Capitol Report Full Broadcast (Aug. 7)

Good evening. Tonight on the Capitol Report, billions in new deals to counter energy weaponization by Communist China. President Trump vowing a Supreme Court appeal after federal judges ordering a halt of the White House ballroom construction. And Todd Blanch looks poised to become the next Attorney General, while Senator Bill Cassidy says he will vote for Blanch and end the confirmation battle. But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanch. President Trump using his executive power to tackle birth tourism, why the administration says it's in line with the Supreme Court, and how it matters to national security. In one year after President Trump brokered peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the deal could now have major implications for America's energy security and competition with our adversaries. Tonight on the show, Armenia's ambassador to the United States, Narek Makarchan, about what the agreement has achieved and what comes next. This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. And President Trump holding a major mining industry roundtable today at the State Department, vowing to cut foreign dependence and bring critical mineral processing back to the United States. We go now live to NTD's White House correspondent, Mari Otsu, standing by at the North Lawn. Mari, good evening. Tell us more about this roundtable. Hey, Steve, good evening to you. Yeah, that's right. President Trump today, along with CEOs of many mining companies and other cabinet members today, announcing over $2 billion in new critical mining projects in the U.S. and over $180 in grants for America's mining schools. That's as a direct response to a longstanding vulnerability over the past three decades, As the president says, America has lost over 3,400 mines. Meanwhile, China currently refines more than 90% of the world's rare earths and produces the vast majority of magnets that power our fighter jets, our missiles, our satellites and our advanced electronics. Here's the president earlier. Take a listen. Now, in my second term, we're achieving our economic independence, ensuring that America is never again reliant on hostile foreign nations for the resources our country needs to dominate in the future. Accredited mining programs in the United States now graduate less than 170 mining engineers each year, while China graduates more than 3,000 and half of our current mining workforce is set to retire within the next three years. Now, Steve, there are currently only 14 accredited undergraduate mining programs in the U.S. Meanwhile, in China, there are approximately 45 mining programs. Now, the combination of extremely low American graduates in mining programs and impending retirements create a shortage that today the White House says cannot be fixed without major new investment in education and training, which was the aim of today's roundtable. The White House also says that the objective is simple, to mine, process, refine and manufacture critical minerals in the U.S., expressing this as an existential urgency. Take a listen. The challenge we face in this domain that actually goes to the very survival of the country, because at the core of this is our industrial strength, but also our national sovereignty. If we want to lead in advanced manufacturing, A.I., semiconductors, energy defense, we can't depend on our foreign adversaries for the materials that underpin our industries. Meanwhile, in another defense of national security, President Trump today vowing to appeal to the Supreme Court after a panel of federal judges ordered a halt to construction on the White House ballroom. The president is calling this ruling unlawful and politically motivated national security threat to our nation, saying that the complex, which includes not only the ballroom, but a military complex beneath it, is built for the protection of our country and all of America's future presidents. Steve, back to you. Mariotsu live from the White House. Thank you, Mari. We'll be diving into President Trump's ballroom project and the legal activism against it with our panel later in the show, so stick with us for that. Meantime, President Trump rolling out new executive orders this week, all to target birthright citizenship and birth tourism, a loophole commonly exploited by China. It's also securing the supply chain of a particular critical mineral that's crucial to the United States' leverage against Beijing. Joining us now in studio is NTD's White House correspondent, Iris Tao. Iris, this is very serious stuff, very consequential. Talk to us about what's in these orders. Sure. So the president's now moving again to try to target birthright citizenship and really stop people from buying their way in, in his words. So back in June, the Supreme Court did strike down a broader executive order that he signed back on his first day of office that would target that exact topic. But that back then, the justices reaffirmed that the 14th Amendment would allow anyone, essentially almost everyone born on the U.S. soil to become a citizen, but with some exceptions. And now the president is trying to carve out a different route by reinterpreting