Capitol Report Full Broadcast (June 12)

Good evening tonight on Capitol Report. New details of a pending Iran deal as the Iranian foreign minister agrees that a deal is closed. What's on the table and what Tehran must give up? A hundred FBI agents, a warrant and questions about voter fraud. A progressive voter registration group in Ohio facing serious allegations. What's at stake for elections? More UFO files from the Pentagon, including half a dozen videos. The FBI's own reports and call the witnesses highly credible. We have the highlights from the 70 new files. And combat sports at the White House and the world's most popular sport, soccer, at the nation's capital. D.C. locals and tourists alike are getting pumped for the big weekend. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters I'm Iris Howe in for Steve Lance tonight. The Trump administration says it's closing in on a major agreement with Iran, which could be signed within days. NDD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has the details. A senior Trump administration official tells us that the U.S.-Iran deal is very close, but not quite at the finish line yet. The details include dismantling Iran's nuclear program, including the nuclear weapon sites, and also destroying the remaining nuclear material on site, transferring that out, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the blockaded shipping routes that have been driving up global oil prices, long-term regional peace, Iran ending the funding of violence and its terrorist proxies in the region like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, and long-term enforceable inspections to ensure that Iran is complying. What Iran gets out of this is relief from long-standing economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure, and Iran would also reintegrate into the world economy. Now the relief would not be immediate, but rewarded incrementally as Iran meets its obligations. The senior White House official stressed that the deal is not based around trust, nor around empty promises, but around verifiable steps. The official also cautioning reporters to treat Iranian hardliner statements and state media reports with skepticism, saying most Iranian officials want the deal but are messaging differently to domestic audiences for political cover. This comes after President Trump's post on Truth Social saying that Iranian state media is releasing false statements about the details of the agreement, calling it fake news and having nothing to do with the terms that were agreed to in writing. Even Iran's own foreign minister says not to listen to Iranian media and that a deal is near, saying the Islamabad memorandum of understanding has never been closer. Pending its finalization, the media should refrain from entering speculation about its content. Pakistan's prime minister, a mediator in the negotiations, also writing peace has never been this close as it is now. We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran. We probably have a signing maybe in Europe. That's as President Trump and a U.S. delegation is going to France next week for the G7 summit. All of this is pointing to why White House officials are saying that they're becoming increasingly optimistic that a deal will be signed in the coming days. For NTD News Washington, I'm Jack Bradley. Amidst talks of the memorandum of understanding with Iran, many are eager to understand the terms and limitations of the deal itself. Joining me now to discuss is Stefano Rittendale, an army veteran and chief intelligence officer at Notorious. Thank you for joining us tonight. So first Stefano, President Trump shared a post in which the Iranian foreign minister said a memorandum of understanding has never been closer. And this is really the first time we've seen Iran say that we're close to a deal. How do you assess these signals? Well, first, thank you so much for having me. And that's right, we do see President Trump and a lot of members of the U.S. administration really highlight that we've never been closer for an understanding and an agreement within the MOU or the memorandum of understanding. It is important to note that the foreign minister of Iran, Raji, although on Twitter or X, basically made a statement much more geared to the Western audience saying that peace is very likely and denying some of this misinformation coming maybe from Iranian state media of how they framed it. It's very important to note that Raji in his telegram channel and commentary to the people in Iranian media took a much more hardline approach. And I think what this is indicating and signifying is that the Iranians are leveraging the information war space and information operations to really push a message that they're the victor regardless of it's true or not. I think President Trump in his true social posts earlier today really tried to criticize that. And more importantly, Vice President J.D. Vance really pushed against that. So I think the Iranians are trying to set the stage to try to claim a victory to either influence the American people or the West or their own people to try to indicate that maybe the deal is much more favorable to them. But from the reporting that we're getting from the White House and administration official, it does indicate that Iran is acquiescing to American demands. Well, certainly we have heard a senior administration official pointing out that point exactly today during the call saying that what you're hearing from Iranian state media is not actually what they're telling American negotiators nor what's on the table. So, meanwhile, today on the call with the administration official, they told us that while a deal is close, it's not at 100 percent just yet. And the official also saying that most Iranian officials they're speaking with and have authority within that regime want to sign the deal, but not