Mark Milley Testifies Before Congress on US Withdrawal From Afghanistan

Good evening and welcome to the Capitol Report on NTD Television. I'm Jack Bradley. Here's what's coming up. President Biden courting Latino voters as former President Trump warns he may be forced to sell assets. More on their duel as voters cast their ballots in five states today. Officials finally reach a deal to fund the government. This, as we're already halfway into the fiscal year. What we know about the agreement so far. The House today deposed two retired generals on the Biden administration's Afghanistan withdrawal. Our Washington correspondent Luis Martinez has more on that hearing from the Capitol. It's primary day in five states today. Now President Biden campaigning in key swing states as former President Trump decries what he calls election interference. Joining us now live is NTD's White House correspondent Iris Tao. Iris, good evening. What are the candidates up to today as voters cast their ballots? Good evening to you, Jack. So as primaries unfold today in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio, neither Trump nor Biden is going to appear in any of those states as both of them have clinched their party's nominations. Instead, President Biden is on a three-day campaign swing to the Sun Belt, mostly to court Latino voters. Here's what President Biden said about a rematch with Trump in Nevada today. Watch. Last week, Donald Trump and I clinched the nominations. We're going to beat him again. I feel really good as I go around the country. Not a joke. While President Biden won nearly 60 percent of Latino voters back in 2020, recent polling has shown that Trump is expanding his standing with Latino voters as more and more of them are increasingly responding to Trump's policies on immigration and the economy. Trump, meanwhile, today was railing against a New York judge's ruling to make him pose nearly half a billion dollars in bond next week. And Trump says that's even before he gets to appeal. Trump wrote on True Social, quote, Does that make sense? And Trump's lawyers have said that Trump is now unable to pose that bond as Trump says that most bonding companies haven't even heard of a bond of that size, let alone being able to afford it. Jack. Well, half a billion dollars is really an unusually large bond. Iris, tell us more about the primaries tonight. And what are we watching for as both Trump and Biden have already become the presumptive nominees? You're right. So most of the drama is expected to unfold mostly in the down ballot races. For example, in Ohio, three Republicans are in a fierce fight to try to unseat a Democratic senator in a state in which Trump has won in the past two presidential elections. So tonight's primaries could help determine the chances that Democrats have in maintaining their razor thin majority in the Senate. Jack. Iris, thank you for that report. And stay tuned tonight for our special coverage of the presidential primaries in The Nation Decides 2024, where we'll examine the top candidates' policies as the election results flow in. Join NTD's Steve Lance and Tiffany Meyer for a deep dive into the election's most pressing issues as voters cast their ballots across the country. Catch all of the action and the results live tonight starting at 7.30 p.m. Eastern. And as more battleground states across the country are holding their presidential primary elections, we look ahead to some of the main issues that could influence voters come November. We welcome to the program Dr. Jeff Gunter, a medical doctor and former ambassador to Iceland, and Mike Leon, an NTD News contributor, policy and strategy director for the Free and Equal Elections Foundation, and the host of the Can We Please Talk podcast. We're now joined by Mike Leon and Ambassador Jeff Gunter. Thank you both for joining. Great to be here. Now, Jeff, in Trump's hush money case in Manhattan, the U.S. Attorney's Office waited to turn over thousands of pages of documents that DA Alvin Bragg asked for months ago. What does this say about the strength of the case, and do you think it's likely to begin before the election? You know, the reality is this is just government gangsters. The whole thing's illegitimate. When it comes to President Trump, we watch the false impeachments. We watch the false indictments. And this has nothing to do with justice. This has nothing to do with the law. This has nothing to do with the Constitution of America. This is desperate people trying to do desperate things to stop Donald Trump from being the next president of the United States. And he will get there. He will succeed. And everything that they do will ultimately fail. It's desperation, plain and simple. Now, Mike, what's your response here? Do you have the same thoughts? I don't have the same thoughts. But I will tell you, just on this level, for Dr. Gunther for a second, he's right about the New York case. The New York case is the weakest of all of them. Everyone knows this. It has the allure of being politically motivated because it's a misdemeanor at best. You know, the statute of limitations may have expired on some of these charges. So I will agree with him just on that bare-bones basis is that this New York case probably of all of them is the one that probably shouldn't have been brought in. And we kind of know why it's being brought in because it's a DA that, again, he ran and Letitia James both ran. These are campaign ads. This is not Mike Leon saying this. These are campaign ads that they had. But they