Israel Accuses Hamas of Violating Ceasefire as Military Attacks Gaza | NTD News Today (Oct. 19)

Welcome to NTD News today. I'm Chris Beers. Here are today's top stories. Israel carried out air strikes in central Gaza after Hamas attacked its soldiers. The Gaza peace deal is facing a major test, raising questions about whether Hamas truly wants peace. Tens of thousands took to the streets across the country on Saturday for the No Kings protests. We'll take you to Chicago where NTD's Chris Bob was on the ground with demonstrators. Is there a real possibility of economic or strategic decoupling between the US and China? Our expert panel weighs in as US China trade tensions build. It only took a few minutes for thieves to rob the famous Louv Museum in Paris. And the heist happened while tourists were still inside. We bring you the details. How can regenerative medicine, including the use of stem cells, ease the pain of arthritis? Vital Science Brendan Fallon shares insights from a leading rehabilitation and pain medicine doctor. This is NTD News Today, live from our global headquarters in New York City. On Sunday morning, Hamas attacked Israeli troops in southern Gaza's Rafa area, triggering IDF air strikes. Meanwhile, Israel plans to rename the Gaza war to the War of Redemption. >> Today, the IDF announced terrorists fired an anti-tank missile and gunfire towards our troops operating in the area of Rafa to dismantle terrorist infrastructure, all in accordance with the ceasefire agreement. Now, in response, the IDF began striking in the area to eliminate the threat. Just before the I came on here, we actually released a statement following Hamas's violation of the ceasefire that the prime minister held a consultation with the defense minister and the heads of the security establishment and instructed them to act forcefully against terrorist targets inside of the Gaza Strip. It is reported that a commander of Hamas's elite military unit was killed during Israel's air strikes in central Gaza. On Saturday night, the US State Department said it had informed the nations guaranteeing the Gaza ceasefire agreement of credible reports indicating Hamas violated the pact. Since the ceasefire took effect on October 11th, Hamas has killed at least 32 people in a wave of attacks targeting anti-Hamas clans across the strip. Meanwhile, Israeli officials accuse Hamas of failing to return the remains of deceased hostages. An Israeli government spokesperson said Israel is committed to the agreement and continues to uphold its obligations. The government is demanding that terror group Hamas return the bodies or remains of the 16 deceased hostages still in its possession. Thieves broke into Paris's Lou Museum on Sunday morning, using a crane to smash an upstairs window and steal priceless jewelry from the area that houses the French crown jewels before escaping on motorbikes. Around 9:30 a.m., the 7-minute robbery took place as tourists were already inside. It was among the highest profile museum thefts in a recent memory and comes as Lou employees have complained of worker and security understaffing. Video from the scene showed confused tourists being escorted out of the glass pyramid and surrounding courtyards as officers closed the iron gates and nearby streets. According to the culture minister, one of the stolen items was later recovered outside the museum. The recovered item was reportedly the emeraldstudded crown of Napoleon III's wife, Empress Eugene. It is made of gold, diamonds, and sculpted eagles and was found broken just outside the museum walls. The Interior Ministry said forensic work is underway and a precise inventory of the stolen objects is being compiled. The organizers behind yesterday's No Kings protest say demonstrations took place in more than 2600 locations nationwide. In Chicago, thousands filled Grant Park before marching through downtown and later some gathered outside the Broadview Ice Detention Center where protests continued past the 6 p.m. curfew. NTD's Chris Bob was there throughout the day. Chris, tell us what you saw on the ground. Good afternoon to you both from Windy Chicago. Uh yesterday the protest main event in Chicago was at Grant Park and there were tens of thousands that had gathered all holding signs and banners that say stop ICE, no kings. Um a lot of anti-ICE rhetoric. Um there was also some prominent activists there in attendance. Um the governor was on stage giving a speech. Uh Mayor Johnson of Chicago was also there speaking to the crowd. Um Governor Pritsker told uh Donald Trump to um stay the hell out of Chicago. Uh and that same rhetoric was echoed by a number of other uh Democratic politicians in other states nationwide who um objected to uh the use of the National Guard and ICE agents in their in their cities. Um Speaker Mike Johnson said that uh these rallies are uh hate America rallies, not no kings rallies. But uh Vermont Democratic Senator uh Bernie Sanders said that those in attendance actually love America. Uh from the protesters that I spoke to yesterday at Grant Park who then made their way over onto Wacker Drive across from Trump Tower in downtown Chicago, there was a lot of frustration with the administration. Um but most of the frustration was was directed at uh the ICE agents who they've seen an increased number of in their communities. Um there was also some agitators and activists there. one organization uh there was a communist group