US Appeals Court Upholds TikTok Sale-or-Ban Law; Biden Weighs Preemptive Pardons

Good evening and welcome to the Capitol Report on NTD Steve Lance. Here's what's coming up. Chinese social media app TikTok loses its bid to allow a U.S. law that will ban the platform in January. An appeals court says the app is a national security risk. And what made President Biden change his mind and decide to pardon Hunter Biden? The White House fielding questions at its first formal press conference after the Sunday announcement. Who might be pardoned next? South Korea's political future hangs in the balance. What's next? We'll hear from Andrew Yeo, Senior Fellow and Korea Chair at Brookings Institution. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. Good evening. I'm Alena Wyskup filling in for Steve Lance tonight. A TikTok ban is looking imminent. A federal appeals court today upheld a law requiring the sale or ban of TikTok in the U.S. TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance on Friday lost its bid to block a U.S. law that's set to ban the platform by January 19, 2025, unless the company agrees to sell TikTok to a U.S. buyer. The law in question, called Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, identifies China and three other countries as foreign adversaries of the U.S. It prohibits their social media apps from being distributed in the country. TikTok and ByteDance argued that the law is unconstitutional and violates free speech rights, saying it had been singled out under false pretenses because data collection was not the government's real concern. The Justice Department said the app as it has access to the personal data of a large number of Americans and because Beijing can covertly manipulate the information Americans consume through TikTok. Senior Circuit Judge Douglas Ginsburg, writing the opinion for the three-judge panel, said the parts of the law that were being challenged did not violate the First Amendment because there was a compelling government interest in blocking China from manipulating personal data rather than a desire to interfere with speech. However, Ginsburg wrote that potential content manipulation by the Chinese regime could infringe on Americans' First Amendment rights. The panel was persuaded that the Chinese communist regime presented a national security threat, citing high-profile cases of Chinese state-backed cyber attack and cyber espionage campaigns. In a statement, TikTok indicated it would appeal the decision. Company spokesperson Michael Hughes said, The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans' right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue. He said the pending ban on TikTok will result in outright censorship of the American people. In a statement for the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, Today's decision is an important step in blocking the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to collect sensitive information about millions of Americans and to undermine our national security. He added that the Justice Department was committed to protecting Americans' sensitive data from authoritarian regimes. And at the first press conference at the White House after President Biden announced a sweeping pardon for his son, the press secretary is defending Biden's decision amid speculation that he will issue more pardons in the coming weeks. NTD's White House correspondent Iris Tao has more. This was not easy for the president. It wasn't. The White House on Friday seeking to defend President Biden's decision to issue a blanket pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, despite having previously promised that he wouldn't do so. Asked about what changed his mind, the press secretary stressed that Biden wrestled with the decision and was influenced by several factors. Republicans not letting up, saying they won't stop, they're going to continue to do this. Trump appointees of legal enforcement positions, right, that said during the campaign they would have, they were out for retribution. There was a sentencing coming up, as you all know. That was well known. I said there are multiple factors here, not one thing. Current John Peer also referred to Biden's Sunday statement announcing the pardon, in which he called his son's treatment a miscarriage of justice and pointed to political motivation behind his son's tax and gun charges. The White House's defense comes as Biden is expected to issue more pardons in the final weeks of his administration. The press secretary noting Biden's record of pardoning those with non-violent drug offenses and marijuana convictions. But in addition to more conventional pardons, like for those convicted of federal crimes, the Associated Press is reporting that Biden is also considering issuing preemptive pardons for allies and officials such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, who could face legal actions and probes in the incoming Trump administration. The White House, while declining to confirm any details, knows that it has been hearing from advocates lobbying for pardons and clemencies. We've heard from them, you all have seen it, so obviously we've heard them. I'm just not going to get into specifics of what we're going to do not do. The White House also announced that President Biden would give a speech next Tuesday to talk about what the White House calls his economic record and legacy. Reporting by Iris Tao, NTD News. And Vice President-elect J.D. Vance is in North Carolina speaking to residents that are still recovering from the deadly Hurricane Helene. NTD's Jack Bradley joins us live now from Palm Beach outside of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. Jack, what's Vance's message to the hurricane victims and first responders? Good evening Melina. Well, he said that the Trump administration will do more when they take