Southern California Flooding and Mudslides; 3 Children's Bodies Discovered on Coney Island Beach

And some tragic news. Police have discovered the bodies of three children on a Coney Island beach. They believe the children's mother may have drowned them. The Department of Justice agrees to former President Trump's pick for a special master on Monday. Find out more about the nominee. Controversy over Pennsylvania's gender identity theory being taught in schools. Find out why some are saying the Department of Education has crossed a line. Good morning. Welcome to NTD. I'm Kevin Hogan. Good morning. And I'm Evelyn Lee. It's September 13th. Today, a Tuesday. Tropical Storm Kaye left flash floods and severe mud slides in Southern California. Officials say the mud slides caused damage to homes and road closures on Monday. Mud and debris flow trapped 24 vehicles in the Lake Hughes area. Over 50 people had to be rescued from their vehicles. Two Firehawk helicopters with night vision technology were used to rescue eight adults and six children along the flooded Pine Canyon Road. Motorists are being warned of unpredictable weather and caution to stay off the roads if possible. In Oak Glen, California, a large mud flood flow, I should say, was filmed in Oak Glen Road. The footage shows a man running away as it happened. Flash flood warnings were issued for northwestern Los Angeles, Ventura Counties, San Bernardino, Colton and Highland areas. Waterfalls formed in the normally hot and arid Death Valley National Park. The pavement was washed out from one section of California Route 190 through the park. The heavy rain and flooding comes after recent heat waves and forest fires in the Golden State. And today, Twitter whistleblower Peter Zatko will testify at a Senate Judiciary hearing. Lawmakers are expected to ask about his claims that Twitter did not disclose security and privacy vulnerabilities that could threaten users, investors and national security. Zatko was Twitter's head of security from November 2020 until he was fired in January. He alleges company executives have deliberately misled regulators and the company's own board about its shortcomings. Zatko has accused Twitter of failing to safeguard users' personal information and exposing the most sensitive parts of its operation. He also alleges that Twitter misled Elon Musk and the public about the number of bots on its platform. Twitter has criticized Zatko and broadly defended itself against the allegations, saying the disclosure paints a false narrative of the company. Musk says Twitter's failure to disclose the vulnerabilities outlined in the whistleblower's report is a breach of the acquisition contract they both signed. He's now looking to terminate the $44 billion deal. The two parties go to trial in October. From Twitter to infrastructure. President Biden traveled to Boston yesterday. He spoke at Logan International Airport and vowed to modernize aging U.S. airports. Folks, America invented modern aviation. We've allowed our airports to lag behind our competitors. Today, today, not a single solitary American airport not one ranks in the top 25 in the world. The United States of America, not one airport ranks in the top 25 in the world. What the hell's the matter with us? We risk losing our edge as a nation to China and to the rest of the world. It's catching up. That stops now with investments like we're celebrating here today. The president was highlighting spending from last year's bipartisan infrastructure law and a $62 million investment in Logan Airport. The law earmarks billions of dollars for aging airports across the U.S. Biden said the infrastructure grant for Logan Airport is one of the largest federal investments in airports ever. He said the project would add more gates, baggage claims, ticket counters and additional accessibility and create nearly 6,000 jobs. While President Biden was in Boston. 22 Republican governors sent him a joint letter on Monday. They're asking him to withdraw his student loan forgiveness plan immediately. They have concerns that it could have a negative impact. It could encourage borrowing, push up tuition rates and drive up inflation. In the letter, they say a high cost degree is not the key to unlocking the American dream. Hard work and personal responsibility is. Another argument was that Americans who didn't choose to take out student loans themselves should not be forced to pay back someone else's loan. They point out that students who made the decision to take out loans knowingly agreed and consented to the terms. The governors also told Biden he doesn't have the authority to cancel student debt. They cited House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who said last year the president doesn't have that power. It has to be an act of Congress. In other news. The Justice Department says they are willing to accept one of former President Trump's picks for a special master. They said in a filing yesterday they would be satisfied with 78-year-old Raymond Deary. Trump's legal team rejected both Justice Department selections on Monday. Deary is a former federal judge for the Eastern District of New York. He was nominated by former President Ronald Reagan. Deary retired in 2011 and is now a senior judge on the circuit. He also served a seven-year term on the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. District Judge Eileen Cannon still has to decide if he will be the one to review independently the material seized from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. The United States and Mexico have announced major cooperation. They plan to further integrate their supply chains and work together on expanding electric vehicle production. Mexico's nationalized lithium industry will play an important role. Both efforts seek to chip away at Asia's advantage in semiconductors and batteries needed for electric vehicles and to promote North American production. Lithium is a key component of batteries for electric vehicles. Those were among the main topics discussed during the two countries' high-level economic dialogue in Mexico's capital. You just heard from Secretary Cloutier about some of the progress that