Capitol Report Full Broadcast (Nov. 10)

Tonight on the Capitol Report, President Trump standing by the Secretary of War as lawmakers reject impeachment. With the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, says the push for impeachment tells our enemies. It tells our enemies, Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching, that the United States will actually punish its own warriors. And House Republicans have chosen who will lead them as Congress heads into a lame duck session. We'll discuss who leads the party to 2028. And allegations of a Chinese spy close to NVIDIA's CEO. Why is China going to such lengths to get American technology? And what's at stake for the nation's security? This is Capitol Report, live from our global headquarters in our nation's capital. Here's Steve Lance. President Trump backing the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over articles of impeachment against him in Congress. We go now live to NTD's White House Washington correspondent, Jack Bradley, standing by at the North Lawn at the White House. Jack, what is the latest here? Good evening, Steve. Well, it looks like the impeachment won't happen in this Congress. It was a near party line vote to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. This is a vote that was brought forward by Congressman Thomas Massie, a Republican, the sole Republican to vote for this impeachment. And this it failed to advance to a full floor vote, sending it to the Judiciary Committee, which is controlled by Republicans. So it will likely die there. Now, Massey. Being the sole Republican to vote in this would probably be one of his last acts in Congress. He was voted out by his Kentucky constituents in the midterms. President Trump today, however, praising Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, writing this on Truth Social just moments ago. Quote, the Democrats attempt to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has miserably failed. Every single Republican except Thomas Massey, a major loser, voted in favor of Pete. Victories in Venezuela and Iran, the best recruitment numbers in the history of the military, long waiting lists to get in, and spirit like rarely seen before, led to the exoneration of a great American patriot. And he says that the Democrats continue to weaponize the U.S. government. Now, that's after Hegseth said that this resolution to impeach him is not about crimes at all to begin with. It's about policy disagreement. And he says that it sends a bad message to America's adversaries. Take a look. It tells our enemies, Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations. So just because they failed to impeach Hegseth this time doesn't mean they won't try to do it again when Democrats have the majority in January. But even then, actually impeaching Hegseth is unlikely because even if it passes the House by a simple majority, it needs to pass through the Senate by a two-thirds vote. So they'll need some Republicans to jump on, and all the Republicans have already voted against this. And Republicans think that this is just to get attention. They say it sets a bad precedent to go after the president's cabinet. Democrats are raising the issue that Hegseth's impeachment is over concerns of the Iran war, strikes on Venezuelan drug boats, and the leaked signal chat. Here's Thomas Massey on this. Two of these articles of impeachment belong to Hegseth himself. It is true that the president is culpable by asking Hegseth to carry out these orders, Thank you. but Hegseth should not carry out illegal orders, and that's why we're impeaching him. Now, President Trump firing back saying Secretary Hegseth oversaw successful military operations in Venezuela and Iran, adding that the U.S. military has become much stronger in terms of recruitment and artillery under Hegseth. Take a look. The actual soldiers, the great people that do the work, the great patriots, they love. Pete Hegseth. Two years ago, we could not recruit people. And you know that better. The army was way behind everybody. Now we have waiting lists of people trying to get in. President Trump was also impeached twice in the House and acquitted both times in the Senate, but he's now urging Congress to put their energy elsewhere, prove the endorsed federal judges that they have 60 days, less than that, to do so before the Democrat-controlled Congress takes over and Republican priorities may fall to the wayside. Jack Bradley reporting live from the White House. Thank you, Jack. And the votes are in, and House Republicans have chosen Congressman Jim Jordan as their next leader. Both parties are selecting their leaders as lawmakers prepare for Democrats to take the majority on the Hill. Antony's Fiona Gee reports. In a vote of 106 to 73, Representative Jim Jordan, he has won House Minority Leadership in the upcoming 120th Congress against Representative Steve Scalise. Jordan is the current chair of the House Judiciary Committee and is a big supporter of President Donald Trump. Scalise, meanwhile, he is the current House Majority Leader. Here's what Representative Jordan had to say in reaction to his win earlier today. Over the next two years, House Republicans will fight for American