Detained Man Released in Guthrie Case; FAA Closes El Paso Airspace | NTD Good Morning (Feb. 11)

Welcome N.T.D. Good morning starts now. Here are today's top stories. New progress in the search for Nancy Guthrie. The FBI shares a new video of a potential suspect. And a man detained for questioning was released. The latest in the investigation. A high school shooting in British Columbia leaves 10 people dead, including the suspected shooter, and around 25 injured. Authorities say the victims were at two separate locations. President Trump meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House today. The two expected to discuss Iran as Trump delivers a new warning. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and other immigration officials testify on Capitol Hill for the first time since two DHS-related shootings in Minnesota. Team USA collects five more Olympic medals, bringing their total to seven, but still leaving them trailing Norway in the medal count. This is N.T.D. Good Morning. Live from our global headquarters in New York City, here are Stefania Cox and Kerry Dunst. Good morning. Thank you for joining us. Today is Wednesday, February 11th. You're watching N.T.D. Good Morning. And Kerry is on a special assignment today. In this morning's top news, authorities say they're making progress in the search for Nancy Guthrie. That's the mother of NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie. The FBI releasing a new video of the potential suspect and the sheriff's office detaining a man for questioning. Here's the latest on that. Police last night questioning an individual in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, mother of NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie. They say they detained the man at a traffic stop near the southern border with Mexico. He was not charged. Later that night, the Pima County Sheriff's Department conducted a search in Rio Rico, Arizona. The homeowner said someone gave a tip that Nancy Guthrie was in her house and that authorities are investigating her son-in-law, the man who was detained, but insisted he had nothing to do with the case. They only said that they gave a tip that she was in my house. And I told them, you can go in and search my house. There's nobody there. I have nothing to hide. There's nobody in my house. And I don't know what's going on. Do you have any family members that might know? No, they're investigating my son-in-law. He's got nothing to do with that either. Earlier in the day, the FBI released new images and videos from Guthrie's doorbell camera from the morning of her disappearance. The video shows a person wearing a mask at the 84-year-old's front door. The individual is armed and is carrying a backpack and appears to have tampered with the camera. FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau recovered the previously inaccessible images from residual data located in back-end systems. Patel speaking to Fox News about how they got that video. We were able to execute lawful searches and go to these private sector companies and expedite results and then go into their systems and actually excavate material that people would think would normally be deleted and no one would look for. In a social media post following the release of the images, Savannah Guthrie said the family believes her mother is still alive and is urging anyone with information to come forward, though no suspect has been publicly identified. I will say we have made substantial progress in these last 36, 48 hours thanks to the technical capabilities of the FBI and our partnerships. And I do believe we are looking at people who, as we say, are persons of interest. In an email to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson said the bureau has agents, analysts and professional staff working day and night with the Sheriff's Department. Authorities say they are also investigating alleged ransom notes sent to the media. Several media outlets are saying authorities have released the man who was taken in for questioning. The man saying he was detained by police spoke to reporters and said he had no idea who Nancy Guthrie is. We'll be bringing you more details as they develop. And for some insight into the investigation of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, I spoke with law enforcement expert Michael Letts. I asked him about the investigation process for cases like these. Take a look. It was a routine traffic stop. And obviously he had knowledge that he's claiming he didn't have now. And he had the insight that caused the officers to be suspicious. And because of that, he was detained and he was questioned. And that does not mean that, oh, well, we'll take your word for it. There was a misunderstanding. You're free to go. Obviously, we can't hold him unless we have something substantial. However, the fact that there was enough information that he possessed to cause the agents and the deputies to feel like they needed to get further information is certainly very telling. And, of course, you know, we've had the recovery on the hack and video, the camera system that now obviously shows us the suspect. Of course, he's pretty well concealed with his mask, et cetera. But there are certain characteristics that this does give us. He gives us his height, his general build and characteristics about his eyes and his facial structure. So this has been a big break, been very helpful. However, it's also been very concerning the fact that you would think, Stefania, with a motive was strictly financial, i.e. I'm trying to get money. I'm trying to get a ransom reward. It would have been much more cooperation trying to make sure you understood where the money needed to be dropped. It certainly is not an unreasonable request in negotiations. If I'm going to give you something, you're going to give me something in return, i.e. proof that she is still alive, et cetera. And those are very small items to ask for. And the fact that none of that has been given leaves one to certainly have some concern about the ultimate outcome of the case. There's been some conjecture about whether the notes are indeed actually related to the crime itself. How might investigators use the notes in their search, considering they have been somewhat random and, as you mentioned, not followed through on? Well, and it's interesting because let me tell you, we're using statistics now, Stefania, for all criminal activity. Typically, most people who are victims are victims of somebody who they know. The assailant was a family member, a co-worker, a friend, et cetera. That's 80 percent of cases. So obviously, when we went in on this, first of all, you took a look at the crime scene. Now, there's a little concern about why we didn't pick up on the fact that there were cameras on the roof and they had been hacked in and cut, why that was missed the first go-around. But once the FBI came in, they were able to ascertain that and be able to get this footage that we're now talking about. But you notice that they did go in, and who was the last person to have seen Nancy? It was her daughter and son-in-law. And they've been to that house twice now, taking a look and spending a little bit of time looking for the case, combing the area, et cetera. So that having been said, that's what we're going to continue to proceed because of just what you said. There's no guarantee that, especially in high-profile cases, that it's not people just seeking publicity who actually have no knowledge and no involvement with the crime at all. And, of course, we really just need to follow the facts. But what do you think could be some of the possible scenarios here with what you've said so far, if you could dig into that? Well, let me just say what's being discussed. There are a number of scenarios. First of all, it was a monetary crime. It was a kidnapping or an abduction, and they were seeking a ransom. And, of course, like I said, that's not been panning out too well. The second question is, is there a message being sent? Now, we have to look at this, whether it's accurate or not. It's something that we have to study. As you know, Savannah Guthrie had done a in-depth interview with Virginia Guthrie, who was one of the victims of the Epstein case. You'll notice that this all occurred at the same time the Epstein files were finally being fully released. And so we want to make sure there's no connection of a message being sent subtly that you need to say off of that case. We're taking a look at that as well. And then, of course, the third thing is, is it a random crime? The problem with that scenario, Savannah, is this. You went to the effort of knowing where the cameras were at. You went to the effort of hacking in. It seems to be well-coordinated, well-organized, and that's not one of these random crimes, kind of like you see the door open to a house. There's a purse sitting on the table. You run in there and grab it real quick and see how fast you can get out. That does not seem to be the case here. There's obviously a reason and a motive behind it, and the question that we're investigating now is, what is it? From your perspective, if we are taking a look at this second scenario you painted relating potentially to an interview that Savannah Guthrie has done, what would be the role or the tactic related to the ransom notes? Well, it's obviously to throw off because you don't want—here's how the crime works. The less you know, the more I can get away with, the better off you are. It is for me. So you want to try to throw things out there that would throw people off, just like you want to make it look like perhaps you walked out and walked down the street when you actually drove. Anything you can do to throw off the case, that just shows the sophistication of what was being done. And so you're going to this ransom-type situation. It falls very easily into that category because when it's a person of high profile, there's more than enough people that are wanting to get publicity out there that are wanting to kind of jump in there. It shows you how kind of off-key they are. Oh, I did it. They have no idea what they're talking about. They just love the publicity. And so that's very easily to figure out that. On the second question, what would be a motive in doing that? You know, the case that we're talking about is extremely very high profile and very powerful people. And that has been demonstrated. They have a lot of access, a lot of ability to do a lot of things. Well, we'll all be watching very closely to see any further evidence or leads that come out of this. Thank you so much for your insight. Michael Letts, good to see you this morning. Good to see you. God bless and God bless America. Thank you. Those topics and more covered now by NTD Washington correspondent Mari Otu. Press Secretary Leavitt says that she and President Trump reviewed that footage together as it was released by the FBI just moments before the White House press briefing. Leavitt reiterates that the prayers of the entire White House are with the Guthrie family and that she hopes that they find the suspect and that Nancy Guthrie returns home safely. Here's the White House with President Trump's initial reaction to that new footage. His initial reaction, of course, as all Americans is just pure disgust. And again, it's heartbreaking to see now this footage really bring to life a story we've all been reading about. And again, we're just praying for the safety of Nancy Guthrie and that she will return home soon. The White House says President Trump is encouraging all Americans with any information to call the FBI. I think anyone who was involved in this depraved crime, the subduction, of course, we want to be seen held to the fullest extent of the law possible. Meanwhile, the White House urging Congress to pass the SAVE Act equating election integrity with national security. As for the president, he's been very clear he wants House Republicans and Democrats, too, if they were politically wise, to pass this legislation. While a new Pew Research poll shows overwhelming bipartisan support for photo ID to vote with 71 percent of Democrats, 95 percent of Republicans and 83 percent of Americans in agreement, many Democratic politicians oppose it. In opposition, the White House condemns. Now is for the SAVE Act itself. It has nothing to do with protecting our elections and everything to do with federalizing voter suppression. The SAVE Act is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0. How do you oppose SAVE America? So this is simply on voting. Voter ID. We want a statement that you are a citizen of America. I think that's a reasonable thing to ask. And no mail-in ballots, which are very corrupt. No country in the world does what we do. This comes as President Trump threatens to block the opening of a bridge between the U.S. and Canada unless Ottawa negotiates with Washington on tariffs and the exclusion of American products. He accuses Canada of taking advantage of the U.S. with unfair trade practices and cozying up to the Chinese regime. The fact that Canada will control what crosses the Gordie Howe Bridge and owns the land on both sides is unacceptable to the president. It's also unacceptable that more of this bridge isn't being built with more American-made materials, even more so than what President Barack Obama committed to with the Canadians at the time, at the start of the project. We don't want China to take over Canada. And if they make the deal that he's looking to make, China will take over Canada. And the first thing they're going to do, end ice hockey. Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful also, but they're not. Canada lives because of the United States. Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney says he's spoken with President Trump after the president issued that threat and that the situation will be settled without giving any further details. This newest threat coming just weeks after President Trump threatened a 100 percent tariff on Canada if they made a deal with the Chinese regime. Reporting from the White House, Mari Otsu, NTD News. Thanks to Mari for that report. Lawmakers are advancing a housing bill that calls for new federal studies and updates to existing affordability programs. The proposal aims to address gaps in housing policy as prices remain high across the country. For analysis, we welcome now Alan Mendenhall of the Heritage Foundation. Good to have you with us this morning, Alan. The new housing bill includes over 20 provisions directing the Government Accountability Office to study gaps in federal housing programs and to modernize HUD's Home Investment Partnership Program. From your perspective, do such studies or modernizations have meaningful effects on housing prices? Well, they could. The reality is that a lot of the home crisis is local. It has to do with local zoning laws, for instance. But we have fewer homes available than people need and want, so prices keep getting pushed higher. When there's not enough of something people want, it costs more. It's just basic supply and demand. And our country is short anywhere in the range of 3 to 5 million homes overall. It's a gap that's grown since the 2008 financial crisis. So something has to be done. And that's why we're seeing bipartisan support. The House bill you just mentioned passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support, 390 to 9 vote. And in this age of partisan divide, that's an impressive number. So I do want to get into some solutions here in terms of the supply and demand and constriction right now. But in trying to deal with these problems, many federal programs provide grants or subsidies to low-income buyers. In a market that has constrained housing supply, do these programs really make homes more affordable? Or can they unintentionally push up prices or perhaps both? Yeah, sure, they can unintentionally push up prices. And when lawmakers are looking to try to accomplish a federal fix, one thing especially Republicans need to try to do is make sure there's not some kind of giant wealth transfer from red state America to blue state America, because a lot of the housing crisis takes place in urban blue areas and in cities that are governed by Democrats. That's where you see a lot of problems. So what you don't want is to let the burden fall on taxpayers in a bunch of red states to try to subsidize a lot of fixes in blue states. Now, what this particular bill is trying to do is modernize outdated programs. So, you know, there are going to be some updated rules for like manufactured homes. It's going to get rid of the old rule that every manufactured home has to sit on a permanent steel frame. It's going to allow homes to be built more like modular or factory built houses, things like that that are trying to ease the process to build because we want to build more homes. That's how you get a greater supply and that's how you bring the prices down. So the bill also seeks to streamline regulations in particular around environmental reviews. And that, I think, is really important because we have all these environmental regulations in place through HUD, through the FHA, that we really want to modernize and get people building. And in terms of writing the system, some of the other efforts we've seen is the Trump administration recently moving to prevent large institutions from buying up single family homes. Do you think policies like this are more effective in keeping housing affordable than perhaps federal studies or subsidy programs? Or how do they kind of play into all of this? Well, yeah, I think that's important. You're talking about the executive order, the stopping Wall Street from competing with Main Street homebuyers that he signed on January 20th, which was right before he went to Davos and mentioned this in Davos. And, yeah, these institutional investors are a big problem. What people have kind of overlooked in this conversation is how these institutional investors are getting public money on the front end, how they invest state and federal pension dollars, how they get sovereign wealth funds from other countries, but also just municipal bonds, all types of government money that they get on the front end. And then they buy shares of companies on the back end that are most likely to get government subsidies. So they've got kind of this wealth extraction model from the taxpayers. And if we really wanted to get at some of those institutional investors, what we would want to do is limit the amount of public money they have to deal with. And I think that would be sort of cutting off at the neck. But, yeah, these are all efforts to try to increase supply, something we desperately need. You know, this housing crisis does contribute to inflation pressures as well. Our inflation numbers are going in the right direction. Like if we're at 3 percent or something as of January versus 9.1 percent in June 2022 under Joe Biden. So things are headed in the right direction. And I think lawmakers recognize there is a need to do something. And we're coming up against midterms. Both parties know that they have to do something in this area. Just in our last 30 seconds, you mentioned bringing regulations down. There's been many tactics that obviously need to go into all of this. But if your goal were to lower home prices in high cost areas, what concrete market oriented steps would you take? Yeah, well, I mean, the market oriented areas sort of take care of themselves. That's the beauty of the market is it's sort of self-regulating and self-correcting. What we need to do is actually let the market do its work. So that means getting rid of the regulations and allowing us to actually have a market situation. If we don't have a market situation, it's hard for the market to do what the market does. Well, great to have your insights this morning. Fast moving developments here on this issue and much needed. Thank you so much, Alan Mendenhall. