Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Plan to Revise American Health, His Colossal Hit to Big Pharma

Good evening and welcome to the Capitol Report on Entity Television. I'm Steve Lance and coming up today, he announced his choice for Interior Secretary. How that role will work on Trump's plan to expand oil drilling and how does the AI race with China come into play? Iris Tao reports. RFK Jr. in the spotlight, nominated as HHS Secretary by President-elect Trump. We'll take a look at his plans for shaping America's health care future. And while Biden meets with world leaders in Peru, China is building a megaport in that very country. What does this mean for the U.S. influence in the region? We'll discuss with a senior fellow for Asian Military Affairs. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. And breaking just moments ago, President-elect Trump announcing Caroline Leavitt as his pick for White House Press Secretary. Leavitt served a similar role in the Trump campaign. She also served as a former Assistant Press Secretary in the previous Trump White House. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson today calling on the Ethics Committee to withhold an investigative report on former Representative Matt Gaetz. The Florida congressman resigned from his seat after Trump appointed him as incoming Attorney General. The committee has been probing Gaetz over allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and bribery. They were set to vote on releasing the report but ended up canceling it late Thursday. The Justice Department previously investigated Gaetz but declined to press charges. Gaetz has so far denied all wrongdoing. Speaker Johnson arguing the House should keep its tradition of withholding reports after members leave the chamber. And President-elect Trump announcing his top campaign spokesperson as White House Communications Director. He also announced his pick to run the Interior Department, a familiar face from this year's Republican primaries. And today's White House correspondent Iris Tao reports from Palm Beach. President-elect Trump on Friday officially announcing that North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum will be his pick to lead the Department of Interior. That's the department managing the nation's public lands and waters and potentially opening them for oil and gas drilling. That means that if confirmed, Burgum will be the one leading Trump's plan of drill baby drill. Here's what Trump said about the post last night at Mar-a-Lago and what he said about his energy plan on the campaign trail. And we're going to do things with energy and with land, interior, that is going to be incredible. We're going to drill a baby drill and we'll cut your energy prices in half, 50 percent within one year from January 20th. Trump's also tapping Burgum to lead a brand new National Energy Council. In a statement, Trump says the council will oversee the path to U.S. energy dominance by cutting red tape and enhancing private sector investments. Burgum, a multimillionaire, former software company CEO, turned two-term governor, ran a presidential campaign focused on energy and natural resources. He later dropped out and endorsed Trump and has since been stumping for Trump on the campaign trail. Trump, in a statement tapping Burgum, says with U.S. energy dominance, we will drive down inflation, win the A.I. arms race with China. And Burgum telling NTD at a campaign stop in recent months that the U.S. needs to stay vigilant about threats posed by China to U.S. infrastructure and the A.I. competition. There are real risks out there today. They will bring on over 400 gigawatts of coal in the next two years as baseload power to power their economy, power their efforts in artificial intelligence. And artificial intelligence is directly related to every aspect of defense, every aspect of health care, every aspect of education. In another round of staff picks, Trump on Friday tapped his campaign communications director, Stephen Chung, as the director of communications in his new White House. Chung served in Trump's first term as director of strategic response. He has been a staunch defender of Trump throughout this whole campaign and Trump calls him a trusted advisor. Reporting from West Palm Beach, Iris Tao, NTD News. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on the verge of becoming the next secretary of health. NTD correspondent Jason Blair delves into Kennedy's background and the future he envisions for American health care. I'm here today to tell you how we can make America healthy again. President-elect Trump plans to appoint RFK Jr. as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS. Kennedy said on X that he looks forward to freeing the HHS from, quote, corporate capture to be able to pursue their mission to make Americans healthy again, as well as together we will clean up corruption, stop the revolving door between industry and government, and return our health agencies to their rich tradition of gold standard evidence-based science. While supporting Trump's campaign run, RFK Jr. put out messages showing some of his intentions if he were to work with a Trump administration. For example, this video he released in late September. This is what most Americans innocently put into their bodies these days and most alarmingly into the bodies of their children. In the video, he says that since the early 1990s, Americans on average don't live as long as other developed countries, and suddenly more Americans started suffering from chronic illnesses. A big part of it is our diet. Restaurants that serve contaminated food are fined or shut down. But when it's the government that approves the poisons in our food, a few people get very, very rich, and the toxins end up in every supermarket aisle. Kennedy has had multiple noteworthy professions, including an environmental law attorney, co-founder of Waterkeeper Alliance, chairman of Children's Health Defense, as well as a successful author. He has a bachelor in American history and literature from Harvard, a law degree from the University of Virginia, and a master in environmental law from Pace University. Colorado Governor Jared Polis posted that he's excited about Trump's pick of RFK Jr. to the Department of Human Health and Services. He posted on X that Kennedy helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make Americans healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA. Polis also expressed his support for RFK Jr.'s position on capping U.S. drug prices, revamping government agencies to do better at improving nutrition, and moving away from a heavily pesticide-reliant agricultural system. Kennedy will still need to get the majority vote in the Senate in order to be appointed as the secretary of HHS. Former Vice President Mike Pence urged Senate Republicans to reject him due to his pro-abortion stance. While Kennedy's role wouldn't directly affect abortion law, Pence says he would be the most pro-abortion Republican appointee to secretary of HHS in modern history. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. Big vaccine producers, including Pfizer and Moderna, took a hit as soon as Trump nominated RFK Jr. for health secretary. How significant is Trump's nomination, and can Kennedy overcome those challenges to his Make America Healthy Again priorities? Joining me now to discuss is Katie Talento, former Trump White House healthcare official and executive director of Alliance of Healthcare Sharing Ministries. Katie Talento, thank you so much for joining. Thanks for having me. Of course, Katie. Yesterday, President-elect Trump nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the head of the Department of Health and Human Services. Here's what Trump had to say. Today, I nominated him for, I guess, if you like health and if you like people that live a long time, it's the most important position, RFK Jr. Now, Katie, based on your previous experience as a health professional and working in Trump's previous administration, how consequential will RFK's role be? Oh, it couldn't be more consequential. I mean, if HHS were the size of a, if it were a country, it would be the eighth largest country in terms of budget. So it's just massive. Medicare, Medicaid, Indian Health, NIH, FDA, CDC, I mean, it's a giant, giant agency. And to give Mr. Kennedy control over that entire behemoth is a massive amount of power and a great opportunity to really make a huge difference. Now, Kennedy has been vocal on social media about his position, saying on Tuesday, I'll put an end to the revolving door, referring to the relationship between government and big pharma, big food and big agriculture, if you will. How will he go about achieving some of these priorities? And do you think that this is something that should be addressed? I absolutely do. I mean, it's just absolutely commonplace that everyone who comes in and out of high level management and executive and political appointments at the department, at any department, goes right onto K Street here in Washington. And we like to talk about that's where all the lobbyists live. It's where all the lobbying firms work. They go right onto K Street. They come back. Maybe they go to Capitol Hill and work for a while. Then they go to the executive branch and they go back into lobbying for industry, the regulated industries that they work over when they're in government. It's really incestuous and it leads to kind of a bubble that you're in and you really forget how the impact of your regulations are in the world. But also, worse than that, you forget that you work for the people and not for the industry. When you're at an agency, a regulatory agency, so often our government appointees accidentally—it's not intentional—but they accidentally start to ally themselves with the regulated entities. They're supposed to protect us, the American people, from those entities, not them from us. So I really think this is an important approach. Katie, I want to get your thoughts. Certain elements in the media landscape, the mainstream media, as some might call it, have really started to target him. They've been reporting on him as an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist for spreading falsehoods about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. How can he ultimately get past the opposition that he's already facing with some of these views? On the flip side of things, you see some Democratic governors, specifically the one of Colorado, seeming to somewhat endorse him. Yeah, so I think Mr. Kennedy's best weapon is himself. When you let him talk about these exact same issues, when you let him speak about his true positions on vaccine safety and effectiveness and the adequacy of the clinical trial data over the past generations, he is extremely articulate and persuasive and compelling, and he's making points that are so important. And most people don't realize, for instance, that the vast majority of vaccines on the childhood schedule have never gone through long-term placebo-controlled trials—of course, everyone thinks they have—or that you can't sue a vaccine manufacturer if their product kills people, but in fact they're free from liability, thanks to Congress in 1986. Most people don't realize that, and when he starts to talk about these issues, he's so articulate. I think he'll win people over. Katie, on a personal level, you, as executive director of the Alliance of Healthcare Sharing Ministries, where do you want him to start with his Make America Healthy Again goal? I would really like him to take a hard look at FDA and the drug, vaccine, and food safety regime. That's where he needs to start, because that's what is poisoning our children. In our food, in our drugs, in the vaccines, we need to have serious reforms to these safety procedures, especially when it comes to the food supply. Our food is so tainted compared to food in other countries, and part of that has to do with the lobbying by the big industry interests, and we really need to take a hard look at that. We also need to start looking at the liability protections for vaccine manufacturers. That policy is a policy that only Congress can change, but they need to change it, and I hope he will lead the charge to get that statute changed. Katie Talento, really appreciate your perspective. Thank you. Thank you, sir. As Trump prepares for his return to the White House, he's pushing back against multiple media companies, accusing them of biased coverage against him. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, just days before the presidential election, Trump's lawyer issued a letter to the New York Times and Penguin Random House. Columbia Journalism Review says the letter demands $10 billion in damages over articles with false and defamatory statements. It accuses the New York Times of industrial-scale libel against political opponents. Earlier in October, Trump sued CBS News, alleging that a 60-minute interview with his presidential opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, had been edited to help her. CBS dismissed the lawsuit as without merit. Around the same time, Trump accused the Washington Post of making illegal contributions to the Harris campaign. The outlet also said those allegations were without merit. Meanwhile, a new Trump administration could also challenge traditions in the White House press briefing room and expand access to other outlets. And coming up, President Biden is in Peru meeting with world leaders. He's maintaining U.S. diplomacy with allies in the Indo-Pacific while countering Chinese aggression in that region. Perseverance in the face of adversity. An art exhibition on Capitol Hill conveying a message of spiritual elevation in human rights tragedy in modern China. 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And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. President Biden is in Peru attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. He's meeting with allies from the Indo-Pacific and the leader of the CCP. And today's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has more from the White House. While at APEC, President Biden met with the Peruvian president to talk about countering drug trafficking in Peru. Biden also met with the prime minister of Japan, as well as the president of South Korea. The U.S. plays a pivotal role in the Indo-Pacific in countering the Chinese Communist Party. This is as North Korea is sending thousands of soldiers to Russia and the Chinese Communist Party is the main supplier of Russia's war machine, according to U.S. officials. This is likely to be my last trilateral meeting with this important group, but I'm proud to have helped be one of the parts of building this partnership. And I think it's built to last. That's my hope and expectation. I truly believe cooperation of our countries will be the foundation to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific for many years to come. China just finished building a $1.3 billion megaport in Peru. This is part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, which builds infrastructure in other countries that double as Chinese military installations. The U.S. Southern Command raised concern that this port could be used for Chinese naval deployments and espionage. President Biden, on Saturday, will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for their third and final face-to-face talk since Biden became president. Speaking to the press on Air Force One yesterday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan emphasized the risk of the heightened conflict between China and Taiwan. He said, quote, the most significant risk for the United States and for the world is somehow peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is disturbed and we end up in conflict there. Because of the size of the risk, even if it's not that likely, it's something that has to be at the top of the agenda. Sullivan went on to say that the next administration should beware of China's aggression in the South China