families. When Democrats offer more government, we'll offer more freedom. And we will bring that fight in committee, on the floor, and on the stump every single day. Lawmakers, including Representative Brian Mast, say that they believe Jordan is the best choice for the job. Everybody needs to know clearly what is that distinction in values between us. I think everybody sees Jim as the right fighter for that. In other House leadership positions, Representative Tom Emmer will remain the House GOP whip, while Representative Lisa McClain, she will remain the House GOP conference chair. In the upper chamber, Senator John Thune wins minority leader. He reacts on X quote, we remain united in our commitment to advancing conservative priorities, working with President Trump and our colleagues in the House, and holding the line against Democrats' efforts to enact their far-left liberal agenda. This is despite earlier calls from some GOP senators to delay the election until they had more time to discuss and debate the candidates. Earlier today, Representative Pete Aguilar expressed his support for Hakeem Jeffries winning House Speaker. The outcome is not in question. And so I would tell any member that if they asked, if they asked how we're thinking about it, I would say I'm voting for Jim Jordan and there's no question he will be the next speaker In the Senate leadership election, Senator Chuck Schumer shows no signs of wanting to step aside. But at an earlier press briefing today, Senator Bernie Sanders says that he wouldn't support Schumer. There are also talks that Senator Chris Van Hollen could be a potential candidate. The final results of these leadership elections could tell us more about the direction each party will be taking come 2027 when Republicans descend into the minority and Democrats rise to the majority. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Fiona Gee, NTD News. Lawmakers rejecting the articles of impeachment filed against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Joining us now, Jonathan Gilliam, former Navy SEAL and former FBI special agent. Jonathan, great to have you back on the program. Here's the Secretary of War on what message he thinks this effort against him is sending to our adversaries. It tells our enemies. Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations. It tells them that a single rogue legislator loaded with personal animus for the president can attempt to veto national security decisions made by the duly elected commander in chief. Jonathan, Congressman Massey pushed to impeach the secretary over the Iran war and the capture of Nicolas Maduro, at least on the surface. We know that he does have a bit of a history, given the fact that the secretary of war also endorsed and went to campaign for the person that took his seat in this past election. What message does this impeachment push send to our adversaries? I got to tell you, when we look at the totality of the circumstances of the past month Um, and, uh, how, uh, terribly, uh, the conservatives did not show up to vote. First of all, uh, the, the, the fact that, um, that there was, has over the past two years been, uh, Some support, but really in the major areas, a lack of support for the president's agenda, where this Congress and Senate, the Republicans in the Congress and Senate, really waffled on many, many key issues. What Massey is doing now, even though he's kind of ostracized, is just the cherry on On top of the. The terrible. terrible totality of what the Republican Party has become. And it is heartbreaking for people like Pete Hexen, who shows up to do and has done an incredible job. They have, through the lack of effort of people in office and out of office, set this administration up that's been doing amazing things for a hard line stop now. And as we can see, What they're doing, what the left is doing now, along with people like Massey, is they are going to start using lawfare the exact same way they did before and probably even worse. Because now it's not just that they're making up fictitious evidence like they did with President Trump before. Now they're going to actually use people's efforts and their jobs that they've done right and twist it in such a way that they will try to impeach them, charge them with things. And in the case of Massey, you know, this guy may vote conservative a certain amount of the time, but the things that he does that are wrong are huge. And this is one of those instances where this is just purely his ego going out there so he can get one last big blast before he steps out of office. And this is what he's all about. That's why it's going to go away. This is how he's made his career of being a hero for. Fringe people and I think it does send a message to our enemies and it sends a message to the rest of the world that is really on the brink of communism that they can always count on some of these weirdos in D.C. and leftists to destroy anything that's productive. Jonathan, Nicolas Maduro, not too long ago, one of the most hostile actors toward the United States in the Western Hemisphere, he's now sitting in a New York City prison, accused of drug trafficking, supporting cartels, terror groups, putting American lives at risk. How does