revolutionary communist of America who uh were handing out newspapers uh encouraging people to organize with them and get involved in the communist revolutions in in the United States. Um they're planning some uh speaking engagements across the the country and they were encouraging people to sign up there. We also saw some signs on the streets that said um you know to be American is to be Antifa. And there were a number of people who went from the main protest area in downtown Chicago and then made their way to the Broadview ICE Detention Center. Now there is a 6:00 p.m. curfew at the Broadview Center. Um protesters are given a designated protest zone and after 6 p.m. they're told to go home and they get that from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p p.m. Uh protesters did not leave last night. There was actually a clash between uh protesters and uh the police. There were 15 arrests made uh mostly for um resisting and and conduct violations, misdemeanors. Um at at one point um I was up in the front and I I saw a bunch of protesters shouting at the police and then they kind of uh their words were exchanged profanities and uh some protesters were were taken away. We have some b-roll footage of that. Um what ended up happening was the uh police outside the Broadview uh detention center went for about an hour after curfew pushing the uh protesters back from Lexington uh drive down into a neighboring neighborhood where eventually after an hour they dispersed and and went back. So that's that's what I have from the ground. Back to you both. >> All right, Chris Bob in Chicago. Thank you. A strike and a rescue. President Trump says a Colombian and an Ecuadorian have been sent back to their home countries to face detention and prosecution. The US military rescued the two after striking their submarine, which was suspected of drug trafficking. Here's more. US President Donald Trump says the survivors of a strike in the Caribbean will be sent back to their home countries. Trump posted this video on Saturday, which seems to show a vessel being struck in the water. The US military says it staged a rescue of the two survivors after striking their semi-submersible vessel on Thursday. It was suspected of trafficking illegal narcotics. Reuters first reported on the move to return them to Colombia and to Ecuador, which experts say would mean the military wouldn't have to deal with a tricky legal situation. Military detention of alleged drug traffickers whose suspected crimes do not fall cleanly under the laws of war. Trump had mentioned the strike to reporters on Friday. >> I don't know too many people that have submarines and uh that was an attack on a drug carrying loaded up submarine. >> In a Saturday post, Trump claimed US intelligence had confirmed the drugs but did not provide evidence. Colombia's president's office, Ecuador's communications office and the foreign ministries of both countries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Thursday marked the sixth recent strike of a suspected drug vessel by the United States in the Caribbean amid a wider military buildup in the area. An escalation in Trump's standoff with the government of Venezuela. Lost Voices of Fentinel held its fifth annual rally in Washington DC yesterday. The nonprofit seeks to raise awareness about the fentinel epidemic and demand legislative action. Entity Sam Wong was at the rally to hear from the victim's families. As I look out >> at the backdrop of the Washington Monument, families from around the country gathered on Saturday to rally against an epidemic that's plaguing the nation. >> That's my son pushing the swing. >> Debbie Evans is just one among many who is struggling with heartbreak. After losing her son to fentanyl poisoning in 2020, she decided to raise awareness through her artistic talent. In a drawing titled Heaven's Playground, she depicted dozens of children who have passed away from fentanyl overdose. Many of these tragic stories hitting too close to home. >> I've been over there crying most of the time listening to all their stories. And I know a lot of them now because I've drawn all their children. I still wish my son was here. He promised me he'd never leave me. >> And some are turning sorrow into action. Jacob How's three-year-old son Leo died last year after being exposed to fitno while in his mother's care. He's now pushing for more guard rails to keep children safe. Starting in his home state of Oklahoma with hopes of turning the effort into a federal law named after little Leo. >> I started working on a petition called Leo's Law that would actually require DHS to be testing parents for fentanyl if it's involved or suspected in a case. It could have saved Leo's life and it could save hundreds to thousands of other children in America. >> Today, most of the world's fentanyl precursors are manufactured in China. The deadly narcotic has led to a nationwide epidemic responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans. According to an investigation by the Houseled Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, fentanyl manufacturing is an industry directly subsidized by the communist regime. The China Select Committee, Democrat, Republicans alike, announced to the world that China was deliberately poisoning us. We are the targeted nation. America, they wanted to stabilize our country. Are we going to have a military in another 10 years going at this rate? >> Tackling