Trump on Iran War: ‘We Won’ But Not Done Yet; Deadly Midwest Tornadoes | NTD Evening News (March 11)

Welcome to NTD Evening News. Our top story tonight, President Trump saying the U.S. has hit Iran harder than any country has ever been hit, and it's not finished yet. That's as he visits Congressman Thomas Matthews' district in Kentucky, pushing for election integrity ahead of the midterm elections. Mario Tsu at the White House. Almost two weeks into the war, and the people of Iran are being urged to rise up against the regime. At the same time, Iran's chief of police says protesters will be treated as enemies. Jason Perry reports. Deadly tornadoes tore through parts of the Midwest overnight. Homes destroyed, lives lost, and millions found themselves under severe weather alerts. Christina Corona with the latest. And Republican Clay Fuller and Democrat Sean Harris head into an April runoff in Georgia. They're competing for Marjorie Taylor Greene's former seat in the U.S. House. 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. President Trump saying the U.S. is hitting the Iranian regime harder than virtually any country has been hit in history, and it's not done yet. We now go live to our Washington correspondent, Mario Tsu, at the North Lawn of the White House. Mari, good evening. Hey, Tiff. Good evening. That's right. And President Trump is telling Axios today that there's practically nothing left to target in Iran and in Kentucky tonight. President Trump is declaring victory, saying that the U.S. has won. Take a look. They no longer have radar. They don't have anti-aircraft equipment. They don't have anything. Their missiles are down 90 percent. Their drones are down 85 percent. We're blowing up the factories where they're made, left and right. I mean, for them, it's a war. For us, it's turned out to be easier than we thought. Central Command saying that U.S. forces continue to deliver, quote, devastating combat power against the Iranian regime. The U.S. is power-building as Iranian combat power is declining. To date, we have struck more than 5,500 targets inside Iran, including more than 60 ships. And President Trump saying the U.S. isn't done, as he announces destroying the regime's Navy, mine-laying ships, drones and many of their missiles before they could launch. We have hit them harder than virtually any country in history has been hit. And we're not finished yet. We took out just about all of their mine ships in one night. We're up to boat number 60. And just about all of their Navy is gone at the bottom of the sea. This coming as the White House says that once the national security objectives of the operation laid out by the president are achieved, Americans will see oil and gas prices drop potentially even lower than they were prior to the start of the operation. Earlier today, the International Energy Agency agreed to coordinate the release of a record 400 million barrels of oil from various national petroleum reserves around the world, which will substantially reduce the oil prices as we end this threat to America and this threat to the world. And Tiff, President Trump is making those remarks in Representative Thomas Massey's fourth congressional district in Kentucky. And last week, Massey was one of just two Republicans to cross the aisle and vote against Operation Epic Theory, demanding that President Trump get approval from Congress before continuing with his strikes in Iran. The president's endorsing Massey's opponent, Ed Galt Raine, a former Navy SEAL, in the upcoming midterm elections. The Kentucky primary is slated there for May 19th. And the president's also pushing for election integrity, as he calls on Senate Majority Leader John Thune today to, quote, be a leader and get the votes for the Save America Act. Back to you. All right, Mari, thanks for those updates. Leaders involved in the war against Iran are calling on the Iranian people to rise up against the regime. But that may be easier said than done, as Iran's chief of police says protesters will be treated as enemies. And today's Jason Perry has the details. Residents in Iran were seen inspecting the damage from an airstrike in the capital city of Tehran on Wednesday. The war in Iran has been going on for almost two weeks now. And some leaders have been calling on the Iranian people to rise up against the regime, including President Trump, who said this soon after the war started. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations. And Vice President J.D. Vance was seen expressing similar sentiment after he was asked this by a reporter. If the regime falls, what comes next? Well, look, I mean, if the Iranian people want to overthrow the regime, that's up to the Iranian people. And exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi saying this on the day U.S. forces struck Iran. Even with the arrival of this aid, the final victory will still be forged by our hands. It is we, the people of Iran, who will finish the job in this final battle. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adding this. Our aspiration is to enable the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny. Ultimately, it is up to them. As well as Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz saying Israel will continue launching strikes against the Iranian regime. We will continue doing this also to enable the Iranian people to rise up, take action and topple this regime. In the end, this is something that depends on them. But some may be wondering how can striking Iran's military capabilities enable the Iranian people to rise up when Iranian citizens do not have the right to bear arms? And also with the Iranian police force still in place, which is accused of murdering tens of thousands of its own citizens during recent protests. Iran's chief of security forces saying this on Wednesday. If someone comes to the streets at the request of the enemy, we do not see them as protesters or anything like that. We see them as enemies and we will deal with them as we would with the enemy. The Chinese Communist Party has also been keeping a close eye on the situation in Iran. Multiple sources telling the Epoch Times that Chinese authorities fear a chain reaction could threaten the regime's own stability and that high-ranking Chinese officials are repeatedly instructed to draw lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Jason Perry, NTD News. Iran's new supreme leader has sustained injuries in the U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran. That's according to Israeli assessments. The senior Israeli security official told Epoch magazine in Israel that Mushtaba Khamenei, the son of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sustained injuries to his leg during strikes targeting his father's bunker. The younger Khamenei was injured the same day his father was killed. The Israeli security official said the severity of the younger Khamenei's injury is unclear at this stage. Iran's new supreme leader, who was elected on March 8th, has yet to issue a public statement since his appointment. The International Energy Agency agrees to launch the largest release of oil reserves in the agency's history. The IAEA has over 30 members, including the U.S., which is a founding and key member country. NTD's international correspondent, Arian Pozdar, has the latest on the international effort to combat rising energy prices amid the Iran war. IAEA countries have unanimously decided to launch the largest ever release of emergency oil stocks in our agency's history. The International Energy Agency, or IAEA, announcing a major release of oil reserves when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. IAEA member countries released just under 200 million barrels, which was then the largest in the agency's history. This will now be more than doubled. IAEA countries will be making 400 million barrels of oil available. I repeat, 400 million barrels of oil available to the market to offset the supply lost through the effective closure of the strait. Ships can no longer pass through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf after Iran last week threatened to attack any cargo ship that attempts to go through it. Up to 25 percent of the global oil supply is transported through the waterway. Just on Wednesday, three ships were reportedly struck in the strait. One of them is a cargo ship from Thailand, as you can see in the pictures on screen. At least 20 crew members have been rescued by the Royal Navy of Oman. It's not yet clear who launched the attacks, but the Iranian regime on Wednesday said it won't let a single drop of oil pass through the strait, telling the world to get ready to pay $200 a barrel. However, the European Union saying this shouldn't be a reason to go back to buying oil from Russia. We have energy sources that are homegrown. Renewables and nuclear. Their prices have remained the same over the last 10 days. Yet in current crisis, some argue that we should abandon our long-term strategy and even go back to Russian fossil fuels. This would be a strategic blunder. The European Commission also saying it doesn't see an immediate security supply issue in the European Union for gas or for oil in the short term. However, we stand ready to take all necessary measures in coordination with the International Energy Agency members and take into account regional and national circumstances and security considerations. The spokesperson added that at the moment, the bloc's oil reserves are still full. Aryan Pasdar, NTD News. A series of powerful tornadoes tore through the Midwest overnight. The storms left a trail of destruction across Indiana and Illinois. And officials say the threat of severe weather is not over. NTD's Christina Corona tells us more. Officials say at least four tornadoes touched down as severe storms moved through the Chicago area and into northwest Indiana Tuesday. The storms were produced by a powerful supercell that tracked from central Illinois into communities in Indiana. Authorities say two elderly people were killed in Lake Village, Indiana when a tornado struck their home. Several others were injured as crews worked overnight to rescue people trapped inside damaged buildings. Homes were heavily damaged or destroyed. Large trees were uprooted and dozens of utility poles were knocked down. As of Wednesday morning, more than 12,000 energy customers were without power across the Midwest. One Illinois resident says her family hid in the bathtub as the storm moved through. We went into the bathroom, got a piece of plywood, and within minutes I closed my eyes. The lights flickered and we just, there was nothing. During that time, we just kept praying in the tub. We were holding each other and I was like, this is the way we're going to go. I'm either going to be with the Lord tonight or I'm going to be able to witness to people tomorrow. Officials say some roads remain impassable as crews continue clearing debris and restoring power. The Newland County Sheriff's Department is urging residents to stay off the roads. Secondary search and rescue is still being conducted by the fire departments. The only major thing that I've seen is we still have a lot of excessive amount of traffic that we simply do not need. Once again, we ask people don't come to see the devastation or how many trees are down. Just let us have the room to work and stay off the roads in the immediate Lake Village area. In parts of Kankakee County, Illinois, buildings were leveled and severe damage was reported near the county fairgrounds and nearby neighborhoods. And the severe weather threat isn't over. Meteorologists warn that the same system could bring additional tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds as it moves east. Millions of people across the Midwest and into the Ohio Valley remain under severe weather alerts. Christina Corona, NTD News. The race to succeed. Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is headed to a runoff. A crowded primary field failed to produce a majority winner in yesterday's special election. Democrat Sean Harris will face Trump-backed Republican Clay Fuller in the April runoff. Here's that story. Trump-backed Republican Clay Fuller and Democrat Sean Harris will head into an April runoff in Georgia's 14th congressional district to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in the U.S. House of Representatives. State officials said Harris finished first with just over 37 percent of the vote. While Fuller trailed closely behind in a crowded Republican candidate field. With no one clearing a majority, the two now move on to next month's runoff, with Fuller favored to win. The race has drawn national attention as it's seen as an early test of Donald Trump's pull in a district that's long been a MAGA stronghold. In 2024, Greene easily won with nearly 65 percent of the vote. At his election night watch party, Fuller said the results already felt like a victory. I would describe this as an outright win. We know that the endorsement from President Trump made a difference in this race and we're going to go and win it. I think it's time that the Republican vote unites and gets represented to Capitol Hill as soon as possible. But this is a win. This is an absolute win. Harris, meanwhile, believes he can still break through in the district. I don't have anything to lose. And the people now know me. They trust me. And they say, you know what? This is the only person in the race that's talking directly to me, talking about kitchen table issues. And he said very clearly that, hey, when I go to D.C., I'm a Democrat, but I'm not tied to a party versus my opponent. The first thing that comes out of his mouth is, I'm going to D.C. to help Donald Trump. When somebody tells you they're going to help Donald Trump, they basically say that everybody else in this district don't count. The winner of the April runoff will serve through the end of 2026. However, they will have to campaign again for the full two-year term starting in January, beginning with a May primary that could bring many of the same challengers back into the race. Coming up, experts and lawmakers accuse China and other countries of exploiting America's laws on birthright citizenship. Jason Blair has more. Senators warn of national security risks and push to make drug labels clearer. That's as China controls the ingredients in many medicines Americans take every day. Chris Bobb with that story. And students across the nation have engaged in hundreds of walkouts to protest ICE. A researcher found that many were backed by a socialist group whose funder is now under investigation by U.S. lawmakers. Melina Weisskopf reports next. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. The Chinese Communist Party has been encouraging pregnant women to fly to the U.S. to give birth and obtain American citizenship for their children and then return with them to China. This according to experts and lawmakers who expressed the national security implications of the practice in Washington, D.C. NTD correspondent Jason Blair has more. China is engaging in industrial-scale exploitation of birthright citizenship in the United States. Peter Schweitzer, president of the Government Accountability Institute, says that the Chinese Communist Party is informing Chinese citizens that a child on U.S. soil is considered a U.S. citizen and encourages so-called birth tourism to America. More than 1,000 companies we've identified. What they will do for a fee of about $80,000 to $100,000 is arrange for them to fly to the United States, get them through customs, arrange for the medical procedure. The child is born. Once the child is able to fly, it flies back to China, where it will be raised in the People's Republic of China under the auspices of the CCP. Schweitzer and Missouri Senator Eric Schmidt both raised concerns about the national security implications this has. Chinese government believes over the last 13 years, on average, roughly 50,000 children have been born in the United States every year. Experts like Professor Salvatore Barbonas, he believes it's closer to 100,000 a year. Bottom line is we are looking at between 750,000 and 1.5 million. I don't know what it means to have a million and a half technically U.S. citizens who are living in China and being raised in China, who theoretically could come back here and vote and contribute to political candidates. On Tuesday, Senator Schmidt, Schweitzer and other Senate lawmakers also discussed this concern on Capitol Hill. And we are seeing the advertising of this in Russia and in China. People that are our adversaries, that want to get in, want to have a child, that is a citizen, want to have that social security number. These companies all instruct Chinese women who want to do this in the United States, that when you come to the United States, lie on your visa. Do not say you're coming for a medical. And I think that's important to note right there. They are instructed how to game the system. President Trump has issued an executive order ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants or foreigners temporarily present in the U.S. The order is currently blocked while court cases play out. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on this in April, with a decision expected in June or July. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. The U.S. relies heavily on China for generic drug ingredients, and lawmakers say that's a growing national security concern. Today, the Senate Committee on Aging held a hearing to discuss the risks and possible solutions. Chris Bobb has the latest from Washington. What if I told you that communist China, an adversary of the United States, has sole control of the building blocks of many of the medicines seniors Americans rely on? Lawmakers on the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing Wednesday examining America's dependence on foreign drug manufacturing. China's regime believes it's at war with us. China, to win this war, has a doctrine of unrestricted warfare. A hundred of America's most used pharmaceuticals, they require ingredients that are made in only one Chinese factory. Experts say even drugs produced outside China often rely on Chinese ingredients. India, the other heavyweight production center for generics, they get 80% of their active pharmaceutical ingredients from China. The United States has become reliant on China and India for key ingredients to manufacture generic drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and key starting materials. Congress must empower the FDA to conduct rigorous oversight to make sure foreign manufacturers comply with our safety standards. Witnesses told senators U.S. drug companies have been gradually pushed out of the market. China enticed U.S. manufacturers to their shores. Drug makers soon realized they were subject to Chinese rules, laws, patent agreements. They were required to have Chinese Communist Party members on their boards and relinquish up to 51% of their companies to state-owned enterprises. Corporations must give up their drug formula for approval. If not surrendered freely, they're stolen. Chinese companies then spring up, creating the exact same drug and selling it below cost. Committee Chairman Senator Rick Scott is pushing legislation aimed at increasing transparency about where medicines are made. In an exclusive interview with me last year, he explained... When you put a generic drug in your body, you really actually don't know what's in it. 80% of the generic drugs that you put into your body come from India and China. Right? 90% of ingredients come from China. On the label, it should say, where are the ingredients from and where was it manufactured? He said our supply chain is vulnerable during a geopolitical crisis. You know, if we go to war, which none of us want to go to war, but the logic of the country that we'll go to war with is the same country we're dependent on, China, which is foolish, right? Witnesses also discussed economic tools that could help rebuild U.S. production. Can we use tariffs to help us out with China? Section 232 tariffs, I think, are very important in that regard. And if the president were to invoke the Defense Production Act, these are things that could stimulate domestic production immediately. But we don't have time to play around with this. This is imperative that we get this done within the next year and a half, two years, period. Senator Scott and colleagues have introduced the Bipartisan Clear Labels Act, which would require drug labels to disclose where ingredients and finished products are made and give patients more transparency about what they're taking. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Chris Bobb, NDD News. Students across the U.S. have engaged in hundreds of walkouts to protest against ICE. A parental rights organization found that a communist activist group is behind some of those walkouts. NDD's Melina Weisskopf spoke with Kevin Hogan earlier. Take a look. So at public schools, widespread walkouts have taken place over the past several weeks, where students have left class to actually protest various issues. You mentioned ICE as one of them. They've happened across the nation, and in some instances, these protests have been simultaneous. For example, on the same day, on January 30th, there were ICE-related protests at schools hundreds of miles apart. This happened at schools in Rhode Island, Texas, North Carolina, and Oregon. A researcher, Ryan Staley at Defending Education, is now digging into how these protests originate. And based on his analysis from several sources, he found that at least 40 of these anti-ICE protests happening at high schools and middle schools, students were seen holding signs that he says were provided by the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Now, that's a socialist group that lawmakers believe is funded by a China-based billionaire by the name of Nelville Roy Singham. Lawmakers have subpoenaed Singham and actually asked the Treasury to investigate his money trail. And recently, lawmakers did hold a hearing on foreign influence in American non-profits titled Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond. I want you to listen to a clip from that hearing. Nelville Roy Singham represents a different threat. Born in Connecticut and became a near-billionaire in the United States, Singham relocated to China and now operates as a CCP-aligned influence agent, coordinating U.S. non-profits to destabilize American society from within. Singham attended Chinese Communist Party propaganda trainings, shared offices with Chinese state media in Shanghai, and exploited U.S. tax law to move tens of millions of dollars through donor-advised funds, primarily via Goldman Sachs. And together, these entities form a coordinated $100 million system. So, the investigation into Singham is ongoing, but the group that he funds, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, is just one group behind these walkouts. There are other organizations involved here, like the Sunrise Movement is one of them. There's also the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, among others. Kevin, there were around 330 walkouts so far this year, which is an insane amount when you compare it to previous years. For example, last year there were just 51 such protests. And the protests are not