everyone. What could still derail this deal? And can the U.S. ensure it lasts given Iran's fractured leadership? I think the main impediment within Iran is the IRGC, specifically the hardline adamant, maybe Badi, the new IRGC commander, the general who took over command. Clearly, he's taking a much more hardline approach. But as you alluded to, there's a lot of significant fracture within the Islamic Republic and who's really in charge. Osama Khamenei, the new supreme leader, is reportedly kind of hiding in secret, only communicating to various couriers, making it very difficult to understand what's his ultimate objective, what does he agree upon? And then we see within Iran, it seems like more of the factions are fighting each other than the West or the United States specifically and leveraging the information space to try to set the narrative for their own people and for their own interests, much more so than the international community. I do believe that the administration officials, U.S. administration officials have said that it's about 85 percent is the last kind of reporting that we got. But there's a lot in 15 percent. There's still a long ways to go until we get to 100 percent. And again, more importantly, this is just the MOU. This is not the overall peace treaty. The MOU more than likely is only going to focus on the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade that then enables further negotiations and how the United States wants Iran to give up the nuclear program and the nuclear enrichment. So there's still a long ways to go. And I think Iran is going to try to contaminate the information space for their own benefit until then. Well, certainly, like you said, a use of the information disparity here between the U.S. and Iran by the Iranian regime. Meanwhile, the officials today also really emphasizing that Iran won't really get anything until they actually put their commitment into action. So the deal says that it could provide a means for Iran to rejoin the international community. But that must include, for example, ending support for proxies like terrorist groups. Assuming that there is a way to actually implement this, what will happen to Iran's proxies in the event that they're actually cut off from Tehran? So this is a very interesting development, because as you said, you know, the U.S. is saying that Iran has agreed to give up support to the proxy network, which is not only Lebanese Hezbollah, but would also include the Kurds in Yemen and the pro-Iranian groups in Iraq. But it's very interesting when we see the foreign minister Raji's commentary on the telegram channels or talking to the Iranian people and to the Iranian press. They flatly deny that and say, you know, their support to Hezbollah is still resolute and they will never abandon Hezbollah. So I think this is one of the key issues that after the MOU, if it's agreed, that enters the negotiation, because the United States is going to ensure that Iran does not continue to support terrorist organizations around the world. And this is something that Israel is very keen on. Now, it's also very important when we're talking about Lebanon. The U.S. is leading negotiations between the Lebanese government and the Israeli government to try to get the countries both to have normalized relations and try to exclude Hezbollah as being an actor within Lebanon. And the understanding is if Israel and Lebanon state enter into some sort of agreement, it's very difficult for Hezbollah to try to challenge that. Iran obviously needs Hezbollah to extend their influence in the region. And it's one of the key components for the proxy networks and the kind of the diminished axis of resistance. But this is going to be one of the key sticky points. It would be very interesting to see how Iranian hardliners perceive if there's negotiations that might undermine Hezbollah. This might be one of the areas where we see the IRGC hardliners really step in to try to prevent that. And that's one of the key questions that we need to look for. And we have certainly seen how Hezbollah and its strikes between Hezbollah and Israel have become a sticking point in recent weeks when the renewed strikes really caused more tension between the U.S. and Iran as well. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is saying that the operation itself, Epic Fury, has achieved its goals and success. While it's not about regime change, they say it has wiped out much of Iran's top leadership. Do you think this could lead to long-term human rights improvements inside Iran, especially if a deal with the U.S. is signed? I mean, I think that's the aspiration and the goal. But one of the difficult situations we have to acknowledge is that for human rights and democracy and liberty to take a hold in Iran, it really has to come from internally instead of Iran. Unfortunately, January 2026, once the New Year happened, really started very bloody in Iran with reports of up to over 40,000 Iranian protesters were killed by the Islamic Republic who were simply demanding reformation and changes and more liberties for the country. So obviously, there's still a very hardline component within Iran who will do everything in their power to try to prevent any normalizations or democratization of Iran, or maybe even integration within the wider international community. But it's also important to note that the Iranian people and the Iranian diaspora are very keen to see liberalization and democratization happen inside of Iran. And there might be a significant frustration after this war and the economic hardship that really forces the Iranian government to say, we need to acknowledge that we need to open up the country not only economically, but politically as well, if we want to be integrated into the international community. So there's obviously an opportunity. A lot of this more than likely have