145 Percent vs. 125 Percent Tariffs: A High-Stakes Showdown Over Trade Between the US and China

Welcome to NTD News today. Here are today's top stories. Amid a tariff trade war between the two largest economies in the world, a new turn of events, NTD's David Lam will tell us about the tariff standoff. Gold prices reach a major milestone as trade tensions remain elevated worldwide, and as the US dollar continues to weaken. Retail therapy, when people shop to relieve stress, can feel good sometimes in the moment. But is it healthy? We speak to a psychiatrist to explore why we sometimes spend more in stressful times. Hopefully you already have a real ID. The May 7th deadline is quickly approaching. We'll show you the details of what it is and how to get one. Reverse type 2 diabetes. Hope for reversing type 2 diabetes from a leading kidney health expert. This is NTD News Today, live from our global headquarters in New York City. President Trump is fully fit to serve as commander in chief. That's according to his doctor. The White House released results from the president's Friday physical exam. The results showed Trump has dropped 20 pounds since his last physical in 2020. The doctor said Trump's active lifestyle contributes significantly to his well-being. The president turns 79 on June 4th. Trump's cholesterol levels have improved over time. The exam summary noted that Trump previously had cataract surgery, a common procedure among aging people. His blood pressure was 128 over 74. That's considered elevated. Trump has a resting heart rate of 62 beats per minute, in line with previous tests. Amid a turbulent week for nations across the globe, there seems to be some progress on tariffs. We're going live to our national correspondent, David Lam. David, great to see you. We've pretty much seen a trade war between the United States and China this week. Break it down for us. Yeah, hi Chris. Good to see you too. So it's pretty much been almost a poker match between the two countries, the US and China. And they've been one-upping each other to the point where the US put a 145% tariff on China imports and China put back a 125% on the US. Now, the 145% from Trump includes a 20% tariff related to fentanyl tracking. Now, here's what the White House press secretary said the other day between the two largest economies in the world. President, as I said from the podium just a few days ago when I was up here, would be gracious if China intends to make a deal with the United States. If China continues to retaliate, it's not good for China. Why is he optimistic that China is going to make a deal or wants to make a deal? If they're not talking, where does that optimism come from? Now, these tariffs and policies from the new administration has shaken up the global economy and stocks. For example, major tech company Apple saw almost a 23% drop in their stocks in just one week during this month. David, with China being a major supplier and manufacturer for tech companies, what would happen to computers and phones with this trade war? Yeah, Chris. So, just recently it was announced that certain tech items are exempt from reciprocal tariffs, the high tariffs set by the White House. So, companies such as Apple and NVIDIA, which heavily rely on China, they have a big weight lifted off of their shoulders. So, Trump said that he exempted a range of everyday products ranging from smartphones, laptops, displays and other related devices. And this applies to all countries, including China. And of course, there could actually be, we just heard recently announced by Howard Lucknick that some of these tariffs, some of these products, these electronics could be tariffed in a different category. Now, speaking of other countries, how are they responding to these announcements? Right. So, Trump has called these liberation day tariffs. Yeah, he said that more than 75 countries has reached out to the U.S. to strike deals. And also, the U.S. is pausing reciprocal tariffs on all countries for 90 days. So, this is a big help for those countries. And also, reducing tariffs to a 10 percent baseline during this time. So, amid all this, there's also the nuclear talks. So, Iran and U.S. envoys met face to face recently, and they said that the talks have been constructive and that both parties want to reach negotiations quickly. And so, on Saturday, this is what Trump told reporters. I recognize the position of the United States. It says, you know, we're allowing other countries to put tariffs on us, but we don't put tariffs on them. And, you know, I'm a free trade champion and free trade has to be fair trade. And I think that's basically the position that you've put forward, Mr. President. Yeah, so that's the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. So, yeah, they had a talk as well. And then Trump on Air Force One, he also spoke to reporters saying that the talks between Iran, he thinks that they're going OK, but it's too early to tell. But he likes to stay optimistic on that side. But both parties are expected to negotiate in the following week. David, when all is said and done, what could the economy look like in the future with this trade war unfolding? So, from what we've seen, anything could pretty much happen. But there's concerns that prices will increase for consumers to cover the increased tariffs. You know, shoppers would see the direct correlation there. But President Trump has told Americans to stay strong because he believes that this is a necessary period for what he described as a difficult but necessary adjustment period. And here is what a former U.S. diplomat has analyzed based on what's been happening. So he's saying to everybody, OK, 90 days, 10 percent, just to sort of, you know, get some income and to even the trade barriers and to even the relationship, even out the playing field. But this is all about making sure that there is a new understanding about how world trade works. Now, President Trump said that after all these policies have taken effect, it could lead to a historic change in results for the U.S. being financially independent. And earlier, as you mentioned about electronics that have an exemption that they will go, they'll be placed under a separate set of tariffs, which is the semiconductor tariffs, as mentioned by the Commerce Secretary recently. And Trump said that he will address and make updates on this on Monday. Chris, back to you. David, thank you so much for your reporting on the U.S.