only focused on ICE, but on various issues like support of Palestine, LGBTQ ideology, and environmental causes. Staley described the student walkouts as evidence of a so-called activist pipeline in public schools. And he notes the real issue here is the fact that the students involved are often so young that they don't even understand what communism is, or the mission behind these activist groups that are leading them to protest these causes. They're just happy to get out of class and enjoy the praise that's happening online, which Staley said is a form of grooming young people through social media. Well, thank you for that update. NTD Congressional Correspondent Melina Wise. Coming up, could the U.S. operation on Iran spur regime change in other dictatorships, such as communist China? Reports say CCP officials are monitoring the situation closely for fear of uprisings. Foreign Policy Analyst Bart Merkois and Epoch Times reporter Nathan Su will join us for analysis next. Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. The U.S.-led strikes on Iran and the death of the Iranian leader have rattled Beijing. Authorities in China worry that a chain reaction could threaten the regime's own stability. That's according to a new report from the Epoch Times, citing sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. China hasn't said much about the Iran strikes, aside from messaging similar to what we saw last summer after the 12-day war. But reports know that internally, it's a different story. Several sources telling the Epoch Times top Chinese officials have been holding multiple secret meetings, even drawing lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Joining us now to unpack all this is Nathan Su, investigative reporter at the Epoch Times, and Bart Merkois, foreign policy analyst and former career diplomat. Thank you both so much for joining us. Nathan, starting with you, your thoughts on the CCP's reaction to the war and its internal push to even draw lessons from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Thank you for having me. For years, the Chinese Communist regime has spent tremendous time and money to learn how all these major regimes collapsed. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Chinese Communist regime tried to make a lot of effort to study how and what happened in the Soviet Union. And the purpose, of course, is to prevent a similar situation happen in the future, so that it will collapse the Communist regime in China. Now, if you look at the Communist regime and Iranian regime, there are a lot of similarities, because under the Iranian regime, in every part of the government and military operation, they have a religious element over there to oversee and to control the operation. While in China, it's similar. In the military, from the company level up, in the society, from the community level up, every level, there is a Communist official that's there to pretty much control the entire operation. So if we can finally collapse the whole Iranian regime, that's going to mean a lot how we're going to deal with China in the future, really to focus on the Communist Party officials and their military officials. And Bart, digging into China, the regime is reportedly censoring searches on regime change online as concerns of an uprising spread among the party. How powerful can real change be, like what we're seeing in Iran? Enough to spark a movement elsewhere? Oh, absolutely. You know that every Chinese patriot sees the situation in Iran the same way that Mr. Xu just described it. They're looking at it, they see the similarities between the religious police and the party commissars, and they see the absolute control. And they are looking to see whether they could, they being the Chinese citizens, are looking to see whether this is the time. I think that they probably are going to be very cautious before they do that. But you know that they're looking at it, and you know that they too are learning lessons from what they see. And Nathan, one source told The Epoch Times the CCP views the killing of Iran's Ali Khamenei as one of the most significant geopolitical upheavals of the past two decades. Do you see it that way? Yeah, of course. If you look at this newly rise, your nation continental power, you know, this newly, this new continental power have several strongholds around the outside boundary. That's China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. However, you know, inside of these outside boundaries, those countries, they are influenced and controlled by China and Russia. They are much weaker. I'm talking about Afghanistan, and also I'm talking about the other five countries in Asia. I'm talking about Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan. All these countries are much weaker. Now if the Iranian regime collapses, then that pretty much means the western corner and western and southern corner of these continental power total collapse. And then the weaker part of these continental power will be exposed directly to the outside influence. And those weaker countries are much harder for China and Russia to control. And far ahead of the strikes, many Chinese media and mouthpieces said that the U.S. didn't have the backbone to strike Iran, given that China miscalculated President Trump's capabilities. More broadly, does this hurt China's image in the eyes of its partners? Oh, everything that has happened in the past year has hurt China's image in the eyes of its partners. First of all, its hardware has been shown to be complete junk. It's useless against American air power, and it's useless against American special operations capabilities. Not just the air power, the much vaunted hypersonic anti-ship missiles. I've seen a report that China sent 50 of them to Iran. All 50 of them failed to reach their target. They all missed, and