impeaching Secretary Hegseth over the capture of this person serve America's interests? Well, I tell you, having firsthand experience down in Venezuela, I tell you that the people There don't feel the same way as the left, and it really does weaken these incredible things that have been done by President Trump. It takes the huge successes and it bumps them down a notch for unrealistic reasons. And I think this may be, right now, we're at the end of these huge things that President President Trump has been able to do because. Now that the Democrats are going to be in charge of the Senate and the House of Representatives, they're going to block every single thing that he does. So things like this that were done and done, not just done, the mission didn't just happen, but it was done in such a way that we have not seen in modern history. They set a military standard in the way that they did things and have been doing things that is unmatched in history. And now with these significant victories, everything is going to come to a screeching halt because the president is going to be blocked in everything he tries to do from this point forward. To your point, Jonathan, I was actually in southern Florida when Maduro was captured in Doral, which has probably one of the largest Venezuelan dissident diaspora communities. And they came out in the thousands to celebrate outside. There's a big Venezuelan bakery there. Thank So you're absolutely right. There was a lot of folks that were celebrating that because they knew the tyranny that took took place in their country that caused them to leave. you Thank very you much. very much. But what do these trips tell us about how foreign governments try to influence American politics and what should voters be watching out for in the future? Well, I'll tell you something, I don't think there's any surprise that this has occurred. And as far as voters go, I'll be honest with you, I don't know what to show voters and what they should look. I mean, they just should look at the facts and you would see this should be no surprise. But I will tell you, if I say anything that's of any importance in this interview, this This is it. Is that. I believe that the President, Kash Patel, and the FBI, and the DOJ have a real advantage here, believe it or not. And that is, they know all the players. Before, when President Trump was in office, they didn't know all the players. Now they know all the players. They know the tactics. And they need to, as I've said before, have a special group of investigators that are We're strictly and solely dedicated to looking at this. Overall criminal enterprise and this conspiracy to subvert the government. And I think now, as these different politicians, big money donors, foreign actors, and the people who are in bed with them, I think that the DOJ and the FBI have the ability now to forward think and see where they're maneuvering. And just like the mob, when you have sources within different mafia organizations, it really comes down to whether or not you decide to carry out the case and take these different groups down. I think the left has gotten themselves in a position. That they can be easily monitored, easily flipped, and they can be charged with subversion at a minimum of trying to overthrow this government. That sounds fanciful, but I think this is a real advantage and a good point for the DOJ and the FBI to be in. The problem with that is that there's still people in the FBI and the DOJ that are far left, and so it would have to be a special group of investigators, potentially people who are not even in those agencies anymore, but are able to be brought on and investigate this stuff as it's happening. Former FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam, appreciate you joining us. Thank you. Coming up, the House blocking a resolution to impeach War Secretary Pete Hegseth. What was the effort? Substantive or political theater? Our panelists, Samantha Carlin and Michelle Backus, join us to discuss after the break. I'm pulmonologist Dr. Jamie Rutland. Did you know we take 20,000 breaths a day? And when we inhale, we invite all the contaminants in the room into our airways? Indoor air quality can be five to even 100 times worse than outdoors. Meet the air doctor. 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I want to play a sound bite here from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on the now-failed impeachment effort and the message that it's sending to our nation's foreign adversary. It tells them that a single rogue legislator loaded with personal animus for the president can attempt to veto national security decisions made by the duly elected commander in chief. It puts a target on the backs of American warriors by signaling that Congress will undermine their missions in real time. Samantha, presidents of both parties have ordered military action without a vote from Congress. Hegseth oversees war plans but doesn't write them. Was this impeachment push detrimental to our national security in the long run? No, I don't think it was at all. I mean, here's the thing with national security. We need to have a checks and balances process. If the Department of Defense can just go in and launch a war