-China trade war. Ready to explore this with us is Adam Savitt, director of the China Policy Initiative at the America First Policy Institute, and Jared Knott, historian and author of Tiny Blenders, Big Mistakes, a book about history's little mistakes with major repercussions. Gentlemen, thank you both so much for joining us today. Adam, let's start with you. Are we at the height of the escalation of this trade war between the U.S. and China, or could things get messier from here? Well, I think on a substantive level, we are on the height as far as the numbers. You know, Kevin O'Leary, Mr. Wonderful, I was on TV a couple of days ago suggesting 400 percent tariffs. Now, when you get to that level, you may as well say a thousand percent or a million percent. You know, most economists agree that once you get around 150 percent, essentially you've frozen trade or you've frozen most incentives because it's very difficult to make a profit at that point. So beyond this, we're talking about symbolic moves. But the main point has been made, and the whole point of these tariffs, I believe, from President Trump's perspective was to reorganize or reconceptualize the entire strategic relationship between the U.S. and China. And so that has been accomplished on Trump's side. At this point, it's a matter of political calculation and optics on both sides. It's up to Xi and it's up to President Trump on the next moves on that count. And Jared, the president, the leader of the Chinese regime, Xi Jinping, he's not really budging on this. He doesn't seem to be backing down. He's not coming to the negotiating table the way every other country, subject to Trump's reciprocal tariffs, have. Why do you think that is? Well, of course, as part of a national ego, nationalism, to admit that he was wrong, admit that he's going to cave in, that would be an old Chinese expression, a question of losing face. So we don't expect him to agree right away. But over the course of the next several weeks, several months, China's going to be expected to give up a lot from the current position, except a much less advantageous position than any other country. They have a huge, huge trade imbalance in their favor. And so it's going to have to change. It's going to require some major sacrifice, the current situation on the part of the Chinese, which they're not going to be eager to do. It's just a question of time, though, because the Chinese are more dependent on us than we are on them. And Adam, when do you think we could see any negotiations surrounding this? I mean, how much time does the Chinese economy have before things, before there are serious repercussions there? Because the Chinese economy is not as strong as the U.S. economy right now. Yeah, that's right. As noted, definitely China's on a shorter fuse. The fundamentals of their economy are much worse. They've overleveraged their priming of the pump on their local and provincial governments, their real estate crisis, their overproduction. Their consumer market can't absorb that overproduction. So yeah, they're definitely on a shorter fuse. As far as timeline, I think we're talking at most a week or two on their side. But again, as Jared notes, there's no good option for Xi because he needs to save face. He can't look like he's bowing down at the same time. Those are his lifelines. So he is not in a good position. And Jared, as a historian, I'm sure you're watching very carefully what's unfolding now and comparing it to what happened in Trump's first term, the trade war with China. How does that compare to the trade war now? Well, this is a much, much larger confrontation between the two nations, also between the world. It's going to require not just a marginal incremental change on the part of the Chinese, it's a major, major change. Of course, we've been taken advantage of enormously, especially by the Chinese for years. It's shocking when you consider how we've allowed ourselves to get in this position of having a trade deficit with virtually every nation in the entire world. We cannot sell automobiles in Europe virtually at all. They sell their cars over here, buy the millions and make worth billions and billions of marks and pounds and so on and so forth. It's odd. This is a situation that's been allowed to develop. We look at the worst of all, of course, is China, where we're just getting lunch eaten over and over again. It's odd that it was allowed to get this far in the first place. Right after World War II, it was one thing, maybe when they were being oppressed by communism, something else. But those years have long since passed. There's no justification. But it's horrible, horrible, a problem in balance that has made money for American companies, but it's cost jobs for middle American in large numbers. And Adam, do you have anything to add to that? The contrast between this term and the previous term in terms of this trade war? Yeah, well, I mean, the first term was a revolutionary change at that point in Trump's promises in the election, as well as once he put the initial tariffs in place under the guidance of Robert Lighthizer in 2018. Everyone said this would be a economic disaster. This would be a strategic disaster. But the thing is, in the interim, under the Biden administration, generally, those measures were kept in place. Biden added some more focused measures, as well as tariffs. And here we are again, where luckily that predicate has still been set. Trump is building on it. And everything he said basically is coming true from the campaign. He promised 60 to 100 percent tariffs on China. That that actually