Capitol Report Full Broadcast (Sept. 1)

Good evening. Tonight on the Capitol Report, the United States launching new strikes against Iran while the president is warning the Iranian regime that they face dire consequences. And a critical hearing brings to light the human toll of so-called sanctuary policy. Congressman Bob Onder will join us with what lawmakers have uncovered. And these cities and these states aid and abet criminal illegal aliens by not, by releasing them to the public to do more harm. Congress sounding the alarm on birth tourism. What they revealed about U.S. adversaries exploiting the immigration loophole to gain a foothold in America. Why are they doing it? They either don't believe in their own country, which I find hard to believe, or they're doing it for nefarious purposes to gain some sort of influence into America. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. Good evening. U.S. forces have resumed striking Iran's military targets after Iran attacked commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as American service members in the region. We go now live to NTD's Washington correspondent, Jack Bradley, standing by at the White House. Jack, good evening. So what's the latest on these strikes? Good evening, Steve. Well, Central Command just announced that those strikes have just wrapped up. President Trump's saying that they are in response to recent Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as Iran launching eight ballistic missiles unsuccessfully at U.S. forces stationed in Jordan earlier this week. The president says that any retaliation from Iran would be met with more strikes from the U.S. He wrote on True Social this. The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz If the failed nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level. Just going to show an indication from the president directly to the Iranian regime that these threats against this waterway and the strikes on U.S. forces will not be tolerated. Add to that the new sanctions on Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says will kick off soon. Take a look. We are going to go after the regime's illegitimate assets that they have stolen from the Iranian people, and those can go back to the Iranian people, or they can go to the victims of terror, like the families of the soldiers who are on the USS Cole or in the Lebanese barracks. And adding on to those, the U.S. is working with allies to de-risk from Iran's leverage on the oil market, making the Strait of Hormuz into what the secretary calls a worthless piece of water. Watch. We can see the Iranians are trying to use the Strait of Hormuz as a choke point. It's not a choke point for the U.S., but it is a choke point for many, many other countries. And but that will be bypassed in two years. In two years, the Strait of Hormuz will be like a worthless piece of water. And with the new oil agreements from Venezuela, it's looking like that will be the case. Steve. And Jack, the president meeting with oil executives today at the White House. What is the president pushing for here? Well, he's working to bolster America's energy independence and bring down fuel costs. Now, this comes as the Trump administration struck a deal with Venezuela just allowing the U.S. to access 17 of its oil fields, accounting for more than 65 billion barrels, and investments expected to reach 100 billion dollars. This is a century long agreement, and U.S. officials say that these fields were once largely under the influence of Chinese and Russian companies. But under Maduro, we had China buying Venezuelan oil at a significant below market discount, and Russia took oil from Venezuela for to pay their debts. But now those fields are partnering with the U.S. Officials say that Chevron will be among those to expand operations inside Venezuela, providing Americans with a reliable source of energy in the western hemisphere, and also promising Venezuelans some economic growth. And on the domestic oil front, this feeds into the administration's strides they've made, approving over 6,000 oil drilling permits, hitting an all-time high in oil and energy exports, and opening hundreds of millions of acres of federal land for energy production. Back to you, Steve. And today's Jack Bradley, live from the White House. Thank you, Jack. And the House of Representatives today passing a short-term funding bill to fund the federal government through early December, aiming to avert a shutdown just ahead of the midterm elections. The fiscal year ends in late September, and lawmakers are looking to avoid a shutdown during campaign season. The House passing the bill, 370 to 48. The Senate overwhelmingly approving it, sending the measure to President Trump's desk for signature. And lawmakers are highlighting how sanctuary policies put ordinary Americans at risk when local authorities fail to hand over criminals who are in the country illegally. Later in the show, we'll be hearing from Congressman Bob Onder on what those consequences look like. But first, and joining us now to discuss the latest strikes and economic pressure on Iran is John Citlidi, Senior Fellow for Global Risks at the Center for the National Interest. John, great to have you back with us. So these latest strikes come in retaliation for Iran's failed attempt to lay mines. They were attempting to lay mines again in the strait, with President Trump also warning