we made today. The initiatives we're driving to boost competitiveness, to create good-paying jobs, to accelerate North America's transition to clean energy. The goal of this high-level economic dialogue is to make it easier for our countries to trade, invest and innovate. And when you trade, invest and innovate, you create prosperity and you create jobs. And that's what this is about. Shared prosperity and job creation for the people of Mexico and the people of the United States. Cooperation on security and migration were other topics discussed at the meeting. This, as the Biden administration continues to receive heat for what critics call its open borders. Going back to electric vehicles. The founder of an electric truck maker is facing trial for fraud. Trevor Milton of Nikola Corporation is accused of lying about the company's technology. The indictment says his company posted a commercial online of a road-worthy prototype, but it was only coasting after being rolled down a hill by company engineers. Jury selection began yesterday. Authorities say his false claims led to investors losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was indicted last year on charges of securities fraud and wire fraud. Milton pleaded not guilty and has been free on a 100 million dollar bond. Shares of Nikola reached a record high share price of close to 66 dollars in 2020. They are now trading at under 6 dollars. Nikola paid 125 million dollars last year to settle a civil case against it from the SEC. The company didn't admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement. And a really chilling discovery yesterday. Police discovered the bodies of three children on the beach near Brooklyn's famed Coney Island Boardwalk. Police are questioning the children's mother. Entity's Daniel Monaghan has more. It all began with a 911 call from a concerned family member, worried that three children were in danger. Earlier this morning, at about 1.40 a.m., officers from the 60th precinct responded to an apartment at 3325 Neptune Avenue in response to a 911 call placed by a concerned family member who was at a different location. And the caller indicated that she was concerned that her family member may have harmed her three small children. Based on that call, authorities then began the search for the woman and her children. They found the mother 90 minutes later, barefoot and soaking wet. She was about two miles down the boardwalk from the section of Coney Island where she lived. The search for the children intensified after police discovered the mother alone. The authorities sent in a helicopter and marine units. A couple of hours later, the police made a harrowing discovery. NYPD Police Chief Kenneth Corey describes what happened next. At about 4.42 this morning, the officers discovered three children, a seven-year-old male, a four-year-old female, and another female who was approximately three and a half months old on the shoreline here at the water's edge at West 35th Street in Coney Island. The bodies of the children were found on a quiet section of beach about 13 blocks from the stadium where the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team plays its games. Efforts to revive them at a nearby hospital failed. The family of the mother have identified her as 30-year-old Erin Murdy. The children's names are Zachary, who was seven, Liliana, aged four, and three-month-old Oliver. Zachary's youth football coach describes what Zachary was like. Like any other little six, seven-year-old, full of life, bubbly, always asking questions, to want to know what's going on, just full of life. And he also described the children's mother. Yeah, I met his mom. She was a very soft-spoken, quiet lady. Don't interact too much. But she just was like she was a loving mother, to be honest. From what I know, she looked like a loving mother. Investigators were questioning the woman at the local police station. A decision hasn't yet been made about what criminal charges she might face. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. On to our next topic. The Pennsylvania Department of Education is promoting gender identity theory on its official website. But not everyone's on board. Some education administrators and state legislators believe gender education is the responsibility of families, not the schools. NTD's Jeremy Sandberg tells us more. Twenty-one members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are calling on the state's education secretary to resign unless he takes immediate action to reverse the Department of Education's new content requirements and guidelines. Pennsylvania State Representative Barbara Gleim says many parents are outraged. Some say what the schools are teaching their children goes against their religious beliefs. Once the school starts teaching that those worldviews in their homes is wrong, that's where they've crossed the line. Gleim says a group of parents filed a lawsuit in federal court last month. And they're basically saying that the Constitution protects the sanctity of the family, OK? It protects that family institution from interference from the state. And they're saying that this is interfering. Pennsylvania Department of Education's gender identity webpage includes a curriculum guide for teachers to hold a gender-neutral day for grades 3 to 12. The guide states that students should reject gender stereotypes for the day and teachers should challenge gender norms in the classroom. For two and a half years, the government has been telling us to follow the science, trust the science. But this is basic biology. There is a male and a female. Teachers are instructed not to assume someone's gender identity. And it actually attacks free speech as well because students who may not have those same values are forced to use specific pronouns that don't match up with what they see with their own eyes. Right now, there are no lesson plans being presented to parents or administration. GLEAM has introduced a bill to increase transparency. The data is that more people are pulling their children out of public schools because they don't think that the school is focused on their child's education. According to