has happened, has been superseded. And again, it is completely remaking the strategic order in the United States, rather in the world. I want to underline that the allies of the United States, the first ad being identified by several cabinet members and Trump himself, Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam, this is crucial to this question because we're going to need allies to kick in production. And we're also going to need to open up new trade agreements. And that's why those close allies have come to make new trade agreements in order to make up for the gap of China. But we can do that. So, Jared, Adam is talking about the, I mean, both of you are talking about how this is almost a meteoric shift in U.S. trade policy and with China especially. Your book, Jared, is called Small Blunders, Big Disasters. It's about small, actually tiny, minuscule mistakes that led to massive repercussions in world history. Are you, as you're watching this unfold, are you seeing anything, is anything catching your eye, any tiny mistake that could have some kind of big repercussion? But these are actually, and of course, tiny blunders, big disasters, the many tiny mistakes that change the world forever. What we're looking at actually is more major mistakes or major decisions that were made by past administrations. And do we have you there, Adam? Yes. Got it. Good. Yeah. So as you're watching this, maybe we can continue with you on that point. Is there any sort of, oh, it looks like we have you back, Jared. Sorry, you cut out for a second. Keep going. We didn't really catch much of what you said. Yes, these are not so much tiny blunders in this case as they are major strategic blunders. We have allowed, of course, huge, huge imbalances to develop with just about every country in the world, especially our major trading partners, China, West Germany, Japan, et cetera. And it's going to take, you can't change course like this easily. And incremental changes are not going to be able to work. It requires a major shift, a seismic shift in the overall imbalance, which is going to be painful, as Donald Trump says in the beginning. Hopefully the pain will not last too long. They say that we're going to have a big rebound on Monday on the stock market tomorrow because of the change to the tariffs on electronics. Hopefully that's going to happen. And I do have faith personally that he's moving us in the right direction. He's going to bring tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs back into the United States that have been lost over the last 20, 30 years. Adam, you know, Trump is set to speak about semiconductors tomorrow. He said he had some kind of announcement to make. We are expecting him to place semiconductor tariffs on semiconductors. What kind of tariffs could we expect? Well, expect the unexpected and I expect something creative. But, you know, this is a very sensitive sector and a crucial sector to the to the high tech economy. So I think it's getting its own special, you know, sub treatment. We first had the shots across the bow of the round the world tariffs, which have been which were escalated and then were pared back. I think there might be a shock like that to both our allies and our adversaries on this count. But, you know, ultimately, a accommodation needs to be found here. Whether there's reshuffling or not, we need to come back together. The semiconductor industry is relying on a huge constellation of different countries and different parts in the process. I would hope he ultimately we had come to something like a free trade agreement or a coalition of democracies and free economies on this question. ASML, the Dutch company, is crucial to the lithography machines. Of course, TSMC in Taiwan is the huge player for the highest end of the semiconductors. The U.S. does a lot of the planning. Of course, TSMC and Samsung of Korea have already invested heavily in the United States. So we're all interconnected on this. Most of us involved are, again, our free market economies. So I hope that these barriers can be temporary and that we come to a very productive agreement at the end. All right. Adam Savitt, director of the China Policy Institute at AFPI, and Jared Knott, author of Tiny Blenders, Big Disasters. Thank you both so much for joining us today. Thank you. Coming up, gold prices reach a major milestone as worldwide trade tensions remain elevated. And as the U.S. dollar continues to weaken, plus retail therapy where people shop to relieve stress, it can feel good in the moment. But the question is whether it's really good for you. We speak to a psychiatrist to explain why we sometimes spend more in stressful times here on NTD News Today. Discover the ancient secret to vitality and longevity of puritan black ginseng crafted from premium six-year-old Korean ginseng. 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Join our community of monthly donors and you'll get this limited edition t-shirt you can wear to show you're helping save lives. One simple act today can save your life or the life of a loved one. So please call or go to helpheart.org now to help save lives. Welcome back to NTD. Gold prices hit a significant milestone on Friday, surpassing $3,200 per ounce for the first time. This rise was due in part to a weaker US dollar and growing concerns about an ongoing trade war. Amid the trade tensions, investors turned to safer investments like gold. Here's more. Gold prices breached the $3,200 level for the first time on Friday. The move was fueled by a weaker dollar and an escalating trade war that sent investors rushing towards safe haven assets. Bullion rose more than 1% to scale an all-time peak of almost $3,220 per ounce earlier in the session. It's gained around 5% this week. One analyst said the rapid weakening of the US dollar appears to be the main driver of gold's rebound. They added it may reflect an ongoing exodus from US dollar-based assets. Major stock indexes also fell this week after US President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%. China