some of these narrow exceptions to expand these categories. For example, exceptions targeting a diplomat's families, as well as what the constitution stated as invading enemies, invading armies, so that these categories target more people and their children cannot become citizen. Let's take a look. They're buying their way in and we're not going to let it happen. The executive orders seek to limit birthright citizenship for children born to mainly four types of people, alien enemies of the U.S., foreign terrorist group members, foreign government employees and foreign lobbyists, and mothers who expressly and deceptively enter the U.S. just to give birth here. A separate order draws on the president's authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to control international travel, setting rules to target birth tourism. That practice of birth tourism is, as of the signing of this order, hereby banned. While there's no official number, GOP lawmakers have cited reports estimating that between 750,000 and 1.5 million Chinese nationals have obtained U.S. citizenship through birthright policies and tourism. Texas, for example, in April sued a Chinese birth tourism center in Houston, which bragged about being responsible for over 1,000 American-born babies in the past two decades. Lawmakers raising national security concerns. China has sent individuals to give birth in America, securing U.S. citizenship for up to 1.5 million Chinese nationals who will spend their entire lives in China but can vote in our elections. Legal challenges, meanwhile, are expected, though the White House says... There's absolutely nothing in here that runs afoul of any of the Supreme Court's opinions on the subject. Another action signed Thursday, also centering on national security, seeks to stop China from dominating the production of a particular critical mineral. We're setting prices so that the Chinese can't dump anymore, and we're setting tariffs to say build it here. We've got the industry here, it's too small, and it's going to explode under your leadership. The president setting a minimum price for polysilicon imports and imposing a 15% tariff on polysilicon products. And that's the mineral used in electronics, defense systems, radar and communication systems, and missiles and drones. But China is now producing almost 90% of the world's supply, while the U.S. share has fallen from 50% in 2005 to now just under 2%. So the U.S. has been trying to use tariffs, for example, to try to limit Chinese products like solar panels from flooding in the U.S. market, but China has been using loopholes such as, for example, exporting their products to third countries like Ethiopia, have them assembled there, and then export them back to the U.S. to avoid these tariffs. Now the president's action is seeking to really close that loophole by bringing the whole supply chain back to the U.S. and making sure that these materials and products that matter to national security stay here in the U.S. I mean, you pointed out national security from 50% right now to 2%. This is used for critical, you know, missiles and defense, as you pointed out. Great reporting, Iris Tao, and to you. And Todd Blanche, President Trump's nominee for attorney general, appears to have cleared a major hurdle in the Senate. Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy says he'll support the bid, likely giving Blanche enough votes to win confirmation. And to these Arlene Richards' report. All considered, I will vote for Mr. Blanche. Todd Blanche's path to becoming the nation's next attorney general appears all but secure. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy announced Friday he will vote to confirm Blanche, a key endorsement after several Republican senators expressed concerns about the nomination. Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this, but the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump, and who, indeed, may not be as good as Mr. Blanche. Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins have already announced they'll oppose Blanche, making Cassidy's support a pathway to Blanche's confirmation. If you look at Washington and Memphis as examples, where we have worked with federal, state and pulling thousands of criminals off the streets in those two cities. That is what happens when we fight crime together, and I want to bring that model that we've done in a few towns to more communities in every state. The full Senate vote on Blanche's final confirmation is expected before lawmakers leave for the August recess. Arlene Richards, NTD News. Acting AG Todd Blanche appears to have enough votes to be confirmed as the next attorney general. Joining us now to discuss is Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Steve. It's wonderful to be here. It's great to have you back on the program, Congresswoman. So the Senate appears to be voting to confirm Todd Blanche as the attorney general. Obviously, Blanche has consistently said that he's been working to end the weaponization of the Department of Justice and restore America's trust in the justice system. You sit on the Judiciary Committee. Are you confident in what Blanche will bring to the Department