a recent poll by Education Next, nearly two million students in the U.S. are no longer attending public schools and are choosing alternative methods. We need to get back to academics only and leave the values and the morals to the families. The poll indicated that between 2020 and 2022, the number of students in public schools dropped by 4 percent. Jeremy Sandberg, NTD News. Still ahead on NTD Good Morning, pressure mounts on U.S. railroads and unions to reach a deal. The situation could escalate into a massive rail strike on Friday that would deal another blow to the U.S. economy. And a Blue Origin rocket experiences a booster failure during an unmanned launch. It's the first launch for Jeff Bezos' rocket company. Stay tuned for more after this short break. In every country, communism gains power. Authoritarianism and death followed in its wake. Communism promises a world without suffering, and yet does the exact opposite. The party dictates what is right and wrong. As an investigative journalist, I want to understand why. Did you know dragging chains can spark a wildfire? Only you can prevent wildfires. Good to have you back. A potential massive rail strike on Friday could bring 40 percent of freight in the U.S. to a grinding halt. This could be another major blow to the U.S. economy. The unions involved in the possible strike represent more than 90,000 workers at the nation's freight railroads. They are seeking wage increases and back pay for hours worked since 2020. A prolonged strike could lead to empty shelves in stores and temporary closures at factories that don't have the parts they need, as well as higher prices due to limited availability of consumer goods. Railroad workers are under a different labor law than the one that controls labor relations at most businesses. That means Congress could act to prevent or quickly stop a strike. But that would require a level of bipartisanship that's rare in Washington just weeks ahead of the midterm elections. And a new report made headlines last week. It's a paper by the Brookings Institution that says the U.S. may need to hit up to 7.5 percent unemployment to tame the highest inflation since the 1980s. I spoke to one of its authors to find out more and who brought in some more clarity. Joining me to discuss the report is one of its co-authors, Daniel Lee. He is also the division chief in the research department of the International Monetary Fund. Good morning, Daniel. Good to have you. Good morning. Good to be here. I want to address your projections about the unemployment rate first. The fact is that it'll need about 4 percent unemployment to reach its inflation target of 2 percent. But what is your issue with that? And in simple terms, why do you think that 7.5 percent is more likely? Okay, we're not saying that, but we are looking at the Fed's unemployment projection, which goes up to 4.1 percent in 2024. And what we're saying is that it's hard to see how that will reliably reduce inflation to the target with that unemployment path. When we look at the IMF staff unemployment path, which goes up to about 5.3 percent, there it's possible to see inflation come down to below target in 2024. But there are risks that it could be a lot higher. And we look at a couple of factors that could make it much more complicated. And then what do we expect for the economy then? I mean, how similar will that be to what people experienced in the 80s? Well, there's a big difference compared to the early 80s when inflation expectations were really unanchored. And so what was happening to actual inflation fed right into people's expectations were what's going to be normal for the long term. That makes reducing inflation much harder. You require much higher unemployment. In fact, in the 80s, it took unemployment above 10 percent to achieve a reduction in inflation. Okay, very interesting. And then, you know, with the current or the recent labor market numbers, it seems that it's staying fairly strong. And now there are some economists out there that do say this will give the Fed a cushion to slow the economy in a way that doesn't necessarily make a crash into a recession a so-called soft landing. And now I'm wondering, how do these numbers fit into your picture? How do you read those numbers? Right, well, unemployment is still pretty low at 3.7 percent. What we also look at is the job openings, though. And you can see that the number of job openings per unemployed person went up in the latest data release. And actually, it's going to take a lower ratio of vacancies per unemployed person to start to reduce the pressure on wages and prices. So we'll need to see the next few months how the job market evolves. It's still very, very hot, and there's going to be some cooling needed. Thanks a lot for your insights, Daniel Lee. With the International Monetary Fund, I appreciate it today. Thanks a lot. Jeff Bezos' rocket company suffered its first launch failure on Monday. The Blue Origin rocket blasted off from West Texas. However, no one was on board, only science experiments. Barely a minute into the flight, the capsule's emergency launch abort system immediately kicked in, lifting the spacecraft off the top. Several minutes later, the capsule parachuted onto the desert floor. Blue Origin's launch commentator called it an anomaly. The company provided no further details. The Federal Aviation Administration said it will oversee an investigation into the mishap. No injuries or property damage were reported. And coming up, many of us drive a car only for transportation, but for others, it's a passion. A car collector shares his love for American tradition and memorabilia. And after receiving a cancer diagnosis, a family changes their whole world, starting a new life on a farm. Find out more after the break. We're here so you're in the know. The 2022 NTD 8th International Chinese Vocal Competition will be held from September 29th to October 2nd at the Merkin Hall of Kauffman Music Center in New York City. The competition is honored to have specially invited vocalists with the world-renowned Shen Yun Performing Arts to serve on its panel of judges. The gold award is $10,000. For more information, please