has been matching Trump's tariff hikes and that's led to fears Beijing could push duties on the US beyond the current 84%. The dollar was down around 1% versus major peers on Friday, which made it cheaper for overseas buyers to buy greenback-priced bullion. Tariffs have been a major driver of gold's appeal. But central bank demand, expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and geopolitical instability has also fueled the metals rally this year. Next, with rising costs and economic uncertainty, it's hard not to feel overwhelmed. Many of us find ourselves questioning our financial choices. So how can we make sense of our spending habits at this time? NTD's Stefania Cox and Kerry Dunst speak with Dr. Mina Mirhom, a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor at Columbia University, to break down the psychology behind how and why we spend in stressful times. So the thing I want to zero in on now is this concept of retail therapy. You know, what's happening when people are stressed and they go and buy stuff? Feels good in the moment, but is it healthy? Is it not healthy? Should it be done in moderation? How do you approach that? Yeah, great question, Kerry. The thing is, there's not a patient right now that I'm talking to who is not stressed by the current economic state and they're asking me that same question. Is retail therapy a good thing for me to do? And my answer is always, the thing with retail therapy is that it's designed to empty my wallet, not fill my heart. So I got to think about first, what is it that I'm looking for, what I'm chasing, right? We often tell ourselves, don't go grocery shopping when you're hungry. So also don't go shopping when you're hungry for an emotion, when you want to feel more in control, when you want to feel less anxious. That cart will not be my comfort. That's the thing to always keep in mind about retail therapy. Oh, I want to dig more deep on this because actually just going and buying something can feel like such a relief, right? Definitely. Just in the moment, it might be something you need, you can justify it. But at the same time, there's something else happening underneath, as you're saying. And you've kind of pointed to this idea that we're not buying things, we're buying feelings. Tell us more about that. Yeah, absolutely. And I often tell patients the most expensive thing you can try to buy is someone else's approval. And the feeling that you're looking for sometimes is whether it's approval or satisfaction or comfort or joy, we want to feel like that new coat is going to give me that. And in the moment, it kind of does. We're not looking for the warmth of a jacket. We're looking for the status it can represent or the way it can make me feel, which is all fine as long as we understand what we're looking for. Because when you know what it is that you're looking for, then you know that it's not going to entirely be fulfilled by the order that you make. And then when it comes to economic anxiety, how does that affect people? And what tips might you have to sort of see that in the proper light? Because obviously there are economic realities, but the fight or flight as it relates to buying things clearly could go down the wrong path. So what do you recommend to people? The recommendation is balance. Because the brain is always in combat, basically, of these two parts. There is the emotional part that is saying, we're going to react out of feeling, out of fear, out of emotion. That's the amygdala. And there is the part that is reacting out of rationale, out of planning, out of saying, you know what? Here's a calculated decision. So the part that does the math begins to go to the backseat when we're just reacting out of emotion like fear in an economic environment. So what I always empower patients to say is take a step back and say, is this aligned with what I am, with who I am, what I want to do? Or is this something that is more based out of my emotion, what I feel, what I fear? And I don't want to make a decision based only on what I fear. I want to be taking a step back and allowing my full brain to make a consensus decision, if you will, not just a part that's afraid. Speaking of things that drive action and feelings driving action, one area that really gets people and pulls them in, of course, is social media. Absolutely. And we're inundated with it, really. It's hard to avoid it. So how can we see that link between social media and our decisions? And what are some of the trends that are happening out there right now? So the trend is sort of like, imagine if you're walking into a room where everyone shares your worst possible fear. And instead of calming you down, they amplify it. Now you're worried about a recession. Well, now that goes to economic Armageddon. And that's oftentimes what happens. Our feed can impact our feeling. And what I'm aware, when I'm scrolling through my app, that this news feed is going to give me more of what I'm most afraid of because that's the way it engages me most. I'm aware of that. I know how it's impacting me. So now I'm going to take a step back and say, I know what I'm concerned about. I know what I worry about most. And I know that I'm being fed what I worry about most. So now I'm going to limit that time. I'm going to limit the amount of exposure that I have to what I'm most afraid of. So it doesn't drive my decision making. Again, seeking for balance and not having an amplification of what I'm most concerned about. There's this kind of quote, you know, live like it's your last day. And I think there's some benefit to having that outlook. But, you know, if every day is your last day, then you haven't saved and planned for the future. And the economic realities of that really come into play for people who are on a budget. So what do you recommend? I think the older generation maybe starts to see the cause and effect of that type of thinking. But what do you recommend to the younger generations as to how to, you know, kind of have both? Yeah, for young people, I often talk about how you can maximize the moment without robbing tomorrow. And part of the way to do that is you can have an experience or an understanding or something that you enjoy thoroughly today while still thinking about the fact that I know this may not be our grandparents generation where you might be able to buy a house with a much cheaper budget and things like that. But we maintain hope in that same way. When we can empower a younger person to say, just because you're 401k right now, it looks like it's struggling and it looks like a 101k doesn't mean that there isn't going to be a financial future for you. So don't sacrifice tomorrow in hopes of today. You don't want to live too much in the past, too much in the future while also maintaining the balance of the present. Yeah, I feel like hope itself can be, you know, if you keep plugging into that, that can be its own kind of mood booster. Maybe you don't need some of the other immediate gratification as much. But on the other side, some people do go in the other direction and just really clamp down on their spending. That feels like calming because it's control. But can it lead to further problems further down the line? You highlighted a key thing there, which is that people are often looking for control in a time where financial markets look like they're out of control. Again, my 401k looks like it's out of control. I'm looking for this feeling of how can I control things right now? And the thing to be aware of is anytime that we go into survival mode, anytime we go into desperation mode, we can often cut things that are actually helpful, things that are important for my own self-care, important for my own benefit, my own health. So the balance there is key as well. Making sure that I'm not reacting out of desperation, not reacting out of worst case scenario all the time, but caution. Different between caution and cynicism or caution while that's maintaining a sense of hope as well is really key in this conversation. A lot to ponder there. Certainly balance seems to be the golden thread through all this, just sort of maintaining that rationality but also living in the present. So much to unpack here. We always appreciate you joining us. Dr. Meena Murnam, thank you for coming in this morning. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Coming up, the hope for reversing type 2 diabetes, a disease commonly thought of as incurable. That and more after the break. Once almost lost, now the world awaits. The divine cultures return. Focus on beauty. Showcase nature. Share kindness. Feel brightness. 2025, the fifth NTD International Photography Competition. Capture the beautiful moments in your eyes. Your works will be showcased in galleries and on multiple online platforms. Appreciated and collected. Please visit photo.ntdtv.com. We come from a long line of farmers and there's a sense of pride with being part of these multi-generational businesses. But there's also a significant amount of pressure. My senior year of high school, my dad made the decision that this world no longer needed him in it. I don't know if he was overwhelmed by the bills and checks that weren't going to be coming in because of the strawberries dying off, but it breaks my heart that my dad made a permanent decision for a temporary issue. Don't feel like you have to go through it alone. Farmers have to take care of their physical and their mental health because what's a farm without a farmer? The mornings, that's my time. Watching the sun come up, I can have a cup of coffee and exercise if I want to. It helps me start the day with a sense of gratitude. Every day is a new opportunity. Don't forget to check in on yourself. Love, Your Mind. You see certain things get reincarnated in your children. My daughter is very much inspired by my wife's artistic pursuits. So my daughter started making necklaces. She makes what we call affirmation fashion. I tell her every day that your black is beautiful. Your black is beautiful. And if there's anything better than being beautiful, it's being smart. And if there's anything better than being smart, it's being kind. And reaffirming that every day is our method of making sure her chin never drops. My dad wasn't around and I remember riding a bike and falling off and cutting myself and me never just wanting to get back on it. People ask, how your children learn how to ride a bike? And you did. I didn't teach them. I just created an environment where they taught themselves. And all I had to do was be there. Welcome back to NTD. I'm joined in studio by Brendan Fallon, NTD health correspondent and host of Epic TV's Vital Signs, which is a show that zooms in on important aspects of health that influence our lives. Brendan, it's great to see you. Great to see you, Chris. What do you have for us today? Today, an exciting topic. One in 10 Americans have suffering with diabetes. Most of that is type 2 diabetes, a disease that's still largely considered to be incurable. Once you have it, you're stuck with it for life, is largely the perception. I interviewed Dr. Jason Fung. He's a nephrologist, a kidney health specialist, and also a world expert in intermittent fasting and low-carb dieting. Here, he's talking about a different perspective on insulin resistance, the hormone that gets the glucose into the cell, and a different idea of why, in type 2 diabetes, this isn't happening. He's talking about this here in the context of type 1 versus type 2 diabetes. Do we have that? We can play that. In type 1 diabetes, what you get is they're often present younger, and these people don't have insulin. Insulin is the hormone that allows your body to take in the glucose. Say you eat a slice of bread, you have all this glucose. The glucose goes from your stomach. It's absorbed in the intestines, goes into the blood. All this extra glucose is in the blood. The body doesn't want all this glucose in the blood, so it releases the hormone insulin. Insulin then allows the cells, like your muscles, your