to be led by Iranians themselves, either inside of the country as well as the diaspora. It's a very difficult path. We've seen the IRGC throughout its existence take a very hard approach in any attempts to achieve democracy or liberalization. But the Iranian people continue to demand it, and there is an opportunity for that to really fulfill itself inside of Iran. Well, it's certainly a very challenging path, but an opportunity indeed. We have heard President Trump this week comparing the Iranian regime to the Chinese communist regime and how they murder protesters. The president this week actually citing the Tiananmen Square massacre. So of course, a lot of eyes on if and when there could be any change to that regime's nature. Stefano Riddendell, thank you so much for sharing insights with us tonight. Appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much for having me. Congress is leaving Washington without extending FISA surveillance authority, which expires tonight. That's even as lawmakers warn about foreign threats at home and abroad. Meanwhile, senators are considering President Trump's nominee to lead the intelligence community. NDD's Chris Faub reports. We're hosting the World Cup. We've got 250th anniversary celebrations going on around this country. This is a time of risk for the American people. That warning from Senate Majority Leader John Thune Thursday as Congress leaves town without passing an extension of FISA Section 702, allowing authorization for the surveillance program to expire at midnight Friday. The authority is widely considered one of the intelligence community's most important tools for collecting information on foreign threats. Critics say that it can also expose private data on American citizens without a warrant. While congressional authorization expires, the program does not immediately go dark. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has already approved certifications, allowing existing collection activities to continue throughout March of next year. Senator Mike Lee, who voted against the extension, posted on X today, quote, despite apocalyptic warnings from a deep state that wants unfettered domestic spying, FISA won't cease protecting America even for years after it expires. We have time to agree on a warrant requirement to defend the privacy of American citizens and get FISA reauthorized. President Trump's new nominee for Director of National Intelligence, Jay Clayton, will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee next Wednesday for his confirmation hearing. North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis, who had raised concerns about Bill Polti serving as acting Director of National Intelligence, posted on X that Clayton is, quote, an outstanding choice and said he looks forward to working with colleagues to ensure his swift confirmation. Virginia Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, also struck a notably positive tone toward the nominee. Warner writing in a statement, quote, I have known and respected Jay Clayton for many years and believe he is a capable public servant. But Warner also called for assurances that Bill Polti will not serve as acting director during any transition. Chris Bobb, NTD News. More UFO files have been released from the Pentagon. This release has 70 files, including about half a dozen videos. Some of them contain reports from the FBI, citing the witnesses as highly credible. NTD correspondent Jason Blair has more. The Pentagon releases a handful of new videos in the latest volume of UFO files. These cases are all from the U.S. spanning from 2021 to 2025. In this first video, two red objects can be seen. The files say witnesses initially only saw one object, but then a second identical one appeared. One of the witnesses described it as a brilliant red sphere about one meter in diameter. The center of the red sphere appeared to be a white plasma sun about the size of a basketball. This next video also shows two red objects. The file says they generally maintained stationary positions throughout the appearance. Another video shows two bright lights. The file says the light source initially appeared as one intense luminous object before resolving into multiple lights exhibiting erratic rotational motion. These last two videos are digital recreations based on reported incidents near sensitive national security sites in the U.S., according to the files. In both, several orbs are shown in a tight horizontal formation in the sky. These videos are from the third UFO files released from the Department of War. The Pentagon says that new materials will be released every few weeks. And on Tuesday, experts in UFO research spoke outside the U.S. Capitol alongside members of Congress. The group included James Fox, a UFO investigator and documentary filmmaker. He tells NTD that government transparency about UFOs has developed a lot during the past nine years. People complain they don't feel it's happening fast enough, but it's happening. I mean, look at what just happened today. We had a bipartisan group of people assemble here, all this media show up, and we're talking about aliens. Some of the other files in the third release contained written descriptions along with artistic interpretations, such as this one described as potato-shaped with fish-like scales and a white opalescent color. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. And you're now looking at a live shot of the White House. The Trump administration is letting the cat out of the bag. What is being revealed about U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine and what this means for transparency on our panel after the break. If we can help you or someone you care for, call for your free product sample pack and $45 in money-saving coupons. Our counselors will help you choose the right product. And unlike stores, we're always in stock. You'll get what you need. Satisfaction guaranteed. HGIS, the better way. 