office. As far as the hurricane victims of Helene, they've had difficulty communicating due to the hurricane and the damaged infrastructure resulting from that. And Vance said that they'll make this a major focus when they take office. Take a look. We have really got to do a better job when it comes to communications infrastructure in this country. It is frankly a disgrace given that we have Starlink, given that we have access to modern technology. One of the things that we're going to focus on in the next administration is to make sure that our communications infrastructure is in a place that if, God forbid, another area like this is affected by the storm, at least we have the communication in place to minimize the damage and to allow people to communicate with the people that they love. Now, Melina, this comes about a month after Trump visited North Carolina, the hurricane-stricken regions, on the campaign trail and criticizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. Now, the FEMA administrator said that the agency is almost out of money, won't be able to respond to any future natural disasters of that magnitude like Hurricane Milton and Helene because of those recent hurricanes. President Biden came out recently asking Congress to pass a $100 billion package that would fund FEMA. Now, FEMA has been criticized for having a program that houses illegal immigrants, especially by congressional Republicans, but officials in FEMA say that none of the funds going into that program are coming from disaster relief. And just tonight, President Biden made available more funding for FEMA and this hurricane-stricken regions to complete debris removal tasks, Melina. Right, Jack. Thank you for all of those updates. And of course, we're still awaiting that action from Congress to pass that supplemental aid package to deal with those hurricanes. So we'll be watching and keep an eye on that. You're also covering President-elect Trump and everything that he's doing right now. Now, you're saying that his nominee, Pete Pegg, Seth, has a lot of support. That's what Trump is saying. And you're doing reporting on that. But Jack, is it enough support for him to ultimately win that nomination? It appears that he's getting enough support, at least from the Republicans that are coming out and speaking about him. With the exception of Senator Joni Ernst, who's after meeting with Pegg, Seth has not indicated either way whether she'll vote for him or not. And now the Republicans, the nominees that Trump nominated do have an advantage in the next Senate with a 53 to 47 majority there. But as far as President-elect Donald Trump, he came out on True Social this morning saying that Pegg, Seth is doing very well and that he has the support that he needs and it's strong and deep. Senator J.D. Vance, when asked about this in North Carolina, also echoed those comments and said that he believes that he will get through this nomination process. Take a look. I fully support Pete. I think Pete's going to get confirmed and we are completely behind him. I have talked to Joni. I've talked to a number of my colleagues about this nomination and about other nominations. All I'm asking is that people actually allow the Senate process to work. Now, this comes right after Trump was apparently considering alternatives, reports of which to the Pegg, Seth nomination. Our sister media, The Epoch Times, has confirmed that someone familiar with the Trump transition has said that Trump was considering even Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for that position. This comes as Pegg, Seth is facing allegations of sexual misconduct as well as excessive drinking, all of which he has denied, Melina. All right, thank you so much for those useful updates, Jack. I want to switch gears and talk about another one of Trump's nominees. Today, the National Police Association endorsed Trump's pick for the FBI, Director Kash Patel. What did they say about how Patel would ultimately lead the nation's law enforcement agency? Two things, transparency and accountability, looking at his previous record. Now, this is a very big endorsement here. The Police Association oversees about 240,000 police officers across the US. As far as this endorsement, Kash Patel, others are echoing this too, like JD Vance. He also said today that Patel is in a very good spot for his nomination. Patel is a former Pentagon Chief of Staff. We know that he wants to make dramatic changes to the FBI, like changes including these surveillance systems that surveil US citizens. In order for Patel to take office, to take that position, he would need to pass the nomination process, of course, but also a current FBI Director, Christopher Wray, would need to step down or he would have to be moved out of the way by the Trump administration, Melina. All right. Thank you so much for all of those thorough updates late this evening, Jack. We really appreciate you. The leader of South Korea's ruling party is supporting the impeachment of President Yun Suk-yool over a now retracted declaration of martial law. Andrew Yeo, a Senior Fellow and Korea Chair at the Brookings Institution and Politics Professor at Catholic University, unpacks the pressing questions for South Korea's political future with NTD's Steve Andrew Yeo, thank you so much for joining. It's a pleasure to be here. Andrew, South Korean opposition lawmakers plan to vote this weekend on impeaching President Yun, this for his attempt to impose martial law. Meanwhile, police are investigating several top ministers in South Korea. What do you anticipate overall for this region right now? Yeah, it's been a rollercoaster ride following South Korean politics with the declaration of martial law walking down and now the South Korean president is about to be impeached. Up until yesterday, it looked like President Yun's own party, the People