of Justice, although he's already been there, but as a bona fide attorney general? Absolutely. I've been watching his career with great interest for quite some time. I think he's an excellent attorney. I love the way that he thinks. I know how dedicated he is to America and pursuing the rule of law, but I also know that he recognizes the importance of protecting our civil liberties and constitutional rights. And under the previous administration, we had so many instances where the federal government has been weaponized against the American public, whether it was associated with COVID or the effort to suppress speech surrounding COVID, the Hunter Biden laptop, the issues associated with unfettered immigration and things like that. So yes, I'm looking forward to having him finally confirmed and officially the attorney general of the United States. Now President Trump, last night shifting gears a bit, he signed a very consequential executive order, two of them, one of them being in order to end birth tourism. This is sort of when foreign nationals like Chinese nationals from the Communist Party perhaps take advantage of our birthright citizenship by having babies on American soil through tourism. It's particularly an issue when it comes to communist China. Are you optimistic in the actions that the Trump administration is taking to crack down on this? And is Congress perhaps considering any measures to be able to support it? Yes, we are. And yes, I am pleased that he is addressing this situation. I think that the Supreme Court decision was absolutely incorrect. The drafters of the 14th Amendment never intended that there would be this kind of a consequence associated with the language that they used. It's clear that what they were attempting to do is make sure that the freed slaves were considered citizens and had all of the rights of citizenship in this country. That does not apply to foreign nationals that come into this country solely for the purpose of having babies. But referring back again to my Judiciary Committee work earlier this year, we had a hearing related to the CCP, or at least I addressed the issue of folks from the CCP actually hiring surrogates and essentially buying American babies, paying women to come, they come over here, they pay women to have children, and then they're taking those children back to China. They may never step foot in America for the next 18, you know, 10, 15, 20 years, but they have American citizenship through this surrogacy. It's a terrible, abusive phenomena that we're seeing, and it needs to be addressed. And we need to stop that kind, we're even having it here in the United, here in Wyoming, where we've had circumstances where people are surrogates for individuals from China, and they're taking those babies that were born here in Wyoming, taking them back immediately to China, but then also claiming American citizenship. Yeah, you know, you raise an interesting point, and I think you really only understand the threat and the scope of it when you understand the depth and the scope of the brainwashing that takes place in communist China from such a young age. I agree with that, and the other thing that people are not recognizing is that we also have what's called chain migration in this country. So if you have American citizenship, your ability to bring over other family members increases dramatically. So they're looking at this in the long term. They're looking at this as being something that is potentially going to fundamentally change our culture and who and what America is. And we're already seeing the communist infiltration in our universities and with some of the candidates that are running for office. So this isn't a conspiracy theory. This isn't something that we only need to worry about 15 years from now. We need to be addressing it right now because we need to preserve America as America. We need to preserve our culture. We need to preserve our freedoms and make sure that the people who are in America are here for American values. Speaking of which, at a recent cabinet meeting, Secretary Rubio said that the Western hemisphere is becoming more pro-American, and that's after years of Chinese Communist Party infiltration and influence working in the region. Let's play a soundbite. For the first time in 15, 20 years, the overwhelming majority of the countries in the Western hemisphere are now led by pro-American leaders. Congresswoman, this isn't just in the Western hemisphere. The Middle East seems to be turning away from Iran and China and toward the United States economically and diplomatically. But China still has a lot of influence at the United Nations and other sort of globalist institutions and some other countries. Are we seeing a shift in global diplomacy with this administration? Well, I hope so. And it's something that I have been working on. And just recently, I sent a letter to Ambassador Waltz and to Secretary Rubio specifically to address the Chinese or CCP's influence at the UN. What we have found is that the UN is the umbrella organization, but there are many, many, many different sub-agencies. And what we have found is over the years, the Chinese Communist Party has essentially inserted