that there will be very little left of Iran if it retaliates further. We saw them also taking preemptive measures to strike U.S. military forces in the region. Are we entering a new phase of this conflict? It's tough to tell, Steve. You know, with President Trump, we seem to have been focused almost primarily on an economic triangulation or asphyxiation, or as Treasury Secretary Besant just told an audience, cutting the head off the snake type strategy that really was going to focus on the quote unquote economic D-Day sanctions on the Iranian economy and especially targeting the IRGC leaders who have been stealing anywhere from $40 to $50 billion a year from the Iranian people, sending it to offshore accounts to buy $100 million homes and to enrich themselves. And now we have what seems to be a return to some measure of kinetic activity. And President Trump has been very clear from the get-go. He would not allow Iranian attacks to go without a response. But it seems that President Trump is ensuring that the U.S. maintains the escalation ladder control here. Anything that Iran does to the U.S., the U.S. will do 10 times harder to Iran. John, the point that you just made about the Iranian leaders enriching themselves, the level of corruption, that's a very powerful point that might resonate very far and wide inside of Iran. But we know that Iran controls the regime, the media there. Are there ways for the people of Iran to get that message? And do you think that they know about it? I believe they know about it. The question is, what can they do about it? And this is maybe the greatest conundrum in terms of trying to provide for some type, some measure of hope for the Iranian people, 90 to 92 million people who've been suffering grievously for decades ever since this theocratic regime came into power in 1979. And of course, most of them have no arms. They're not trained at all to be able to take on the very heavily armed and well-trained IRGC forces, the Basij. That's really the paramilitary force, the police force that enforces Islamic doctrine and dogma in the streets of Tehran. I think one of the interesting issues here, Steve, is when the Trump administration announced that they had considered arming Kurds, insurrectionists, to try to distract the IRGC and the paramilitary inside of Iran. But then, at least according to President Trump and some media reports, one of the Kurdish stole the weapons that were supposed to be used to train the Iranian people. I think one of the areas that maybe outsiders are still looking for, for some measure of hope, is the Artesh, the professional Iranian military that really doesn't want any more harm to come to the Iranian people. And maybe if they're persuaded by President Trump and Treasury Secretary's D-Day sanctions, that there really is no hope for this IRGC regime, that maybe they'll turn on the government and then you'll have that civil war that could lead to some type of more optimistic future for the Iranian people. John, switching gears a bit, the President meeting with oil and gas retailers today, just days after making that sweeping deal with Venezuela for the U.S. to take majority control of 65 billion barrels of oil, much of which to replenish our strategic reserves. What does this mean for the United States? Will it bring down prices at the pump and help rebuild those strategic reserves in a timely manner? At least on the surface, Steve, it seems to be great news for the U.S. economy, for our energy market, and frankly, for reconstructing a beleaguered neighbor, Venezuela, that has suffered for over two decades under destructive socialist policies. But I think there are many questions here that still need to be answered. First of all, there are many who believe that this agreement may violate the Venezuelan constitution. So we don't know to what extent this will have any legal endurance inside of Caracas. There was no competitive bidding inside of Venezuela. The Venezuelan partner was chosen by the government of interim President Delce Rodriguez. Many, of course, see that she's not really considered a legitimate president because she came in under Nicolas Maduro. And when Venezuela has free and open democratic elections, perhaps that'll be the government to enter into an agreement with. But the president is offering a very optimistic future for the people of Venezuela, $200 billion in tax revenues to stabilize the country, to reconstruct it, and to bring about a democratic process there, and also to have this company, which the U.S. have a major stake, become the second largest oil company in the world after Saudi Aramco. But it's going to take a very long time, at least three to five years of significant energy infrastructure investment. I don't think we'll see any measurable reduction of gas prices at the pump by November. This will take probably several years to play out, but it's all in a good direction. John, last week we were talking about a major pivot toward economic pressure, Operation Economic Outcast, sanctioning folks, bad actors, adversaries like China that will aid Iran despite primary sanctions. Now we're seeing a resumption of these direct military kinetic strikes. How much more do you think Iran will be able to withstand, given that it's now facing both economic and military pressure simultaneously? It's a very important question that you ask, Steve. First of all, keep in mind, in terms