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On today's Newsroom: Trump floats the idea of 50 year mortgages - will these help or hurt home-buyers who fear interest rates? Also: Victory Day is proclaimed in celebration of America's role in the World Wars.
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NewsTranscript
00:00:00Welcome to NTD Newsroom, I'm Don Ma. The government should reopen before the end of
00:00:06the week, but Democrats have already signaled that they will stick to their demands when funding
00:00:10runs out again in January. We'll see, will we see another shutdown? President Trump commemorating
00:00:17Veterans Day in Arlington Cemetery and asserting his administration's peace through strength posture.
00:00:24Flags, marching bands, and thousands of New Yorkers are filling Fifth Avenue today to honor
00:00:29our nation's veterans. Our reporter is on the ground with the latest.
00:00:35President Trump floats the idea of a 50-year mortgage. Will this make homes more affordable?
00:00:42More than 120,000 victims, $6 billion in Bitcoin, and now 11 years behind bars. A Chinese woman
00:00:49who ran a massive crypto Ponzi scheme fled to London to launder the money and live lavishly.
00:00:55This is NTD Newsroom, live from our global headquarters in New York City.
00:01:14Thank you for joining us today. President Trump laying a wreath in Arlington Cemetery
00:01:19ceremony to commemorate the sacrifices of the American veterans and the president proclaiming
00:01:27Veterans Day Victory Day for World War I. We now go live to NTD's Washington correspondent,
00:01:32Mari Otsu, who's at the White House. Good afternoon, Mari. What can you tell us about President Trump
00:01:38spending this Veterans Day?
00:01:43Don, good afternoon. Yes, today President Trump is spending Veterans Day
00:01:46in Virginia at Arlington National Ceremony, where he laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier
00:01:52from World War I. And Vice President Vance, who himself was formerly an American Marine,
00:01:58then introduced President Trump for his remarks, where he thanked you as veterans for their sacrifices,
00:02:03which the president says enables citizens to pursue the American dream today. Take a look.
00:02:08We gather to fulfill the sacred duty of every free man and woman. On Veterans Day, we honor those who
00:02:18have worn the uniform, who have borne the battle, who have stood to watch, whose ranks have formed the
00:02:26mighty wall of flesh and blood, bravery and devotion that has defended our freedom for 250 years. Today,
00:02:36to every veteran, we love our veterans. We say the words too often left unsaid. Thank you for your
00:02:47service. Thank you very much. President Trump also honored a few veterans present in the audience by
00:02:53name, such as an Air Force helicopter pilot in Vietnam and a Medal of Honor recipient. He also
00:02:59acknowledged members of his administration who were present at the ceremony, including House Speaker
00:03:03Mike Johnson, for what he called the, quote, big victory of the government being on the verge of
00:03:08reopening this week. And meanwhile, President Trump is also proclaiming Veterans Day to be victory day
00:03:14for World War I, touting his administration for bringing back what he calls American military might
00:03:20and what the Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth has called the warrior ethos. Take a look.
00:03:25Today is not only Veterans Day, but it's my proclamation that we are now going to be saying and calling victory day
00:03:36for World War I. Victory day. We're restoring the pride and the winning spirit of the United States
00:03:43military. That's why we have officially renamed the Department of Defense back to the original name,
00:03:50the Department of War. We don't like being politically correct. So we're not going to be
00:03:55politically correct anymore. From now on, when we fight a war, we only fight for one reason, to win.
00:04:03We fight to win.
00:04:05President Trump today also touts his administration's initiatives in combating veteran homelessness.
00:04:11He especially focused on an executive order that he signed back in May, which established the National
00:04:17Center for Warrior Independence, which is to house 6,000 homeless veterans by 2028. Don, back to you.
00:04:25Okay, Marty, thank you very much.
00:04:28As one of New York City's most cherished traditions, the annual Veterans Day parade has kicked off along
00:04:33Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. NTD's Dave Martin is on site. Dave, what's going on out there? Give us an update.
00:04:40Hey, Don. Yeah, I'm at 5th and 27th Street. This is right pretty much where the parade begins.
00:04:49It started about 90 minutes ago. And I got to say, it's definitely cold here in New York City.
00:04:55Temperature's in the 30s. It's windy. There's a few snowflakes coming down. But of course,
00:04:59the focus is on the veterans. And I talked to several of them earlier. Let's listen to what they said.
00:05:04I'm the sixth New Yorker, native New Yorker, to actually wear a uniform in my family. And we all
00:05:11went to wars going back to World War I. So it's always been special, that family connection with
00:05:15me. And then again, you know, we always say it's not just a parade. It is the largest veterans reunion
00:05:22in the country. All my friends that I have lost over the years, I served from 1970 to 1976 in the
00:05:32United States Army. And later on, I rejoined the Army at the end of 1976. Keep alive all
00:05:40those that did not make it. And that's why I continue to serve. I'm a member of the American
00:05:46Legion for 45 years.
00:05:48Yeah, Veterans Day is day for us veterans. We serve the country. That's what veterans do,
00:05:53serve our country, give up our lives, you know, sign a check on that dotted line, suffer up
00:05:59through our lives. That's what Veterans Day is for me, you know, for all the veterans.
00:06:08Yeah, so a lot of pride here in their country. A lot of veterans look like they're very glad
00:06:13to be honored here today. Let's parade. I'm here at 27th. This goes all the way down to 46th
00:06:21Street. We've got 20,000 service members planning to come through. There are 280 plus marching
00:06:27bands. We've got 25 plus floats, 150 vehicles, very nice vehicles there. So quite a parade
00:06:33they're putting on here, Don.
00:06:36Well, all right, Dave, try and keep warm. Thank you very much.
00:06:41The House of Representatives must vote on the bill to end the shutdown before the president
00:06:46can sign it. Today is Veterans Day. To discuss how veterans continue their service to the country
00:06:52via community work well after they leave the military, we're bringing in our next guest,
00:06:57Jimmy Graham, a veteran Navy SEAL and former CIA protective officer. He's the CEO of Able Shepherd,
00:07:04an elite program training first responders, businesses, schools, churches, and civilians to
00:07:09stay safe and protect others during active threats. So, Jimmy, good afternoon. Thank you for
00:07:14joining us and thank you for your service, of course. Since it's Veterans Day today, I just wanted
00:07:19to start off with asking you, what do you think are some of the values, core values that should be
00:07:25celebrated today? I think the core values, honor, commitment, courage from the military, once they're
00:07:32embedded in you, is a good starting place for any businesses. Most people may not realize military is
00:07:37not just guns and Navy SEALs and all that stuff. Pretty much any job you can think of, there's a military
00:07:43equivalent, and it's a good start to launch off into supporting our nation.
00:07:48So, with that being said, what is the best way to honor those who served?
00:07:56I would say when I deployed, there were two things on my mind specifically. It was take care of my kids,
00:08:02take care of my country, right? So, I'm going to go over here because that's what I signed up for.
00:08:07Many people put their self and harms away. I say risk there right now for our nation's future.
00:08:11And then coming back, it's like, take care of my kids, you know, make sure that they have a nation
00:08:15when they grow up. And that's, I think there's some things right now where we're giving up
00:08:20fundamentally that we need to get back to, to make sure we have a nation for our kids and grandkids.
00:08:25So, Jimmy, you have two decades under your belt serving some of the world's, in some of the
00:08:31world's most high-risk environments. So, can we ask you, what does service mean to you personally?
00:08:38Service, obviously, defending the nation meant, you know, going to foreign lands and risking everything.
00:08:46You didn't know. Everybody who signed up and enlisted, they signed a blank check. The answer was,
00:08:51like, everything. Like, I don't know what you're going to do with me, but I'm signing in, saying,
00:08:54I'm in. Here's a blank check, and I'm in. What it looks like now at 51 with two kids, you know,
00:08:59everybody says, oh, SEALs, you know, writing books and being in movies and all that. I have written two
00:09:05books. One of them is about, it's called The Return of Man. It's about being men again and just,
00:09:09and having integrity and decency and raising children, watching your language and not being
00:09:13a drunken fool, right? Another one is called How Do You Love a Fish? And it's a kid's book on
00:09:18simple things like looking people in the eye and shaking their hand. It's a big, big deal. When my
00:09:22kids hear the national anthem, they stand up straight. They put their hand on their heart,
00:09:25and they have a national pride. Those things are more important than we think,
00:09:29and it's our job to teach them that. So how did your time in service shape the person
00:09:35you are today? Would things be different if you didn't serve?