some of their members directly as the head of those sub-agencies. And so they're running them for the purpose and the benefit of the CCP, not for the UN, not for the benefit of America, and not for the benefit of what the purpose of the UN was, which is essentially kind of a global view of trying to make sure that we have peace throughout the world. I mean, all these different things. And so as the UN has expanded and these various agencies have been created and themselves expanded, we have a situation where the CCP is installing the heads and they're being elected to these leadership positions. So I have done a couple of things. One, I brought this to the attention of the folks within Congress who oversee the UN. And we're attempting to address this situation through appropriations. For example, that we will not give any money to any sub-agency of the United Nations that is led by someone aligned with the CCP. The other thing that I'm doing is I'm really encouraging this administration to make sure that when these positions come open, when these sub-agency heads positions come open, that we have folks aligned with the United States, that we have American citizens, that we actually support and attempt to put in those positions, whether it has to do with, you know, farm programs, international farm programs or international poverty programs or international, you know, in terms of diplomacy. We want to make sure that the UN being housed in the United States and with us paying the vast majority of the bills, that those agencies are aligned with our values. Again, the ideas of freedom and liberty and protecting personal autonomy and trying to push back against totalitarian regimes and communism. And that sort of thing. So I've been working very hard on trying to make sure that the UN is more aligned with Americans' interests. Commercewoman Harriet Hageman, as always, really appreciate your perspective. Thank you. Thank you. The Senate has approved a Russian sanctions package to reinforce U.S. support for Ukraine. The late Senator Lindsey Graham was working on the package for a year, right up until the day before he died. Today, President Zelensky is watching from Ukraine. And Putin is watching from Moscow. I would like to think that Lindsey Graham is watching, too. And I know how proud he would be of his sister today, who has taken his place on the floor and has been such a profoundly strong and effective advocate for this bill. Today, we say to the people of Ukraine, you are not alone. And we say to Vladimir Putin, you will not conquer Ukraine. The bill would ultimately allow President Trump to impose tariffs on the world's five largest buyers of Russian oil and natural gas, including China and India. Countries that get less than 15 percent of their natural gas from Russia could be exempt if they are taking steps to further reduce those imports. The measure also includes sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, senior Russian political and military officials, financial institutions, as well as energy projects. New provisions would also increase economic pressure on Iran. The bill passed the Senate overwhelmingly 86 to 11, now heads to the House, where it must pass before reaching President Trump's desk. Coming up, President Trump is bringing the fight over the White House ballroom to the Supreme Court. Our activist judges behind the holdup. Our panelists will weigh in. And more unresolved UAP files released today by the Pentagon, the fifth batch following President Trump's directive. What's in them? We'll take a look after the break. The bladder control aisle, you won't shop here again. Your private business is your own. The constant struggle is over. Now there's a better way. It's HGIS. We home deliver bladder control products. We understand how you feel. For over 25 years, we've home delivered to many of the 20 million Americans who deal with incontinence. We offer all brands. We pay shipping and use plain unmarked boxes. 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. For your free sample pack with your free catalog, $45 in money saving coupons and free product samples, call 1-800-701-6159. That's 1-800-701-6159. Hi, my name is Brady. When I was born, my parents thought everything was OK. My mom and dad were so excited to take me home. I still get goosebumps telling the story. Several days in, his skin started to become very cold and clammy. We noticed that he had become blue around his mouth and something was just very off. Packed up as fast as we could. Brady stopped breathing twice on the way to the pediatrician. And that was one of the number one things that just haunts me to this day. I was born with a congenital heart defect called aortic coarctation. If my parents waited just one more hour to drive me to the hospital, I would not be here today. But thanks to research funded by the American Heart Association, I had heart surgery that saved my life. But not every kid is as lucky as me, which is why we need your help. Just call the number on the screen or go to helpheart.org for only $19 a month, just 63 cents a day. You can help get people trained in CPR, get more hospital certified in high quality cardiovascular care and