liver, your kidney, to take up this glucose, and then it will burn it for energy, which is great. If you don't have insulin, of course, then inside the cell, there's no energy, and outside the cell, there's all this glucose. What you have is this state of internal starvation. What you'll see is people will lose weight, lose weight, lose weight, because they can't take the energy that's outside and bring it inside the cell. They'll just keep losing weight until they die. You see in type 1 diabetes, you see very skinny children who, if they don't get insulin, they will die. That's not what you get in type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes tends to present older and is sort of the majority of diabetes. We see 90% to 95% of diabetes these days is type 2 diabetes. You don't see very skinny people. You see the opposite. You see very fat people and people with big fatty livers. They have a lot of abdominal obesity. Their waist circumference is high. Their body mass index is high. So you see the opposite. You don't see people that are starving as you do with the type 1 lack of insulin. Here, the insulin levels are too high, and there's still a lot of glucose in the blood. The idea is that instead of a sort of underfill situation where you can't get the glucose into the cell, in this situation, the cell is sort of overfilled with this glucose, so that's why the glucose is still out in the blood. Because you've got too much inside the cell already, the cell can't take any more. Just like, for example, if you have a sports bar, for example, it's Super Bowl Sunday. The sports bar is full. You can't cram any more people. So there's people outside the bar who want to get in, but they can't get in because the bar is full, right? That sports bar analogy really helps anchor and ground this for me. So, and I understand it, as I understand it, his view of diabetes has shaped his way of treating it. Yeah, definitely. And this isn't necessarily, it's not a new understanding. This is, the American Diabetes Association actually published remission criteria for type 2 diabetes in the early 2020s. So it is recognized, but that knowledge hasn't really pervaded the medical community to the maximum extent. There's still many people with type 2 diabetes who aren't aware of this. I mean, maybe it's not in every case it's reversible, but in a very large number of cases, and certainly Dr. Fung is applying this in his own practice. In this next soundbite, he gives a snapshot of if, if we look at this idea that too much glucose is the problem, it's not the cell dysfunctioning, it's just too much glucose, what do we then need to do to reverse that situation? And he highlights a study that shows this is possible. Awesome. Let's watch that. And if there's too much glucose, then there's really a very simple thing. You either have to put less glucose in, or you have to let your body burn that glucose that's there off, right? So you can start by cutting down the amount of glucose, which is carbohydrates, going in as well as sugar, right? So fructose being sugar as well, you want to try and cut those down. Or you can do things less such as intermittent fasting, which is where you sort of don't put anything in and allow your body to burn off that glucose. Turns out that they're extremely successful. So, you know, Dr. Unwin in the UK, he published his results in his patients over eight years. And of the patients that followed his low carbohydrate sort of advice, about 50% of them went to a drug free remission state, that is they were caught off of all of their And their blood glucose went down to a normal level such that they would be classified as not diabetic. And we saw this on our clinic, I'd have somebody who was on 100 units of insulin a day, massive amounts. I started them on, you know, cutting their carbs and intermittent fasting. Within a month, I had them off of everything and their blood glucose low enough that they would be classified as non-diabetic. And this is after 10 years of taking insulin, they became not diabetic any further. A simple intervention. It's amazing hearing him talk about this massive change in people's lives. Yeah. And it's such a simple intervention, which is what he really emphasizes. It's seen there in the research, he's seeing it in his own practice. So this is possible. It's just a matter of really getting this knowledge out further. Awesome. Brennan Fallon, thank you so much. Thank you, Chris. To see Brennan's full interview with leading experts like Dr. Fung on how to optimize health, go to ept.ms forward slash vital signs. Coming up, we've got the details about the real ID deadline and what the different types are that people will need by May 7th. That and more after the break. I go by Jackie. I'm 44 years old. I had three kids at the time and a single mother. I was working 60 hours a week. Still couldn't pay the bills and skip meals so that they could eat. It's been hard because one thing falls into place, 10 things fall out of place. You know, I just can't do this alone and make it work. One in five children face hunger in America. And food costs are rising. But everyone needs nourishing food to thrive. And they can when we work together so our neighbors can feed their families. Call or go online right now to join Feeding America with your gift of just $19 a month, only 63 cents a day. 