Sea, as well as the U.S. maintaining dominance economically and technologically. Biden will then head to Brazil for the G20 Summit. Reporting from the White House, Jack Bradley, NTD News. Paintings conveying the message of truth, compassion and tolerance on display in the works offer a glimpse into the plight of spiritual believers and the brutality of the Chinese Communist Party. NTD's Sam Wong is on Capitol Hill. Inner strength through spirituality and ongoing human rights tragedy in modern China. These are subjects of an art exhibit at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The gallery features paintings from critically acclaimed artists from around the world. Through the bustling streets of New York City, a young girl stands with a sign in her hands and conviction in her eyes. Under the rain-drenched poncho is an innocent face that brings awareness to a nationwide persecution in China, a campaign that seeks to eradicate those who follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. The brutality pictured in these paintings fulfilled everything I had heard about the persecution, and it fulfills everything I expect, sadly, from the Chinese Communist Party. In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched a nationwide persecution against Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. Although it's a peaceful spiritual practice, the regime saw it as a threat to its power. Millions of practitioners have since been detained and some were murdered on demand to supply China's organ transplant market. The infant child and her mother in the picture were just two among many who have lost their lives in the persecution. My thing is I feel for the Falun Gong and all the religious minorities. We need to have the same moral clarity when it comes to China that many of the things they're doing is evil. You know, doing organ harvesting is evil. Beyond the dark time are brighter days ahead. This picture depicts a true story. An American woman was arrested for protesting in Beijing against the persecution. In a bleak jail cell, she sings a song of hope into the conscience of a policeman who was guarding her. On the other side of the world is a cross-generational moment. A young girl extends a paper lotus flower to an elderly woman, a symbol of purity and spiritual awakening in Asian culture. There are things deeper than politics, and that is our spirituality. Far deeper than politics. What I've gotten from all these paintings is ugliness but hope in the face of despair. The Chinese people deserve better. They deserve a government that respects their choices, respects their choice to worship the way they want to worship, and it can be done. Reporting from Capitol Hill, Sam Wong, NTV News. And China building a $1.3 billion megaport in the country of Peru. What are the military implications? Joining us now to discuss is Richard Fischer, Senior Fellow on Asian Military Affairs at the International Assessment and Strategy Center. Richard, thank you so much for joining. Thank you for having me. Great to have you on, Richard. So it's not often that we see a Chinese leader attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony abroad. We know that Peru is the recipient of the CCP's Belt and Road Initiative. Talk to us about the strategy behind this so-called infrastructure project. The strategy is simple. We give you money, we give you investment, we dominate your economy, and then we expect military benefits. This is the Chinese strategy. It's working around the world. It's working in Africa. It's working in Cambodia. It's working in Sri Lanka. And Xi Jinping expects that it will be working in Latin America, Peru, for starters, perhaps Argentina later, perhaps Brazil sooner than that. Richard, for maybe some audience members, we talk about it a lot on our network, but that maybe aren't familiar with the term unrestricted warfare. Is it fair to say that these types of projects would fall into that category? And geopolitically, why is China seeking to expand its influence in Peru and more broadly across Latin America? Well, what Xi Jinping is doing in Latin America this week falls under the category more of traditional power competition. If China does secure military footholds in Peru or Argentina or Brazil, then yes, what is termed unrestricted warfare will come more into play. Use of cyber warfare, infiltration, setting up nodes for potential future terrorist attacks, all of that could come into play. And these are the dangers that America faces in Latin America. Peru has had China as its largest trading partner for the last decade. China is the second largest investor. The United States does not have any $1 billion to $3 billion ports to point to, to highlight its longstanding influence in the region. Richard, former Ambassador Carla Sands to Denmark, U.S. Ambassador, she sounded the alarm during her tenure there where the ports there were actually using Chinese surveillance equipment. Do we run the risk of certain espionage activities coming in and out of these ports? And how hard will it be for the U.S. to counter this influence once the project is complete? And what can we ultimately do to protect our own interests and security? Well, unfortunately, the United States has been bereft in terms of strategy. We've been reactive, we have not built up our own influence in the region to counter