of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, the U.S. has to take out every single mine that the Iranians, that the IRGC, is able to lay in the Strait. All the IRGC has to do is persuade ship owners and shipping insurance companies that a ship with human beings, the crew on it, may hit one mine, and then that's just going to disrupt the normal flow of shipping out of the Persian Gulf. And so this is where there's a significant imbalance and asymmetry, so to speak, between what Iran has to do and what the U.S. has to do. There are also a number of targets that are still available to the U.S., but I think the administration seems to feel that there's marginal additional value taking out some of these very important infrastructure targets that are going to directly harm the well-being of the Iranian people. That's why I think you're seeing very targeted sanctions, and maybe you'll see some kinetic strikes against those purely military targets, if there are any left, certainly against any launchers, any drone production facilities, any areas where the Iranians are storing those fast attack boats that they're using to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. But the IRGC seems hell-bent on being able to resist the United States, even if it means that the last Iranian citizen has to die. And I think that's going to be the difficult issue for the U.S. and our allies, persuading the IRGC to either relent or to persuade another force in Iran to overthrow the regime. John, you touched on China. Just prior to this conflict, China was receiving roughly 90 percent of Iranian oil exports at a very discounted rate. Under Maduro in Venezuela, China bought their crude at a steep discount of roughly 35 to 45 percent, and Russia took oil as debt repayment from Venezuela, tracking the flow of oil around the world. What does pulling away China's discounted oil supply from Iran and Venezuela do for China? How significant might this ultimately become? I will tell, Steve, because one of the things that China has been able to skillfully do is to leverage its vast, vast oil reserves. It has been storing reserves for years, again, as you rightly point out, acquiring Iranian oil despite U.S. and international sanctions at deeply discounted prices, unfortunately, especially under the Biden administration, which completely looked the other way as China was sending billions of dollars' worth of oil into the Iranian economy, frankly, remnambi, to avoid the U.S. dollar and avoid sanctions. Enriching Iran and, of course, enriching Venezuela in the process, really buying less from Venezuela than extracting it in exchange for loans that the Venezuelan government was unable to repay to China. But I think this is going to be a major play between now and the meeting that is taking place between General Secretary Xi and President Trump in about three weeks. I think the president is deliberately laying very low diplomatically, not really singling out China publicly. But once they're meeting in three weeks, I think President Trump will be making it very clear to General Secretary Xi that China's interest is not any longer buying Iranian oil. Certainly, they're already cut out of the Venezuelan market. But to end the provision of military and space technology to Iran, cut off the oil revenues and obtain oil from other sources, and end the sanctions busting that's allowed Iran to disrupt the flow of oil, liquefied natural gas, petrochemicals, fertilizers and other important components of the global economy for the last six months. John, lastly and briefly, a lot has happened since the last time President Trump and Xi Jinping met back in Beijing in roughly April. We've seen the president come out, I believe it was in July, talking about China's interference in the 2020 election, stealing over 200 million data points on voters. We're seeing the secondary sanctions, China always apprehensive to come overseas to a U.S. visit because none of the pomp and circumstance is within their control. We see Xi Jinping in Russia, excuse me, meeting Vladimir Putin right now, I believe, Kyrgyzstan or somewhere in the northwest area of China with other leaders of Egypt and India. Is there a chance that we might see Beijing postpone this trip? There's always a possibility, Steve. And again, you know, today's September 1st and the meeting is not officially confirmed yet. It's three weeks out. And normally the Chinese government, and especially under Xi, they like to plan these months in advance, I mean, get it down to the exact last detail. President Trump is the one that tends to be a little bit more off the cuff and the like, less prepared, more immediate in his interaction with his interlocutors and his peers, including with General Secretary Xi. So it is a little bit unusual that the details haven't been hammered out yet. It could be that the Chinese Communist Party is using this meeting as leverage to try to either extract concessions from the U.S. or to request that certain issues not be brought up at the meeting in Washington. And I think there is also concern, to your point, Steve, that when Xi comes to Washington, he might be warmly received by President Trump and maybe a certain group of business leaders. But I think most members of Congress will give him a very frosty reception at the very least. That can be embarrassing for Xi back home and on the global stage. And I think the Chinese are trying to work out the theatrics of that part of the Washington trip as well. I mean, you raise an excellent point, too. Let's not forget about all of the human rights groups that will be outside of the White House protesting his visit. You know, the CCP never likes that look. John, as always, really appreciate your perspective. And coming up, birth tourism, an industry built up around the abuse of birthright citizenship. Lawmakers today proving how adversaries of the U.S. are profiting from it. We'll discuss with our panel, Jason Parmer and Brian Maloney, when we come back. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. Sanctuary policies facing renewed scrutiny on Capitol Hill after two parents telling lawmakers their children were left permanently disabled by illegal immigrant drivers. Republicans are pointing to 17,000 ICE detainers. arguing sanctuary jurisdictions are putting public safety at risk. Entity correspondent Jason Blair reports. These laws require local law enforcement to release dangerous illegal aliens, people who are already in their custody for committing other crimes, rather than safely turning them over to ICE to be removed from our country. House Judiciary Republicans report that 17,000 ICE detainers were refused by so-called sanctuary jurisdictions during 2025. That's 17,000 criminals who could have been quickly and safely removed from our communities. That statistic went largely uncontested by Democrats. However, ranking member Jamie Raskin argues that ICE sometimes doesn't pick up honored detainers. In Loudon County, generally, ICE issued detainers for 419 people, but ICE only picked up 253. That means 166 of them were never even picked up by ICE. Chairman McClintock responds. The same Democrats repeatedly voted to shut down the Department of Homeland Security in order to keep any money going to ICE to enforce those detainers. They complain when they can't pick up every detainee, and then they complain when they do. A father whose young daughter was permanently disabled after an illegal immigrant trucker caused a multi-vehicle crash told committee Democrats he holds them responsible. I reject your guys' sympathy, to be honest with you. There's no way you guys are sorry. Not one of you guys have ever called me, and every day something's happening to somebody. And it is your guys' fault. I hold each and every one of you responsible for it. Another parent echoes the sentiment. What's your guys' number? Because if anybody had come to my door and said, would you give your daughter's life for these people to cross the border illegally? I would have said no. Some Democrats offered condolences after Coleman and Fox testified, and Republicans throughout the hearing treated the parents' stories as the reason for the hearing. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. And joining me now to discuss that hearing on Capitol Hill regarding sanctuary cities is Missouri Congressman Bob Onder. Congressman Bob Onder, thanks so much for joining us. Great to be back. It's great to have you. Congressman, you were in a critical hearing today, including witnesses who were victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants. There was a sheriff there who opposed these sanctuary policies. What did we learn about the real-world consequences of criminal illegal immigrants and the effects they have on the American population? Well, that's right. Two of our witnesses today were the parents of Delilah Fox and Carissa Coleman, both of whom were tragically injured by criminal illegal aliens. And unfortunately, 11 states, dozens of cities, the District of Columbia have all instituted sanctuary policies where they do not cooperate with the federal government in the enforcement of immigration law. And we're not asking these cities, these states to do anything special. Just when you have a criminal illegal alien in custody, let ICE know when you release them. And these cities and these states aid and abet criminal illegal aliens by not, by releasing them to the public to do more harm. This has got to stop. There may be, you know, the ceiling might be starting to crack. We did see in Virginia, Fairfax County, Democratic stronghold sanctuary jurisdiction, they recently transferred a sex offender to ICE. What do you make of that? And do you find some hope that some of these other cities might follow suit? Yes. Well, we had the sheriff of Fairfax County, Virginia in front of our committee, and we put some serious pressure. You know, they have a budget of something like $81 million, and somehow they didn't have the resources, quote unquote, to make a phone call to ICE before they released criminal illegal aliens back into the community and one of them committed murder. So perhaps they are the hard way learning their lesson. But this is absolutely intolerable. You know, in Missouri, we outlawed sanctuary cities. We mandated cooperation with ICE and other immigration authorities almost two decades ago. That is why we don't have these problems in Missouri. But it's not that we're unaffected. A criminal illegal alien, a Somalian from Minnesota, recently went two or three miles the wrong way on a major interstate. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But the criminal sanctuary policies of these states, of these cities affect all of us. Now, the Democratic Socialists of America, they're very big proponents of eliminating and dismantling ICE. When they're confronted with the question of exactly what you heard today, the American people being affected, killed, Lake and Riley, many others, they sort of don't have an answer for it. But it's downplayed like these are isolated sort of anomalies. They don't seem to care. But I would ask them to look the parents of Carissa and Delilah in the eye and say that you're a statistical anomaly. And they're not. Tens of thousands of these cases have happened all across the country. More in the sanctuary jurisdictions. But the rest of us are affected, too, because these sanctuary cities and states act as magnets for these criminals. And it makes us all less safe. On the contrary, since the Trump administration took power, we've seen a dramatic decrease in many of these crimes and a decrease in fentanyl deaths. That's what happens when we secure the border. Congressman, speaking of the Democratic Socialists of America, the House of Representatives scheduled to vote today on Resolution 1490. This is a resolution that will ultimately condemn and denounce socialism in all of its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America. What's the significance of this vote? And what would you say to those who may vote against it? Well, it really is standing for our constitutional Republican form of government, our free market, our democratic system, as opposed to the totalitarian socialist ideologies, communist ideologies that we've seen around the world that have claimed tens of millions of victims from the early 20th century all the way to today. And it would be disappointing to see this resolution passed by any less than a unanimous vote. But I'm afraid some of my Democrat colleagues will vote against this resolution. Switching gears a bit, I want to get your thoughts on the Supreme Court. They ruled the Trump administration can move forward with key parts of the president's mail-in voting executive order. Why is this a necessary safeguard, in your opinion? And what's been missing from the system until now? Well, yes, the Trump executive order on mail-in voting, I think, is a truly brilliant way to, in the absence of congressional action, which we desperately need, of enforcing election integrity. Basically saying to states, you provide us the list of eligible voters, voters who are not illegally in the country or who are citizens, you provide us the list of eligible voters. And then if you don't, we won't process, the U.S. Postal Service will not process mail-in ballots in your state. And fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled a court injunction against President Trump and allowed his plan to go forward. But we're only two months out from the election, of course. Longer term, we need to, as the U.S. House of Representatives has done three or four times already, pass the SAVE Act and the SAVE America Act, because the gold standard for election integrity is in-person voting on election day, on paper ballots. And unfortunately, whereas over 176 countries have photo ID requirements for voting, the United States does not. We need to secure American elections. We need to ensure every voter that their vote counts and it's not being nullified by someone else voting illegally. There's a few key components to election integrity. You just outlined a few of the major ones. A voter ID, as you mentioned, that is a bipartisan issue in the districts. On Capitol Hill, it doesn't seem to be. It is, because very few Democrats will vote for election integrity. But yes, it's an 85, 90 percent issue among actual voters. But for some reason, the Democrat Party has been radicalized, I think in part by the influence of the Democrat socialists or their predecessors into believing that everyone, in fact, the Democrat socialists believe that illegal aliens ought to be allowed to vote. No, that is not the American way. We need to secure our ballots. Our system, the integrity of our system depends on it. Lastly, Congressman, another key component that we laid out here is the voter rolls. That seems to be a third rail for the Democrats. Why is that? It really does. For all the jokes about dead people voting over the years, it's a real problem. These same states that don't require voter ID, that don't screen for aliens voting, they also don't clean up their voter rolls. And if there are these, especially if you're sending out massive numbers of mail-in ballots and you're not confirming who is properly on the voting rolls and who's not, it's just a recipe for election fraud. Congressman Bob Onder, really appreciate you joining us. Thank you. The House of Representatives has just adopted a resolution denouncing socialism in all its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America, and opposing any socialist policies in the country. The House adopting it on a 220 to 192 to two vote, every Republican voting yes, eight Democrats joining the Republicans, two Democrats voting present. And the measure is largely messaging. However, the vote comes ahead of the November midterms after several Democratic Socialists winning their party primaries. House Speaker Mike Johnson condemning the trend, saying the election is a contrast between common sense and crazy and that socialism never works. And the United States oil companies will be taking over some Venezuelan oil fields previously run by Chinese and Russian companies. So how Washington is challenging Beijing's foothold in the Western Hemisphere. You can find out more tonight on China In Focus with Tiffany Meyer at 9.30 p.m. Eastern. Coming up, a House hearing unpacking the national security implications of birth tourism. How communist China exploits America's immigration system for nefarious purposes. We'll break it down with our panel. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. The exploitation of birthright citizenship taking center stage at a hearing on Capitol Hill today. The House Oversight Committee today probing birth tourism schemes that have been going on across the nation. Entity Sam Wong reports. The point is that American citizenship is the most valuable thing in the world, and it's not something that we just hand out to anybody who crosses our borders illegally and gives birth. This is something that we should value and that we should give out on our terms. At a House oversight hearing, Republican lawmakers taking aim at birth tourism and its impact on national security. It's the practice of foreigners coming to the United States to give birth so that their child automatically becomes a U.S. citizen. The committee subpoenaed the head of a South Florida company that openly advertised birth tourism to foreign nationals. Does your business help children of members of the Chinese Communist Party obtain American citizenship? On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer the question on the grounds that are truthful answer may tend to incriminate me, and I invoke my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, an estimated 20,000 to 26,000 babies are born through birth tourism each year. This immigration loophole has been exploited by Chinese nationals with affiliation to the Chinese Communist Party. And just last year, in 2025, a search warrant was executed on an operation tied to Gu Yanzhuan, a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party, which turned up 15 children linked to multi-state embryo networks, all results of birth tourism. And many of these children were sent back and educated in China, while still retaining the right to vote in U.S. elections, despite not having any allegiance to the United States. You could take somebody, even educate them in English, plug them back into the American society. A baby doesn't have control of that, but the parents certainly do. The question is, why are they doing it? They either don't believe in their own country, which I find hard to believe, or they're doing it for nefarious purposes to gain some sort of influence into America. After the Supreme Court ruled to keep birthright citizenship in place, President Trump last month signed two executive orders aimed at stopping birth tourism. Meanwhile, the State Department created a task force to crack down on such practices, revoking nearly 900 visas as a result. Reporting from Capitol Hill, Sam Wong, NTD News. The abuse of birthright citizenship and the effects of birth tourism. Today, the focus of the House hearing, joining me now to discuss, is our panel, Jason Parmer, co-founder of Together, and former Democratic presidential candidate, as well as Brian Maloney, Republican strategist and government and strategic policy analyst. Great to have you both with us. So, the House Committee on Oversight holding a hearing today on birth tourism, we just saw there, and the abuse of birthright citizenship by individuals from hostile countries. This is why it's so important, like China. Here's Congressman Brandon Gill telling NTD who's ultimately benefiting from this. There have been estimates that there's over a million Chinese nationals who have given birth in the United States, who are not in the United States currently. It's tough to get exact numbers on this just by the nature of what we're talking about, but we know it's huge. And we think that it's probably between about 20 and 26,000 people every year coming to the United States for the purpose, again, of giving birth. Jason, there's apparently an entire industry dedicated to helping the highest bidder secure citizenship for their children, reportedly marketed heavily toward countries like communist China. What does that sort of tell us about this practice? Well, this is sort of obvious that the companies that do this should be prosecuted. This is not the way that people should become American citizens. I'm sure all your viewers know that this is something that should not be allowed. But all that said, this is such a tiny percentage of the number of people in the United States. 20 to 26,000 people is not a very large number. It's less than 1% of the immigration that comes into the United States each year. So what Republicans are doing is taking a 1% issue where everybody agrees this is something that shouldn't happen and trying to make it seem like it's a big deal, when in fact they don't have solutions for the 99% of Americans that are looking at their grocery prices, their gasoline prices, all the other things that are going wrong in America right now, the Iran war. They're trying to distract from the much bigger issues for which they have no solutions. Jason, I would just push back a little bit and remind everybody that these folks, they become American citizens. They can vote in our elections. Many elections nowadays are decided on sometimes one vote, sometimes 100, 1,000. We saw in the general election 12,000 in Georgia in 2020. So eventually, if there is a plan here by our adversaries, they