00:09:41You know, I think there's ownership whenever you serve. You know, you go out and defend the nation,
00:09:46go deploy, and kind of do what you're told as you'd figure out what kind of man or woman you're going to
00:09:50be. And then there comes a time if you got out, and it was like, I think I can do this on my own,
00:09:55this whole Jimmy's life. I think I can run this. So then you take a swing at it, and you realize,
00:10:01I realized I did a lot of growing up in the Navy, in the SEAL teams. I needed adventure. I needed
00:10:05challenge. I needed all. I needed to put all that energy somewhere, or it was going to go somewhere
00:10:09bad. So I think that that did help shape me. I don't have a lot of regrets, but then coming into
00:10:14it, after pushing yourself, let's say, in SEAL training, you realize there's so much more that you
00:10:20can give. So where other people kind of stagger and get tired, you just kind of don't. You know,
00:10:24there's more if you need to tap into it, and you keep going.
00:10:28Is there a message, Jimmy, you would like to send to the younger generation about service?
00:10:35Yeah. I meet with young people regularly talking about going into the military, and I would ask,
00:10:40it catches them off guard, what are you bringing? Because they think about what can I get from the
00:10:44military? Can I get a paycheck on the 1st and the 15th? Can I get my school paid for and all that?
00:10:49I said, what are you bringing? Like, what are you bringing to the SEAL teams that I love,
00:10:53that community I love? So have value, be a good young man, be a good young woman,
00:10:59and add that to the SEAL teams, add that to the military, add that. Don't just be thinking about
00:11:03what can I get out of this? Because what our nation needs is strong people serving. That's
00:11:07exactly what we need. And that's both in the military and after the military. I say,
00:11:12I would invite veterans back into active duty of sorts for this great nation. There's places you can
00:11:18serve within your home, within your community, within, you know, even running for office and all that.
00:11:22I'd like to see more vets protecting our kids in schools and churches. I'd like to see them
00:11:26in elected office.
00:11:29And Jimmy, if we could, I would like to talk a little bit about your organization. Can you tell
00:11:34us what is Able Shepherd? What inspired you to start it? What makes the program different from others?
00:11:43Yeah, it's an emergency readiness program. And I would say, if you're thinking about, you know,
00:11:47how do I protect kids? Here's a protective principle. To get to them, you have to go through me,
00:11:51like physically. And when it's winner take all, it's time to stand up for our children. We're very
00:11:55good at protecting our money and our diplomats, but not our kids. So when I got out of the SEAL
00:12:00teams and being a protective officer for the CIA's GRS program, that's really what resonated and spoke
00:12:06to me. But I thought, well, I'm gonna have to hang this up. That's an exact fit for protecting our
00:12:10churches and schools. Here's what makes us different. I would ask what makes you a better man or woman?
00:12:15Because that's the starting place. You know, spiritually, mentally, then physically. And it's
00:12:19not just a physical thing that's attacking our children. It's an ideology. It's spiritual and
00:12:24mental health. So we go into all of it and we say, let's be better men and women. While you're here,
00:12:29let's continue to learn intellectually and mental health. And let's physically be prepared and capable
00:12:34to protect our nation's children, which is our future.
00:12:37So on that note, then, can you talk to us about how can training veterans improve community safety?
00:12:47Means giving men their dignity back. So giving men and women their dignity back and saying, hey,
00:12:52you know, we've been called not essential. Like as citizens, you go from being in the SEAL teams and
00:12:58being in charge of multimillion dollar equipment and having all this responsibility, literally life
00:13:02and death of your team in your hands, and then struggling to find the next stage. So when I
00:13:06transitioned out of the military, it's like nothing fits, almost like a custom hat shop. Nothing
00:13:11fits. It's like the hat maker came out and said, hey, we know this one we're going to make together.
00:13:14So if that thing you're looking for doesn't exist, maybe you're supposed to create it. Maybe you're
00:13:19supposed to pretty much your calling and find out what this world needs, not what will make money.
00:13:23What were you built for? What does the world need? And I see a lot of people asking permission and
00:13:28they're asking, you know, what, you know, do I need to, how do we do things here? You get elected for
00:13:33office and say, how do we do things here? Well, we're broken. So don't ask, just do what's right.
00:13:38So you don't need permission to do what's right. So step out like you once did when you enlisted
00:13:43and go do the right thing for this nation. And I wouldn't even ask permission. I wouldn't ask
00:13:47advice. Just go do it. Okay, Jimmy, I don't want to take up too much of your time. I'll just ask you
00:13:53one more thing. Could you also talk to us about what service looks like, you know, not just on the
00:14:00battlefield, right? But beyond that as well. It is so demanding. So not, not just deploying
00:14:07overseas is hard because you're away from your loved ones, right? So as a single guy, as the
00:14:12married guys that were with me, they were pulled away from their families. I wasn't. So I am so much
00:14:17more patriotic now. Like I just didn't fully understand what I was sacrificing. But now at 51,
00:14:24I've lost buddies. I've lost a lot of friends over the years. And now as a veteran, I'm like,
00:14:31they're not around anymore, but their kids are and their grandkids are. So whose job is it to make a
00:14:36better nation for them? It's my job, right? So going away and deploying and working up and do all that
00:14:41was hard. But it was, it was to them. It was for them, for the, for the young people, for the guys that
00:14:48have kids. I'm so much more appreciative as I look at my children and say, there's a way that I can
00:14:52continue as a vet to continue to serve this nation and these kids. It's just not necessarily
00:14:58with a gun in my hand. There's many battles a day that you can fight, you know, getting involved to
00:15:03make this nation better. And I would invite people back into, like I said, active duty for your
00:15:08community. Well, Jimmy, it's been a real pleasure speaking with you today. And again, thank you for
00:15:14your service. You're very welcome. Thanks for having me on.
00:15:22President Trump this morning warned of significant economic and national security consequences if the
00:15:29Supreme Court were to rule against his global tariffs. NTD's Daniel Monaghan has more on that
00:15:34and the president's comment on the deal to end the government shutdown.
00:15:39If it's a deal I heard about, that's certainly, you know, they want to change the deal a little bit,
00:15:44but I would say so. I think based on everything I'm hearing, they haven't changed anything. And
00:15:49we have support from enough Democrats and we're going to be opening up our country.
00:15:54The bill as amended is passed. Trump says the agreement will prevent money going to illegal
00:16:00immigrants. We're not going to be giving one and a half trillion dollars to people that came in from
00:16:05jails and from, you know, the gangs and drug dealers and all of these others that they wanted to be given
00:16:12health care, which would have hurt our health care system. Trump also commented on tariffs, saying the
00:16:18potential unwind of the tariffs would involve numbers in excess of three trillion dollars.
00:16:23The real numbers are trillions of dollars have been taken in or gotten in terms of investment
00:16:29from the tariffs. The president says it would, quote, truly become devastating to the future of our
00:16:36country, possibly non-sustainable. The Supreme Court case marks a critical test of the legality of
00:16:42Trump's global tariffs. The president's administration justified the tariffs under emergency powers,
00:16:47citing economic and national security considerations. Trump has proposed passing on some of the tariff
00:16:54revenue to the American people. We're going to issue a dividend to our middle income people and
00:17:00lower income people of about $2,000. And we're going to use the remaining tariffs to lower our debt.
00:17:06We're going to be lowering our debt, which is a national security thing.
00:17:10He also credited the tariffs for contributing to what he described as declines in inflation,
00:17:15particularly in food and energy prices. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is again asking the
00:17:21Supreme Court to allow its National Guard deployment in Illinois, saying federal immigration agents can't
00:17:27handle enforcement on their own. In a new filing, Solicitor General John Sawyer urges extraordinary
00:17:33deference to the president and cites a section of federal law which allows a president to call up the
00:17:39guard when he is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,
00:17:44Illinois and Chicago are challenging the move, accusing the administration of misinterpreting
00:17:49the statue. Lower courts have blocked the deployment, saying Trump hasn't met the legal
00:17:54threshold. The administration says the National Guard is needed to protect federal immigration
00:18:00facilities amid clashes with protesters and for crime prevention. Daniel Monaghan, NTD News.
00:18:06The Department of Justice announced today that it will investigate local security at the UC Berkeley
00:18:12campus after clashes broke out at a Turning Point USA event on Monday. An assistant attorney general
00:18:17is questioning Antifa's role in the incidents. NTD's Arlene Richards has the details.
00:18:24The Department of Justice on Tuesday announced it will begin an investigation into local security at
00:18:30UC Berkeley. This comes after a Frontline's TPUSA video posted on X showed violent protests at a
00:18:38Turning Point USA event on Monday. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dillon responded to the post of Nick Sorter,
00:18:45an independent reporter who said, quote, Antifa has turned Turning Point's event at UC Berkeley in California
00:18:52into an absolute war zone. The event was Turning Point USA's first event in California since Charlie Kirk,
00:18:59the group's founder, was shot and killed in September. It was also the group's final stop on its American comeback tour.
00:19:06Sorter said in his post, quote, Munitions are being lit on fire by Antifa while attendees are rushed
00:19:13into the venue. Dillon said in her own post that her department, Civil Rights, will investigate what
00:19:19happened here and I see several issues of serious concern regarding campus and local security and Antifa's
00:19:26ability to operate with impunity in California. A large group of protesters appeared Monday afternoon
00:19:33outside the conservative group's event chanting, hey ho, hey ho, turning point has to go. Organizers
00:19:40said Antifa thugs stormed the sold out event. Protesters wearing Middle Eastern style turbans and scarfs
00:19:47clashed with police and attendees, leaving some covered in blood. Mikey McCoy, TPUSA chief of staff,
00:19:54said in an ex post on Monday as the clash unfolded, quote, Antifa is breaking through police barricades
00:20:01and threatening our event attendees. Antifa, which is short for anti-fascist, is characterized as a
00:20:07movement by some, but President Trump signed an order in September declaring them a terrorist group.
00:20:14The name Antifa is applied to factions of black-clad leftists or anarchists who show up at protests
00:20:20opposing the police or the government. Despite the chaotic scenes outside, organizers said the hours-long
00:20:27event was not disturbed inside. Arlene Richards, NTD News.
00:20:34President Trump recently proposed the idea of a 50-year mortgage. Joining us to discuss is public
00:20:39policy analyst and economist Michael Bustler, a professor of finance at Stockton University.
00:20:45So Michael, good to see you as always. Can we get your thoughts on whether this will make home
00:20:49ownership more affordable by extending the loan period to lower monthly mortgage payments?
00:20:54So the answer is this 50-year mortgage is a good idea and a bad idea. It's a bad idea if someone
00:21:02is purchasing a house that they tend to live in for a long period of time. Most people,
00:21:09they buy a starter house, typically you move up one more time. It's usually the third house
00:21:15that becomes what we call your forever house. So if you take out a 50-year mortgage on your forever
00:21:21house, one you're going to be in for a number of years, the amount of interest you're going to pay
00:21:26goes up by hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on how much you paid for the house
00:21:30and the interest rate. So from that aspect, it's a bad idea. It's a good idea for somebody looking for
00:21:38a starter house that says, look, I'm only going to stay here three, four, five, six years until the value
00:21:44the house goes up. I build up some equity and then I'll move into a larger house. From that aspect,
00:21:50it will help a lot of people. So how much will it help? I just ran some numbers quickly. So if you're
00:21:57taking out a $400,000 mortgage today and the median home price, I think, is over $400,000. So $400,000
00:22:05makes sense. If you're taking out a $400,000 mortgage and let's say it's at five and a half percent,
00:22:10mortgage rates are a little higher than that now, but they're coming down. $400,000, five and a half
00:22:15percent. If you take out a 20-year mortgage, which is what I recommend if you could afford it,
00:22:21the monthly payment would be $2,750, 20-year mortgage. 30-year mortgage, it would drop to $22,270,
00:22:30almost a $500 decrease. A 50-year mortgage, it drops down to $1,960. So for somebody looking for
00:22:40their first house that's having trouble with the monthly payments, taking out a 50-year mortgage
00:22:47will help them to get into their first house. At some point, they buy a starter house, you stay in
00:22:55it for a number of years, and then you move on. At that point, I would recommend a shorter term.
00:23:01And when you get into your forever house, if you can get down to a 20-year mortgage and afford
00:23:07the monthly payments, I think that's the best bet. So this will help first-time homebuyers get into
00:23:14houses. So Michael, would you say that if this helps first-time buyers, right, by the third house,
00:23:22your forever home, as you call it, by then would you say that these homebuyers would have enough
00:23:30equity built up to be able to afford something like a 20-year mortgage?
00:23:36So two things happen. One, you'll have equity built up, so your down payment on your next house
00:23:41will be larger, so the amount of mortgage will be smaller. And also, five, six, eight years down the
00:23:47road, your income should be much higher than it is when you're looking at your first starter house.
00:23:54So it'll help the people getting started, let people get on their feet, let them build up
00:24:00in their careers, get higher incomes, and then when they move on, look to take a shorter-term mortgage.
00:24:08Would you say this would have any impact on banks or mortgage backers like Freddie Mac,
00:24:16a 50-year mortgage?
00:24:18Well, assuming, I don't know if any legislation has to happen. I don't think so.
00:24:23So for this, now, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they're sort of quasi-public agencies. They may
00:24:31have to go through some legislation. But from the bank's standpoint, they are taking a little more
00:24:40risk in that with the 50-year mortgages, you make your monthly payments, 99% of the payment that you
00:24:49make is interest. So you're doing very little to reduce the equity. So from that standpoint,
00:24:56a $500,000 house years down the road, you're still going to owe pretty much what the total value
00:25:04of the mortgage is. So it's a little riskier for the banks. What that means is they're likely to
00:25:10charge a quarter of a point, perhaps even a half a point higher. But still, the monthly payment will
00:25:16now fit into people's budgets where a 30-year, or typically 25 and 30 are what's mostly used,
00:25:24a 25- or 30-year mortgage, they wouldn't qualify. Their income isn't large enough to carry that
00:25:31monthly payment. A 50-year mortgage, their income may be sufficient to carry that payment and at least
00:25:38gets them into a house. The thing with real estate and owning homes is real estate virtually always goes
00:25:46up in value, typically a couple of percent more than the inflation rate. It varies over time. But
00:25:55typically, that's what happens. So if you own a home and you're building up equity, you're going to
00:26:03look at something in the future, it'll be a little more money, but you'll have a larger down payment
00:26:07and you'll be able to qualify for a more expensive home. The 50-year mortgage is meant to be for starter
00:26:17homes so people can get into houses. There's other ways we have to work on to get the cost of housing
00:26:24down. That's true. But at least on the mortgage end, this will help somewhat.
00:26:30So you said that the value of a house virtually always goes up given enough time. So I'm wondering
00:26:37then, for those who are on a 50-year mortgage, will there be any impact to them in the event of a
00:26:44period of a downturn in the housing market? Well, if you own a home and there's a downturn,
00:26:50there's always an impact. If you think back to 2008, when we had the financial crisis, what the
00:27:00federal government did is they wanted to improve the home ownership rate from the traditional roughly
00:27:0662 percent of households up to 70 percent of households. Now, to do that, they had to come up with very
00:27:14creative mortgages. They had these variable rate mortgages where the teaser rate, the first year was
00:27:21relatively low, and then the payment would go up. But what happened was home values declined. And since
00:27:30people had bought these houses with little down payment, the value of the house ended up being below
00:27:39what the mortgage amount is. And when that happened, people just said, well, there's no sense me paying
00:27:44any more into this. And they just stopped paying. And there was so many that went into foreclosure,
00:27:50it may take a year or two for the banks to catch up to everyone. So there is more of a risk
00:27:58to banks. And if there is a downturn, the risk to the banks will be greater because
00:28:03in the early years, you're paying down very little of the principal. It's not an ideal situation,
00:28:11but it will help people get into their first house.
00:28:14So Michael, what do you think is at the root of the issue where homes are becoming more and more
00:28:22unaffordable, so much so that we're talking about 50-year mortgages?
00:28:25So a few things. Number one, land costs to get a building lot has gone up significantly.
00:28:33Now, the Trump administration has talked about releasing some federal lands to private
00:28:38developers at very low prices to keep the land costs down. And that should be a big help.
00:28:46Secondly, the techniques we use to build houses are pretty much the same thing we've been doing
00:28:52for the last 50 or 100 years. They're what they call post and beam construction. And we have to start
00:28:59to come up with more efficient ways to do that. Now, the market is responding. They have now modular
00:29:06houses, which are built to the same specifications as on-site houses. However, they're built in a factory,
00:29:13shipped out on a truck, and lift them on a crane into place. And then the houses are finished.
00:29:19On average, that has lowered the construction cost by about 10%. It's also reduced the financing cost
00:29:27because you don't need a construction loan for nine months or a year. These things can be
00:29:32set and finished in three or four months.
00:29:36We need better techniques. And with all the technology and all the AI and all the automation we have
00:29:42today, we're going to have to come out up with better ways to build houses to reduce the
00:29:48construction costs. Material costs continue to go up. Labor costs continue to go up. So we're going to
00:29:55have to figure out how to be more efficient with both the materials and the labor to get the
00:30:00manufacturing, the building costs and the house down. If we get the land costs down,
00:30:06we can now start getting home prices down. One other thing I'll mention
00:30:11is the size of houses has increased significantly probably in the last 20 or 30 years. The average
00:30:18new home today is about 2200 square feet. That's a fairly large house. Starter homes are typically in
00:30:26the 12 to 1500 square foot range. But going forward, again, to keep the cost down, if we make the
00:30:34houses a little bit smaller and have more efficient layouts and room utilization, that'll help to keep
00:30:42the cost down also. Michael, just one final question. And you just talked about how the private sector can
00:30:48help make housing more affordable. What do you think are some ways that the federal government could do to
00:30:55make buying a home more affordable? Well, as I said, giving land to builders is at a lower rate,
00:31:04a lower cost is one way to do it. The government likes to support research into new techniques. So if
00:31:12they start supporting some of that research into new techniques to do things, we'll come up with better
00:31:19ways to build the houses to make them more efficient. Now, we've in the last 40 or 50 years, we've worked
00:31:27on making houses more energy efficient. So not only would it be less to build the house, but you have to
00:31:36look at the monthly expense, not just the mortgage, but there's the property taxes and there's the heating
00:31:43cost, electric cost, etc. If we can make the homes more efficient, so it uses less utilities to reach
00:31:51the same goals, we'll be able to keep the cost down. Property taxes, I live in New Jersey, property taxes
00:31:58here are ridiculous. We have to do something, and that's really done at a local level, but we have to
00:32:04do something to get those property taxes down. Now, one thing Congress and President Trump did when they
00:32:10passed the 2017 tax cuts is they said, look, state and local taxes, which used to be deductible on your
00:32:18income tax will no longer be deductible. The thought was that people in communities, when they hear, well,
00:32:26their taxes are going up a little bit, they say, well, so what, it's tax deductible, it's not going to
00:32:30affect me that much. The idea was, we're not going to have the taxpayers subsidize that anymore. And when
00:32:37they raise your taxes, it's coming out of your pocket, the hope was that that would make people
00:32:43more interested in working with their local communities to try to get those property taxes down
00:32:49also. Well, all right, Michael, great hearing your insight. As always, thank you very much for talking
00:32:55with us. Thank you, Don. My pleasure to be here. New York City Mayor-elect Zoram Amdani has appointed a
00:33:03seasoned fiscal policy expert as his first deputy mayor. Dean Fulehan brings 40 years of government
00:33:11experience, including his past roles as budget director and deputy mayor under Bill de Blasio.
00:33:16Here's Mamdani. I am proud to announce my first deputy mayor and my chief of staff,
00:33:23two leaders who have deep experience guiding our city and state through challenging moments,
00:33:28possess the fresh, innovative ideas needed to transform our city, and the expertise
00:33:35to help me deliver on the campaign promises that resonated with more than one million New York
00:33:40Americans. Mamdani also named his state assembly chief of staff to lead city hall operations. Mamdani
00:33:45says he aims to create a new city hall, blending experienced leadership with outside voices.
00:33:51Fulehan will oversee major fiscal responsibilities and could help navigate state level approvals.
00:33:58Mamdani has advocated for publicly funded child care, transit and grocery stores,
00:34:03policies that have drawn criticism, including from Governor Kathy Hochul.
00:34:08President Trump criticized Mamdani's victory, but later said his administration will still support New York.
00:34:16Elizabeth Street Garden in New York City is one of the few public green spaces in Manhattan that has
00:34:21been fighting for its existence from being turned into public housing by real estate developers.
00:34:27They had a small victory with Mayor Eric Adams, but the new mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani wants to move forward,
00:34:32destroying it for public housing. NTD Sharp Marshall has more.
00:34:37Hidden in the neighborhoods of Little Italy and Soho is a public garden that has been fighting against
00:34:43realtors and the New York City government since 2013. Elizabeth Street Garden is one of the few
00:34:50nature-filled and aesthetically developed public areas in Manhattan, New York,
00:34:55an oasis of sorts from the crazy hustle and bustle of the inner city, which is why locals have
00:35:00fought so hard to keep it alive. But Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani stated plans to replace it with
00:35:07affordable housing for LGBTQ seniors. Yeah, I'm very disappointed to hear that. That makes me really
00:35:14upset. I think like everyone fought so hard to make this park be able to stay here. And the fact that
00:35:24that's being threatened again is very disappointing, very sad. And I think this park has actual community,
00:35:32you know, from anyone, any walk of life. And it's just such a peaceful place in the city. So I really
00:35:42hope that doesn't happen. And I think everyone would be extremely disappointed if it did.
00:35:48In 2013, when neighbors and local business owners learned of plans to develop the area into
00:35:54public housing for senior citizens, they came together to increase public access and started a
00:36:00nonprofit group in 2014 to gain elected official support and a volunteer system to keep the garden open
00:36:07daily. On March 5th, 2019, Elizabeth Street Garden filed a lawsuit against the city of New York and
00:36:15the Department of Housing Preservation and Development with an attorney. The garden was almost victorious in
00:36:22being saved by Mayor Eric Adams in 2025 during his early campaigning for reelection until they learned
00:36:30that Zoran Mamdani during his bid for election said he would rather turn the space into public housing.
00:36:35Since Mamdani has won the mayor election, the issue has made some of his supporters in opposition
00:36:42to his position on destroying the garden. I'm bummed about that. I think this park is
00:36:49so beautiful. It's really important. But I also support the new mayor. So I'm kind of
00:36:58at a standstill. I would say I hope that he has good reasonings. But I also I also know that Elizabeth
00:37:06Street Garden has a bunch of I think they had like over 100 I might be wrong ideas of like other public
00:37:13housing options as a way to keep it open. And then like maybe a year year and a half ago I found out
00:37:22that it was going to be saved. It wasn't until today actually that my friend had said like oh
00:37:28it's back in jeopardy because of the new mayor elect. Yeah I support Zoran and I think I do agree
00:37:37with a lot of his policies. But like what was just said I think third spaces are really really important
00:37:43and we don't have many in Manhattan specifically that caters this sort of vibe. But in general I
00:37:49don't think Manhattan has a lot of third spaces that residents can enjoy. So I do think he should
00:37:56reconsider. According to a Gothamist article the garden owes the city $95,000 in back rent and a judge
00:38:05signing an eviction order back in March put the garden back into the fire. So after years of lawsuits
00:38:12and gaining public and government support the life of the garden's future is still questionable.
00:38:18Sean Marshall NTD News. The Senate has approved a bill to end the government shutdown. Joining us
00:38:24to discuss is Nathan Wooster, national political reporter for the Epoch Times. Nathan good to have
00:38:29you. So can you tell us in detail what is in this bill that the Senate approved with Democratic support?
00:38:38Well so there is the clean CR. This is very similar to the one that passed the House in September except it
00:38:43goes through the end of January in this case. It also includes a mini bus. That's three appropriations
00:38:49bills, regular funding for the government through September. That includes among the bills funding for
00:38:56SNAP, funding for WIC, Women and Infant Nutritional Assistance much like SNAP, and it also includes Veterans
00:39:04Affairs funding. As well as part of this package there is an agreement from Republicans to hold some sort of a vote
00:39:12on ACA or Obamacare subsidies which were at the crux of this dispute between Republicans and Democrats.
00:39:19There's also now the agreement to rehire those who were laid off during the shutdown,
00:39:24those reductions in force that affected thousands of people. But it does not count,
00:39:28does not include previous firings of federal workers during the Trump administration.