the vessels that fired them were all sunk. They have been shown to be an unreliable, weak partner. I think we spoke recently about the fact that Iran was turning to China, asking it for assistance, and all it got from China was a gentle clap and some words of encouragement. But nothing that really matters. And as far as American will is concerned, there is no weapon that is more important than the will of the American people and the will of the American leadership. And you have seen an absolute iron will coming from the White House, the Pentagon, and even from the Congress. You don't see a lot of voices being raised high and shrill in the Congress about this. There is a unity here in spite of the best efforts of China to induce division in American society. Expanding on that, Nathan, even professors and government advisors inside Beijing are saying perhaps the West isn't in decline, as Xi Jinping has said for years. One analyst saying America's war-making capability depends on its will to deploy such power. How could this operation change the dynamic on a global level? I think this operation basically symbolizes the end of the globalized economy era. Now the problem for the globalized economy, that kind of a system, countries don't separate their different political values and their political systems. We treat all these regimes that want to hurt Western civilization and Western economy equally and with the DEI diversity and equality and inclusiveness. As a result, it's obvious they are taking advantage from us. For example, after China joined WTO in 2001, from 2001 to 2011, that 10 years, China's economy grew five times. From 2011 to 2021, they doubled. Basically, in the 20 years immediately after China joined WTO, China's economy grew tenfold, while at the same time, the United States actually de-industrialized itself and made China industrialized. That's just totally nonsense. So I think this is the beginning. I think this operation is the beginning that we're going to see a new era that comes, that we are going to clearly differentiate the different values when we treat different countries. So we will be able to defend the Western civilization and the Western society's values. On that note, Bart, what does all of this mean for Taiwan? Some headlines highlight how this could be a blow to US munitions stockpiles that could damage the deterrence against a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Others believe that this strengthens America's hand as China now knows that the US is serious about striking back. Your thoughts on that? I'll repeat what I said earlier. Let me first repeat what I said earlier. There is no weapon, no munition that is as important as the willpower of the leadership. And nobody doubts the willpower of President Trump or his administration or of the American military. As far as the munition supplies are concerned, we have the supplies. We have the supplies available. We have the manufacturing capability available to replace them. President Trump has been working on that since his second inauguration. He's been working feverishly on it. He's been working to replace the rare earth minerals and the other precursors to gunpowder and high explosive manufacturing that we traditionally, not traditionally, but for the past 20 years have been getting from China. He's already moved to replace that from other countries, from other allies. And I just I remember reading about two months ago that the Pentagon had a $500 billion surplus in their budget that was not obligated. The money is there. And when you have that kind of money, you can buy what you need to manufacture what's necessary. And let me just say, as the Chinese Communist Party is looking at all of this, they're remembering that the most important lesson from the 20th century in terms of international affairs was that, and this is a very sad lesson, was that repression works, but only if it is absolute and unrelenting. And nobody is better at unrelenting repression than the Chinese Communist Party. They will do everything in their power. In Tiananmen Square, when people started protesting and it looked like there was a moment of hope, they shut off all the cameras and they came in and they crushed it and thousands of people disappeared forever. When Hong Kong looked like they were going to have some kind of independence, suddenly the Wuhan virus took over the entire world. And while the world was shut down wearing masks and isolating themselves, the Chinese Communist Party went in and completely destroyed the Hong Kong independence movement. They are willing and ready to take absolutely repressive measures. However, now that they know that there is somebody in the White House that will counter them, they will not do it against Taiwan. They will have to think twice and three times and four times before they take offensive measures against an independent nation. And that is how the United States sees Taiwan. And we will not sit back and allow that to happen. And speaking of repression, Nathan, another aspect here is surveillance. The Financial Times reporting that the U.S. and Israel hacked Iran's traffic camera system for years, getting real-time insight into the day-to-day operations of the leadership. Now those cameras came from China, and while China boasts the world's largest surveillance system at home to monitor its own citizens, could that backfire? Could the U.S. potentially leverage that against China's leadership? Yeah, that's a very interesting point of view. And seeing what's happening on the Iranian regime with all surveillance systems equipped by the Chinese technology, that certainly has left tremendous room for people to imagine what could happen if the confrontation take place in the Western Pacific between the United States and China, right? So I think that Chinese regime has—they are