without any sort of restrictions or any sort of checks or balances or accountability, we have a major problem because we could be in wars all over the world. And that actually would present a national security issue. Being able to check the head of DOD is actually an important part of our democratic process. Michelle? I think this was a bogus thing. It's a lot of political theater. We've seen it time and time again. Obviously, we're coming off of a rough midterm from the Republican side. And when that happens, the voters, the Republicans, they want to see change. And for a while, it was Pete Hegseth. Obviously, the Iran war has not been popular. Polling has showed that as well, amongst other things, including the economy. But nonetheless, we did see Susie Wiles now leave her position as chief of staff, seeing Stephen Miller come A bit of hope. For Republicans, but it was between Susie Wiles and Pete Hegseth in the Republican circles of who's going to go because that's typically what makes voters feel better in a situation like that. Nonetheless, though, what you see here, I think it's a lot of political theater. And I'm happy that for once Republicans could stand together outside of Thomas Massey and stop. Speaking of a rough midterms for Republicans, they voted on Capitol Hill for their leadership today. Congressman Jim Jordan elected House Republican leader and Senator John Thune was reelected to lead Senate Republicans. Here's Senator Tom Cotton discussing Republicans' priorities after the party's leadership election. Come January, we'll be in the opposition. We will continue to champion conservative principles of limited constitutional government, individual liberty, lower taxes, strong national defense. We'll work together where we can to find common ground with the Democrats. But with the Democrats in charge, I expect many bad ideas will be coming across the Senate floor. So, Samantha, the Republicans have their own set of jockeying they have to deal with internally, but the Democrats with the newly elected and gaining population of DSA members are going to be facing their own set of challenges with electing leadership. Do you think Senator Schumer and Congressman Jeffries are shoe-ins, or will this become a battle? I think that Hakeem Jeffries is, I mean, you never know, right? There's no such thing as a shoo-in. I think that Hakeem Jeffries has a lot of support of the party, and he's also an incredibly charismatic leader. I think the strength of Schumer is that Schumer was in charge of picking a lot of these candidates that ended up being huge wins for the Democrats in places that we never thought we would win, like, well, we'll see what happens in Mississippi, but in Kansas, etc. The downside with Schumer is he's been, like, established leadership for a long time, and we're seeing people like AOC and Bernie and the more kind of liberal members of the party come out and say that they want new, fresh leadership. Michelle, your reaction to Jim Jordan being elected, Senator Thune, as well as what your thoughts are on the upcoming elections for the Democrats? Yeah, I've been pretty vocal about the fact that I think that there needs primaried, as well as you look at where the Republicans stood this past midterm. I was a large proponent of passing the Save America Act. Obviously, it didn't happen. And I think that was a tremendous travesty for our party and for our nation as well. But you look at the DSA side of things. Obviously, we have a ton of new people coming in, a lot of DSA candidates. And to Schumer's What you were saying. Schumer's been in there a long time, and a lot of these younger, fresh-blood candidates want to come in and they want new leadership, they want to change things up. It's funny, just the other day, Schumer tried posting that meme of him with his raw burgers, grilling them, trying to, I think, appease a younger generation, trying to get with the times as people are talking about him being outdated, even his own party has said that. So I think it's going to be interesting. I will say this, though. There are a lot of new Democrats coming in and I think they're very hungry, but this also leaves a lot of opportunity for people to have buyer's remorse once they see what exactly is happening within the party. Speaking of the midterms, the race is, of course, a lot going on. So some things like ballot initiatives, important ones, were a bit overshadowed. California rejected Proposition 40. That's a one-time 5% tax on billionaires' wealth. Samantha, figures like Bernie Sanders backed the measure, but it lost in an otherwise strong cycle for progressives. Why do you think California voters of all places said no. And what does that mean for similar proposals? Elsewhere. First of all, you have to look at the numbers. It wasn't like the people that said yes were 5%. 