help fund the next medical breakthroughs to help save kids like me. When you donate to the American Heart Association, you're helping save lives like my son. And now my son is happy and healthy. Thanks to the support of people like you. When you call with your $19 a month, you'll get this really cool T-shirt as a thank you. Many children die from congenital heart defects. I can't wait to grow up to become a heart surgeon and fix baby's hearts. But until then, I'll keep helping the American Heart Association. So please join me. Just call the number on your screen or go to helpheart.org to become a monthly donor and help save lives. And welcome back to the Capitol Report, I'm Steve Lance. More UFO files landing today from the Pentagon, this batch featuring new videos and written accounts, one involving a see-through triangle of all things. And to the correspondent, Jason Blair reports. They want to find out about the UFO. We're going to be releasing a lot of things from that we have. And I think some of it's going to be very interesting to people. The fifth release of the UFO files has been published by the Department of War. The files feature unresolved reports of unidentified aerial phenomena. Let's get into some of the most interesting parts of this latest release. The first one is a video of an object tracked against a mountainous terrain in the Middle East. The video was taken from an infrared sensor board in 2023 and is still unresolved. This next one is an account of a dark, translucent triangle object flying only an estimated 300 feet from the ground in Colorado. A former Pentagon employee and his wife saw the object pass over their backyard and described it as looking like a perfect triangle, completely silent, appearing almost see-through with no extra wings. And there were ripples like you were looking at an object that is underwater. And this video shows an object flying over an urban landscape in the Middle East. It was taken with a infrared sensor board in 2025. And finally, over the Pacific Ocean in 2019, infrared footage originally held by the Navy's UAP task force, an object is kept centered in the frame as the sensor tracks it. The Trump administration started releasing batches of the UFO files on May 8th. The Pentagon says more will come on a rolling basis with the next batch expected in three or four weeks. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, Entity News. And President Trump is bringing the fight for the White House ballroom to the Supreme Court. This comes after an appeals court declared that the president must seek congressional authorization to complete the privately funded ballroom. Joining us now to discuss his Democratic strategist, Theron Bond, and former presidential campaign adviser and political adviser, Bart Markois. It's great to have you both back on. So I want to start with a soundbite from President Trump discussing the need for the ballroom. Presidents have been asking for this literally from the time the White House is built, but on record for 150 years, they said, what about a big room? And you all know you probably attended. They have some where they use tents. If it rains, it's a disaster. There in the existing East Room caps out at about 200 guests, making invitations limited, forcing the president, if he wants to have a larger gathering, to go out to more or less secure areas. He's already been attacked for assassination attempts and counting on his life. Could this new ballroom fill a real functional gap and allow the White House to host larger events in a more secure environment? Absolutely not. He's saying he's consulted other presidents. He's saying it's a security concern. He's saying all of this support exists for this ballroom, but nobody asked for this. Taxpayers didn't ask for this. Members of Congress did not ask for this, which, by the way, he's supposed to get permission from Congress in order to build such a thing as this. Yet he seems to skip over that matter, too. So it would be nice if President Trump would actually focus on things that can help Americans here, right, right here, domestically, that health care, groceries, lowering the cost of gas, things like that, instead of building something that fits his personal agenda and his ego. Bart, I I don't know where to start. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that anybody is complaining about something like the president building a ballroom. He's right when he says that every president, the last dozen or more presidents have in all of the 20th and 21st centuries have wished that they had more space, certainly since Franklin Roosevelt. I say dozen presidents. I mean, dozen presidencies. And we all know that it's not just the ballroom. There are security features being built underneath it. And those are much more significant. He needs a big, beautiful ballroom. Every president needs it. This is not about Trump's ego. He will never get to use the ballroom. It won't be finished until he leaves office or until just before he leaves office. This is something he's doing to leave a legacy for future presidents. It's just it's very similar to the gold ballroom down at Mar-a-Lago, which is a nice, big, beautiful, open room