Power Party, were going to support him. But now the party leader, Han Dong-hun, says that he's going to vote for impeachment. So he needs at least eight people in his party to defect to vote with the opposition to have President Yun Suk-yool impeached. And of course, it doesn't mean that South Korea is out of the woods yet then because they would be without a leadership and there'd be a caretaker government under the prime minister. Really fascinating. I mean, do you have any inkling as to how this might play out? And of course, President Yun said that the opposition was paralyzing, quote unquote, judicial operations and accused some opposition members of sympathizing with North Korea. And if indeed that is the case or not, how or what methods does South Korea have in place to investigate such allegations? Yeah, well, there's some claims to truth in what President Yun is saying in terms of the obstruction of the opposition. They've given him a really difficult time to really move governance forward in this country. In terms of the claims about North Korea, I think when he says anti-state forces or pro-North Korea forces, I don't think there's any direct or I haven't seen any direct evidence that North Koreans have somehow steered opposition leaders to or opposition members to protest or sideline President Yun and his political agenda. But yes, the opposition, they do take on, many members take on more of a pro-North engagement stance towards North Korea, which is very different from President Yun who's taking a much more hawkish, hardline approach. Now, South Korea has maintained a relatively stable government since democracy was restored in 1988. I say that, I highlight the relatively part. There have been quite a few impeachments and other, I don't know if you'd call them scandals at the top levels of government in South Korea, but relatively stable. How concerning are these developments or should they be for the United States? Sure. So you're right. South Korea has had its fair share of drama and political turmoil, but for the most part, since democratization in the late eighties, the governments have been stable. And this is the first time that martial law was declared in 40 years. So you're right that in some ways, this is not, I mean, it's not good news for South Korea. They've had, they had an impeachment process eight years ago when they impeached President Park Geun-hye. So on one hand, I still think South Korean democracy is functioning. The institutions are functioning, elections are free and fair, but it is a bit troubling. What we're seeing is extreme polarization. We're seeing both the progressives and conservatives, they're not able to work together. It's either my way or the highway. And of course, there's lack of forbearance, lack of civility and tolerance that has been eating away at South Korean democracy. Now, President Yoon does have supporters in his country that have come out in protest of this situation against the president there in his support. A lot of folks watching outside, they say that he's vowing a tougher stance against North Korea and China. If indeed he is removed, will other leaders address these concerns? Yeah, so that's some of the concerns that people have who are worried about East Asian security, about competition with China, or China's growing influence, and assertiveness, aggression within the region. South Korea generally tends to be a bit more cautious than other U.S. allies, but President Yoon has been more forthcoming in calling out China for various human rights abuses on South China Sea disputes. He mentions that those are of concern. And he's slowly inched his way in terms of the rhetoric when it comes to Taiwan. The South Korean president has said that Taiwan is of importance to South Korea's national security. But the opposition leader right now, Yoo Jae-myung, during the parliamentary elections in April, he was saying things like, we should just tell China, thanks but no thanks, when it comes to the Taiwan issue, that South Korea shouldn't be engaged on issues like the Ukraine war. And so there are some concerns with the opposition of what their foreign policy will look like, not just for the region, but globally. Whereas President Yoon has talked a lot about South Korea becoming a global pivotal state, being much more engaged strategically in the Indo-Pacific, but elsewhere. And another key difference, of course, is the approach to North Korea. The opposition doesn't really have a good response to any of this because their default position is to try to seek engagement and cooperation with North Korea. And I don't know how that necessarily is possible when the North Koreans are now saying they don't even want unification with South Korea. Really important part of the world and a very important U.S. ally with thousands, tens of thousands of U.S. troops placed there. So we'll be keeping a close eye on this. Andrew Yeo, really appreciate your insights. Thanks, Steve, for having me here. And coming up, the suspected murderer of the UnitedHealthcare's CEO may have left New York City. Authorities say he took a taxi to the bus station, the latest from the manhunt. And the judge in the trial of Daniel Penney dismissed his manslaughter charge on Friday after the jury reported being deadlocked. Penney is accused of manslaughter and the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway last year. That and more when we return. We've been spending a lot more time than ever at home these days. So maybe now you've just noticed cold air coming in from a couple windows or that your patio door isn't closing fully, which means you're losing heat in the winter, losing cooling in the summer, losing money all year long. 