47.2% actually did vote yes to pass this wealth tax. But the irony of this whole thing was that the billionaires that would have been taxed then put tons of money, I think it was a 250 to 1 ratio in terms of their spending to the people that were promoting saying yes to this. Basically saying, don't pass this. So if you're going to go up against billionaires, you better have the advertising spend and the popular support to be able to go up against those billionaires. So I don't think it's that there wasn't support for this. I think that there wasn't a broad enough coalition, enough advertising money, enough partners within this to be able to push this forward. And ultimately, the structure was wrong. There needs to be a different way to figure out how to tax. So Michelle, the measure would have taxed billionaires' wealth to help pay for health care. Critics call that redistribution of wealth, which communists and socialists have long pushed for. Where is the line between the two? Well, that's the problem, right? It starts with that and then it goes from there. That's why you saw so many of these wealthy people looking at their options and debating whether or not to leave California in case that this billionaire tax did come into play. And it's such a shame. I mean, California is such a beautiful state. It's actually one of my favorite states. And nonetheless, it's extremely hard if you are successful there to be able to live with the crazy taxes that come with it. Now, you look at what would happen. A lot of people are going to look at moving their companies elsewhere when the taxes just become so astronomical. To fund the rest of the state, and there really is a triple down effect that I personally don't believe a lot of people fully understand. Obviously, it sounds like milk and honey, and obviously it's a massive campaign promise that these DSA candidates love to really come down on. And we're going to get the billionaires, we're going to tax the billionaires, similar to New York City, right? That was the big promise with Mondani. But when you actually look into a lot of his plans. It was targeting a lot of middle class. And I say middle class when you look at the income distribution in New York City, because obviously a million dollars in New York City is very different from a million dollars in Alabama. Nonetheless, it's going to drive out businesses and it's going to have a ripple down effect that many people don't fully understand. Sort of like term limits and stock trading for representatives. Sounds great on paper. Everybody, including myself, love the idea. But every member of Congress that's calling to end it knows that it will ultimately never get passed. Samantha Carlin, Michelle Bachus, appreciate you both. Coming up, what does NVIDIA's spy case reveal about the CCP's efforts to infiltrate our tech industries? We'll speak with Steve Yates to break down the national security implications when we come back. There is a road laid out for me. Boxes everywhere. And this is going to be Addie's room. I think you're really going to like it. I hope so. Yeah. I know this road is there for me. First night here, but Amy seems cool. The waves down by the river I got this. Wash me. 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Be your own hero on smartphones everywhere at doihaveprediabetes.org. My graduation was something I will never forget. People like you and me sometimes may have doubts in ourselves, but I feel that everything's possible. Find free adult education classes near you at finishyourdiploma.org. Talk to me if you're feeling sad. Thanks for hearing me out, bro. Whenever you need to talk, I'm here, okay? Welcome back to the Capital Report. I'm Steve Lance. The latest allegations involving NVIDIA raising big questions about how far China will go to get ahead of the United States in the race for global dominance. Joining us now, Steve Yates, Senior Research Fellow for China and National Security Policy at the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center. Steve, it's great to have you back with us. So these allegations surfaced in late October that Alice Alice Huang is a Chinese spy. NVIDIA has previously described her contact with... Jensen Huang as ordinary business. How do foreign intelligence services exploit close personal and professional relationships to ultimately gain access to sensitive information? Well, I think there's a couple of layers of things going on here. But when it comes to sort of the counterintelligence concern, anyone that has privileged access Thank Technology, economic data, political leadership, anyone who has personal contacts in their phone that might include, say, the president of the United States, you're going to be a target for almost every intelligence service on the planet, friend or foe, but especially the Chinese services, as they are the most plentiful in terms of personnel, you. the most equipped in terms of technology, and in some ways the most aggressive and, I think, increasingly sophisticated. So they can find people who are a mark. Mark is someone who's got that access, is maybe out traveling a lot, and might be away from office or home or whatever, and they find a way to connect. The idea is you create a relationship that can be leveraged, doesn't have to be right away, and they'll take patience to go years sometimes before they are ever tried to push for disclosure. But sometimes it's to steal technology or steal information. Sometimes it's to shape things going the other way. In this case, it could very well have been trying to get Jensen Huang to talk with the president about relaxing standards