that's functional for any kind of function you want to hold there. And and I mean, come on, it's it's a ballroom. It's a venue he's been shot at. The last place he went was the Grand Hyatt, and the security there was so bad that people almost got not just the president, but several other people were almost killed. I mean, if not for the president, at least for the Secret Service, make this make it something that's securable, that is that where the president is secure, where the Secret Service can control access. And it only makes sense. Every other country in the world, countries much less and much less important than the United States, have venues to host state dinners that are big enough to hold the kind of crowd you would like to invite. It's a ballroom. I do think to have somebody filing a suit is ridiculous. Now, the only thing that's crazy is to think that a ballroom is going to solve a security issue, which we know is not the answer to that or any other things that Americans are suffering for, and certainly not the protection of the president. I would say, Theron, with technology getting more and more advanced and drone technology making strides on a daily and weekly basis, I mean, it is going to have a heliport on the top with state of the art anti drone capabilities. Do you see some value in that? I'm not sure I trust this administration with helicopter access, certainly not a helipad being on top of the White House or anywhere near the White House. OK, so the ballroom itself has faced many legal challenges. Congress does have a role in allocating funds for repairs to the White House, but this project has been privately funded and serves a specific purpose. Theron, I'll come back to you. Given the construction is already underway, is this ruling more performative than practical? It's not performative if it never seeks to finally come to fruition in its totality. And the second that one single red cent of the American taxpayer dollar comes to pay for this thing is the moment that it stops being about something for everyone else and becomes more about President Trump. Oh, wait, we already tried to circumvent Congress. So there's that. Bart, many presidents have added or renovated the White House, as you had pointed out. Is this an example of I don't know what you might call activist judges standing in Trump's way just for the sake of it? Oh, yes. Yes. Unquestionably, it's a perfect example of an activist judge standing in the way just for the sake of it. You put it perfectly. I mean, did any judge tell the president that he couldn't have a bowling alley in the White House or a swimming pool in the White House or tennis courts on the White House? And those were things some of them were paid for by by taxpayer money. Others were paid for, as the ballroom is, by private donations. This has never been an issue until Donald Trump was president. It's just a way of petty harassment. It's it's just a way of petty harassment and ankle biting to try to stop the president from doing anything. If the president stood up and said he's curing cancer, there would be a significant percentage of the Democrat Party that would be opposed to it and say you can't do that. You're not allowed to do that. He's he's not circumventing Congress. The executive branch is an independent branch. He only needs to go to Congress if he's asking them for money to pay for it. He does not need he's not asking them for money to pay for it. It's it's a silly argument. And there are so many more important issues that we should be that we should be focusing on. As someone who's a cancer survivor who knows exactly what that's like to experience the health care system and want the federal government to do things to be helpful. Yes, actually, many people are suffering because he's not doing anything about it. I'm so glad you brought up cancer. And if you want to secure that, because if you wanted to find a cure, if you wanted to focus on health care for Americans, he would be doing that. But instead of that, he's trying to build a ballroom and at one point had his name on the Kennedy Center, which always judges thought that that was wrong, too. Yeah, I think some might argue, you know, Joe Biden said, yeah, go ahead, I didn't said Joe Biden is not president anymore and hasn't been. Yeah, he had he had four years. Joe Biden said he was going to cure cancer and make it a moonshot. And and have you been cured from that? Has anybody been here right now? Because Donald Trump is taking it away from. I think I think, you know, some folks might argue in terms of health care advancements, the president with his rolling out of Trump R.X. has saved a lot of Americans a lot of money when it comes to, you know, various drugs. We do have to leave it there. Theron Bond, Bart Markois, appreciate you both. Thank you. Meantime, coming up. Thank you. The United States has found a new partner in the race for critical minerals in the nation of Armenia. We'll speak with Armenian ambassador to the United States about the historic peace agreement that helped make this new partnership possible. And the DOJ accusing Duke University's law school of racial discrimination. But the DOJ says about race influencing the