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More than 100 FBI agents raided the group's Cleveland office, as well as current and former staff members' homes throughout the state. An organization board member says that agents seized electronic devices, including phones, and had a warrant to search the office. He says that agents also asked questions about voter fraud. The Trump administration ended U.S. funding of gain-of-function research, and now is blowing the lid on it. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is releasing critical evidence on 120 foreign biolabs. Joining me now to discuss are Democratic strategist Lee Neves and Republican strategist Marlee Ornick. Thank you both for joining us tonight. After months of investigation, outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is releasing information on funding for more than 120 biolabs in over 30 countries. Here's a clip of that. Until now, evidence regarding the full existence and funding of these laboratories had been knowingly withheld from you, the American people. Many of these U.S. government-funded biolabs are currently or have previously engaged in research using hazardous and highly contagious pathogens, and in some cases included dangerous gain-of-function research with very little visibility or oversight. So first, Lee, the New York Times and the Biden administration have said that U.S.-funded biolabs in Ukraine were a hoax. But now, of course, the Trump administration is now saying that they have evidence that the U.S. funded over 40 labs in Ukraine. Should officials from the previous administration have to answer for this? You actually had a Biden official back in 2022 talk about U.S.-funded biolabs in the Ukraine, and also these U.S.-funded biolabs in the Ukraine date all the way back to the Soviet era. The U.S. came in when the Soviet Union collapsed to stabilize these biolabs, make sure that they didn't get in the hands of the wrong people. But if it goes back that far, they've been getting funded over both Democrat and Republican administrations, including Trump administration number one. The thing I find very, very interesting here is that Tulsi Gabbard only named one country, even though these are across 30 countries. So she only named Ukraine. Why? Because, well, she's on her way out, and she's very well known to exactly not be the biggest fan of Ukraine, let alone a Russian sympathizer. So I think the laying the cat out of the bag, like these are all a big surprise. I think a lot of people in government and around government knew that these were happening. Now, that being said, look, it's well within the Trump administration's right to no longer fund these. He's the guy in charge. If he no longer wants to fund these, he doesn't have to. It's well within his right. But to say this is a big surprise and it all happened under President Joe Biden is a little bit of jumping the shark. Marlee, what's your response to that? I think that's a little bit of a simplistic argument, actually. I really believe that it was the COVID pandemic that alerted so many Americans to the dangers of some of these bio labs and the overreach that a government might pursue based on the research being done. And I think that that is really the reason why at this time the information is coming out. And I applaud Tulsi Gabbard for being transparent with all Americans, regardless of party. And, you know, frankly, I think the Maha movement is very bipartisan. Actually, I think it's one of the most bipartisan movements we probably have right now, because it comes down in many cases to people's concern about their own family members. And, you know, it's not like only Republicans got sick or only Republicans suffered ill effects from, you know, the vaccines, from the pandemic itself, economic, physical, psychological. There's damage across the spectrum. So I'm very happy. And I think many, many Americans are very happy right now to see transparency coming out from the apex of the national intelligence operation in our country. Well, certainly COVID raised the alarm for a lot of Americans on both sides of the aisle. It lingers to be seen if the new transparency on this particular topic will lead to any leads on that. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., the FBI raided the office of a Democrat-aligned NGO called the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. And this comes after DOJ announced fraud enforcement measures in Ohio earlier this month. Here's Acting Attorney General Topp Lange discussing that partnership with the state of Ohio. Today, the Department of Justice is announcing significant fraud enforcement in the state of Ohio, as well as a historic fraud-fighting partnership with the state of Ohio officials, which is exactly how it should be in every state. One that can serve as a template partnership for other states in this country. So first of all, Lee, previously, a member of this NGO was convicted of voter registration fraud. Do you think there should be more oversight, especially when it comes to these NGOs, potentially politically affiliated when it comes to them helping with voter registration? Well, I think, look, I think every state in the union should have oversight over their elections and how they run their elections and how they register voters. You know, when it comes to, in this instance, what I think you're gonna end up having here is, at the end of the day, a big nothing burger. In the meantime, what you're gonna have is a chilling effect on these voter registration drives in a state where you have competitive Senate, competitive governor's race. And if you look at the polls as they are now, the Democrats have advantages in both. And you have an administration that basically says, we will weaponize the Justice