the arrival of China's influence. We had a lucky break in the recent election in Argentina of a capitalist free market president who immediately bought American fighter jets after China had been trying to sell Argentina fighter jets for the last decade and a half. But for the United States, we're very quickly moving into a position where we're going to need a much larger Coast Guard and a much larger Navy to counter direct Chinese military use and eventually a presence in our own hemisphere. Richard Fisher, Senior Fellow of Asian Military Affairs at the International Assessment and Strategy Center. Thank you for your insight. Thank you. Coming up, Trump's appointment of Marco Rubio as the next Secretary of State sending strong signals to U.S. allies on its future China policy. And Trump's cabinet picks are leaving holes in Congress. What will happen to these vacant seats? Speak to Professor of Political Science at the University of Missouri, Pebrel Squire. That and more when we return. 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Visit ganjingworld.com and start sharing today. Kindness is Cool. And welcome back to the Capitol Report on entity television. Earlier this week, Trump tapping Florida Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State. What does Rubio's nomination tell us about the future of U.S. foreign policy? Our Washington correspondent, Luis Martinez, tells us more. Senator Marco Rubio is slated to become the first Hispanic Secretary of State of the United States. If confirmed by the Senate, Senator Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban Americans who fled the island and settled in Florida, will be at the helm of Trump's foreign policy for the next four years. It's a tremendous honor to the president to place his confidence in me in a position of such importance. It's also a tremendous responsibility. And the job of the Secretary of State is to execute on the foreign policy set by the elected president of the United States. Marco Rubio began his political career as City Commissioner of West Miami from 1998 to 2000. He then went on to serve four consecutive terms in the Florida State House of Representatives, where he served as Congressman, Majority Whip, Majority Leader, and Speaker of the House. In 2010, he ran for the Senate seat of the state of Florida, left empty by Mel Martinez. Marco Rubio garnered the support of the Tea Party back in 2010, and that's how he won his first Senate election. Now, in 2016, Marco Rubio famously launched a bid for the presidency, suspending any re-election process for his Senate seat. But after Marco Rubio lost to former President Donald Trump during the Florida state primaries, he then retook his bid to be re-elected in the Senate. And in 2022 midterm elections, Marco Rubio was elected to a third term as Senator for Florida with more than 57% of support in that state. Senator Marco Rubio is the ranking member in the Senate Select Intelligence Committee for the Republican Conference, and he has also served for multiple years in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate. Of the topics that Senator Marco Rubio has been most outspoken about, we can highlight Ukraine funding. The last batch of Ukraine aid sent and approved by Congress, Marco Rubio voted against it as it had no endgame for the conflict. Also, communism in Latin America. Senator Marco Rubio was known during the first Trump administration as the virtual Secretary of State for Latin America as he was a staunch advocate of democracy and opponent of the communist regimes of Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela. In Iran, Marco Rubio has sided with former President Donald Trump, opposing the Obama-Iran nuclear deal, and has vowed to do anything that needs to be done to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. And lastly, but most importantly, China as a geostrategic rival of the United States, Marco Rubio has been at the forefront of highlighting Chinese Communist Party's influence in U.S. universities and social media. The nomination of Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State has received the praise of bipartisan group of senators. Both Democrats and Republicans spoke highly of Marco Rubio's credentials in foreign policy. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Luis Eduardo Martinez, NTD News. Trump's cabinet picks now facing Senate approval, but what does it ultimately mean? What's next for the vacant seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives? We break down the process with Peverell Squire, Professor of Political Science at the University of Missouri. Professor Peverell Squire, thank you so much for joining. My pleasure. Professor Robert F. Kennedy Jr., along with Tulsi Gabbard, Matt Gaetz, recently being nominated some of the most high profile, some might say controversial picks in the Trump cabinet. These selections obviously will require Senate confirmation, not automatically approved. If you could sort of walk us through the Senate vetting process for some of these cabinet nominees. Well, what normally happens is that before a president or a presidential elect candidate puts forward these names, usually they've been vetted traditionally by the FBI, but apparently this time around by a private firm. And then they submit the nomination to the Senate. The Senate will conduct