school's admissions process just after the break. Every day, thousands of kids start vaping and I can't let this happen to my kid. Of course, it's awkward to talk to kids about the dangers of vaping a bestie house sketches. It's hard to get their attention. Ready? Go. Yes. Look at that. Yeah, you can turn yours over. So if you want to talk to kids about the dangers of vaping, you have to get it trending. Right, backpack kid? Let's do it. First, invite your kid to do the big talk. Let's try this. Why is he here? I got to get it trending. Honey, can we talk? Yeah, what's up? I see a lot of your friends. Visit TalkAboutVaping.org for tips on when and how to have the big talk. I was a quarterback at Faraway High School, college first round draft pick on and off the field. We were taught to not show any signs of weakness during the football season. I would stop eating, but I didn't know I was depressed. I thought that something was wrong for 20 plus years was physical, physical, physical. We didn't have any education behind what mental health was. I started to learn. It starts here first. If this is together, I'll be better as a father, as a man and as a husband. Put the importance on your mental health. I'm not scared to talk about it anymore. The first rule is therapy. The second one is positive self-talk and then journaling, putting your thoughts on paper. We have to redefine what being a strong man is and heal, love your mind. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lanz. One year after President Trump brokered a historic peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the deal is taking on new significance beyond the region. As the United States looks to strengthen energy security and compete for critical minerals, the agreement could help open up new trade and transit routes connecting Europe and Asia to Western markets. Earlier today, I had a chance to speak with Armenia's ambassador to the United States, Narek Makhachian, about what has changed in the last year since the deal was signed. Armenian ambassador to the United States, Narek Makhachian, thank you so much for joining. Thank you for having me. It's a really special time. One year out, I want to play a soundbite from the signing last year. Here's President Trump discussing the significance of this new treaty. For more than 35 years, Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought a bitter conflict that resulted in tremendous suffering for both nations. They suffered gravely for so many years. Many tried to find a resolution. But with this accord, we've finally succeeded in making peace. Ambassador, you know, this conflict has expanded almost an entire lifetime. For our viewers who might not be familiar with it, could you talk to us about how significant this is, how it all started and where it stands right now? The origin of the conflict lies in the final years of the Soviet Union, when national sentiments, national movements like led to the conflict and competing national aspirations and claims actually lead to the interethnic tensions and led to the conflict. But now we are happy that we are going into peace and we have a unique opportunity to build peace in our region. And we are happy that now we have a strong partner in this important direction. And this partner is the United States of America that supported, especially the leadership of President Trump is much appreciated because he really could manage to broker historical peace between two nations that fought together for more than three decades. And now the result of the peace is measured by the reason, like the concrete like projects, even economic partnership. We don't have diplomatic relations. We do not have final peace treaty. But now, as a result of this peace deal, we have dialogue with Azerbaijan. We have trade with Azerbaijan. And you'll be also using the infrastructure of Azerbaijan to bring different goods to Armenia. So the future is very promising. This was really a historic moment. I still remember it, having both leaders in the Oval Office. You could tell this was real. It also included a commitment to building a transit corridor connecting Armenia and Azerbaijan. What is the Trump route, if you will, for international peace and prosperity designed to ultimately accomplish? This will provide connection between, as I mentioned, when you look at the geography of the region, like Armenia is in between Azerbaijan's mainland and Anklab, this will provide direct access of these two territories. And this route will be under the Armenian jurisdiction, but will be co-managed by the U.S. government and Armenian government. But the philosophy of TRIP is more than just connection infrastructure. And this is infrastructure, but not only about like roads, railroads, transmission lines, new pipelines, fiber optics. Also, the philosophy of TRIP is to bring different regions together and to create like a hub for dialogue, hub for technological cooperation and hub for the peaceful coexistence. In general, this is a new supply chain, a new global supply chain. Armenia is very proud to have U.S. as a key partner in developing this new global supply chain. And in this context, I want to emphasize that recently