00:39:33So what do you think persuaded more Democrats to vote for the bill? What's changed?
00:39:41Well that's the $64,000 question, isn't it? It seems like at the beginning of November you had a lot
00:39:46of dynamics that could have shifted some people. For example, the SNAP expiration date on November 1st,
00:39:53the subsequent legal battle that we've seen between the Trump administration and people suing over SNAP
00:39:59benefits as well as the start of open enrollment. So that's when some of those ACA costs or prospective
00:40:05costs started to appear to many Americans. But you know, looking at just exactly when things appear to
00:40:11have turned, the recent elections which saw Democratic over performance in a variety of blue states,
00:40:17including New Jersey as well as Virginia, that seems to have been a pivot point. In fact, Tim Kaine,
00:40:24one of the Democrats who ended up flipping and supporting the bill, he said explicitly that he
00:40:29had been rather focused on this election issue in Virginia in his home state. And so the health care
00:40:36issue had fallen by the wayside for him. So I really do suspect that the elections, if we're going to
00:40:43say there's a single culprit, that seems like the likeliest suspect to me.
00:40:49All right. So the bill will be sent back to the House. How do you think the House will see the
00:40:53bill? Where do things stand with the lower chamber? Well, Johnson has a very tight majority. And in
00:41:02fact, I think we can expect Thomas Massey to continue to oppose this bill as he opposed the earlier version
00:41:10of it in September. On the other hand, I just saw Victoria Sparks signaled some openness to at least
00:41:16President Trump's recent talk of replacing those ACA subsidies with something perhaps more like a health
00:41:22savings account, returning health care money to the American people. Then interestingly and importantly,
00:41:29we have the House Freedom Caucus, which during the reconciliation battle earlier this year,
00:41:34they raised issues with the amount of spending in the initial proposal. In this case, they have,
00:41:40through talking points that I have obtained, signaled strong support for what Trump has arrived at,
00:41:46or rather what the Senate Republicans have arrived at with some Senate Democrats. And they specifically
00:41:52highlighted the fact that the agreement does not handcuff any of these sort of recisions or
00:41:57impoundments of spending by Russ Vaught of the OMB. Those facets of it, the fact that in their judgment,
00:42:03for the most part, it keeps spending flat, that eliminates one potential source of opposition to
00:42:07Johnson on the right side of the party. And then among Democrats, finally, I will be looking to see
00:42:13if enough moderate Democrats end up feeling as though there's now a permission structure
00:42:18with eight Democrats having voted for the measure in the Senate, we might be surprised or not so
00:42:25surprised at what happens once this vote actually takes place. Okay, so Nathan, earlier you mentioned
00:42:32a promise that the Senate would vote on the ACA subsidies. That's happening in December, promised by
00:42:39leader John Thune. How do you think that's going to go? Well, Republicans in the Senate have already,
00:42:45in many cases, signaled opposition. I think one thing to keep an eye on is, will we see some attempts
00:42:52to create an off ramp for those subsidies, for example, to just not have them necessarily last the
00:42:58full year, or perhaps to just eliminate some of the categories of very high earning or wealthy Americans
00:43:04who have been entitled to them in the past. Perhaps also we could see some workable bipartisan
00:43:10health care reforms rolled out by the Republicans and the Democrats. But, you know, most likely this is
00:43:15going to set up a confrontation much like the one that we've previously seen. In December, no possibility of
00:43:21the government being shut down. But depending upon how that vote goes, how those negotiations go, the
00:43:26likelihood of another standoff in January, I think, could very well increase.
00:43:30So all things considered, how many more days do you see the shutdown lasting?
00:43:37Well, so the House is scheduled to vote as early as 4 p.m. tomorrow. And I imagine that,
00:43:44in addition to that, once President Trump signs the actual bill, making it law, that could take some
00:43:51time. I do think that it's safe at this point to, reasonably safe, to predict that the government will
00:43:57reopen at the, uh, by the end of this week, perhaps as soon as, uh, uh, prior to Friday, maybe, uh,
00:44:05Thursday or, or late Wednesday, but certainly by the end of the week.
00:44:11Okay, Nathan, final question here. Um, anything you're looking out for in the next few weeks?
00:44:16Well, as I, uh, indicated, I think we're going to see a bit of a confrontation potentially shaping up
00:44:24over the ACA. I think that is certainly worth tracking. I think it's going to be worth tracking
00:44:29exactly how Republicans in the House, how they react to this measure. And then in addition to that,
00:44:36just what shapes up when it comes to Schumer, what was seen by many Democrats as a failure of leadership.
00:44:42Striking fact, Dick Durbin, the whip in the Senate, this is the second ranked Democrat in the Senate.
00:44:49He was one of the people who deviated, ended up supporting the Republican led measure.
00:44:53So that could signal multiple things. Um, perhaps again, this is a way to create some sort of
00:44:59permission structure for other Democrats to have been more comfortable, uh, signaling their support
00:45:04for the, uh, bill. But on the other hand, it also could indicate that Schumer's leadership is
00:45:10under more question, under more question than, uh, in the past. And he could face some, uh,
00:45:16significant leadership battle in the weeks or months to come.
00:45:20Well, all right, Nathan, always great to talk to you. Thank you for your time today.
00:45:26Thank you, Don.
00:45:27It's going to be good to get back on that floor tomorrow and vote for this continuing resolution.
00:45:40The same one basically that we voted on September 19th to fully fund the government. And now three
00:45:46appropriation bills that we have previously passed are going to be attached to that.
00:45:50Congress is back in session for the first time in over a month. And the House of Representatives
00:45:54has teed up a vote on the amended continuing resolution passed by the Senate to reopen government.
00:46:00But the deal reached by Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats only punts the funding battle
00:46:04to the end of January, 2026. And Democrats have not ruled out forcing another shutdown.
00:46:09There's going to be another funding deadline come January 30th. If this proposal goes through,
00:46:14if you don't get what you guys want on AC, are you willing to shut the government down again?
00:46:18I mean, we're going to cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now,
00:46:22we're focused on dealing with the bill that's coming over from the Senate.
00:46:25House Democrats have voiced their disappointment with Senate Democratic leadership and have signaled
00:46:29that they will reject the vote to reopen government.
00:46:33Very frustrated with Schumer and the Republicans. What I heard from most of my colleagues is that we
00:46:40in the House want to stand strong. I mean, he's got eight Democrats going rogue here.
00:46:45He himself voted against them. And that's not leadership. You know,
00:46:48that's not leadership at a time when we desperately need leadership to stand up to Donald Trump.
00:46:53Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has not guaranteed that any deal to extend or reform
00:46:58the ACA health care subsidies that has reached in the Senate will receive a vote on the House
00:47:03of Representatives. Look, we're going to do in the House what we always do. And it's a deliberative
00:47:08process. I mean, we can find consensus on whatever, whatever their proposal is. As you know,
00:47:14I do not guarantee the outcome of legislation. Democrats are already mulling over their strategy
00:47:19and demands for the upcoming funding battle in January 2026.
00:47:23And we need to have strategic decision making as a caucus in both the House and the Senate,
00:47:29which is to say when we align on our asks for the January funding deadline,
00:47:35they need to be things that are impactful for the middle class and they need to be deliverable.
00:47:40Speaker of the House Mike Johnson will need all Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote
00:47:45to reopen government or rely on a few Democrats to join Republicans in order to end the shutdown.
00:47:51Reporting from Washington, D.C., Luis Eduardo Martinez, NTD News.
00:47:56The Federal Aviation Administration is cutting flight capacity nationwide even as Congress moves
00:48:01closer to ending the government shutdown. And President Trump says his administration is
00:48:06working to modernize the United States air traffic control system.
00:48:09Yeah, sure. It'll be much better than normal because we're buying the most sophisticated avionics
00:48:15and, you know, technology for our control towers. We're in final bids of getting the finest system
00:48:22anywhere in the world. I've analyzed it. Sean Duffy has been working really hard on it,
00:48:27doing a fantastic job, by the way. And over the next two or three weeks, we'll be handing out
00:48:32the finest air traffic control system anywhere in the world. All the towers will be equipped.
00:48:39Starting today, the FAA says flights across the country will be reduced by six percent.