ran on, you know, getting the Trump campaign. Now I want to move on here. So Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a week away from announcing his VP pick. Mike, who among his contenders on his shortlist would best resonate with voters? And who's he pulling more voters from, Biden or Trump? Well, Jack, we spoke about this kind of a little bit last time. You just can't. I know Jesse Ventura is a former governor, obviously, of Minnesota. He ran with the Reform Party. He's been able to kind of dive into the muck and be able to, you know, get himself elected amongst the establishment candidates on the Republican and Democratic side. He's obviously an option. Nicole Shanahan, again, a former attorney, no real, you know, government experience. It just happens to have a lot of money in cachet. I don't think that would speak to RFK's base as he's trying to, you know, kind of buck the trend of what billionaires are able to do in the political game. And, Jeff, what's your response? I agree partially, a little bit. I think the reality is he's going to suck votes from Joe Biden. But most importantly, we have to remember the election of 1992 in H. Ross Perot. Everyone remembers that H. Ross Perot got about 19 percent of the vote. Everyone remembers that Bill Clinton won that election over Bush 41. So we cannot, cannot underestimate the impact that RFK Jr. is going to have. And remember, he's for shutting down the border. He's an anti-vax guy. They might look at him, but let's face it, why not go with the real thing and why not go with Donald J. Trump, who has a proven track record, as opposed to someone who has a proven recognizable name? President Biden's traveling to Nevada and Arizona over the next two days to competitive battleground states. In a memo Biden's campaign released yesterday, he said that they're looking to Florida and Texas. Now, these states are more conservative. According to Real Clear Politics polls, Trump is leading in all seven battleground states. Mike, does Biden, why does Biden have his eyes here on Florida and Texas? I have no idea. I mean, Jack, I mean, you know, I was just talking about this the other day with Pachi Valencia from Epoch Times there, and we didn't understand the Democratic Party has pulled out of Florida for all intent and purpose. They have not campaigned a lot here. They didn't even have their Democratic primary here. They've shifted money to other states where they feel that they can make a dent. So I'd be shocked if the Democratic Party really starts to spend money. I don't know why President Biden is making waves here, because if you just look at the numbers from 2016 to 2020, the Latino vote down here in the blue counties, those numbers have dipped more for Trump. From Hillary Clinton 2016 to Biden in 2020, the numbers have shifted more to Trump. So I'm not sure why the campaign is actually making or trying to make a dent in these red states. Jeff, your quick response? You know, I'm going to quote the rock and roll group and say, desperado, you better come to your senses. And I think Joe Biden looks profoundly desperate. He might be looking at these other places just to raise money, but to be honest, you know, he can't even look his way off of a stage. We've all seen him bumble and fumble after his speeches, you know, when he gives a rally to 10 people. So when you talk about where he's looking, I don't think Joe Biden knows anywhere where he's looking. Those handlers have some kind of plan, but I think they're profoundly desperate. Mike Leon and Ambassador Jeff Gunter, thank you very much for joining us today. Thanks. Great to be here. Officials in Washington today announced they finally reached a deal on government funding. This says we're almost halfway into the fiscal year. Now the race is on to pass the bills before a looming shutdown takes effect on Friday. The White House today released this statement saying, Congressional leaders confirmed the announcement. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that lawmakers are in the process of finalizing text and reports for Congress to closely review and consider ASAP. Once the bill's texts are finalized, the House gives congressional lawmakers 72 hours to review them. That's as funding for several key agencies run out at midnight on Friday, which threatens a shutdown of those agencies if the bills aren't passed by then. Two retired U.S. generals testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee today as part of an investigation into the Biden administration's 2020-2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan and its consequences. Now our Washington correspondent Luis Martinez joins us live from the Capitol. Luis, what can you tell us about the hearing today? Good evening, Jack. Yes, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs held the hearing for four hours, deposing former Joint Chief of Staff Chair, retired General Mark Milley, and the former head of Central Command, retired General Kenneth McKenzie. For General Milley, it was the first time testifying since he left active duty as the highest-ranking member of the U.S. Armed Forces last year. But during his opening statement and throughout his testimony, he reiterated that his assessment is that the withdrawal from Afghanistan was a strategic failure. Let's listen to what General Mark Milley had to say. On 14 August, the noncombatant evacuation operation decision was made by the Department of State, and the U.S. military alerted, marshaled, mobilized, and rapidly deployed faster than