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The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have fled New York City by bus, and fresh details reveal his plans before the attack. NTD's Chris Spears has the latest. Just in, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tish told CNN police have reason to believe the suspect in this case has left New York City by bus. We also recently learned the person of interest may have arrived in New York City by bus from Atlanta late November. To better understand the inner workings of an investigation like this, I spoke with former NYPD homicide detective Peter Forcelli. Well, it's an interesting case, but in some ways it's a typical case. Like the NYPD, I'll say, has the reps in on this. And the reason I bring this up is, look, it's uncommon to have a CEO, a person who makes $10 million a year, head of a health care insurance organization getting assassinated in New York City. But ambush murders are actually quite common in New York City. I mean, we see that a lot with the drug trade, where drug dealers would lay in wait and assassinate another drug dealer. So again, I bring it up only because the NYPD has the reps in. They've worked these sorts of investigations in the past. I would say they're at an advantage here because Manhattan has just an abundance of surveillance cameras. And then the reality is, unlike these other crimes that would happen in other parts of the city, when a high-profile murder like this occurs, the resources come flooding in, which is a benefit we didn't always have when I investigated murders in the Bronx. New details reveal the potential killer may have been the flirtatious type. A woman at the hostel at which his exposed face was captured by a surveillance camera said he pulled down his mask at her request. He was hitting on her and she asked to see his smile. And that's the only clear image they got of his face. So I mean, if they have this much this quickly is very encouraging. But I mean, there's always the possibility that this person doesn't get identified. A lot of folks forget. Some murders don't get solved. This one, I think they're on the right track. But my understanding is they have fingerprints from a candy wrapper and from some other water bottle. But if he's never been fingerprinted before, that becomes a problem. They may have DNA from these things. Same thing, if he's not in the DNA database, that becomes a problem. Investigators believe the person of interest in this case may have used fake New Jersey identification when he checked into a hostel on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Employees at the hostel said he almost always wore a face mask. How much planning might have the shooter put into this crime? Well, I mean, that's that's up to the creativity of the shooter, frankly. And look, some of them are very painstakingly clear at what they do. They do a lot of planning. It seems that this person did that. And he may have made these moves to try to mask his movements. But there are other things that law enforcement can do to try to fill the holes, so to speak. Like, for example, they have a cell phone. My understanding is that it was a burner phone. They can track the movements of that phone. They'll probably try to find out where that phone was purchased and see if there's footage of the person buying the phone, wherever it was purchased from. So, I mean, you know, there's also the ability to what's called geofence, like how many cell phones were active in that area where that shooting occurred and identify phones, one of which might be that of the shooter, and then see where had that phone moved in the past. This shooting has shocked corporate America, particularly the health insurance sector. Another Minnesota-based health care company said Friday it was temporarily closing its offices out of an abundance of caution. They're telling employees to work from home. Chris Beers, NTD News. And also in New York City, Daniel Penny's fatal subway chokehold trial. A judge has dismissed the manslaughter charge after jurors said they were deadlocked. But Penny still faces the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. NTD's Christina Corona tells us more. After a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict, a judge has dropped the manslaughter charge against Daniel Penny in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely. But the trial continues as Penny still faces the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. Penny, a 26-year-old former Marine, continues to claim he acted in self-defense while restraining Neely on a New York subway last year. Penny was initially charged with one count of second-degree manslaughter and one count of criminally negligent homicide. The jury will now be deliberating the lesser charge, which carries a maximum sentence of four years. Penny's defense team has opposed the dismissal of the manslaughter charge, likely aiming for a full acquittal. Members of Jordan Neely's family spoke outside the courthouse on Friday. Giving us a guilty verdict would bring my family closer, and it'll make New Yorkers feel closer as a family, too, to where we as a group, collectively in its totality, are not going to tolerate anything. And we don't have to be afraid. We can protect each other now. We need a guilty verdict for the future, but we need a guilty verdict now. The jurors, seven women and five men, will resume deliberations on Monday. Christina Corona, NTD News. The U.S. Naval Academy can continue to use race as a factor in its admission practices, at least for now. A federal judge today rejected a challenge to the school's diversity program, saying it has a national security interest in maintaining diversity within the U.S. military. The case was brought by the group Students for Fair Admissions. It argued factoring race into admissions decisions violates the Constitution. This comes after the U.S. Supreme Court banned affirmative action in college admissions last year. The ruling applied to all colleges and universities except military service academies. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill called the Crucial Communism Teaching Act. It's aimed at addressing a gap in the U.S. education system regarding teaching the history of communism. NTD's Steve Lance spoke with Congressman Burgess Owens, one of the 33 co-sponsors of the bill. Let's hear what he had to say. Congressman Burgess Owens, thank you so much for joining. Thank you, Steve. Looking forward to chatting with you. It's great to have you. Congressman, you are a co-sponsor of the Crucial Communism Act. Talk to us about why this is important and what is actually in this bill. First of all, I have a big passion on education. Ignorant and free as you can ever be was Thomas Jefferson. It's important that we know a little bit about our country, what it's all about, and what it's actually we're fighting up against. Communism, Marxism, all the things that take away our freedom is what we have to become aware of. If we're not, it will sneak up on us, and it will steal the essence of who we are. That's what we've been seeing over the last few decades. This is a bill by my good friend Maria that basically says, let's teach it. Let's teach what communism is. Let's not have 28 percent of our Gen Z thinking it's a cool thing, when it goes against everything we stand for—the freedom of speech, the freedom of association, the freedom to dream. Everything that we're about is about how can we dream outside of limitations. There's a God in heaven that's going to help us to get there, that's the direction we want to go in. There's an ideology that hates everything we stand for, so the more we're aware of that, the more we're educated to what we stand for, number one, and what's against us, the better we can make sure this legacy of freedom can be passed into the next generation. Congressman, talk to us about the, you mentioned, the slow creep of communism and how some of the ideas may be appealing to young folks, but yet how detrimental they might be if they're put into practice. We understand the way communists, with those who love to steal our freedom, work. They're cowards, number one. They're bullies. They're like little termites. They find the sweet spots, and those places are, in education particularly, where our kids come in, they're ready, they're open to advice and direction, and we have Marxists, we have communists that teach them everything against our country. So this comes down to, very simply, the more we can teach our young people what we stand for, what it is, as we go through this process of being a more perfect union, the good, the bad, the ugly, and also realize that there is an ideology that hates everything we stand for, which is faith, family, the free market, education. If you name those things that makes us a great country, that's exactly what communism, what Marxism, what the evil side of our nature stands for. What do you say to the idea that this could never happen to us when we look outside of China and I mean, after all, communism, Marxism is not an Asian idea. It came from Germany, as we know. Well, that's the first step of losing it. Evil is out there, and it's always coming at us. Now, the key is how does it come after us? I grew up in a community that was very, very focused on the American dream. We led the country in growth middle class. This is the 30s to the 60s, 70s. Growth middle class, men committed to marriage, business ownership, all those things that I grew up in. When that ideology got into our community, it turned us upside down. I know what it is to lose the opportunity of having hope. Yes, it is something that's coming at us all the time. It's one that comes from areas that we don't expect it to, our educational situation. Countries that say they are our friends, but they are putting in Confucius educational systems to take from us and to change our kids' thought process. We have to always be diligent. Freedom is something we have to fight for every single day. We can never take that for granted. The minute we do, is the minute we start slipping away and losing it. Carson, lastly, as an advocate for free markets and education yourself, huge advocate, how do you see communism as a threat to traditional American values? First of all, we understand what the American values are. American values are faith, family, the free market, and education. What is communism? It hates faith, family, the free market, and education. In any place you see communism, you will not see those other four tenets I just talked about. It's antithetical to everything we believe in. This country is, we stand for who we are with the light of the world, really. We have to make sure we never let that light dim. The more we understand our system and teach capitalism, teach the idea of faith, teach that we can begin to have conversations. We might not agree all the time, but if we're confident in who we are and educated, we can debate and still be friends. That's who we stand for as a nation. The other side doesn't believe that, so we have to fight to make sure we hold on to what we have. Congressman Owens, thank you so much. Thank you, Steve. Appreciate it. And coming up, how could China's ban on the export of rare earth minerals to the U.S. affect our military supplies? How should the U.S. respond? The president and CEO of the National Mining Association shares his proposals. Find out more after the break. because only you can prevent wildfires. Hey, Assistant Smokey Bear, call me Papa Bear, because I'm grilling up dinner. Do you get it? Yes, good job. So, what should I do with all these coals? Don't just toss them out. Put them in a metal container, because those embers can start a wildfire. I understand. The stakes are high. See, Smokey thinks I'm funny. I didn't ask to lose my mother or to be abused at five years old. I didn't ask to be kicked out of my house with nowhere to go. I didn't ask for any of this. But I did ask for help, and Covenant House was there. Thanks to their love and support, and to generous people like you, I got what I needed to take control of my life. For the young people who didn't ask to be put in unthinkable situations, Covenant House is there providing safety, hope, and a brighter future. 