00:48:46The cuts follow a four percent reduction last Friday, with plans to increase to 10 percent by
00:48:50the end of the week. Air traffic controllers are set to miss a second paycheck today.
00:48:55And the staffing shortage has already caused thousands of flight cancellations nationwide.
00:49:00The Senate passed a temporary funding measure that will end the government shutdown if approved by
00:49:04the House and signed by the President. Joining us to discuss is Mike Leon,
00:49:09host of the Can We Please Talk podcast. And we have Tony Kinnett, national correspondent at
00:49:13The Daily Signal and host of the Tony Kinnett cast radio show and podcast.
00:49:18So as always, good to see you guys on this Tuesday afternoon and happy Veterans Day.
00:49:23So, Tony, I want to go to you first. Your first thoughts when you heard Democrats
00:49:29join Republicans to vote for this bill?
00:49:31I mean, it was expected. Unfortunately, there were obviously going to be individuals,
00:49:36especially inside of the purple state and also with Tim Kaine and his large amount of federal
00:49:40workers as his constituents in Virginia. This was always going to happen. We understood they were
00:49:45going to flake. They tried to run a really tough line and say, oh, we're doing this to extend Obamacare
00:49:50subsidies. And then when they were asked why Obamacare subsidies needed to be extended,
00:49:55if the program was so great when you and I and everyone in the country was told it was going to
00:49:59be wonderful. Well, why did these subsidies need to be extended? Why did Biden's COVID subsidies need
00:50:04to continue on ad nauseum? They had no answer. And as the country continued to look at the failure
00:50:09of the shutdown, eventually people like Cortez Masto were able to rally a couple other purple
00:50:15senators and kind of the more moderate establishment to her side, and they broke the back.
00:50:19I, unfortunately, had to take this long. Okay, so Mike, let me go to you. What's your perspective?
00:50:26Yeah, good to see you guys this afternoon. It's a little similar. I think the biggest thing was,
00:50:31you know, last week when we were on here, Tony said maybe the consequences of the election and
00:50:36what would happen would play a factor. Well, it did, but not in the way that you think. None of these
00:50:42senators are on the ballot in 26, right? And Angus King, who's, you know, sometimes caucuses with
00:50:47Democrats as an independent. So when you look at it just from that perspective, when you look at
00:50:52there's no consequences that any of these senators will face in 2026, given the consequences of what
00:50:58happened in 2025 with this, you know, election on the off year, I think it kind of sent the message
00:51:04of these were the right Democrats that could actually do this because they wouldn't face the potential
00:51:09blowback at the ballot box. And like we've talked about, look, I traveled this week to New York and
00:51:14back from my brother's wedding. You know, I dealt with flight delays, you know, taxing delays as
00:51:19well, getting to the gates. You've seen the videos NTD has posted on their social media about pilots,
00:51:25you know, getting on the loudspeaker and saying, hey, we're going to be about maybe three,
00:51:29four hours delayed here. So there's a huge impact, but not only that, there's a safety.
00:51:34And as we said before, Don, as you said, before we came on, there are people that are going to be
00:51:38missing a second and maybe tertiary paycheck coming up here, depending upon how the vote goes on
00:51:43Wednesday. So it's good to see it finally potentially window down. But like Tony said,
00:51:49maybe this could have been avoided earlier, but to my overarching point, we're going to be back
00:51:53here in January talking about a looming government shutdown and how we figured this all out.
00:51:59Okay. So Tony, like Mike said, those senators that voted for, for the bill are not on the ballot for
00:52:052026. Well, what do you think persuaded these Democrats to vote for the bill?
00:52:11Well, two things. Number one, according to some of the reporting from Axios,
00:52:14members of the house in their own state, because yes, there are some house Democrats that are on the
00:52:18ballot in those states, again, all of the house. So when you look at 2026 in the house is already
00:52:24being a tenuous for Democrats as it is the idea that there might be some individuals, not, you know,
00:52:30Seth Moulton, for example, who's trying to undercut a senior Democrats in Massachusetts.
00:52:35But when you look at other house members across the country, there are those that don't believe
00:52:39that the current strategy right now of playing hardball ad nauseam is really effective. They
00:52:46see it's not what Americans want. We saw that in Pennsylvania. We've seen that in Georgia,
00:52:49although Ossoff and Warnock haven't necessarily played to that tune yet.
00:52:53I think realistically, though, what got a lot of these people to finally end up kind of calling
00:52:59it quits on this particular shutdown is that they were never going to get what it was that they wanted
00:53:03because what it was that they were asking for was completely ridiculous. And there was no argument
00:53:09to make for another year. As again, air travel in this country has been completely crippled.
00:53:14There's no reason it should be like this. And now, of course, the upgrades that were already set
00:53:19in place to pick up after the mess that Pete Buttigieg should have solved and then wasted money
00:53:23and time to ignore. Those are things that now have to be factored into this series of delay reconciliation.
00:53:29And so if you're Dick Durbin, yeah, you do have eventually have to figure it out because O'Hare
00:53:34has to function one way or the other. So, Mike, do you agree with that one point that Tony said,
00:53:42you know, that the Democrats were never going to get what they what they were asking for? And that's
00:53:50why they voted for this package. Yeah, I mean, yes, it's short answer. Yes, I do. I agree with what
00:53:59he's saying in terms of they were never going to get exactly what they wanted. They were trying to hold
00:54:04the line and there was one potential line in the sand. And this was kind of the one that they could
00:54:09potentially make. So I will agree with that. Let me just push back on something Tony said there,
00:54:14because under Pete Buttigieg with the DOT, one of the big things that Buttigieg did was focus on
00:54:21holding the airlines accountable. Right. So flight delays that impact consumers, making sure you're
00:54:27refunded and notified by the airlines. He focused more on that, whereas you see Secretary Duffy's
00:54:33focusing more on the archaic system and how, you know, air traffic control handles this. So those are
00:54:38two different ways of the way they're going about it. And I think, yes, there were some failures
00:54:43under Pete. Maybe there's been some failures under Duffy. But again, a lot of it has dealt with
00:54:48the government being impacted. Doge cuts first initially, and now you have a government shutdown.
00:54:53None of that's going to help him and his department. I think if you injected him with truth serum,
00:54:57he would definitely tell you that. But in terms of the Democrats here real quick on this,
00:55:02again, I will say this again, the Republicans are in charge of the government. There was a mandate in the
00:55:07election that every Republican strategist and their mother told me on every news outlet I've ever been
00:55:12on over these last 10 months that the country wanted Republicans in charge. So because Republicans
00:55:17wanted, the country wanted Republicans in charge, they now have to figure out how to govern. What does
00:55:22that mean? That means that these ACA subsidies that were being fought for by the Democrats,
00:55:27now Donald Trump is in this inalienable position where, inevitable, excuse me, position where now he
00:55:34actually has to come up with a healthcare plan to replace this. He ran on it in 2016. We haven't
00:55:40seen a healthcare plan that has come to fruition from Republicans. So that will be the interesting
00:55:45thing in all of this, because like Tony said, they didn't get the concessions that they wanted.
00:55:49But now I'm seeing Republicans start to flip their message to like Marjorie Taylor Greene. I mean,
00:55:54we could all roll our eyes on the 180 she's done, but now everyone's starting to talk about,
00:55:59well, what's the new healthcare plan going to look like? If you didn't make the concessions on
00:56:03this, what is your plan, especially that you can take out on the road with you in 2026 from
00:56:08the Republican perspective? So that is what is going to be the next wave that we're going to be
00:56:12talking about over these next couple of months. If we don't get another CR passed or actually a
00:56:17funding bill throughout the whole fiscal of 26 is going to be about the healthcare plan that
00:56:22Republicans are potentially going to put forward. So Tony, can you talk a little bit about the
00:56:27Affordable Care Act? Leader John Thune promised the Senate will vote on it. The subsidies in December,
00:56:32how do you think this is going to play out? Well, I think there's going to be a series of
00:56:36rules that are put forward that are essentially trying to keep fungible amounts of different
00:56:41states from going to those who aren't supposed to be receiving federal assistance. We've seen this,
00:56:45of course, on the data in California, Minnesota, et cetera. But of course, I don't believe we're
00:56:49going to see those subsidies passed in December because the Obamacare, the Affordability Care Act,
00:56:54it's complete failure. And that's not me saying that. That's Senator Peter Welch of Vermont saying that,
00:56:59Democrat, on the Senate floor, it's a failure. It was told, we were told it was going to be the
00:57:02savior of the American healthcare system. It was a complete abysmal failure. We threw more money at
00:57:06it. Then we threw more money at it. Then we threw extra subsidies on top of the more money we threw
00:57:10out. It's a failure. So, I mean, before we get into the conversation of, well, what's the magical plan?