for chips to go to China. But it also could have been not really trying to take technology, but enabling the technology that's restricted to go to China to go around third country loopholes to circumvent those controls. And I think there's a pretty dominant path, at least in that third regard. Steve, Alice Huang worked for a company called Megaspeed. It is a Singapore-based company accused of diverting NVIDIA chips to China. NVIDIA says those allegations were debunked. How could access to these chips help China compete with the United States in the tech race? Well, we have pretty substantial evidence that the United States is ahead in some very important aspects of the AI race, as we sort of simply put it. And there are a lot of things that they do that's kind of draft behind our lead. So if we're looking at things that are not the cutting edge, but are good enough, they can get access to those kinds of chips, and they're pretty good about implementing them into their systems. Working them at scale and then putting things together to compete pretty effectively with us or anyone in the world. And so they're just sort of pacing the way a race car driver would close enough behind the lead car and it helps them keep up. Now, if they get a particular break, that could help them leapfrog us at some point. But really being good enough takes them a long way. And basically that's by getting through these loopholes. They can stay good enough or sometimes they can capture technology. That also has military application. In that case, that's quite concerning because we are living in a revolution of military affairs in Ukraine. We've seen some things in the Iran conflict where missile defense systems, drone systems are actually vital. And a lot of this advanced AI is very, very important to staying ahead in that game. Jensen Huang, NVIDIA CEO, he's pushed to ease export controls on AI chips to China. So, Steve, for people at home, why does it matter that we keep this technology away from our greatest adversary, given China's egregious human rights record, their military buildup, the transnational repression that we see on our soil, subversion, the list goes on. And how could it really affect our security and perhaps even our jobs? Well, first and foremost, a lot of the best inventions in this are being done by people who've invested research and development, blood, sweat, and tears, and their own creativity in the world's freest country. And we should be committed to protecting that intellectual property and make those who have made these wins actually be able to enjoy these wins. And so in a certain sense, even if you take the threat out of the picture, we should be proudly aggressive about protecting The bleeding out of the. This technology that takes a lot of time, effort, and money to be able to produce. Then when you look at how it could be used, well, of course, China is one of the most weaponized surveillance states. It is actively looking at ways to be able to harass its neighbors, deploying unmanned or unpiloted, however people want to say it now, kinds of platforms to be able to coerce sea lanes, claim territory, whether it's the Philippines, Japan, or Taiwan. And so it's very, very clear there's a straight line, not just in economic competition, but in military use. And of course, when you're talking about China, military use is often used by security services against their own people. And so that's why I think we need to be guarded about it and treat the world's most advanced technology as if we would weapons of mass destruction, because I think these are life and death technologies put in the wrong hands. Steve, staying in the Asia-Pacific, nobody understands Taiwan and the relationship with China and the intricacies better than you do. Taiwan has an upcoming mayoral election in the capital of Taipei. That city's long been a KMT stronghold for nearly three decades. KMT, the party that has ironically shifted closer to the Chinese Communist Party. But the DPP candidate, Puma Shen. may have a real shot at winning. He's been repeatedly targeted by Beijing, which has even opened a police investigation into him. His father's company also targeted by the CCP. What's really at stake in this race, Steve? And how closely is Beijing watching? Well, I think they're very, very concerned that there could be a next generation, very charismatic leader rising in Taiwan. They thought during a certain period in the Taiwan development that there was a leader in Taiwan that wanted to make a deal and wanted to emphasize Chineseness. But Puma and the younger generation in Taiwan that he represents, they have a very clear sense of their own identity. It's not anti-China. It's pro-Taiwan. It's pro-China. The kind of civilization and society that they have lived their whole life breathing free and working to build. And so I think that they're really concerned. And I lived through the last time a DPP candidate won the Taiwan Taipei mayoral race. And Taipei used to be a platform to be president. Lee Teng-hui had been mayor of Taipei. Ma Ying-jeou had been mayor of Taipei. But before Ma Ying-jeou was president, Chen Shui-bian was mayor of Taipei and became president. DPP leader that last won, and he went on