could potentially swing elections with these citizens. Brian, many people, besides the national security threat, many people spend years working to obtain citizenship legally. Is it fair to call a multi-million dollar industry that helps people get around that process nefarious? Well, my favorite part of your report was the doctor pleading the fifth who has a business called something like haveyourbabyinmiami.com. I'm sorry, but I'm sitting there laughing. I mean, it's sad. It's scary, but it's funny. I guess the thought that I have about this is you could say, well, it's only 26,000 of these types of births per year. But the bottom line is the CCP, Chinese Communist Party, plays the long game. And think about this. Over the course of a generation, you're talking about, you know, multiply that times 20 over a 20-year period. So you've got a half a million of these children who are born. And then what happens to what? Are they, you know, their families are then legalized, of course, because the children are. And then sent back to these schools under the CCP, you know, thoroughly brainwashed under CCP, you know, standards. And then brought back here. It's really a backdoor invasion. And that's the bottom line. And over time, remember, if we think about this from a Western standpoint of, you know, what battle can we win tomorrow or in the next five minutes? CCP looks at this over the course of decades. So I think there's really something significant here worth looking into. And I'm glad Congress is taking it up and actually doing something for a change. I want to get your thoughts on another immigration story. DHS officials today discussing something called Operation Rotten Apple, which resulted in the arrest of 2,100 criminals in the Big Apple, New York City. Here's Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen on the operations progress. Over the last 30 days, Operation Rotten Apple has taken over 2,100 criminals off our streets. That's the worst of the worst. 2,100. We focused on them all across the state of New York. These arrests included gang members, rapists, murderers, and child predators. Jason, Secretary Mullen there saying the operation was launched partly because Mayor Mamdani refused to cooperate with federal law enforcement. Might we see more local cooperation to actually help reduce the need for large scale raids like this, as we just saw in democratically run Fairfax, Virginia? Well, this is sort of the same as the last issue. Less than 1% of immigrants, legal or illegal, actually commit crimes in the United States. And so those 2,100 people should be rounded up and should be returned to their home country. It wasn't as well advertised, but when President Obama was in office, and when President Biden was in office, there were more than a million people who had committed crimes who were undocumented immigrants who were deported back to their home country. So this is another area where less than 1% of people are criminals like this. I believe that Democrats should get on board and be behind actually deporting people who are convicted of crimes. Now, the problem is that the Trump administration is picking up people who've been accused of crimes, or maybe they've been found guilty of parking illegally or driving nine miles over in a speed limit territory. Now, these are not the same kind of crimes as a murderer or a rapist, the people that you were talking about before. There really does need to be careful distinction between what are serious crimes here, and what are people who are actually adding to our economy and have jobs. Immigrants actually deliver $100 billion, and this is undocumented alone, $100 billion in taxes to federal and state governments. They contribute almost $900 billion to our economy. They're a big part of our economy. And if you just take all the good immigrants and you ship them out, well, we're going to have a serious problem here in America. So you've got to be really careful and distinguish between the people who commit crimes and the ones who don't. Brian, the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, signed a law banning state and local agreements with ICE, though officials say the agency won't be deterred by this type of pushback. What's the real world impact on citizens and law enforcement when a state refuses to transfer over criminals? Well, as my colleague pointed out, you know, under Obama and Biden, criminals were rounded up and deported. So, so much of this is political. And really, the impact here, I mean, it's the media and the kind of way they've distorted the issue. They've turned this into, you know, a big meanie Trump one. Back, but in terms of how many we're actually sending back, smaller. You know, remember that Trump's immigration czar is the same guy who has a job with Obama, but most Americans have no idea that's the case. So that's the bottom line here is, and, you know, if the federal government is forced to do the job that Mamdani won't do, because he has unbelievably lenient or even supportive policies for criminals, then what that shows is the importance of winning the next two elections, because as soon as they're lost, these criminals will run free, run amok, and nobody will be sending them anywhere. Jason Farmer, Brian Maloney, appreciate you both. Coming up, more than 1,000 people dead after the flooding in Nepal. The number continuing to rise. Mass burials and search operations underway after the break. Welcome back to the Capitol Report. The death toll in Nepal now officially crossing 1,000. Authorities in Nepal are starting to carry out mass burials. China now being accused of blocking investigations into possible causes of last week's flood. NTD's international correspondent, Aryan Pasdar, has the latest. We just want to warn you the following report contains footage that might be disturbing. In south-central Nepal, authorities are carrying out temporary burials of identified bodies in trenches dug in a forest. They're taking the necessary actions as concerns for health risks are rising. We are managing the dead bodies for temporary burial, because the dead bodies are continuously decomposing day by day. Authorities collected DNA samples of the disease, allowing them to locate and retrieve remains if victims are identified later through family claims. The death toll is now officially at over 1,000, six days after a massive flood hit Nepal and Tibet, which is controlled by China. Thousands more remain missing. On a more positive note, almost 1,000 children might have been saved when a school principal took swift action as soon as he learned about the incoming flood. He quickly organized buses and motorbikes to pick up students. When I left the school, the water filled inside the school. We people take the right decision at the right time, so we are able to save people's lives. Meanwhile, on the Chinese side, the Chinese Communist Party is censoring footage of the disaster on social media and on television. There's been speculation that China's hydropower projects caused the floods. According to a former member of Nepal's government, the CCP is not allowing scientists to investigate what happened and monitor the glaciers, saying instead China is preventing our people from crossing into its territory, even as families are still waiting for their loved ones to be found. Aryan Pasdar, NTD News. And polls will be closing shortly in Massachusetts' primary election. Democrats voting in a Senate race shaping up as a test of age versus ideology. 80-year-old incumbent progressive Ed Markey facing a challenge from the younger, more moderate Congressman Seth Moulton. Moulton has built his campaign almost entirely around Markey's age, arguing it's time for generational change. Markey has locked down key endorsements from top progressives, including Bernie Sanders and AOC. Moulton getting the backing of the Boston Globe and several other of his House colleagues, but polling showing Markey leading by double digits heading into today's primary. NTD's eighth international piano competition kicking off tomorrow with a mission to preserve and promote classical music. NTD's Nico Bonnie was on site today for a behind-the-scenes look into the preparations. I'm here at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York City, and behind me, you can see the stage is being set for NTD's eighth international piano competition. Now, the piano is a little bit quiet right now, but soon, talented musicians from all over the world will take the stage and celebrate the greatest classics that classical music has to offer. The competition focuses on the Baruch classical and romantic musical periods, promoting traditional arts of pure authenticity, goodness, and beauty, and pass on the 250-year legacy of piano literature to future generations. I think that's a noble mission. I think classical music is already very beloved and protected in the musical world, but it's really special to find a place that devotes itself exclusively to that. Pianists from around the world are here to compete through some of the most treasured classical works. Being surrounded by so many great pianists from all over the world, internationally and nationally, I really want to just see what people close or far from my age are doing. But the goal isn't always to win. I feel that looking into yourself and really exploring what you personally want to say with the music is the most important thing, and through sound, of course, so paying attention to how that comes together with the sound that you make. And there's a unique challenge, the commissioned composition. Authorized by composer and Shen Yun artistic director Mr. D.F., it combines traditional Chinese melodies with Western piano. Only semi-finalists get to perform it and compete for the best rendition award. Some contestants look forward to this piece the most. We need to think of like you build up the storyline or something because you just have one time to share the music with the audience. Whenever you try to really bring all of it out and try to seek the meaning in it, it's just it just becomes a really satisfying thing to like play. It's really it's a nice feeling just having it in your fingers somewhere. Now the competition preliminaries start Wednesday, and here at NTD we will bring you the biggest moments and the best highlights starting then. Nikubani, NTD News, New York. And breaking just moments ago, a judge in Utah has ruled that Tyler Robinson will stand trial for the murder of Charlie Kirk, committed last year on September 10th. Ruling that prosecutors have enough evidence to now move forward. Robinson will be charged with seven counts, including murder, and will face the death penalty. That is all for tonight's Capitol Report from the nation's Capitol. I'm Steve Lance. Have a great evening. See you back here tomorrow.