its own hearings and may do some investigations as well. And then there will be a public hearing, maybe more than one public hearing. The candidate will be able to make his or her case. And then others speak on behalf and perhaps in opposition to the candidate will also have a chance to talk. And so this will be done by particular committees in the Senate that oversee the area for which the nominee would be responsible. Now, Professor, recently, President-elect Trump stated that the Senate must agree to recess appointments, which would allow these nominees to bypass that standard Senate vetting process and be installed quickly. This method was used by past presidents at times, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton. How do you see this process playing out? Well, I think what President Trump has suggested, at least at this point, goes well beyond what some of his predecessors have done. He would like to essentially just bypass the Senate in many instances and put his nominees in without the Senate performing its advice and consent role that's laid out in the Constitution. The idea behind a recess appointment is that it allows a president to keep the administration functioning at a time when Congress might not be in session. And back when the Constitution was written, the expectation was that Congress would be in session maybe nine out of every 24 months. And of course, that's no longer the case. Congress is in session essentially year-round for its two-year session. So when they go on recess now, it's basically just to take a break or a vacation. But as long as the recess is longer than 10 days, then under the Constitution, a recess appointment can be made. So switching gears just a little bit here, now that there have been several nominations from sitting members of Congress, whether it be Elise Stefanik or Mike Waltz, a few others, these are cabinet positions. What steps will be taken to fill these newly vacant Republican seats in the House of Representatives? For seats in the U.S. House, they can only be filled through an election. There is no appointment process to fill House seats. The specifics of when those elections will be held are governed by state laws. And usually it requires the governor of the state to set the particular election date and operating under certain constraints. So in some states, it will happen more quickly than it will in other states. But in most circumstances, those seats will remain open or vacant for at least a couple of weeks, if not a couple of months. And that process is different. We have two senators in the mix here. Senator Rubio appointed to be Secretary of State, and obviously J.D. Vance, Vice President. What happens with those Senate seats? Senate seats are handled a little differently. Again, it varies by state law. There is a possibility for governors to appoint people to fill Senate seats until the next election, in some cases the next general election, which wouldn't be until 2026. In the case of the two senators that we're familiar with now, their governor will be able to appoint a replacement. And Trump has tasked Elon Musk with improving federal government efficiency by reviewing budgets and operations. This is a relatively new concept, if you will. Have there been similar government efficiency initiatives in the past? And is it realistic to expect significant cost savings from this effort? There have been efforts along these lines, and these are not really official. They're outside the statutory setup. Congress, in this case, doesn't create it. It's a commission that the president will apparently put into place. And there have been others along these lines before. They tend to generate proposals. Those proposals tend not to go very far. And I would expect, given some of the numbers that are being tossed around right now about how much that might be cut from the federal budget because of the suggestions that come out of this commission, are probably fanciful. It's hard to cut government programs. There are people who benefit from them that will rally to their benefit. And so Congress will have a hard time swallowing some of the proposals that may emerge from this commission. Professor Peverell Squire, I appreciate your perspective. Thank you. My pleasure. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries today raising questions about Trump's cabinet nominees. A New York congressman said his party would push back. Former administration and the former president promised on the campaign trail that America would have the best economy, the best border security, and the best administration possible. And the question that we have to all ask, when we're confronted with nominations like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are these the best individuals available to the incoming Trump administration? Newly elected representatives are in Washington this week to meet with House leaders, the incoming Congress members, gathering on the steps of the Capitol today for a group photo. And coming up, can President-elect Donald Trump make good on his promise to shut down the Department of Education? How can he address the parental backlash over ideas taught in American classrooms? We speak with a spokesperson for the Defense of Freedom Institute and former press secretary for the U.S. Department of Education. Elon Musk updates his open AI lawsuit, adding Microsoft as a defendant, using them being a monopoly. That and more when we return. What if you could whiten your teeth by simply brushing your teeth? Now you can, with SmileActives, the teeth whitening breakthrough that safely gets your teeth white and keeps them white every day just by brushing your teeth. Simply add SmileActives to any toothpaste and our patented PolyClean technology activates into a powerful microfoam that penetrates into the enamel surface to safely lift and remove stains. You need a simple way to whiten your teeth without strips, without trays, without going to the dentist. 