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Your monthly gift is urgently needed to reach young people in communities like yours who didn't ask to be put in unthinkable situations. Show them they're loved and not alone. Call the number on your screen or go online to safeplacetosleep.org. Welcome back. I'm Alena Weiskopf. So how does China's ban on exports of rare minerals to the U.S. affect our national defense? And how can the U.S. break China's dominance of our mineral supply chain? NTD Steve Lance spoke earlier with Rich Nolan, who's the president and CEO of the National Mining Association, to discuss his proposals. Let's take a look. Rich Nolan, thank you so much for joining us. Great, Steve. My pleasure. Rich, China is restricting exports on gallium, germanium and antimony that are needed for semiconductors, fiber optic cables, solar panels, many other products that we probably aren't even thinking of. How will this ban on critical minerals affect U.S. supply chains? And does it have national defense implications even? In reality, these are very important materials for national security and defense. I mean, these minerals go into armaments, artillery shells, ammunition, a host of high technology defense capabilities, targeting for smart bombs and magnets. I mean, you name it. This is really the first time that the United States has been cut off from the majority of these materials. And other allies are trying to ramp up. But it's certainly a warning shot across the bow about how China has now weaponized and brought into the Cold War mineral resourcing. And what we need to do here is take a hard look at how we're standing up and not permitting the mines that are needed to produce these materials here at home. It's an excellent point, Rich. China weaponizes the supply chain. They control a large share of the world's supply of these rare earth minerals. How can the United States work with its allies to shift mineral supply chains? And is that a realistic goal? Well, it's going to take time. I mean, China has been at this for over 20 years. We saw them limiting access to some of these materials to Japan about 15 years ago. So we know where they're capable of it. You know, I've been speaking out about this. I think it's going to take an all-of-the-above approach, not only with working with our allies in friendly countries like Canada and Australia that have also these materials. But here in the United States, we have all of these materials in states like Texas and Washington, Montana, Nevada, Alaska even. And we just need the will to get the permits moving, to stand up these mines, to reduce the litigation, and invest in the communities to make sure we're sourcing responsibly and sustainably the materials that we essentially need to defend this nation. You've written an article advocating for a mineral policy agency, this to really break China's grip on our mineral supply chains. Talk to us about how your proposal might work. So right now, you look at what needs to be done. This has really become a bipartisan concern across the aisle in Congress. And for the past two administrations, there's been great advancements, both in the original Trump era, then the Biden era, and now coming back, the president-elect, to put forward manufacturing incentives to not only look at how we stand up and speed up the mine permitting process, but also the processing process, the recycling process. It's really an all-of-the-above approach. We now have grants coming out of DOE, Department of Defense, the Export-Import Bank. We have tax incentives with 45X, which needs to be evolved. There is no real central coordination across these incentive packages. One mine may get a grant for front-end engineering to stand up their engineering platform, but at the same time, the permit of the lease for that property, which happens to be on public lands, is revoked. So what we've got is an uncoordinated, inconsistent process. There needs to be a central platform at the highest level in the incoming administration to make sure that all these incentives are working in coordination to get these mines up so we can push back on China and really put forward a platform of, made in America, should be mined in America, and America first. China and Russia flood the market with many products, including minerals, which winds up suppressing prices and making it harder for U.S. producers to compete. Talk to us about how the U.S. can incentivize domestic mineral production while addressing China and Russia's market manipulation. Yeah, I'm glad you bring that up. Just this year alone, we've seen the Russians flood the uranium market. We've seen the cobalt market get flooded by China. Now lithium prices are taking it on the chin. A lot of this is due to market manipulation from China. When the prices are low, they hoard and stockpile the materials. And then when things turn around, they flood the market as the price goes up and drives it down and drives our domestic industry that's just trying to get on its feet for many of these commodities out of business. And that needs to change. I've been on the record and on behalf of the industry and working with the Department of Defense to re-stand up the strategic mineral stockpile, in addition to the incentives we talked about, whether it's the tax or the loans or the grants, to make sure that manufacturing can come back. So again, it's a comprehensive approach, which needs to be