00:57:15The system that we had before was far better than this. And we came in and we like a bull and a
00:57:19shy in a shop, we knocked everything over as the left often does. And now there's nothing to actually put
00:57:25back together. And so I'm going to kind of push back just a little bit, Mike, on the,
00:57:29well, where's the plan? Again, I don't recall asking anyone to come in and tear apart the system
00:57:36that we had, which was not perfect and had its own issues. But now that the Democrat system of
00:57:40throwing infinite amounts of money at the healthcare system that fails and insurance premiums are
00:57:45skyrocketing and the idea that the last administration went after kind of consumer choice instead of
00:57:51fixing the systemic issues at play, just throwing another coat of paint on it and throwing more
00:57:56money and hoping the building stays up isn't working. And so this administration is going
00:58:00through and is picking parts, some of that mess. There are a couple of proposals that I've heard.
00:58:04I hope that a privatized healthcare system is the way that we move to, which opens up and deregulates
00:58:09and allows individuals to try different things. We're seeing this right now. And as we've talked
00:58:14about in the ocular field, we've seen this in the cardiovascular fields now with some of the stuff
00:58:20coming out of Florida. And then of course, we've seen this regarding weight loss drugs,
00:58:24not to mention anti allergy medication, things like that. The injections for when you're having
00:58:31an allergic reaction. I don't know why that's not coming to my mind at the moment. Those are areas
00:58:35the market is starting to compete because they've been deregulated. That needs to happen across the board.
00:58:41All right, Mike, any points from Tony that you'd like to respond to?
00:58:44Yeah, well, I mean, I don't think it's a fresh coat of paint. I think the ACA was well-intentioned.
00:58:52And again, as somebody right now who's a private contractor who has to rely on the ACA to get
00:58:58insurance for my family, there's issues with it. Not only what you're paying monthly is obviously
00:59:03way cheaper than what you would pay if you had a W-2 contract job and you lost your job and you had
00:59:07COBRA benefits. It's way cheaper than that. But the coverage is not the same, right? And obviously,
00:59:12everybody has killed Obama already on the, you know, you could keep your doctor and keep the
00:59:17insurance or whatever, whatever the slogan was. I'm forgetting at this moment, you all know what
00:59:20it is. And that none of that came true, obviously, because of the options that the ACA offers. But
00:59:25I do want to push back. Tony, you know, I love pushing back, buddy. The biggest thing that I would
00:59:30say is, is that, you know, it's really up to Republicans to fix this. I don't need more diagnosis
00:59:37of the issue. We've been talking about the issue. We know what the problems are with the ACA. And
00:59:43there's countless stories of people that are, you know, red, white and blue, no political leaning or
00:59:48no affiliation that are going through issues with ACA. They want to solve to it. So this is twice now,
00:59:5545 and 47, that Donald Trump has been president. And we actually haven't seen a plan. And the best
01:00:01instance I can give last night, you know, I was watching a different network. I'm not going to say
01:00:05them here. And there was a Republican strategist that was on there that was talking about,
01:00:09and he got asked point blank, well, what is the plan? And, and the plan was similar to what Tony said,
01:00:14diagnosing the issue. I don't need more diagnosis of the issue. I want to use a doctor analogy.
01:00:19I know where the pain is. The pain is rotating right here. I need you to fix the pain, even if
01:00:24it's a temporary alleviation of the pain, but I need you to fix it short term and long term. And that's
01:00:30the issue that we're having right now. And, and I think in 25, especially at the ballot box,
01:00:35we saw, and again, people can digest it either way with respect to the numbers and voter turnout,
01:00:40but we saw a little bit of the pushback of what Trump has done on affordability.
01:00:44Now, I think in 26, the message that Democrats will take with them is about where's that healthcare
01:00:49plan? Because this is what we were fighting for. Republicans got the government back open,
01:00:53right? We, we played ball. We came across the aisle with them. And now where's that healthcare
01:00:58plan? When are we going to fix this? Let's hope to hold them accountable to it.
01:01:01Okay. Tony, uh, one more response on ACA, and I do want to move the conversation along
01:01:07a bit. Uh, your reaction to calls now for a change in leadership in the Senate, some saying that
01:01:14Schumer couldn't keep his caucus unified. I mean, of course he couldn't keep his caucus
01:01:18unified. There've been separate reports from different news agencies suggesting that
01:01:22he gave the wink and the nod. He didn't give the wink and the nod. Schumer's leadership is over.
01:01:26The Democrat party is now going on young progressives and old, uh, suburban women.
01:01:30That seems to be the new two key demographics moving into 26. Big mistake. Uh, but alas, um,
01:01:37I, I certainly won't get in their way on that one. Uh, but regarding the, the healthcare situation,
01:01:41a diagnosis, a full diagnosis is necessary. And the reason I say that is Mamdani. Uh,
01:01:46when you look at the diagnosis, it actually matters to determine what the root causes are
01:01:50in order to determine a solution. The left and the right think there are very different causes
01:01:54to this particular ailment on the American healthcare system. So whereas someone like
01:01:59Mamdani has said, oh, it's the evil rich white corporations that are hurting everyone because
01:02:04they're mean and they're, you know, bent over backwards and insert stereotypes that we were
01:02:08supposed to throw away after the 1930s. No, that's absolutely ridiculous. And we did try the last
01:02:15diagnosis and solution. So if there's a period now, a month, two months where Republicans openly debate,
01:02:21because our caucus doesn't usually go behind doors and unilaterally align, we argue things out in the
01:02:26open messy and, you know, often discordant, then we're going to find a solution that is hopefully
01:02:32better. I can't promise that it'll be better because whether it's Mike Lawler from New York
01:02:36who wins out, or, uh, it's, you know, someone more like Thomas Massey or it's Byron Donalds,
01:02:41or it's, uh, the, the young man out from California that also has a new proposition that's far more
01:02:46moderate than, uh, Byron Donalds in that example. I don't know what the solution to that can be.
01:02:51What I want to see is it advocated and argued out in the open until we come with the most deregulated
01:02:56system. Uh, that that's kind of my answer to that pushback, Mike. Okay, Mike. Um, I think we do have
01:03:02to wrap up a bit. Any final thoughts you have, maybe you can respond to, uh, calls for a change
01:03:07in leadership in the Senate. Yeah. Well, I mean, the, the best relationship I have is with Congressman
01:03:13Seth Moulton. Yeah. I've had him on the show a bunch and he's one of the members of Congress I've
01:03:17been communicating with prior to coming on here to just talk about his vote, uh, potentially on
01:03:22Wednesday. And, you know, I, I do agree with him just in terms of, I know Aliyah had a famous song,
01:03:27age is nothing but a number, but Chuck Schumer is getting up there in age. He wasn't able to keep
01:03:31his caucus together on this. The one thing I've always credited Republicans on my show about is that
01:03:36they stay unified. I think Marjorie Taylor Greene is an exception to the rule right now in terms of what
01:03:41she's doing and going on every other network and talking about what Republicans have done wrong.
01:03:46And maybe Thomas Massey, obviously, but I think that unified front, the ability to have a unified
01:03:51message that trickles, not only from the chambers of the Senate, but also to the house as well. I
01:03:56think Schumer and, and, uh, Jeffries, uh, are, are leave a little bit left to be desired. And I know not
01:04:02only Seth Moulton has that opinion, who's more of a moderate Democrat, who I think will appeal more
01:04:08on a broader stage because he's an Iraq veteran, uh, because he's somebody that, you know, ran in
01:04:13a purple district and flipped that, uh, years ago back in 2014. But I also think that there,
01:04:18there needs to be more Democrats like a Seth Moulton that to Tony's point should hopefully,
01:04:24you know, take over a little bit more of the party and reign the party a little bit more back in,
01:04:29uh, from the fringes of the far left. Well, all right, Tony and Mike, good conversation,
01:04:34uh, as always, uh, thank you very much. Talk to you next week.