to be president, that Beijing intensely disliked, I think my grandfather would say. And so I think they're concerned that this is a rising of people in a way that will not put on sort of the shroud of Chinese identity and seek unification. Steve Yates, as always, appreciate you joining us. Thank you. And Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordering sweeping overhaul of U.S. military education. The refocus, prioritizing skills essential for victory in war instead of academic theories. Find out more tonight on China in Focus with Tiffany Meyer at 9.30 p.m. Eastern. The United States is kicking off trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine today. They're aimed at ending the war. It's the first time such talks are taking place in over nine months. NTD's international correspondent, Ariane Pazdar, has the story. Especially our gratitude to President Trump. And giving us this honor, but also to President Putin, to President Zelensky. Trilateral talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine are taking place in Abu Dhabi this week. Special Envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff represent Washington at the trilateral meeting. We've had almost daily conversations with both sides, and I think we really identified... Kushner on Tuesday night described the first day of the talks as constructive. Before traveling to Abu Dhabi, U.S. officials said the debate on how to handle Ukrainian territory currently occupied by Russia can only start once all parties agree on security guarantees. That's so the fighting won't restart after a possible peace deal. And European partners also keep highlighting the need for security guarantees. Five European nations and a NATO delegation are in Abu Dhabi as well. Before the trilateral talks, U.S. representatives met with NATO and the Europeans. We reached out as one team to our Russian colleagues and make sure that indeed we have the same understanding of what it takes to achieve security. Russia didn't join the meeting with the Europeans, saying the peace talks are only trilateral. Secretary of State Marco Rubio making clear that the U.S. wants European partners at the table as well in future talks. And I heard from my colleagues that there's always this concern in Europe that they're going to be left out, that America's going to cut some deal with Russia and leaves Europe out of the equation. Well, Europe's at the table. They're with us. They're right alongside us. They've got representatives there of five countries in the EU that are in Abu Dhabi as we speak. And as our negotiators have made clear, we think the trilateral should eventually include our European partners at the table as well. The second and last day of the talks is scheduled for Wednesday. Arion Pastar, NTD News. Coming up, as Congress enters a lame duck session, can Republicans and Democrats still find common ground on major issues? We'll hear from the folks right here in D.C. That's next. Come to Matt's Home today and get Black Friday deals on your new living room. 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Crafted from premium six-year-old Korean ginseng, each root is carefully nurtured for over 2,260 days, undergoing a traditional nine-round handcrafted process of steaming and drying to unlock full potency and absorption. Experience pure natural energy with Puritang Black Ginseng. Order now at puritang.com. And welcome back to the Capitol Report. I'm Steve Lance. As Congress enters a lame duck session, what do everyday Americans hope to see accomplished by both Republicans and Democrats? NTD Sam Wong was out in the National Mall right here in D.C. to hear from the people. During this lame duck session, what would you like to see accomplished by President Trump and Congress? I'd like to see the internal fighting between each other not happening. I'd like to see them moving, let's move laws forward, let's make changes, let's not worry about the impeachment and all. Let's just work together and get laws going forward. I don't want to be stalled for the next two years. Just get along. Just get along. We're all humans. We should be fighting for one thing, and that's the American people. That Save Act. The Save America Act. You know, tweak it and figure that out. That'd be great. You know, without being an older guy, I'd really like them to fix the issues with Social Security. We've been hearing stuff about impeaching President Trump and the impeachment of his cabinet secretaries. How do you think this is going to impact the future of our country? If they concentrate on that and not getting things done, it's not going to look good in two years for them. If they've got good ideals, let's get it through. If not, veto it and let's move on. I'm not a big Hakeem Jeffries guy at all. I'm optimistic by what he said a couple of days ago that he wasn't looking for that. But then I heard he got a lot of flak for it. So I'm sure the impeachments are going to come. And what will happen with that is in two years, they'll realize, oh, we wasted much time. All I can do is stop him from doing any work for the next two years. So whether it's moving the Democrats agenda forward or the Republicans, I'd just like to see cohesiveness between