coordinated across all of government if we're going to win this cold war with China in the minerals race. President and CEO of the National Mining Association, Rich Nolan, really appreciate you joining us. Awesome, Steve. Thank you. President-elect Trump's nominee for U.S. ambassador to China is former Senator David Perdue. NTD correspondent Jason Blair brings us a look at Perdue's background and his actions involving China when he was in the Senate. Former Senator David Perdue was nominated on Thursday by President-elect Trump as U.S. ambassador to China. Besides serving in the Senate, he also has an extensive business background, being the past CEO of Dollar General and the top executive at Reebok and Sara Lee. He's lived in both Singapore and Hong Kong and has done a significant amount of business in Asia, particularly involving China and Hong Kong. And while serving as a Georgia senator from 2015 to 2021, he took a tougher stance on China in numerous areas like trade, national security and human rights. He supported tariffs against Chinese goods as part of Trump's trade war strategy and has been a frequent critic of the Chinese Communist Party or CCP. In 2018, he posted on X, China must stop stealing our intellectual property, forcing technology transfers and waging cyber attacks. They also need to comply with the WTO and allow equal access to their markets. He also criticized the CCP's Belt and Road Initiative, which is also known as One Belt, One Road in 2018. He said on X, the goal of China's Belt and Road Initiative is the creation of an economic world order that's ultimately dominated by China. The US must counter China's attempts to hold other countries financially hostage. Also in 2018, Perdue co-introduced a bipartisan Senate resolution condemning Beijing's persecution of religious groups and urging the president to use the International Religious Freedom Act of 1988, the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, and the Global Magna Sky Act to promote religious freedom in China. Chairman John Mueller of the House Committee on the Chinese Communist Party reacted to Perdue's nomination saying, Senator Perdue will bring a clear-eyed perspective to the role and will help the United States combat the malign behavior of the Chinese Communist Party. Perdue posted on X on Thursday that he is honored to accept Trump's nomination. He said, having lived in Asia on two occasions, I understand the gravity of this responsibility and look forward to implementing President Trump's strategy to make the world safe again and to represent the United States' interest in China. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. A federal appeals court today upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok. How do Americans feel about this? NTD's Sam Wong was out on the National Mall to hear directly from people. What do you think about the possibility of a TikTok ban that could happen next month? If it's deemed a threat, it should be done. But I'm not a TikTok user, so I'm not missing what I don't, you know, I'm not missing anything. It's going to take a lot of opportunities away from a lot of small creators. Only those people who either profit from it, you know, running a business through it, they're the ones that should be concerned. If they have access to my information, I don't want them to have it, so I guess I would be okay with that. If that's what they're trying to do is assure our privacy, then I guess I would be for it. I'd be in favor of at least some restructuring of how the company is owned and, you know, not as much direct Chinese government involvement. I've really tried to stay away from social media a lot, but in terms of that, I think, you know, the whole information giving away is not great. A lot of the population for TikTok are younger audiences, so maybe that's what they're trying to target. I'll be honest with you, TikTok is pretty bad. It doesn't encourage growth. Yeah, there's like possibilities inside TikTok. Not a lot of people do that. The algorithm kind of targets you to try and get all the information that you can, what you like. What do you think about the possibility of letting China having access to your personal data? I'm not a fan of that. No, no, no. I wouldn't like that. My data is not worth anything, really, in the long term. So if I'm doing something, you know, nefarious or business-like, then yeah, maybe I'm worried. It's not something that, you know, gives me confidence. China is not our friendliest foreign country. Our privacy, when it comes to different websites that we use now, is being used here. It's a big no-no. They can use it against the American public, and even though you may not see it at first, they target a lot of critical infrastructures within the United States. It's not good. America has been in the Middle East for far too long. We've been having all of our overseas and Middle Eastern conflicts, and while that's happening, China has been sleeping and they've been growing. I don't like anyone having access to my data. If they can't come to the table and compromise on some of the clearances or the security measures, we just have to give it up. An influence campaign by the Chinese Communist Party here in the U.S., how a New York Times source has ties to communist China, and how a group exposing the CCP's human rights violations is being targeted. Tune in for exclusive interviews right here with Tiffany Meyer at 9 p.m. Eastern. And coming up, how do pharmacy benefit managers affect the price of prescription drugs? Lawmakers debate if they are anti-competitive. We'll hear from an associate professor at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy to get his insights. I'm Jonathan Lawson. If you're 50 to 85, I have an important message about security. Write down the number on your screen so you can call when I finish. The lock I want to talk to you about isn't the one on your door. This is a lock for your life insurance, a rate lock that guarantees that once you're insured, your rate can never go up at any time for any reason. But be careful. Many policies you see do not have one. 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For a free brochure, call 800-382-9846. 800-382-9846. That's 800-382-9846. Congress is looking into the role of pharmacy benefit managers and their effect on prescription drug prices. Earlier today, I spoke with Dr. Joey Mattingly. He's the associate professor at the University of Utah's College of Pharmacy to get his insights. Take a look. All right. First of all, you testified before the House Judiciary Committee about the role of pharmacy benefit managers. I just want to ask you, what is a pharmacy benefit manager and how do disputes arise? Great question. A pharmacy benefit manager serves employer groups, the government, anyone essentially to, again, insurance, the pharmacy network, which pharmacies you go to, how much you pay for the drugs at the pharmacy counter, how much your premiums are for that pharmacy benefit. These are the companies that manage that whole process. We know that PBMs are accused of raising drug prices and making drugs unaffordable for most Americans. What would your solution be from your perspective to be able to lower those drug prices while not stifling innovation or competition? Yeah. Those claims, again, are not well-founded in evidence. Ultimately, PBMs, again, their job is to represent the employers who have, say, 30,000 employees at a company. They want to go in and buy drugs at a discount and not pay a list price or whatever price the manufacturer wants. They're negotiating on our behalf. Now, do they have incentives for drug prices to be higher at times? Yes. That's, I think, the criticism. There's a lot of things we can try to do to address that, but ultimately, they're representing groups of people like us so that I don't have to go and negotiate my drug price. How do you think that the federal government can play a role here and help to regulate those pharmacy benefit managers and prevent them from causing the price to go up? I know it's just not founded in evidence, but how would you think the federal government can get involved here without overstepping their bounds? We, as Americans, need to decide what the value of pharmaceuticals are. What is a fair price for a pharmaceutical? What is a fair price for the pharmacy benefit manager to do what it does? It manages a formulary. If there's 10 different drugs to treat the same condition, do we need to pay for all 10 or could we pay for two of them and give people two options instead of 10 and get a discount? Is there value there? Should that company be allowed to make some profit? What's the value of that? Finally, the pharmacist is at the very end of the chain that's actually helping you, answering your clinical questions and helping make sure that the medication is correct. We don't really have a good way to value what their service is. We, as Americans, have to discuss and decide what is that value, what should that value be, and is there a fair framework to estimate what that is? Because, again, right now, we just take the price that we're asked to pay, and we don't really have a good way of negotiating that and a good reason to negotiate that. Now, about independent pharmacies, they often face lower reimbursement rates from pharmacy benefit managers, which can lead to closures. That can impact Americans' ability, especially within rural areas, to be able to access key medication. What do you think are some examples for solutions to this? Yeah, that's a great, great question. Again, we are seeing, and it's not just independent pharmacists. I think it's really important to understand that the retail pharmacy market, Walgreens and CVS, who both are the two largest specific pharmacy chains, have also acknowledged that they will be closing locations as well. The question needs to be, well, why is that? Why are this approximately 65,000 retail locations, why are we anticipating maybe a reduction in the number of those locations, and what's the unintended consequences of it? If you look across the economy, are there other things changing? In France, in May of 2024, every pharmacy went on strike for a day in this past spring. What's the difference between France and the U.S.? They had similar complaints, low pay, drug shortages. They had similar complaints that we see in the U.S. Well, what's different? Well, they don't have PBMs, and they're running into the same issue. How do we blame just one group for what's probably a larger retail market change? There's definitely a PBM component that we need to address, but we need to be real and say, well, is there an issue? Do we need 65,000 locations? If one location closes, how does that hurt that community? What if that location was the location that people went and got a flu shot every year? We need to have that discussion, but do you need three pharmacies on one corner? I think there may be a good way of evaluating when a pharmacy is critical and when we can try to support them a little bit more so that they do not go out of business too soon. Okay, great. Thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate it. And a beautiful display brings holiday cheer to Capitol Hill. Take a look at this. A scale model of the Capitol building made completely out of gingerbread, the miniature Lady Liberty stands tall over the white frosting facade, complete with tiny light-up windows and colorful flower decorations. And that's all we have for you tonight on the Capitol Report. For around the clock original news coverage, visit us at ntd.com slash live or download our NTD app. From the nation's Capitol, I'm Alena Wisecup. Have a great evening, and we'll see you back here on Monday.