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I have hope. Please call now or make your monthly donation at helpfeedingamerica.org and your gift can double in impact. Is deep sea fish oil really healthy? Due to pollution in the oceans, most fish contain heavy metal elements and radioactive substances. That's why it's so important to choose a pure source of omega-3. Puritan Green Vegetable Omega-3 is made from purslane and perilla seeds, which are rich in nutrients and minerals, especially vitamins A, D, E, calcium and iron. With natural processing and no harmful chemical additives, it has more than 90% concentration of omegas-3, 6, 7 and 9. It effectively improves brain power and is beneficial to the heart's health. Puritan Omega-3 does not smell of fish and contains no pollutants, so both adults and children can safely and easily consume it over a long period of time. Puritan Green Vegetable Omega-3. Greener, healthier and more effective. Visit puritan.com to learn more. You're watching NTD. You may have heard about the Real ID in recent months. It's a newer form of identification that US travelers will soon need to board domestic flights. NTD's Sean Marshall has some of the details on what the Real ID is and how to know if you already have one. The deadline is fast approaching and if you plan to fly domestically, visit a federal facility or even enter a nuclear power plant, you'll need a Real ID compliant card starting May 7th. People across the country are scrambling to update their driver's licenses before the Department of Homeland Security's mandate takes effect. This requirement has been going through a long process. Congress passed the Real ID Act two decades ago, following a recommendation by the 9-11 Commission to enhance security standards for identity verification. So how do you know if your ID is travel ready? Real ID compliant cards have one of the following markings on the upper top portion of the card. If the card does not have one of these markings, it is not Real ID compliant, and unless you have an acceptable alternative, you won't be able to get through TSA security checkpoints. Passports can still be used, and enhanced identification cards are also accepted. Currently, there are only five states that issue Enhanced Drivers License or Enhanced IDs, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington. Those can be identified by an image of the US flag and the word Enhanced at the top of the card. Still unsure if you're good to go? The DHS.gov website has an interactive tool to help you check if you're Real ID ready. And if you still need to get one, visit your state's driver's license agency website to find out exactly what documents you'll need. Sean Marshall, NTD News. Next, an ongoing debate over schools and families' rights to religious freedom. Mid-Vermont Christian School has been banned from state sports games and tuition programs because the school's girls' basketball team forfeited a game against another team with a male athlete who identified as female. Vermont officials say this goes against the official policy that allows boys who identify as girls to play in girls' sports. Earlier, NTD's Fiona Gee talked with Chris Goodwin, head basketball coach at Mid-Vermont Christian School, and Ryan Tucker, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. Let's take a look. Give us this story. What's been happening over the past two years that have now led you to the Second Circuit Court? Yeah, originally this started over two years ago where the state playoffs were coming up and we were seated against another team who had a male athlete playing for them. Now we had known that there was a male athlete playing for this other team halfway through the season. They weren't on our schedule, but it just happened that they were the team that we ended up playing in the playoffs. So we'd already had previous discussions with our school, the administration, the coaches, the players, and their parents. And we had all agreed that because of our religious beliefs, we were going to pass on that game in forfeit and exit the tournament. And so what was the reaction to that from the state? Yeah, the reaction from the state was pretty immediate, and they removed us from all athletic competitions inside the state of Vermont moving forward. And we have not been allowed to play in the VPA Athletic Association for over two years now. Even up till now, you're not allowed? We're not in right now either. Unless the decision changes, so. And so is this limit, it's an indefinite limit? Is that what you're saying? Yeah, indefinite until the courts decide that they want to end it and allow us back in. Then, I mean, this ban, it's not only for sports, right? This is also a funding thing that's also been going on. Yeah, the state of Vermont has been discriminating against religious schools in that state for years. In fact, this is our fourth lawsuit, the first three we won. We're hoping, again, the fourth time we will also succeed. But yes, there is an issue involving religious discrimination against the schools in the state where they're not letting religious schools participate in certain funding programs. And so it's not just funding. It's also, as Chris alluded to, it's a sports issue. And today, that's what we were in the court for. So you say you've already won three lawsuits regarding this issue? On the funding side. But on the sports side, this is actually the first case of its kind to reach this high court. Mid-Vermont's case was the first filed to have a religious school be, as Chris noted, kicked out entirely for all sports. That's just unheard of. It's insane. And it's unconstitutional. That's why we were in court today. Tell us a little bit more about that. What happened today? Today, we had a great argument before a three-judge panel, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. And there were a lot of great questions asked. We feel, you know, confident. The court asked a lot about the hostility that the state has shown against this particular school and what they've done. So, you know, we're cautiously optimistic, but we're gonna have to wait and see how the court rules. Now, Chris, Ryan, let me read this statement to CNN from the Vermont Principals Association, kind of when this whole story broke. Now, they said, quote, Mid-Vermont Christian school has every right to teach its beliefs to its own students. It cannot, however, impose those beliefs on students from other public and private schools, deny students from other schools the opportunity to play, or hurt students from other schools because of who those students are. I want to get both of your takes on that statement. Chris? Yeah. We