the fentanyl epidemic has long been on the radar of the Trump administration. From striking drug boats off the coast of Venezuela to designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. So when people in this world start talking about why are we going after these drug boats? Why are we bombing and using kinetic strikes? Because look at these babies we've never had in the history of this country babies dying. This is what it's about. So the people that have a problem with the aggressiveness of President Trump and his administration, why don't you pay attention to what's going on? We're losing a generation. >> Sam Wong, NTD News, Washington DC. US China trade tensions continue to rise as President Donald Trump vows a 100% increase of tariffs on China. That's in response to Beijing's unprecedented new rare earth controls. All of this is happening amidst President Trump's efforts to bring manufacturing back to America. So yet again, we have to ask ourselves, is there a real possibility of economic decoupling between the United States and China? Joining me now to discuss is Lewis Navalier, chairman and founder of Navalier and Associates, and Rod D. Martin, founder and CEO of Martin Capital. Gentlemen, welcome. Lewis, are we seeing the US decoupling from China? And is that even possible right now? >> No, it's not possible. Uh, China actually needs us. They waved um their duties on a lot of US products because they desperately need them. And uh we need their rare earth, their magnets. So, I'm sure cooler heads will prevail. >> Rod, what is your view on this situation? >> Well, that's correct. I mean, there's no question China needs to negotiate with us because they need our export market. They need to be able to have a cordial working relationship with the United States. In my view, they are negotiating. they are taking a page out of Donald Trump's negotiation playbook and and you know hitting us with an extreme demand right at the end as we're trying to get a deal put together and I think that deal will be put together and I think the president made it pretty clear when he did impose a 100% tariff but he delayed it until November 1. So that tells you there's maneuvering going on and I think we're close to a deal. >> And and Lewis, what do you think is next here? I mean, in terms of maneuvering. >> Well, I mean, uh, Attorney Secretary Scott Bessett is having a meeting on this, uh, pretty darn quick. And then, uh, hopefully, uh, President Trump and she will meet at the, um, APIC conference in South Korea. Uh, one of the things that complicates these negotiations is President Xi can't travel very far. You know, he's worried about losing control of his own country. So, he can make, you know, day trips to Vietnam or South Korea, but he doesn't have time to go all the way across the country to see us and visit us. And, um, you know, under Trump 1.0, 0. He was up the street from me, bought a 747 SPN and they took over an entire hotel and erected barriers and uh they were doing trying to do business deals, but he can't travel now because he's afraid he's going to lose power. That's why he fired a general, another top official recently. >> Rod, maybe you can expand on that. What What is the state of uh Chinese regime leader Xiinping's power and of the the Chinese Communist Party more broadly in the state of their country? I think that's exactly right. I I think she is greatly constrained right now by what's going on within his own regime and we're seeing that with this rolling purge in the military. You know, whether that is she purging people or she's people being purged really makes no difference. There's tremendous instability there inside the most important arm of the Communist Party and that indicates that she is in some measure of trouble. So yeah, I agree. He's he's constrained in his movements. He's constrained in what he's able to do. And some of what we just saw in this rare earth's threat is probably responsive to that that turmoil underneath the surface. and Lewis, you know, at the same time, we have the United States, uh, you know, at least the Trump administration, um, the people under Trump are fully aligned during his un, uh, you know, with his MAGA agenda. He's had four years between, um, 2020 and 2024 to ensure that he selects people who are strong behind him. Um, in in some senses, the US is is is is quite strong right now. So, how do you look at um the state of the US versus the state of China and and and who has the upper hand here? >> Well, it's very simple. Uh China is um in a demographic decline. Uh they have had deflation since May of 2022. Their interest rates are lower than Japan and uh they may have to devalue their currency next. they're in deep trouble. Uh on the other hand, um all this onshoring is causing dramatic GDP growth and um they'll probably have 5% GDP growth next year. Uh it's not inflationary. It's mostly the construction of all the the data centers and on semis, pharma, automotive, maybe eventually furniture. We'll see. You know, it depends where they put the tariffs on. But uh yeah, we have we're in the midst of an economic boom. It's uneven. We're not, it's not a perfect economy, but uh it's uh we're a lot better shape than China and demographically we're superior because we're younger. We're still very profoundly in the South and Mountain West and we do assimilate our immigrants of course, but uh Trump obviously wants them to to be