Department. We have a president who has fired just US attorneys because they haven't been prosecuting his opponents fast enough. And you look at what's happening in California. You have the US attorney saying, well, we're gonna go investigate the city of LA because they're counting too slow. Something must be up. The only thing they're gonna find when they investigate that is that, yes, California counts votes slower than those sloths of the DMV in Zootopia, for those who've seen that movie. So here's the thing, is that President Trump and his allies have been talking about voter registration fraud for the past six years. And I'll be the first to say, you catch someone committing fraud, Republican or Democrat, throw the book at them, throw them in jail. They've had six years to bring proof and evidence of whites, not only bring proof and evidence, but have people convicted of wide scale voter fraud. And it hasn't happened yet. It hasn't. The only case I know of someone being convicted of wide scale voter fraud in an election is here in California in the city of Lodi with a city council member registered like 200 people in his house. And he happened to be a Republican, which goes to show, look, bad people are bad people. And like I said, if you commit voter fraud, throw the book at you. You're messing with our elections. They show the book at you and see you later. But President Trump, this administration has had six years to bring wide scale criminal trials against people who've committed voter fraud 2020 on, and they haven't done it yet. So kind of where's the beef? So Marley, we have seen the Trump administration actually as of just recently raising concerns about mail-in ballots after, for example, Maryland had a major mail-in ballot era of thousands if not tens of thousands of ballots being re-sent due to a mix up of the parties of the voters. So that, of course, being raised by the Trump administration amid their push for the Safe America Act, which restricts mail-in voting. Marley, do you think the evidence is solid enough for their arguments to stand? And also, of course, a lot of nation's voters now watch in California as the process really drags on. Is the Trump administration's concerns valid when it comes to voter fraud? Well, the concerns are valid. I think the arguments are a little bit off the center for where they need to really stand, because the second sentence of the United States Constitution promises the citizens of every state, every American citizen, that each state will qualify every voter in a congressional election according to its state's own laws. So RealAmerica.Vote ran some pilot studies examining whether that had been the case in previous Ohio elections. So regarding the state of Ohio, I can confirm that the DOJ has reason to be concerned, because we discovered that in the 2024 election in Ohio, when they were sending members of Congress to D.C., there were roughly four percent of the voters in Franklin and Hamilton counties, the two biggest, most populous counties, didn't have Social Security numbers at all. Roughly two percent of the voters did not exist. They had a no-hit rate in advanced synthetic identity fraud identity tools where we were researching this issue. And then roughly another four to five percent did not reside at the address they voted from. And again, that's not using the mail codes. That's using like law enforcement tools that are that are used to locate people precisely in space and time. So this is a huge problem in the state of Ohio. There are many voter registration outfits that compensate people based on the number of registrations that they get, not based on the validity of those registrations. Another example, Iris, is from 2023 when the election that Ohio held to determine whether or not to make a constitutional amendment allowing free term, I'm sorry, full term abortion in the state, which is a very conservative state, broadly speaking. A third of the voters who voted in that election were registered to vote on January 1st, and the other two thirds of the voters were registered on all other dates. So again, from my perspective, there is a lot of cause for concern about the registration rolls in Ohio. And, you know, voter registration is the gateway to voting. If you're a poll worker and someone is on the registration list in your polling site or in your county site, and they come in and they show you an ID, they're allowed to have a ballot. So the idea that voter registration is of no concern to Americans, it couldn't possibly be a problem in Ohio, it couldn't possibly be a problem in California, that's just like a fantasy. That's kindergarten. The United States Congress stands, these are 535 American citizens who stand over the largest budget of a single national entity, a single sovereign in the world, the greatest world power. And the idea that no one might be trying to get in there improperly, that's ridiculous. All eyes, of course, on election integrity as we're heading into the midterms now, and of course, 2028 coming up, not too far away. Meanwhile, pivoting to a more lighthearted topic here, the US is gearing up for a series of historical sporting events, UFC Freedom 250, as well as the World Cup, at least. So we're talking about combat sports at the White House and the most powerful country hosting the most popular sports, soccer. I do think the president's initiative here, as well as the sports themselves, can bring a sense of unity amidst a division in the country. I gotta say, I am disappointed the president is having UFC at the White House only because I wish he would have had WWE instead with a card headlined by my tribal chief, Roman Reigns, probably versus Cody Rhodes. That being said, look, I'm going to a World Cup watch party as soon as we're done here to watch the USA beat Paraguay in their opening match. And I think it's good to have Americans on opposite sides that don't agree politically be able to come together and enjoy two guys beating the bejesus out of each other on the White House lawn or enjoy watching the United States win the World Cup. It's good when we have things that show Americans. And look, one of the things that I just think is horrible on both sides is that too many people define other people by their politics, not by who they are as people or what their interests are or who they are, is a good guy, whether he's a Republican or a Democrat. Unfortunately, that's where our country is at today. And it's good when we have events to bring people together to show everyone, hey, we're all American. We're not Republicans. We're not Democrats. We're Americans at the end of the day. And, you know, let's go enjoy a rear naked chokehold on the White House lawn. Well, certainly the unifying effect of sports showcasing itself during the recent NBA games as well. So, Marley, sports, of course, is a big topic for a lot of Americans. Do you believe in the unifying power of it? And what message do you think the major sporting events will send to Americans across a different political spectrum as well? Well, I hope, like Lee said, that some great victories will inspire more unity. I would agree that that would be a very good thing for the country overall. And I hope that that's what we'll see. I really do, Iris. Well, Lee Neves and Marley Horning, thank you so much for your insights tonight. And, of course, certainly looking forward to the sporting events as well altogether. Thank you. Thanks, Iris. The excitement is running high in the nation's capital as the White House is gearing up for the upcoming UFC fight on the South Lawn. How are everyday Americans feeling about the event? NDD's Dan Wong was out on the National Mall in D.C. to hear from the people. And for all of you MMA fans out there, stay tuned. There's a surprise for you in this story. What do you make of this upcoming UFC fight at the White House? I think it's one of the most greatest things we could ever do. It's going to be a lot of fun. Donald Trump's one of the most exciting, greatest presidents of all time. So it will be one in a lifetime. And I'm very thankful to be here. Oh, I think it's going to be amazing. It's going to be groundbreaking. There ain't never going to be another fight as good as this one. You know, I'm just really excited. I mean, as someone who trains every day and as someone that just loves the sport so much to see it and such a huge scale like this, I mean, I just I'm so excited to watch these fights. If people think it's like not politically correct or whatever, but I think it's pretty cool. And I think lots of people think it's pretty cool and everybody's excited to watch it. You've got a fighter you're rooting for. Yeah, so I would like to win, you know, 250th anniversary. I'd like the American fighter to win, but we'll see what happens, man. These fights are very unpredictable. You never know what's going to happen. I'm rooting for Justin Gaethje all the way. Speaking of Americans, I like Michael Chandler, but again, I don't know. I'm rooting for him. I don't know if he'll win. I know it'll be entertaining. Bo Nickel. I used to wrestle in high school and he was a national champion for Penn State. I got Alex Pereira by a round two knockout. O'Malley. O'Malley. Sean O'Malley. Oh yeah. What's it like working with Alex Pereira? It's amazing because, you know, his mindset is incredible. To be a teammate and to spar that and to make sure I grow from that and just to witness as well, it's incredible. I expect a knockout from Alex Tsai, you know, getting that three belts is going to make history. It's already a historical event right here, but the fact that he's already became a champion in two weight deficiencies and now the third one, the heavyweight is incredible. What do you guys make of the president's presence in this fight? Oh my goodness. Well, he's at almost every fight, but again, being here at the White House, I think it's going to be so amazing. I'm just so excited for the fans too. I know they're going to be screaming and yelling anytime he comes up. I'm actually really excited because I follow his granddaughter, Kaia Trump or Kai Trump. Yeah. And I'm really excited. I hope she's here. I love it, man. You know, there's a lot of haters out there talking trash about this whole event, but you know, I think it's a great thing and if he enjoys the fights, I think there's nothing stopping him from coming out and watching these fights. So I love it. Love it, man. Leading by example, leading by example, giving back to America, celebrating 250 years of freedom for the warriors out here and all American heroes and Americans overall. He's the most greatest, most awesome president and most fun. Boat parades, car parades, UFC fights. We're going to be doing Indy 500 here. I'm going to be here for that for sure. I'm not missing that. It's a blessing in history. It's just to be in Washington, D.C. It's awesome. With Elon Musk becoming the world's first trillionaire in light of SpaceX's historic NASDAQ debut, two questions remain for the man behind the largest IPO in American history. How did he get here? And how much farther can this go? John Tammy from Real Clear Markets joins Tiffany Meyer tonight with analysis. That's next at 8 p.m. Eastern. And you're looking at a live shot of the White House. Coming up, Aesop's fables reimagined an American setting. We'll speak with the author of a new book just after the break. My 15-year-old son Ethan and I had a fun and relaxing morning. We returned home and Ethan walked to his best friend's house an hour later. I heard the ambulance scream by the street carrying my beautiful boy. Ethan was shot in the head in his best friend's house with an unsecured gun. He had zero chance of survival. The father, the gun owner, he stored his