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For each and every one of us, this is what you've been waiting for. See it at least once in your lifetime. Shen Yun. Get tickets now at ShenYun.com. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. Oklahoma is bringing the Bible back into the classroom. State Superintendent of Public Instruction saying his office purchased over 500 Bibles to be used in AP government classes. Our kids have to understand the role the Bible played in influencing American history. It's very clear that the radical left has driven the Bible out of the classroom which leads to a lack of understanding of American history. We will not stop until we've brought the Bible back to every classroom in the state. These Bibles are part of a larger purchase. The state will also provide classrooms with the Pledge of Allegiance, U.S. Constitutions, and Declarations of Independence. This comes just a couple of days after a federal judge struck down a new law in Louisiana requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools. So can President-elect Donald Trump abolish the Department of Education? Could his proposed policy changes put an end to identity politics and radical progressive ideas within the classroom? Joining me now to discuss these questions is Angela Morabito, spokesperson for Defensive Freedom Institute and former press secretary for the United States Department of Education. Angela Morabito, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me. Of course, Angela, President-elect Trump obviously says that he wants to abolish the Department of Education. Faces an uphill battle, however, to get that 60 votes in the Senate. Republicans still holding that slim majority as well in the House and the Senate. Realistically, what could the Trump administration change about the Department of Education and how do you see this ultimately playing out? Well, that's a really big question because there's so much that can be done to right-size the federal role in education. Right now, the Department just controls too much. There's so many decisions that rightfully belong at the state and local level, but instead are being made hundreds, if not thousands of miles away by bureaucrats in our nation's capital. So I believe that the department needs to do less and by doing less, it can actually get out of the way a little bit and send more money into classrooms or it can make a difference for students. To your point, K-12 schools get most of their funding from individual state and local governments and only about eight percent from federal funds. Many of the advocates of President Trump's ideas are concerned about some of these progressive ideas in schools like critical race theory and identity politics. What can the Trump administration do to affect along these lines? I think the leadership here is going to be critically important and this really started during COVID, right, when all of a sudden school was happening at the kitchen table. Parents saw what their kids were being taught and there's no going back from the knowledge that schools were in so many cases indoctrinating kids with harmful ideology instead of just teaching them reading, writing, arithmetic. So I think across the country, we need a return to those very high quality educational basics. There should be really high standards for reading, writing, and math, but instead for too long and in large part because of teacher union bosses, those standards have been sidelined in favor of radical progressive politics. Angela, how do you see Trump's proposed education reforms altering parents' role in education and their relationships with those schools? I see these reforms giving parents more freedom. President Trump has been on the front lines of fighting for school choice. States have enacted school choice proposals state after state after state over these past few years and now we've got this incredible opportunity at the federal level with a unified congress to make school choice a reality for every family. The idea that students are assigned to schools based on where they live is archaic and it's harmful. It doesn't meet what students need and it's certainly not what parents want. So I think the biggest change we're going to see early on in the Trump administration is more freedom for parents to choose where their kids will learn. Angela, the fact is there's a lot of Americans out there that still believe in government, believe in these institutions. What would you say to them when the question is asked about how reducing federal involvement in education may affect the quality of education across different states and schools? I would say to them just look at the quality of education now. The more the federal