documented. >> Sure. So Rod, you know, we have um China obviously not on the same footing as the US. Now they're announcing this uh rare earth controls u which garnered a 100% uh tariff increase from Trump. Can you explain the seriousness of these rare earth controls that would you know why would they bring such a response from Trump? >> Well the seriousness of course is that a modern economy is very dependent on rare earths. You can't build an F-35. You can't build a semiconductor chip. You can't build anything of consequence anymore without them. And this is an atrophy on the US part that is just inexcusable. We were supplying most of our rare earth's needs in the 70s and then we let that just outsource to China over a number of years in a way that it it's just inexcusable. These are national security issues. You actually have to have domestic production of these things just like you need to have some reasonable amount of pharmaceutical supply chain domestically because you can't afford to have your population cut off from such things. So what Donald Trump is doing is he's trying to jumpstart a rare earths industry here. China only produces about 60% of the world's rare earths in terms of raw supply, but they refine 92% of the refined supply. We have to reshore some of that here. And I think the long-term result of what she is doing is you see China's monopoly broken over the next several years at an actually accelerating rate precisely because of this hostile action. So Lewis, can the United States onshore uh you know rare earths uh at a rate fast enough so that China isn't able to use that leverage over the United States? >> Probably not. But we're trying. Obviously we took an uh the government took an interest in MP materials. I recommend a stock uh symbols. They have rare earth interest, but there it has it is not monetized yet. they've made an alliance with somebody to start, you know, refining it, but uh it's um it's it takes a while to do all this stuff. So, uh we have to do business with China u in the meantime and hopefully cooler heads will prevail. Rod, you know, since Trump's tariffs announcement on um April 2nd, we've seen all these flareups of trade tensions between the United States and China, where trade tensions between the US and other countries, most other countries, have more or less simmered out. Uh definitely not the kind of tension we're seeing between the US and China. So, what hope is there at this point of the United States and China reaching some kind of mutually agreed upon trade deal? Oh, I think we're going to uh I think they can't really live without us and for the time being we can't really live without them. Now, Trump sees them as our largest geopolitical adversary by far. Trump sees us as being in something of a friendlier version of the Cold War here. He understands that they routinely threaten to attack Taiwan, that they have other interests that are adverse to ours, and that they're expanding those interests wherever they can. So, he he very much wants to take a page out of Reagan's book and constrain their ability to act in a way that kind of defangs them. And and the truth is that strategy probably works because as Lewis pointed out they are in extreme demographic decline. Uh Ye Fujan who is a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin Madison has shown that odds are pretty good that they lose 75% of their population by the end of the century which is just unprecedented. and and we may see something similar in South Korea and some other places, but China in particular is faced with a a tremendous structural collapse over time because what you end up with is a smaller and smaller number of young people supporting a a larger and larger proportion of the population that's elderly in a climate where most people's retirement savings has been put into real estate. Well, if you have a shrinking population, real estate values are going to tank. So they're really in trouble. They need to grab what they can right now. And Donald Trump is trying to constrain that on the military side while working out trade deals that make sense for both countries. >> Lewis, with just 30 seconds because I want to hear from both of you on this. Um, President Trump is expected to meet Chinese regime leader Xiinping in South Korea in a couple weeks. What do you think could come out of that meeting or is it just a bit too far away to say? I think Trump will tell the world that they're buddies and uh everything's going to be fine. That's what he likes to do. >> And Rod, >> yes, I agree with that. And and I think that for most practical purposes, that's going to be true. Both countries need each other in trade for the time being. That will lessen over time, but not very quickly. >> All right. Lewis Navalier, chairman and founder of Navalier and Associates, and Rod Martin, founder and CEO of Martin Capital. Thank you both so much for your insights. >> Thank you. >> Coming up, celebrating 250 years of the US Marine Corps. The military showcased on Saturday its firepower at Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego. Vice President JD Vance addressed a crowd of 15,000. Stay tuned. Welcome back. From a historic Gaza peace deal to major White House announcements on foreign policy and family care, it's been a significant week for President Trump. NTD's Daniel Monahan has your White House weekend review. President Trump brokered a historic Gaza ceasefire and the release of all living Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. >> Speaking to the Knesset, Trump shared an optimistic vision of the region, calling it the historic dawn of a new Middle East. >> This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of a age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God. >> From Israel, Trump traveled to the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt, signing the ceasefire agreement alongside Middle East leaders. >> We don't want to fund anything having to do with bloodshed, hatred, or terror. We're also agreed that Gaza's reconstruction requires that it be demilitarized. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated Trump to be the first non-Israeli recipient of Israel's highest honor. >> As to that other prize, just a question of time, you'll get it. But I want you to get the Israel Prize, our highest award to our greatest friend. >> The Egyptian president also awarded President Trump the country's highest honor and the Pakistani prime minister renominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to Trump saying he didn't think his peace deal in the Middle East would be enough to get him into heaven. >> You're doing God's work here. You're you made peace in the Middle East, which is beyond anybody's imagination. This administration has not stopped working for the American people. >> President Trump rushed back to America to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charlie Kirk on what would have been his 32nd birthday. I would not have missed this moment for anything in the world. >> Now I can say with confidence, Mr. President, that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have. >> President Trump this week also signed a proclamation, declaring October 14th as the National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk. >> Remember Charlie down on the patio? He could he could sit there all night long listening to this. President Trump said on Thursday that costs of invitro fertilization medications and treatment will be slashed. >> EMD Serrano, the largest fertility drug manufacturer in the world, has agreed to provide massive discounts to all fertility drugs. >> Trump also said the administration would expand access to insurance coverage for fertility care, allowing employers to offer a standalone fertility benefit. Thank you for all you do to support families in this country. >> Following a two-hour call, President Trump said he and Russia's Vladimir Putin will meet in Hungary in the coming weeks to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. >> I thought it was a very good phone call. I thought very productive. >> The call came just a day before Trump hosted Ukrainian President Wimir Zalinski at the White House to talk about possible US missile support. This is a terrible relationship the two of them have and it's one of those things. >> Trump said he's approved covert CIA actions inside Venezuela against what he calls a narco state run by President Nicholas Maduro. >> We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs coming through the sea. >> Senator Jean Shaheen accused the administration of sliding the US closer to outright conflict with no transparency or oversight. And for the 10th time, the Senate rejected a House approved stop gap spending bill as the government shutdown drags on with no resolution in sight. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. Lawmakers left Washington after a short week and a tenth failed vote to reopen the government. Republican leaders offered Democrats a vote on their healthc care demands, but say Democrats turned it down. Here's NTD's Molina Weiseup with a weekly recap from Capitol Hill. Republicans say their latest attempt to move the needle on ending the government shutdown was shot down by Senate Democrats this week. Senate Majority Leader John Thun said he offered Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer a vote on Obamacare subsidies. Remember that is one of the main issues that Democrats want addressed in this shutdown showdown. Though Republicans say Democrats rejected it, instead insisting a guaranteed outcome. >> I said I none of us can guarantee an outcome on that. I have said consistently all along this is part of the deliberative process. We're going to debate and discuss that. It's a very complicated complex matter. There are no income caps on that. By the way, did you know if you're a hardworking taxpayer uh middle class earner and your your family struggling to put food on the table, did you know that you are subsidizing wealthy people's healthcare with that subsidy? You probably didn't. >> Schumer though outright denied the existence of any such offer. >> We're not negotiating in public, plain and simple. and leader Thun has not come to me with any proposal at this point. >> The back and forth comes as the government shutdown drags on for three weeks. Both sides still locked in to their positions. >> These threats to try to back us off our position. It's not working and it's not going to happen because there is a Republican health care crisis that is devastating the American people and we're going to continue to stand up for everyday Americans. >> They're holding the American people hostage using you as leverage to demand more wasteful spending. That's what they want. To the tune of 1.5 trillion of that. >> Senators left town on Thursday after the 10th failed vote to fund the government. Republicans attempted a new strategy to carry on with the regular funding process during the shutdown. They put forth a fullear Pentagon funding bill. Senate Democrats tanked it too. >> President Democrats like to position themselves as the party of the little guy and the defender of hardworking Americans. But as this vote makes clear, who do Democrats really care about? Democrats. >> Senate leader Jonathan reportedly plans to force Democrats to vote next week on legislation to pay military service members during the shutdown. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats this week aimed to stop the Trump administration strikes on foreign terrorist organizations that are trafficking drugs in the South Caribbean Sea. Congress should demand to know what the evidence is that these boats are part of a cartel, some invading or hostile foreign adversary that would justify using the rules of law and war against these kinds of votes. >> The US has conducted a total of six strikes so far, stopping approximately 100,000 lethal doses of drugs from being smuggled into the US. The drug epidemic in this country has not gotten any better. The cartels have only gotten more powerful. So, the president is taking these unprecedented steps and it's making a real impact. We are seeing less boats with uh lots of drugs uh coming into the shores of the United States of America as a result of these successful strikes and uh I think the American people can expect them to continue. >> The Senate will soon vote on a Democrat resolution to stop the administration from continuing the strikes against foreign terrorist organizations. In the past month, similar attempts have failed both in the House and in the Senate. Reporting from Washington, DC, Molina Weissup, NTD News. >> The US Marine Corps is celebrating 250 years with a display of military might on Saturday. Vice President JD Vance addressing the crowd on the historic occasion. NTD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has more. Though the shape of the battlefield will change, our nation will be just fine. So long as fellow Marines just like you remain faithful to that great Marine Corps legacy. Over 15,000 US Marines, sailors, veterans, and their family members here at Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego celebrating 250 years of the US Marine Corps. Attendees watched dozens of military jet flyovers. There were also skydivers, tanks, military vehicles capable of land and sea, and much more. Vice President JD Vance, a former Marine, speaking about his own experience being deployed to Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as investments in the military. Now, I've also got to give a special shout out to the incredible display that we saw earlier today. It made my heart sing as your vice president, and it was a testament to the chorus strength and unbeatable power. It reminded me why I am so proud to have worn the uniform, to be one among your ranks, and to be the very first vice president to have been a United States Marine. >> Secretary of War Pete Hegth, an Army veteran, also sharing the warrior ethos. >> When other parts of the department wanted to lower standards, the Marine Corps stood strong. You ladies and gentlemen are the backbone of the United States military. >> Many others speaking about the importance of serving the country and looking after those next to you. Emphasizing the ideals of honor and courage. Well, a separate fight to me it's obviously it means always faithful, right? Always faithful means that you take care of each other. That everyone here, they're all my brothers and sisters and I should treat them the same way I would treat my own brothers and sisters. You know, this exercise really is a readiness exercise. So, having the troops, it showed how well we we operate jointly. 250 years is quite a milestone. And and I think the United States Marine Corps and Navy is our forward deployed force. They're our best forces. They're the ones most important to the fight. >> The Marines were established in 1775 by the Continental Congress to fight the British before the US became a country. 250 years later, there's still the source of protection for Americans everywhere here and abroad. Reporting by Jack Bradley, NTD News. >> Coming up, the US continues striking Venezuelan submarines, allegedly smuggling drugs to the United States. Arian Pazdar has what President Trump now says about a peace offer from Venezuela when we come back. Welcome back. Tensions between the US and Venezuela are on the rise. The US military keeps striking submarines which it says are smuggling drugs into the United States. Let's now bring in our international correspondent Arian Pazdar who's standing by live in Latin America. Arian, where do things stand? Are the two sides even talking about peace or is the situation only getting worse? Hey Chris, good to see you. Thank you for having me. A great question. Are they even talking about peace? First of all, let me give our viewers the latest on this whole situation. So just on Thursday, the US military once again struck a Venezuelan submarine smuggling illegal narcotics from Venezuela to the United States. Now, this was the sixth such attack on Venezuelan drug vessels since September, bringing the total death toll to 28. But now, Chris, for the first time, there are reports of survivors who are now in US custody. But the State Department when