any military in the world could ever do. It is my assessment that that decision came too late. The chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, read the name of the 13 victims of the Abigail terrorist attack on the 26th of August of 2021, the 13 servicemen who died there, a very emotional moment during today's hearing. Michael McCaul, the congressman leading the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also highlighted how important our U.S. allies were during this process. Let's listen to what Congressman McCaul had to say. On August 30, 2021, more than 1,000 American citizens remained trapped in Afghanistan, as were tens of thousands of Afghan allies who risked their lives serving beside our troops and diplomats. Many, if not most, of those allies are still trapped, constantly in fear for their lives. The Democratic ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Congressman Gregory Meeks, had something very different to say than the Republican counterparts, and he pointed out the Trump administration is responsible for the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal from 2021. Let's listen to what ranking member Gregory Meeks had to say. During the transition between the Trump and Biden administrations, it also became clear that the Trump administration lacked a comprehensive plan for withdrawing from Afghanistan, despite the May 1 deadline fast approaching. Jack, so today's hearing lasted around four hours. I also got to speak with Congressman Mike Walsh, a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and he said that today's hearing was not about responsibility, who's responsible, but accountability, as who is to be held accountable for the disastrous events of August 2021. Back to you, Jack. Luis, thank you. Coming up, former White House advisor Peter Navarro reporting to prison. This after the Supreme Court denied his petition to stay free while his appeal case is taking place. Merit versus diversity. Congress' only practicing physician announcing a new bill targeting diversity mandates in medical schools. That and more when we return. The past was good. For many years, we were able to fight with fire, and the children of our ancestors died. But now, the past has changed, and it's worse than ever. This is because this government has made it worse. Because of wars and conflicts, we have to leave our homes and all our belongings. We don't even have food. That's why we need your help. Millions of children are fighting to survive due to inequality, conflict, poverty, and the climate crisis. Save the Children is working alongside communities to provide a better life for children. And there's a way you can help. Please call or go online to give just $10 a month, only 33 cents a day. We urgently need 1,000 new monthly donors in the next 30 days to help the children we support around the world. You can help provide food, medicine, care, and protection, plus so much more that a child needs, by calling right now and giving just $10 a month. All we need are 1,000 monthly donors in the next 30 days. Please call or go online now with your monthly gift of just $10. Thanks to generous government grants, every dollar you give can have up to 10 times the impact. And when you call with your credit card, we will send you this Save the Children tote bag as a thank you for your support. Your small monthly donation of just $10 could be the reason a child in crisis survives. Please call or go online to Hungerstopsnow.org to help save lives today. When I drink it, the first thing was I feel the warmth in my tummy. It's kind of like gently radiating out, you know, a kind of a very comforting warmth. And it was really good, actually. I felt much better. I did feel, actually, an effect, and I find that it is actually better when I take it regularly. It's actually steamed and dried nine times, and so it's really, the essence is really extracted. Then the second time, I tried it really like on an empty stomach, and just two teaspoons of it, and over a few times. Wow, that was a big difference, because suddenly I could feel why I was very good energized. I didn't have to eat. I could work outside in the garden for a couple of hours, and I still felt very well. And I was impressed by that, so I think it's a good product. Welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Jack Bradley. Former White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro reported to prison today. He was convicted of contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with a subpoena from the now disbanded House January 6th Committee. This is not about me. One of the big stories is about what is really an unprecedented assault on the constitutional separation of powers. Navarro now begins serving four months behind bars at a low-security prison in Florida. He believes he was shielded by executive privilege and was therefore not required to testify in Congress. The Supreme Court rejected his petition to stay free while his case is on appeal. And last week, a federal appeals court also denied Navarro's bid to put a hold on his prison sentence. New legislation targeting diversity mandates in medical schools. Two House Republicans today announcing a bill aimed at stripping all federal funds from medical schools with diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, practices. In the past, students were admitted based upon merit, excellence, and aptitude. Sadly enough, those days are changing. It is not fair. It is unfair. In fact, it is blatant discrimination. Congressman