visit vocal.ntdtv.com. Next, let's look at some cars. While most people who own a car do so just for transportation, a select few have another passion. Entity's Jackie Rios spoke to a car collector who has a flair for American tradition and memorabilia. For some people, being a collector is more than just a hobby. It's a passion that takes time, energy, and commitment. We visited with Kastner's Corner Garage to find out more about what it takes to become a collector. Robert Kastner, the owner of the garage, has been collecting classic cars for about 20 years. His collection is not just limited to cars, but also American memorabilia. He fell in love with the cars when they were far out of his league. I would hang out at local A&W root beer stands back in the 60s and I would watch the cruisers come in and out and I would fall in love with all of them. At that time, of course, I worked at a car wash for 70 cents an hour and I couldn't afford any of them. And now I can. Kastner's collection is more than just classics. He owns a Rolls Royce that was once property of two former household names in rock and roll. Well, it belonged to Phil Spector and it was given to him by one of the Beatles. To find such unique pieces, he's had to travel all across the country. I've gone to New York. I've gone all the way up and down the East Coast all the way down to Mississippi and collecting mostly the lollipop signs that you see here with a trailer behind my truck. And on the way, I stop and find other treasures. And as Kastner's collection grew, so did his need for real estate. I had a garage at home that would not facilitate more than two. I purchased this property and it was actually a scrapyard, a car scrapyard and I renovated it into what I have today. Despite the pristine state of the cars, he said it's not as expensive as one may think. If you do not plan on driving it more than a couple hundred miles a year, it's very affordable. Every one of my cars are insured. It was collector car insurance companies that I use. Kastner is looking forward to meeting new car collecting enthusiasts. As for his own cars, he just plans to keep on going. It never ends. From vintage automobiles to legendary memorabilia, Kastner's Corner Garage is a trip down memory lane. Jackie Rios, NTD News, California. Those are some sweet rides. You know, it reminds me of some of the collecting I've done when I was young. You know, Evelyn, I used to collect padlocks, Pokemon cards. Pokemon cards? You know, I did too a little bit. Gotta catch them all. Yeah? Well, I had all 150 at the original set. No way! Sounds like a dream. Speaking of that, dream a little dream or dream a big dream? Choosing the latter, two LA city dwellers made the decision to pack up and move to the mountains of North Carolina. Let's find out what made them want to change their lifestyle. Twelve years ago, Jason Contreras got the news from his doctor that he had cancer. This led him and his wife to question how they were living their lives. When the doctor said I was in remission, I asked her, like, is there anything else I should be doing? Like, is there some kind of protocol or nutritional plan? And she was like, no, just go back to how you were living. And that didn't make sense to us. Several years later, they decided to hit the road, leaving the bright lights of Los Angeles for greener pastures. These days, you can learn anything on YouTube, but Jason and Lorraine say they learned to farm a different way. They learned from other people, people who later became their friends. That was a challenge to find our community, you know, find the like-minded people that we can, like, just have friends, you know? Like, that's important. And so how we overcame that was, like, whoa, where would people like us be hanging out? And so we thought, how about a farmer's market? You know, we would go to our local farmer's market and just hang out. We might not even buy anything. When they got comfortable with chickens, they got some pigs. And when that wasn't enough to satisfy their new love of the land, they tried their hand at cows. They take their food from seed to salad the whole way there. I enjoy slicing these carrots and slicing these onions and it's part of the savoring, the whole process. Jason does the heavy lifting and Lorraine does the indoor jobs of cooking and educating their daughter. From time to time, they remember their lives in the city. Hours in traffic. The repetition. An obvious contrast to life in the open fields. I had a career back in California and I left it and I wanted to be intense. I wanted to have this family lifestyle and to care for him and make sure that his health was important, my daughter's health was important, my health was important and just being in that was really important to me. Demanding life on the land is a great teacher. Discipline is a key factor. We didn't feel like getting up that morning but now we wake up and we know that there are so many animals that depend on us. So this is like teaching good stewardship for the land and for the animals and hard discipline and good habits. There's never going to be a perfect time to do something like that. If you're ever at a farmer's market in North Carolina, maybe you'll see Jason and Lorraine working alongside the other farmers. You know, I can relate to that. I used to go to the farmer's market and get Native American handled wild caught fish from the Great Lakes. Wow, sounds really good, very natural. Oh yeah, well and then I used to catch my own fish and one day I caught 25 bluegill and then eventually I was growing my own food on the homestead. The okra did really well. Oh no way, well look at you now. A real New York City cosmopolitan. Well yeah, the city life has its perks. You know, it's easier on the back. Oh right, I can imagine. On that note, that's all for today's program. We'd love to hear from you though. You can share your thoughts and your story at goodmorningatntd.com. So shoot us an email if you'd like. Thanks for watching. I'm Evelyn Lee. And I'm Kevin Hogan. So if you want to make sure you get the full picture, just subscribe to our newsletter. Go to newsletter.ntd.com and sign up. It's free.