the two and moving something forward. Do you think that Congress, you know, Republicans and Democrats can still work together on certain issues? I sure wish, you know, and especially coming here, you see that the unity that happened with 9-11, it makes you think of 9-11 and things like that. It's going to be very difficult. We're praying that that will happen. I think there's enough sane Democrats on that side of the aisle Hold your feet to the fire for those that have been elected, think they're going to come in and roughshod over the Democrats that are there, and I don't think they're going to let them. I think if we can put political lines to the side and put the best interest of our country, not just a certain person, but the interest of the country as a whole together, I think we'd grow as a country and unite more. And the Department of Health and Human Services is putting more than $10 billion across three programs, the biggest investment going toward improving health care in rural areas. And NBC correspondent Jason Blair has more. We got a problem because the folks living in rural parts of the country, like here, they live almost three years shorter than people living in urban America. The Trump administration is sending states another $10 billion for rural health care for the second year of the Rural Health Transformation Program. Rural hospitals are closing in about one month. We lost 100 of them in the last 10 years. But these hospitals play a critical role in these communities. That brings the total to $20 billion of the $50 billion set aside under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. The remaining amount will go out over the next three years. And HHS is putting more than $9.7 million toward preventing elder abuse and the financial exploitation of seniors. The department says older Americans lose an estimated $28.3 billion a year to financial exploitation, and at least one in 10 older adults is abused each year. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says older Americans have earned the right to live with dignity, control their own lives, and protect what they worked hard to build. The money pays for six grants testing new prevention approaches, four grants for legal help, and two national resource centers. HHS is also handing out $3.7 million in prizes to 40 winners that are using artificial intelligence to help manage Lyme disease and other complex invisible illnesses. For years, Lyme disease patients fought hard to be heard. Much of that The healthcare system failed them. Doctors would often tell patients that your imagination is something else. I've heard people, person after person, tell me those horror stories. Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brian Christine says patients living with Lyme disease and other invisible illnesses deserve to be heard, taken seriously, and supported in their search for answers. The competition drew 171 entries, and HHS says the People's Choice Awards are still to come. Jason Blair, NTD News. Gas prices appear to be dipping over the past few days and projected to be in the next few weeks. This according to a petroleum tracking firm, but an analyst tells NTD's David Lam that there could be record-breaking levels this Thanksgiving. On Tuesday, the national average for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S., $3.95. That's the first time it went below $4 since August. And diesel priced at $6.13 per gallon. Patrick, how are gas prices looking this holiday season? The good news is there will continue to be relief ahead of Thanksgiving. The bad news is it's probably still going to be the most expensive Thanksgiving day at the pump that we've ever seen, beating out what we saw in 2022. Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy's petroleum analyst, says gas prices fell in every state last week. Diesel also declined in almost every state. California prices are down 62 cents a gallon, whereas the national average is down 41 cents a gallon in the last month. The head of petroleum analysis says the midterm election was not the cause. I would say the main factor is probably seasonality. Demand progressively declines after the summer driving season, and those declines extend into the holidays. And everyone has made the changeover back to cheaper winter gasoline. So those elements are generally what push gasoline prices down almost every fall. In addition, the price of oil in the last few weeks has declined precipitously. As President Trump has signaled that he is not going to escalate the tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Another factor, DeHaan says, is that more oil is moving through the Strait of Hormuz. GasBuddy is anticipating record high gas levels for this Thanksgiving. David Lam, NTD News. And that is all we have for you tonight on the Capitol Report. Tomorrow is Veterans Day. We'll speak with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins about what this day means to him and the progress his department has made under the second Trump administration. Stay connected to the stories that matter and visit us at NTD.com. Download the NTD mobile app. From the nation's Capitol, I'm Steve Lance. Have a great evening. See you back here tomorrow.