asked about this reports didn't confirm that that there were any survivors and if they were if they are in US custody or not. But now, Chris, these tensions between the US and Venezuela didn't just start under President Trump. As a matter of fact, the US already had a bounty on Venezuelan socialist leader Nicholas Maduro for being a transnational drug trafficker. On top of that, the Biden administration last year came to the conclusion that Nicholas Maduro, the socialist leader, cheated in the presidential elections. So the US doesn't actually recognize him as the president of the country. Now to get to your questions about peace, there are no reports saying that Maduro is offering Trump all of Venezuela's natural resources in exchange for peace. Let's now listen to Trump when responding to those reports when asked on Friday. And then we will also hear from the White House press secretary. Let's take a look. >> He has offered everything. He's offered everything. You're right. You know why? Because he doesn't want to around with the United States. >> Does President Trump believe his days are numbered there? >> I think President Trump believes that Nicholas Maduro is an illegitimate president leading an illegitimate regime that has been trafficking drugs to the United States of America for far too long and we're not going to tolerate it. >> So Chris, both of those statements were made just a few days ago. So to answer your initial question about peace, um there are there the reports say that Venezuela is seeking peace, but as of right now, we don't see any signs of that just yet, Chris. >> Right, Arian? Now, in a separate development, Venezuela's opposition leader was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. What is she saying about this whole situation? >> Yeah, that's right, Chris. Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Korina Mashado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. You know, I see many people saying that Trump should have won the prize. But look, the nominations for the prize are being given out in January. This happened just days after President Trump returned to office. So, he couldn't possibly win the prize. But I will say this, the it doesn't make much sense for the for the organization to hand out the nominations in January and then award the prize in October. So this means the person winning it in it in October is actually winning it for something they did a whole year earlier in 2024. But Maria Karina Mashado, she does basically agree with the Trump administration just on Friday. She also talked just like the Trump administration did. She also talked about the crimes Maduro is committing. Let's take a look. >> Nicholas Maduro's government is a criminal organization. It is sustained by the inflow of illegal streams from drug trafficking, from blood, gold, from the smuggling of human beings and the smuggling of weapons. And those flows must be cut off. That is the priority. Now, Chris, lastly, I do still think there is hope for peace because if Maduro really made these offers to President Trump to give the US all of Venezuela's natural resources, I really do think that Trump being the businessman he is, I do think that he will eventually accept such an offer. Chris, >> all right, Arian Pazdar, thank you for that report. Coming up, how can regenerative medicine, including the use of stem cells, ease the pain of arthritis? Vital signs Brandon Fallon shares insights from a leading rehabilitation and pain medicine doctor when we come back. Welcome back to NTD. I'm joined in studio by NTD health correspondent and host of Vital Signs, Brendan Fallon. Vital Science offers natural and nutritional ways of optimizing our health. Brendan, it's nice to see you. >> Good to meet see you, Chris. What do you have for us? I I think I have some hope for all the people out there dealing with osteoarthritis. This is a condition we have this cartilage in our joints, which kind of cushions the impact between the bones. Osteoarthritis is where this this cartilage is has worn down. So, you have basically bone on bone as difficult as that is to hear. So, I spoke to Dr. Damon Notto. He's a um pain and re rehabilitation specialist and he's working directly in this field using regenerative medicine. These are things like stem cells um plateletri plasma PRP exoomes and getting those things into the joint to to bring regeneration. And this this first clip he's talking about how stem cell therapy works in this kind of situation. >> Okay. Yeah, it's just amazing to hear about the fact that we can actually help the body regenerate itself. Um let's watch that clip. So when we talk about stem cells, we're usually about talking about taking it from the person's body. Uh taking it out and actually giving it back to them where where they need it, right? So everybody has stem cells in their body. Uh when you're younger, you have a lot. And then as you get older, it decreases with age. Also decreases with health. So if your health is poor, you're going to have less stem cells. If your health is really good, you're going to have more stem cells. So basically stem cells are the cells in your body that control repair and regeneration. So every day you're breaking down your cells are dying and they're being replaced and what's replacing them and causing your body to stay healthy and regrow are these stem cells which circulate in your blood. And when you have trauma those