Greg Murphy and Brad Wenstrup introduced the Educate Act today. Murphy is the only practicing physician in Congress, and under the bill, medical schools would need to confirm that they don't provide such courses or benefits for students based on solely their race, color, or ethnicity. It would also prohibit schools from compelling students, faculty, or staff to pledge their loyalty to DEI principles. Medical schools with the DEI offices would also lose access to federal funding if the bill becomes law. Former President Trump says he'll impose more tariffs on Chinese cars made in Mexico, on other Chinese goods, and on goods made anywhere else in the world. But would this benefit the U.S. economy? Joining me now is Paul Mueller, Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, about Trump's proposals. Paul Mueller, welcome to the program. Really great to have you on today. Thanks for having me. Trump said recently that if elected, he would impose a 100% tariff on Chinese cars made in Mexico. According to SINEDA, a freight rate intelligence platform, China's shipping container exports to Mexico surged nearly 60% year-over-year in January. What will be the impact of this? Well, whenever you create a tariff, you're going to create costs. Because remember, tariffs are taxes, right? They're taxes on certain kinds of goods coming from certain places. So any tariff you do is costly, just like if you raise taxes, it's costly. The question we should be asking when it comes to thinking about tariffs is whether there's some other kind of goal we're trying to get. So I think Trump is incorrect when he thinks that these tariffs are going to make the U.S. economy better off. But maybe we're concerned about China, right? China's been aggressive in various ways, and they have unfair trade practices in certain respects. So maybe, you know, more tariffs or targeted tariffs make sense. But we should always keep in mind that the tariffs are costly, and that's going to be the impact. It's going to make vehicles more expensive. It's going to be not good for the economy. Now, when speaking about this tariff, Trump mentioned that if he isn't elected, it would be a bloodbath for the country. Now, how is the auto industry and economy different under the Trump administration versus the Biden administration? Well, the Biden administration has gone all in on environmental policy, ESG regulations when it comes to the environment, when it comes to emissions requirements. And they've gone all in when it comes to subsidizing. So the broader point here is that the electric vehicle market worldwide is in turmoil right now. And the reason it's in turmoil is because it has been so heavily subsidized and mandated over the past several years. So you have subsidies for building battery plants. You have subsidies for manufacturing electric vehicles. You have emissions requirements. So car companies started building a bunch of electric vehicles to meet these different emission requirements. You have a whole bunch of subsidies for people buying electric vehicles. So there's this craze, this boom for electric vehicles that happened not just here in the U.S., but in China, too, actually even more so. The Chinese government has funded mass production electric vehicles. But it's turned out that consumers are not quite sure what they think about these things. EV demand has declined. And there's a lot of turmoil in the market here in the U.S., but also in China. Earlier this month, Trump threatened a 50 percent tariff on Chinese cars, up to 60 percent tariff on all Chinese goods and another 10 percent tariff on goods made anywhere in the world. Could we start seeing more domestic jobs as a result of this? Well, certainly people will point to some. So we'll see that as we import fewer electric vehicles or fewer whatever goods are being taxed more, you'll see more employment to create those goods here. However, what you'll also see is that the cost of all kinds of raw materials are going to go up, especially with the 10 percent across the board tariff. And that's going to be a problem for a lot of producers in the U.S. They're going to see the cost of aluminum rise. They're going to see the cost of steel go up. They're going to see the cost of sugar or other kinds of commodities go up. And so even though we'll see some more employment if we start producing goods that we're not importing, we're actually going to see declines in employment in other industries that are seeing their costs rise because things are more expensive and they're cut back. As far as these tariffs, should we be concerned of retaliatory measures from other nations in response to these tariffs? Absolutely. Absolutely. So if you go back to the last time the U.S. created a huge across the board tariff on all goods coming into the U.S., you go back to the Smoot-Hawley tariff in 1929. And after that tariff was passed, countries around the world began raising their tariffs and international trade declined. And that was right ushered right into the Great Depression. So I'm not suggesting Trump's 10 percent tariff will create a Great Depression by any means. Paul Mueller, senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. Thank you very much for your time here today. Thank you. For round-the-clock original news coverage, visit us at NTD.com or download our NTD app. And that's all we have for you tonight on The Capitol Report. Thank you for watching. From the nation's capital, I'm Jack Bradley. Have a nice evening. We'll see you back here tomorrow.