought, all right, I could use my videos to provide testimony for their situation. Most of China's Muslim minority, the Uyghurs, live in the Xinjiang region of western China. The U.S. and U.K. have accused China of genocide targeting Uyghurs. A million people have been reportedly detained in Xinjiang and nearly 400 so-called re-education camps. Beijing blocks foreign media from reaching the public, but Wang says he started bypassing censorship over a decade ago. In 2020, a BuzzFeed report on Uyghur persecution caught his eye. Having visited Xinjiang the year before, he was struck by the street controls and heavy police presence there. The report made me think maybe I should go back and make a video about this. Driving through the locations marked in the news report, Wang found that some of the largest are in Urumqi, the biggest city in Xinjiang. You said these places look like detention facilities. Can you tell us what features made you think that they were detention camps? Many of them are located in Urumqi city. These sites had no names or signage and were under heavy security. There was a school with barbed wire on top of the walls, very unusual. What's more, some of the facilities Wang saw in person aren't even documented on Chinese maps. From what I remember, along that stretch of Gaoqiao Road, there was a massive camp. You can't find it on maps at all, but from the outside, it looks like any other prison. Wang recorded extensive footage and safely returned to his hometown in central China. The idea of publishing it, however, carried serious risks. At the time, I understood very clearly that if I published the video while I was still in China, I would definitely be arrested. That wouldn't just put my personal safety at risk, it would also erase everything I had filmed. And especially this film, no one would ever be able to see it. That was an outcome I simply couldn't accept. So he decided to leave China. After traveling through several countries in Latin America, Guan eventually crossed the U.S. southern border into Florida in 2021 and applied for asylum. Media and human rights groups say Guan's significant findings provide long-sought, on-the-ground evidence supporting claims of the regime's abuses. Meanwhile, across the Pacific, Guan's mother told me the family faced a coordinated campaign by the CCP months after he released the videos in the U.S. Police interrogated his father and close relatives. At the same time, officers raided Guan's apartment and confiscated his computer. She says the CCP is closely watching Guan's trial. On the 17th, I received a text message from Guan's father saying that the police had summoned him again. A national security officer took him to their office and asked him some questions, saying, we know everything about your son in the United States. He's now going to be sent to a third country. We will eliminate Guan's household registration. Another twist for Guan came last year when ICE agents arrested him over illegal entry. He was initially in the process of deportation to Uganda, but his case quickly garnered attention. The House Select China Committee sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security urging for Guan's release. Two weeks ago, a New York immigration judge granted him asylum, citing a well-founded fear of returning to China. Looking back, I asked him whether he regretted visiting Xinjiang and publishing the videos. No. From the very beginning, the reason I made videos was to do something more meaningful, something more significant than just filming my own life. And that's how it's always been. Guan says he wishes the people in China to remain vigilant against the CCP's suppression. He adds that he's inspired by other Chinese dissidents, including civil reporter Zhang Zhan and the founder of the blog program Think, Ruan Xiaohuan. Both remain detained in Chinese AI systems are heavily censoring the spiritual group Falun Gong. That's according to a new report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. The study found that major Chinese-developed models produce zero responses in Chinese. They also produce far fewer English responses on Falun Gong than nearly any other sensitive topic. The report shows these systems not only refuse to answer but also distort narratives. And they echo Chinese Communist Party propaganda by framing Falun Gong as a public threat. Falun Gong is a peaceful meditation practice based on the values of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. Researchers warn this pattern demonstrates how AI is being weaponized to export censorship and political influence beyond China's borders. China is already the world's largest exporter of AI surveillance technologies. Experts say democratic societies must adopt safeguards to protect free expression and prevent authoritarian messaging from spreading through AI tools globally. Britain wants to keep children safe online. But without compliance from tech companies, there could be wider restrictions on social media. The government is considering a ban for children under 16. Entity's David Lam reports. Britain could be the next country to ban social media on a wide scale as early as this year if certain online risks are not reduced. The UK government says unchecked dangers such as addictive design and harmful content is pressuring it to prevent children under 16 from using social media. The government also plans to close a loophole on AI chatbots as part of its efforts to quickly address digital risks. After Australia became the first country to block access for people under 16 years old, Spain, Greece and Slovenia said they are working on bans as well. Britain's 2023 Online Safety Act has a strict safety policy, but it doesn't cover one-on-one interactions with AI chatbots unless they share information with other users. The government wants to close this loophole as some children are forming relationships with AI systems. The government is also considering rules on how the data of social media users is stored. We're taking immediate action that in the terrible event of a child's death that there must be automatic notification of what we call data preservation notices. In an interview with Times Radio Breakfast, UK Secretary Liz Kendall said that preserving online data could be vital to provide information to grieving families as well as evidence to investigators. In 2022, Ellen Ruhm's 14-year-old son Jules passed away. She believes he was trying an internet challenge that went wrong. She hasn't been able to access his online data to prove it. An analysis from the UK-based Center for Social Justice found that almost one million preschool children are active on social media platforms designed for teens and adults, even with age restrictions set at 13. Kendall says tech firms would be responsible for ensuring that their systems comply with British law. David Lam, NTD News. Coming up, which presidents are ranked as favorites among the American people? This President's Day, we'll hear from folks in D.C. And at the Olympics, Norway continues to lead all countries in medals, but hockey looks like a North American affair. Dave Martin joins us to discuss. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Today is President's Day. As we reflect on America's past and present, who's your favorite president? NTD's Sam Wong was out on the National Mall in D.C. to hear from the people. Who's your favorite president and why? George Washington, founding father. You know that was divine intervention. I mean, everything fall in place at just the right times. That was a hand from above, not just man by no means. Sean Adams for his love of Christianity. Out of all the presidents, I will say that Honest Abe is my favorite. And this is my first time here at his monument. And I did get to do a nice physique flex for my boy. We are standing in front of Lincoln Memorial. So actually, I'll say Lincoln. I like the top hat, you know, and he did some stuff for, you know, abolition of slavery. So I'd say maybe Lincoln. We've had so many great presidents, it'll be hard to choose among the others. But Trump, I believe, is going to draw us back together despite a significant amount of, I think, undeserved recrimination from folks that just don't understand what he's doing. How about the current president, President Trump? What do you make of him? He's right below George. I think he's doing good. He's finally somebody who's standing up and saying, you know what, this is what's got to be done. I'm a retired worker and I know the unfairness. You know, how do you compete when you can buy things cheaper from China than you can buy the raw material to do it here? I think closing the border was the most important thing. It was leaking like a sieve. It drastically changes the way our country was founded on and it changes the culture. I mean, some of the things I do like that he does, he is working on the current state of economy. He is bringing more money into this economy. Because when Biden was in office, I was financially in a really bad position. I want to see what he does going forward for the people of America. And I also want to see what he does to make up for his mistakes. I do respect something. I like that he's not too much of a politician, but someone that's, even if you don't like him, you know that he is doing something because he actually cares about the United States. You know, if he stays with God, maybe we'll see something good out of this presidency. Basically, when he got elected the second time, you know, it just looked like it would be an impossible task. No one thought it could be. And the more they attack him, the more popular he became because Americans don't like unfairness. They really don't. And they might not have liked Trump, but they didn't like what was being done to him either. And of course, a lot of other folks love Trump. And now for your sports news, we're joined by NBD's Dave Martin. Dave, we've got some college basketball as well as NFL news, but let's start with the Olympics. The U.S. was shut out of winning any medals yesterday. How'd they do today? They did well today. They broke that little drought that they had, the medal drought. Specifically, Elena Myers-Taylor, that is, brought home the gold in women's bobsleigh this afternoon. Meanwhile, her teammate Kaylee Humphries took bronze in the same competition. Now for Humphries, that's her fifth career Olympic medal. She already has three golds and another bronze previously. For Taylor, meanwhile, she's now got six Olympic medals, but that is her first gold, so congrats to those two there. Also, Team USA's women's hockey team continued their dominant run today. They shut out Sweden in the semifinals, 5-0. That is their fifth straight shutout here. They've won all six games by a combined score of 31-1. So now they move on to Thursday's final, the gold medal game, where they will place Canada. Now if that sounds familiar, it's because it's come down to the U.S. versus Canada in now seven of the eight Olympics since women's hockey was added in 1998. And of the previous six, Canada won four of them. So if we look now at the overall medals count, Norway still ahead in both golds and total medals, meanwhile, Italy second in both spots, USA third in golds and in total medals there. So I'd say the U.S. is faring well here, you know, with these cold weather countries. Still top three. Speaking of hockey though, a lot was made of the men's Olympic hockey competition, as we have NHL players playing for the first time in a dozen years. How is Team USA doing so far? You know, they're doing well. Not as dominant, of course, as the women. Not very many people are. But they won all three games thus far. They beat Latvia, Denmark and Germany. So they are the number two seed for the upcoming single elimination playoff round. Canada is the top seed there. Now the U.S. is going to play the winner between Sweden and Latvia next in the playoff quarterfinals. I think expectations though that are, if you're going to win gold, you're going to have to beat Canada, just kind of like in the women's game. And should the both, both the U.S. and Canada win out, they should meet in the gold medal game. Now, if you remember last year in the four nations face off, it came down to the U.S. versus Canada. They played twice in there. Canada, though, beat them in the finals, but they were very intense game. So I'm looking forward to that again here too. All right, a lot to watch further. Shifting gears to the NFL, though, the Miami Dolphins reportedly will release prolific receiver Terry Kill. Yeah, a bit of a surprising news, but probably due to a combination of, you know, wanting to save money into the salary cap and the fact that Hill tore his ACL and dislocated his knee last September. Plus, he's 32 years old. Now, before that, he was one of the best receivers in the NFL. I mean, he's his nearly 1,800 yards in 2023, not only led the league, it was the seventh most in NFL history, also a five-time All-Pro selection. So he will, he will be a free agent this offseason for the first time in his 10-year career. Now, Hill, meanwhile, posted a thank you on social media to the Dolphins, also vowed that the Cheetah will be back. Now, if you couldn't figure that out, he is the Cheetah. All right, good to know. Moving to college basketball news, though, we have a new number one in the AP poll. Yes, Michigan is the number one team for the first time since 2013. They take over for Arizona. The Wildcats lost twice last week, both to Kansas and to Texas Tech. Wildcats are now number four. So the top five, now Michigan at number one, followed by Houston, Duke, Arizona, and then UConn at number five. After that, it's Iowa State at number six, followed by Purdue, Kansas, Nebraska, and Illinois at 10. Now, this makes for several top 10 matchups this week. Now, first tonight, you've got second ranked Houston at number six, Iowa State. Cyclones coming off that 18-point win over Kansas on Saturday. Houston, meanwhile, has won 17 of their last 18 games. They lead the Big 12 with an 11-1 record. Then tomorrow night, number one, Michigan gets their first big test. They play at number seven, Purdue. Wolverines have won 10 straight overall, and they have a 24-1 record. Then Saturday, we've got a pair of top four matchups. Number two, Houston, another big game. They post fourth ranked Arizona. And then number one, Michigan, another big matchup. They take on a third ranked Duke. That'll mark just the fifth time ever, Tiff, that we've had a pair of top pair, I should say, top four matchups on the same day. So a big day Saturday. Very exciting. Yes. Well, Dave, as always, thanks for joining us. Thank you, Tiff. And that's all for today's news. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Tiffy Meyer. Good night.