01:04:38Next, a Chinese woman in Britain is jailed for 11 years for masterminding a massive cryptocurrency
01:04:47Ponzi scheme. She defrauded more than 120,000 victims, storing the proceeds in what is now $6
01:04:54billion worth of Bitcoin. NTD's international correspondent Malcolm Hudson has more.
01:04:59A Chinese fraudster has been jailed for over 11 years in Britain after masterminding a scam that led
01:05:05UK police to make the world's largest ever cryptocurrency seizure. 47-year-old Simin
01:05:11Qian defrauded nearly 130,000 victims in China through a Ponzi scheme before fleeing to the UK
01:05:18as an international fugitive. As part of this investigation, we seized over 61,000 Bitcoin,
01:05:25now worth approximately 5 billion pounds, alongside other non-crypto assets valued at more than 20
01:05:31million pounds. 61,000 Bitcoin is now worth more than $6.3 billion. Tian, also known as Yadi Zhang,
01:05:40was eventually arrested in 2024 after spending nearly six years at large. Prosecutors said she
01:05:47spent years evading UK police by sightseeing across Europe, staying in upmarket hotels and living a life
01:05:53of luxury. As seen here, she lured victims with glossy promotional videos and promises of massive returns.
01:06:00This clip, called Britain Nice Life, featured sweeping shots of London. She defrauded more than 128,000
01:06:08victims between 2014 and 2017. Tian eventually came to the attention of Chinese authorities, prompting her
01:06:15to flee the country before eventually arriving in the UK in September 2017. Many people lost their life
01:06:23savings and the emotional and financial impact on them was devastating. Today's outcome is a step
01:06:30towards justice for those victims. Tian was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months after previously admitting
01:06:38money laundering offences and transferring and possessing criminal property, namely cryptocurrency.
01:06:44Her accomplice, 47-year-old Sen Hock Ling, was also sentenced to 4 years and 11 months in prison
01:06:52after pleading guilty to transferring criminal property over his role in the multi-billion dollar
01:06:57fraud. More than 80 people were convicted in China in connection with a scheme. Head of Serious Economic
01:07:04Organised Crime Prosecution, Neil Colville, said the sentencing is a culmination of many years of
01:07:10complex and detailed work. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by
01:07:16organised criminals to disguise and transfer assets so that fraudsters may enjoy the benefits of their
01:07:23criminal conduct. There are ongoing proceedings over the fate of the seized bitcoin and how the
01:07:29victims of the fraud will be repaid. British prosecutors are considering a compensation scheme
01:07:34for victims, some of whom say they want the bitcoin itself. Any proceeds of crime money left over
01:07:41after this process would normally default to the UK government. Malcolm Hudson, NTD News, UK.
01:07:49Stealing US technology to start a business in China. A federal jury has convicted Chinese
01:07:55scientist Ji Wang for stealing technology from a US government funded project. Prosecutors say Wang
01:08:02also pitched the stolen tech to Chinese authorities, saying it had military applications. NTD's Tiffany
01:08:08Meyer has the report. In the early 2000s, Wang was the lead scientist on an 11 million dollar
01:08:14project funded by the Pentagon. The project aims to develop laser fibers that can be used to combat
01:08:20drone threats. After stealing the technology, Wang tried to set up a fiber laser business in China.
01:08:27The DOJ said Wang visited China to pitch the stolen technology to Chinese authorities to
01:08:31secure funding for his business. Wang said it could be used in tanks and that its military use could
01:08:37decide victory or defeat. He started stealing the technology after applying for China's thousand
01:08:43talent plan award. Under the program, Beijing tempts top scholars to hand over their know-how to China.
01:08:50Wang faces up to 25 years in prison. His lawyer says they'll appeal the convictions.
01:08:57The bible on trial in Finland. A major case was recently put before the Supreme Court of Finland,
01:09:03which is expected to set a president for free speech and freedom of religion. NTD's Daniel Monaghan has more.
01:09:09Paivi Rasanen is a medical doctor, grandmother and has been a member of parliament for more than 25 years.
01:09:16She served as Finland's Minister of the Interior from 2011 to 2015. Rasanen has faced three separate
01:09:23criminal charges stemming from a 2019 tweet questioning her church's sponsorship of the Helsinki Pride event.
01:09:30The tweet featured a photo of Bible verses describing same-sex relations between men,
01:09:35and a 2004 pamphlet discussing Christian teachings on sexuality. According to legal firm ADF International,
01:09:42the prosecution argues her tweet constituted agitation against a minority group under Finland's
01:09:48hate speech laws, which are codified under the section of the criminal code titled War Crimes and
01:09:53Crimes Against Humanity. Throughout the investigation, Dr. Rasanen has endured more than 13 hours of
01:10:00police interrogation, during which she was repeatedly asked to explain her theological understanding of
01:10:05the bible. It was really a surprise to me seven years ago when they started that this could lead to
01:10:13charges and to police investigations and interrogations and such a long process in court. In the hearing,
01:10:25prosecutors repeated their argument that Rasanen's words were insulting and that intent is irrelevant
01:10:30and that what matters is how readers interpret the text. What I have spoken, it has been what Bible
01:10:37teaches about marriage and gender and sexuality. And I think that God is love, and what he speaks, it is out of
01:10:51love, and it is also out of love to warn people about that kind of deeds that would hurt themselves and that
01:11:05would danger their salvation to eternal life. The prosecution called for Rasanen and Bishop Johanna
01:11:13Poyola to be criminally convicted for incitement against the group, and for Rasanen's tweet and pamphlet to
01:11:20be censored to be censored from the internet. Rasanen says it's time now for people to be open about their
01:11:25faith and values. Because the more we are silent about the basis of our faith and about these contradictory
01:11:39issues, the narrower becomes the space to express our convictions and our values. Rasanen calls on those
01:11:53standing up for freedom to be steadfast. We should not be afraid of some difficulties or even persecution
01:12:03in this time, because I have seen that God uses these kinds of processes in his own purposes.
01:12:15The doctor and grandmother says when hate speech laws were originally approved in the Finnish parliament, nobody
01:12:21thought they'd be used to target Christians and the teachings of spiritual books such as the Bible.
01:12:25We have long roots of Christianity in Finland, and almost in every home in Finland we have Bibles. But now
01:12:36we are in a situation that these laws are tried to be targeted against expressing what Bible teaches,
01:12:49for example, about marriage.
01:12:50Rasanen says young people need a strong moral foundation now more than ever. The parliament
01:12:57member says the younger generations are living in ideological confusion.
01:13:01Which is very stressful for young people – and I think that now they would need to be told that they are
01:13:13precious, they are created as an image of God, but it is the God who tells that what is good
01:13:20for their life and what is bad for their life." The decision on the case from the
01:13:25Supreme Court is expected in spring. Danielle Monahan, NTD News.
01:13:31This is such a gentle painting, so beautifully portrayed.
01:13:38A group of people reading together in this simple everyday looking living room.
01:13:42A young girl reading along with an adult, a grandparent sitting in the lotus position,
01:13:47a businessman in his typical suit. You see all those people they look like they have quietly
01:13:55settled down there and you as a viewer it looks like you've just stepped in the door. You can't
01:14:02see what it is they're reading so you're a little bit curious and you're kind of invited to walk in.
01:14:09This harmonious feeling is not by accident, it is the very subject of the work. The book they are
01:14:15reading is the main text of Falun Gong, which is an ancient Chinese spiritual discipline in the
01:14:21Buddhist tradition. At the core of Falun Gong are the values of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.
01:14:31Unfortunately, the practice is banned in China where the artist resides.
01:14:36Thousands have been killed for their faith.
01:14:45Golden energy blooms into the room as a result of their steadfast faith.
01:14:52The painting on the back wall reminds us of this work's title, Plum Blossoms in a Muddy World.
01:14:57It's also a metaphor for the practitioners that are sitting in the room as plum blossoms.
01:15:07They signify perseverance and hope that all brutal winters end and life is renewed once again.
01:15:19The magical painting.
01:15:27Mag By Tri Gram siek
01:15:28。
01:15:38The lonely sel envy is a친구 and an animal.
01:15:41You are a耶 craftsman, whose art you're food and can be served as custodians.
01:15:46You differ from the curse from flavors,aryggプhaadiens issue.
01:15:48The husk of Falun Gong.
01:15:50It's wonderful to see because theству she belongs to you alone.
01:15:52It's wonderful to be observed in the last month.
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