Armenia, myself, like and Undersecretary Halberg, we signed a joint statement on AI Opportunities Partnership or AXILICA, like to bring a partnership in the field of critical minerals, semiconductors, AI computing and energy to contribute to the global AI systems and to be an important part of this global transformation. And we are very happy that the United States of America trusts Armenia and supporting a lot of projects related to these strategically important topics. This is extremely significant, given the timing, the president yesterday signing executive orders in the Oval Office to nearshore and also, you know, stressing the importance to make sure that a lot of these critical supply chains are in the hands of, if not our territory, in our allies' hands. And clearly, Armenia has been a U.S. ally for a long time, and that alliance is only getting stronger. Ambassador Markuchan, greatly appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much for having me. The Trump administration is putting nearly two billion dollars into faith based humanitarian aid around the world. At the same time, officials are confronting rising religious hate crimes and considering new protections for religious freedom nationwide. And today's Washington correspondent, Jack Bradley, reports. The U.S. is putting nearly two billion dollars behind faith based humanitarian organizations around the world, the largest funding of its kind in nearly 20 years. Receiving the funding are organizations like Samaritan's Purse, which played a key role responding to the recent devastating earthquakes in Venezuela. Father, we stand before you today with this patient. In the past, this kind of service was run through USAID, the Trump administration eliminating that after accusing the agency of wasting money. USAID was operating in contravention and contradiction of what the embassy was trying to accomplish in the host country. The administration says that only about 35 to 40 percent of humanitarian funding actually went directly to helping patients. The rest went to NGOs with high administrative costs. For the first time ever, their government leaders have control over how the money is spent, where it's being spent, and it's being spent in a way that builds their domestic capacity inside of the country. But here at home, religious communities are also facing challenges. The Los Angeles district attorney says religious based hate crimes have spiked. So the total number of reported hate crimes is going slightly down. The percentage of religious based hate crimes is going up. This includes vandalism of churches and synagogues. So far, Los Angeles police have reported 460 hate crimes this year, including 65 assaults. We are going after those religious based hate criminals with the full panoply of laws that we have to go after them. And nationally, the Justice Department is looking at ways to strengthen religious liberty. A recent report from the DOJ's Religious Liberty Commission recommends new guidance on the First Amendment, specifically challenging the separation of church and state, a phrase that doesn't appear in the Constitution. The left has used that one phrase that was one line out of one of hundreds of letters by Thomas Jefferson to batter and hammer people of faith for the last 70 to 80 years. President Trump says his administration will continue working to protect religious liberty for all Americans. Jack Bradley, NTD News, Washington. Now, one of America's most prestigious universities facing accusations of race based discrimination, the Department of Justice publishing new findings saying Duke University School of Law used race as a factor in its admissions. NTD's Sam Wong has the details. The Justice Department finding Duke University Law School discriminated based on race in its admission process, according to the department's civil rights division. From 2023 to 2025, Duke Law's application intentionally emphasized racial diversity. The DOJ says some application essay prompts were designed to help identify minority applicants. The department also says black and Hispanic applicants were admitted a much higher race than white and Asian applicants with similar academic credentials. In a statement, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon says, quote, Duke Law School doesn't get a free pass to discriminate against white and Asian students simply because it thinks it has good intentions. Federal law prohibits race based discrimination in college admissions. A 2023 Supreme Court ruling also forbids race from being considered as a standalone factor on applications. The DOJ says it's seeking to reach a settlement with Duke University. Sam Wong, NTD News, Washington, D.C. Streets of Washington, D.C. are about to turn into a racetrack in just over two weeks. The inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix brings IndyCar racing to the nation's capital. For the first time ever, the route weaves past the capital, the Washington Monument, the National Mall as part of the celebration of America's 250th birthday. That is all we have for you tonight on the Capitol Report from the nation's capital. I'm Steve Lance. Have a great weekend. See you back here Monday.