also aware of the situation. In the recent months, we have seen that Beijing tried to limit the import of the very advanced semiconductor chips from a media. And I think they are kind of like worried about this situation. And Bart, how do you see all of this playing out in that Trump-Xi meeting expected in April? I'm not sure that meeting will go forward. I'm wondering whether Xi will back out because he does not want to confront Trump. He knows that Trump will be diplomatic but will be very firm. I think that Trump will do what he always does. He will represent American interests very strongly. I suspect that Trump is going to make a call to the entire world, following up on what Nathan said about the surveillance technology, to stop allowing Chinese hardware in any technology that they have. Imagine what China could do if they activated some backdoor that they've built into their hardware and they started sending Waymo cars to block first responders. What if they used it to hack into and surveil communications? People with Ring video doorbells and Nest doorbells may want to rethink having those there. All of those things play into China's potential to be able to hack that. I think President Trump is going to call out the Chinese aggression that way and call them on the carpet publicly. And I think that he's going to face down Xi Jinping the way China faced down the Biden administration in that horrible meeting in Alaska. Nathan, your thoughts on the meeting and if it will take place? Yeah. Well, I think Beijing has been showing hesitation if they are going to actually make Trump visit to Beijing possible. They have been delaying the response because Trump has been since February 20th saying he was going to visit Beijing from March 31st to April 2nd, but Beijing has not yet been responding to that. In the last couple of days, there are a couple of Chinese state media that are coming out saying, well, this is a meeting Trump wanted. It sounds like Xi Jinping yielded to the request from Trump, so therefore Trump comes. I think the real situation right now is actually Xi Jinping changed his attitude a little bit. He actually wants insight. He actually wants to see Trump. Why? Because he actually wants the end of this US military operation in Iran. He wants this operation to end as soon as possible because China is right now seeing that they are out of control of energy. They are facing the energy situation, a potential energy crisis. Think about it. China only has 115 days of oil reserve. If this operation on Iran continues several months, China will have an energy crisis. We possibly can see the energy shutdown in Beijing, in Guangzhou, in Shanghai, in those big cities. That will look not good to Xi Jinping. Definitely a lot to unpack here. Nathan Hsu, Bart Marquoise, thank you both so much for joining us. Thank you. Thank you. Coming up, could New York City's minimum wage grow to $30 an hour by 2030? What a New York Welcome back. I'm Tiffany Meyer. A New York City council member is pushing for a phased $30 an hour minimum wage in the city by the year 2030. What could this mean for businesses and how does newer technology come into play? Economic development expert John Boyd shares his insights with NTD's Sean Marshall. Brooklyn City Council Member Santiners is proposing a $30 for our city act, a new legislation to raise the minimum wage of New York City workers to $30 an hour by 2030. It would be phased minimum wage increases connected to employer size. Employers with more than 500 employees would be required to pay workers staggered increases of $20 per hour in 2027, $23 in 2028, $26 in 2029, and $30 in 2030. Businesses with less than 500 employees would move up to $30 per hour by 2032. I expect a likely scenario here will be a minimum wage increase, likely less than $30 an hour, and likely some concessions to accommodate for smaller businesses, potentially some accommodations for a slowdown in the national or regional economy. But this is the proposal and, you know, this would be yet another blemish to an already difficult New York City business climate, already amongst the highest in the nation with respect to taxes, business costs, insurance costs, regulatory costs with respect to permitting and licensing. New York City Council Member Santiners told Spectrum News, when we raised the wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour, what we saw was significant pay increases without job losses. So paying higher wages works for businesses. Council Member Nurse also said there are studies that have found that actually to cover your base expenses in New York City, you would need $38 an hour. The other part here is if you look back to 2024 when California did their fast food workers bill, it resulted in tens of thousands of job losses. When you look at the upward pressures it put in industries beyond just fast food, other industries that needed to be competitive, okay, hiring that type of the workforce. Okay, it also resulted in price increases, and it accelerated AI automation and robotics. And that was two years ago. Okay, you look at this 2030 threshold, most businesses in the hospitality, the restaurant, and even the corporate sector in particular, they're going to have very robust systems in place for AI, for automation, and for robotics. The bill would then require the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to annually calculate increases to the pay standards following an analysis of measures of inflation. Boyd says what could be expected is a possible balanced increase amount that meets somewhere in the middle of the current wage and the proposed increase to $30. Shell Marshall, NTD News. And that's all for today's news. For other clock coverage, visit us at ntd.com slash live or download our NTD app. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Good night.