three guns and bullets in a shoebox. How do you feel? That has to be the most horrific experience that a human could ever have. David, would you give any advice? First thing you do is not keep your ammunition with your weapons and that your weapons need to be locked at all times. My name's Stacey. I'm 57 and I was adopted in 2020. We were adopted in 2019. And we were adopted in 2021. We had a house and it sounds crazy but it wasn't a home. The one thing that Jake and Emma brought is it became a home. When I met Dakota, he had just turned 14. You weren't there for the first this and the first that. I missed the first words but we got a lot of other firsts. Watching her say oh my god I cannot believe I got my license and she's like I passed and I'm like girl. See them grow. It is... They chose to love us. They didn't have to. They chose us. Them. You and you. Kids in the middle. What I thought was a complete life was nowhere near complete but it is now. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. You can't imagine the reward. Visit adoptuskids.org. Welcome back. I'm Iris Tao. Fables from the ancient Greek author Aesop reimagined in an American setting. Matthew Meehan is the author of the new book The American Book of Fables. He joins me now to share his creative process and the American values he explored in his new book. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. So from the Everglades. Thank you for having me Iris. Thank you. So from the Everglades to the Great Lakes the book is deeply rooted in the American landscape. What inspired you to reimagine Aesop's Fables in an American setting and why did this feel like the right moment for a book like this? Well for the semi-quincentennial I felt like the American people needed an infusion of patriotism and of beauty. The country is so full of gorgeous places, gorgeous animals, gorgeous mountains, gorgeous national parks, and I wanted to basically take everyone there even if they can't drive there themselves. And so my illustrator and I traveled the country, we painted, we researched, I wrote fables, nursery rhymes, short stories, and each chapter goes to a region of the country and explains both the principles of the country and the Declaration of Independence but also the settlement, the history, the people, the places, and the beautiful animals. So you say you traveled across the country. What place were these stood out to you? What specific adaptation for example that you're especially proud of? I adapted Aesop's Fables to each region of the country and then wrote my own as well but I had the most fun adapting fables and writing my own for Yellowstone National Park which gets its own whole chapter called The Warmth of Yellowstone and where the book ends the grand finale is at Glacier National Park in Montana. That was one of the most amazing places I've ever seen just unparalleled breathtaking beauty and I wanted to share it and my illustrator came with me and we painted gorgeous paintings of that and they're all in the book so we got gorgeous illustrations and gorgeous stories. And then the other place I really enjoyed was the Everglades where I got to see manatees. I went kayaking with manatees which gave me the idea for the lead character of the book Hugh the Manatee or Hugh Manatee who goes on a journey throughout the country. Well certainly illustrations look very beautiful to me. Well Aesop's Fables have survived thousands of years because of their lessons and values being universal. So what are the main American values or interwoven through the book and how are they applicable to us today? I thought I would basically give a panoply of virtues through all these fun stories but ones that I focused on especially are optimism a kind of hopefulness in the future that this world is a good world and made by a provident god and that you can be hopeful about it but also friendship. I have Cuddy the cuddly porcupine you just saw on the screen you have to hug the porcupine right take the prickles of friendship and you know sacrifice and suffer for your friends right even though they can let you down you still keep giving back and eventually you get a reward and then the other one that I pushed was candor. I think that the American people need to be honest with one another and friendly and open and those are the kinds of virtues that I put front and center for the American people to sort of live up to their way of life that we've practiced for 250 years. A traditional American wave of life definitely something that I would want to let my son see as a mom what's the target audience of this book what what groups of Americans you're uh you have in your mind when you really created this whole series and how does it really celebrate the nation's history of course like you like you mentioned we are now at 250th birthday for the nation. I'm sort of a go big or go home for America's 250th so the book is huge it is a 350 or 395 page book and it has sections for littles nursery rhymes for little readers it has fables for middles and really for all readers but then it has primary sources from the founding and the history of the country with poems and short stories for big so littles middles and bigs. I wanted it to be a family book not just a children's book but a book that could be read aloud to littles but then read on your own or read with older kids it's a kind of family heirloom a kind of testament to the 250th and I think it goes on the coffee table and on the bedside table. Well sounds like a great way of teaching our kids about our history. Matthew Meehan thank you so much for sharing your story and congrats on your new book. Thank you. A U.S. citizen arrested in China less than a month after President Trump's visit to Beijing. What's the risk for Americans traveling to China? Find out more tonight on China in Focus with Tiffany Meyer at 9 30 p.m. Eastern