stem cells go to that area and they're like the foreman telling people what to do. Hey, lay down fibbrin here, lay down cartilage here. We need to grow blood vessels. So they're the ones in charge of repairing the body. >> Sometimes the body breaks down and there's not enough stem cells or there's not enough stem cells that can get into that area. So places that are what we call avascular or areas that don't have a lot of good blood supply uh tend to not do well with trauma because it takes a long time to heal because stem cells can't get there. Right? So a joint has a capsule and the blood vessels don't go always so deep into the joint. So if we can take the stem cells from the bone marrow per se and then we bring it and we put directly into the knee. Very powerful cuz now those cells are in there saying hey cartilage there's a problem. Let's repair it and regrow it. Obviously the more stem cells you can put in there the more powerful the treatment. So there's been studies which show if you take out stem cells and you grow them. So you go from a million to 10 million, 20, 30, 40 million, the more powerful the treatment. So in some clinical trials they have it where they're growing it in a lab and then putting it back which is amazing and can have amazing effects. >> Wow. It's so amazing. Like I said, I mean, just to hear about how the body heals itself and how we can actually use its own ability to heal itself to resolve these things. >> Yeah. I mean, it's incredibly promising for for people dealing with these kinds of situations. I mean, I've had my mother not so long ago had a hip replacement done. I had a we had a family friend have two knee replacements done. It's it's a long recovery time. It can be, you know, often a year before a person has has recovered from this kind of surgery. And if you're you're doing something like stem cell uh replacement, it's um it's so much less invasive and such a such a quicker recovery turnaround, you know. >> Do we know anything about when this sort of uh therapy, this sort of treatment can, you know, uh hit the streets, so to speak, when people can get access to this? >> That's a great question, Chris. There has been some limitation on on stem cell use in the US, which continues. uh places one Florida is one place where they have more relaxed laws and uh Texas I think and and Utah are places that seem to be following a similar path where these this kinds of treatments will be more available um for in in situations if people want to pursue regenerative medicine in other states or for instance like New York there are other treatments like exoomes um and plateletri plasma where where a person's own blood is kind of spun down and the platelets are removed and these these contain growth factors that can also help regeneration and these are more accessible in in other places in New York. Okay. >> And here Dr. Noto is talking about exoomes this u kind of related treatment to stem cells. >> Okay. And yeah, we have another sound bite with Dr. Noto. So let's listen to that. >> So exoomes is one of the new advancements that we've seen. Not that exosomes are new, but we really didn't know much about them before, but with the research is advancing fast. So stem cells, the way they work is they release all these growth factors and signal molecules that tell your body, hey, we need more of this. We need to repair that. Well, exoomes is one of those signaling molecules. They're tiny little molecules that tell your body you need to regenerate and repair tissue. And they're very powerful. And we're using them a lot right now in the United States on different conditions to try to get people to repair faster. So we're using everything from osteoarthritis to lung issues. So people have chronic lung damage to things such with the brain uh chronic fatigue uh cognition problems. Uh exoomes can go anywhere in the body and cause regeneration and healing very powerful. And there's a lot less restrictions in the US with exoomes than there are for stem cells. So right now there's a lot of advances with exoomes uh because a lot of doctors are experimenting it with their patients and offering it uh to more people. Things go fast when we allow our clinicians to get out there, use it in the clinics and then and use it on patients. We start to learn a lot about how things work and how we can get it to work better. With very heavy restrictions, it slows the rate down because we're learning less and we're restricted to just trials. So this sort of treatment could be seen pretty soon. >> I think it we're going to see this open up more because the the need is so great. This is such a a widespread problem and um it you know we we work hard through our lives. We we're using our joints and particularly people who are are exercising a lot like um in this in this full interview Dr. Noto gives the example of someone who's running like 50 miles a day. They're going to have more kind of wear and tear on their joints and they're more likely to kind of experience this problem as as they're aging. All right, thank you so much, Brendan. Uh, to see that full vital signs interview with Dr. Notto, just go to your web browser and enter epso pain. Coming up, President Trump continues to push for peace between Russia and Ukraine, but this week stops short of committing to send Ukraine coveted tomahawk missiles. A foreign policy expert weighs in on where things stand and what's ahead. Stay tuned.