government has gotten involved in especially K-12 schooling, the more quality has declined. The more freedom that students and families have to choose where they will learn and the more freedom states have to meet their students' needs, the better outcomes we see. So a department of education doesn't symbolize a great education system. In fact, for a lot of people it symbolizes failure. Schools are not doing what we need them to do. They're not preparing students adequately for college and career. The system needs to change and education freedom works every time it has been tried. So it is long past time to shake up how we run education in this country and no one out there should be concerned about more freedom. It actually means less red tape and more funding for schools. Angela, lastly, talk to us about how Trump's DOE could revert the definition of Title IX back to its intent and restore girls and women's sports in schools. Sure. Well, the Biden-Harris administration has tried very hard to subvert Title IX. It created this new rule that would force schools to allow boys and girls sports. Not to mention it would punish students and teachers for misgendering. It would create all kinds of issues for due process, freedom of speech. The rule is an illegal and unfair mess and judges have recognized that. So the rule is already enjoined in 26 states and other schools scattered throughout the country. But what Trump's win means is that that Title IX rule is effectively dead on arrival. It will take time to undo, but this is great news for all students who deserve a Title IX rule that upholds the original meaning of the law, which is just to treat them all fairly. Angela Morabito, really appreciate you joining us. Thanks for having me. More interest rate cuts could be possible. That's according to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who said the economy's current trends and dynamics are expected to remain in place, at least in the short term. That includes a slowing job market and cooling inflation facilitated by rates that are still at restrictively high levels. Holding the current elevated rate could push up unemployment. Powell also cautioned against increasing We don't actually really know what policies will be put in place. I think we have time to make assessments about what the net effects of policy changes will be on the economy before we react with policy. Trump was a regular critic of the Fed during his last term at the White House. The United States Treasury issuing an alert to financial institutions this week is concerned with deepfake media targeting institutions and customers. Entities David Lam report. The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said there's been an increase in suspicious activity reporting since last year. It issued an alert this week, saying financial institutions have been describing suspected use of deepfake media and fraud schemes targeting their institutions and customers. These schemes often involve criminals using artificial intelligence to alter or create phony identity documents to circumvent ID verification methods. On Friday, tech experts attended a Responsible Innovation in AI conference at San Jose State University. A former VP of Google Search told us this. From an industry perspective, one of the things that we're really looking at is essentially data provenance, which is how can we make sure that we can attribute ownership to the origination of where the content came from, and how can we weave that into some kind of synthetic ID into the content so that we can track and trace the content over all the workflow wherever it gets distributed to. Experts say some red flags are inconsistency among documents or media. For example, if a customer photo or IP address is inconsistent. Anyone can take somebody's audio or video and then embed in, you know, areas where it can cause, it can create fake videos and audio and cause confusion and also look real. I think definitely there's a lot more advancements and technology needs to be built, and they're already in building to identify these deep fakes. For more information on identifying red flags, viewers can visit FinCEN.gov. David Lam, Entity News, California. The Pentagon now reporting hundreds of new UFO sightings in a newly released annual report. Officials say they've tracked more than 1,600 reports of what the government calls unidentified anomalous phenomena. Thursday, a Pentagon spokesperson said most sightings turn out to be everyday items. Arrow has successfully resolved hundreds of cases in its holdings to commonplace objects such as balloons, birds, drones, satellites, and aircraft. However, the report says 21 cases have not yet been plausibly explained. The government says it plans to keep analyzing strange sightings and reports. And while you're looking up at the sky, you may notice a bright full moon this weekend. It's the last super moon of the year to grace the night sky. It will appear extra large as it rises for a full three days and will coincide with a meteor shower. Next super moon is not expected until November 2025. That is all we have for you this evening on the Capitol Report. For round the clock original coverage, visit us at Entity.com slash live and download our Entity mobile app. In the nation's capital, I'm Steve Lance. Have a nice weekend. See you back here Monday.