time. And you're now looking at a live shot of the U.S. Capitol. Coming up next on Capitol Report, the World's Fair of Liberty. What to expect at this year's Freedom Fest. We'll hear from the organizer just after the break. The 8th NTD International Piano Competition has distinguished pianists from celebrating the depth, discipline, and expressive power of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic repertoire. September 1st through the 5th, 2026. Apply at pianodtv.com. Honoring the timeless tradition of the piano. Say goodbye to harsh bitter coffee and hello to a delicious smooth brew with specialty quality beans expertly roasted in-house. You'll taste the difference with every sip. Fermented with 50 enzymes, Day's Coffee delivers a rich brew like no other. Made with the highest grade specialty beans available. You're sure to taste the difference. Your morning with Day's Enzyme Fermented Coffee. 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The natural herbal formula provides a cooling, minty, and refreshing effect that stimulates natural tears and awakens your tired eyes. Placing the eye patches around your eyes helps to reduce dryness and massages acupuncture points. They can be worn while reading, studying, using electronics, and provide hours of long-lasting relief. Welcome back. I'm Iris Tao. It's part political convention, part film festival, part debate hall. Freedom Fest returns to Las Vegas this July for the World's Fair of Liberty. NTT Steve Land spoke with founder Mark Skousen about what he's looking forward to this year. Mark Skousen, thank you so much for joining. My pleasure, Steve. Nice to be with you. It's great to have you with us, Mark. So, Freedom Fest, it's taking place this year, once again, 24th year in. You've got some featured speakers, a debate room, even an entire film festival on site. Tell us more about the festival and what are you looking forward to most this year? Yeah, well, Freedom Fest is really the annual gathering all freedom lovers. So, the idea is that once a year, 1% of the year, three and a half days out of 365 days, we get together to learn, to network, to socialize, and celebrate liberty. And we've always had big name speakers. In fact, we're just announcing that Kelsey Grammer of Frazier fame and cheers is going to be our keynote speaker. We also have Senator Rand Paul and his wife, Kelly, who has a new book out. They're going to be speaking on the main stage and doing a lot of breakout sessions. We have, yes, the film festival is a very popular event. It's the only libertarian film festival out there. We have several thousand people that are coming together. We have lots of debates. Our mock trial this year is putting ICE on trial. The Border and Immigration Control. That's going to be interesting. We have the ACLU representing a critique of ICE. And then we have a 24-year veteran on the border control who is going to be in this mock trial. So, big C-SPAN coverage, and it's really going to be a fun event. You know, I've visited before. It really does represent sort of a vast array of ideas and opinions. What was the spark that made you guys sort of think that the world needed this sort of event? And has that original vision evolved? Yeah, it really happened over 20 years ago, as you noted. I really thought the enemies of liberty were much better organized than we were. They're the ones who seem to be encroaching on our liberties. And the Economic Freedom Index indicates that, that it's been in decline ever since 9-11, really. And there's been all kinds of crises and events that have restrained us on both sides of our freedoms. We're either prohibited or we're mandated to do this or that. Our idea was, you know, we all have our different interests. We have our various organizations, our freedom organizations. Can't we all come together once a year and learn from each other, network and socialize and celebrate liberty and kind of give a sense that we could win this war? I think Ben Franklin symbolizes this the best because he said, we must all hang together or we shall surely hang separately. So Freedom Fest is meant to come together once a year. It's in July, July 8 to the 11th this year at the conference center, at the Caesars Forum Conference Center in Las Vegas. And we expect several thousand people there. Every year we get a wide variety of people. All the freedom organizations are there, Cato Heritage, Reason, Students for Liberty, Americans for Tax Reform. The list goes on and on of people. Epic Times will be there in a big time. And this year we're billing Freedom Fest as the World's Fair of Liberty. So we have these pavilions and major organizations are sponsoring these events. And it's really, we just added Americans for Free Markets coming. It's really going to be quite an event, I think. And Hollywood is coming too. I mean, we have Rob Schneider. We've got Fraser. We've got, let's see, Dean Kane, who played Superman in Lois and Clark years ago. He's actually going to read the Declaration of Independence on July 8, which would be exactly 250 years ago, was the first reading of the Declaration of Independence. So he's doing that. So really going to be a great event. And right in the middle of our trade show, our exhibit hall, is going to be a very large Liberty Bell. And anybody who makes a contribution to one of these freedom organizations gets to come and ring the Liberty Bell. So that's going to be kind of cool. Really fascinating. What an excuse to get out to Las Vegas, celebrate America 250, and a little bit of liberty and freedom. Mark Skousen, America's economist. Thanks so much for joining. Steve, my pleasure. And that's all we have for you tonight on The Capital Report. Stay connected to the stories that matter. Visit us at ntd.com slash live or download our NTD app. I'm Iris Tao. Have a nice evening and we'll see you back here on Monday.