believe that God created boys and girls differently. And as an extension of that, there are physical differences as they grow into adulthood. So we see that from when they're born up until they're playing high school sports, there is a large advantage for male athletes. And we recognize that there's going to be a competition that ends up being unfair and unsafe for our girls. And, you know, on that point, that's really kind of the basis of this, right? Is you cite that the issue here is fairness and safety for your players. So as a coach, when you're put in this situation, how are you feeling? I don't want to put my daughter who plays for me as well or any of the girls into a competition where I know that there's the possibility of them being injured or a higher probability of that. And I also don't want them to take the field or the court knowing that they really don't have a chance to even compete and win at that game. You know, on the safety side, I've seen two concussions in my time coaching for the varsity level 10 years and even before that at different camps and other levels. And I've seen two concussions. One where a girl hit her head on the floor and she received a concussion from that. And the only other one I've ever seen is from the same team that we forfeited against, the male athlete hitting another female player on the head. And she received a concussion, a brain injury, and she was out for three weeks of the season. So there's just a higher probability of that happening when you have male athletes competing against female athletes. And it's horrendous because constitutional rights are in play here. Quite simply, the school believes that boys are boys, girls are girls. And the state has a different view of that, doesn't like the religious beliefs, in fact, has mocked their religious beliefs. And as a result, you know, kick them out. And that's why we were in court today. I think the court's going to see that the hostile nature is problematic and unconstitutional and hopefully score a victory for this great school. Ryan, go a little deeper on that because that's another core issue here is this discussion of constitutional rights. Right. This is a First Amendment case. The fairness and safety aspect are embedded with the religious beliefs. They look at everything through a biblical worldview, a Christian worldview. And so the state, as you read in that statement, doesn't like their beliefs. They've made that abundantly clear in our discussions with them. They never wanted this case to go to the courts. They tried to have a discussion with the state. State said, no, you're kicked out entirely, not just your girls, but all of both middle school and high school athletics. You're shunned. And not only that, originally they kicked them out of the non-academic opportunities as well. So you have like a spelling bee, a geography or quiz bowl. They kicked them out of that as well. It wasn't until the district court judge forced them to allow them back in just for the non-academic stuff that they were able to even, you know, to participate in those events this past spring. But this whole case is horrendous. We haven't seen anything like it in this particular space, in the religious school space. So we're confident, but we'll just have to wait and see how the court rules. So you're saying that despite this having been really a debate within an athletic environment, the non-athletic teams were also prohibited from state competitions? That's right. So when they were originally kicked out, the VPA, the Vermont Principals Association, includes both athletic events and also academic events as well. So when they were kicked out, they were kicked out on the academic side of that as to boot, which is utterly insane. That came up today actually in the discussion at the courthouse. They eventually did through a judge basically ordering it. They did allow them back in for that small piece. But, you know, in Chris's instance on the athletic side, they're still out. Well, Chris, tell us more. How are your students and those students' parents now reacting to all of this? They're still very supportive. Obviously, they all agreed at the time to withdraw from the tournament and forfeit that game. But we're all just really disappointed as well. We feel like our rights are being impeded upon. And we feel like that we should be able to not have to compromise our religious beliefs in order to play basketball. And go deeper here, because as a school and as an educator, how are you talking to your students about this? Because regardless of the situation or how this ends up turning out, this brings up a great opportunity to talk about freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Sure. They're obviously very important. That's why they're in our constitution. And the important lesson is that just because we may have a religious belief that other people may not have, that doesn't give the state the right to punish us because we have that belief. Just because we don't line up with the state's orthodoxy doesn't mean they get to remove us from all state athletic competitions. And we encourage our girls and the whole school to stand up for what they believe in. And that's always very important to keep in mind. Ryan, before we go here, what are you guys hoping to get out of this case in the Second Circuit Court? Well, we want them back in to the state-sponsored sports association. So we're hoping that the court's going to grant an injunction. I would expect, hopefully, if that is to happen within the next few weeks, and put them back where they were before this whole mess started. All right. Well, I wish you guys all the best. Chris, Ryan, thank you so much for being on here today with us. Thanks for having us. Thank you. That's all for today's news. Thank you so much for tuning in. For round-the-clock original news coverage, visit us at NTD.com or download our NTD app. And be sure to stick around for our next program. At 6 p.m., we'll cover more stories from the U.S. and around the world.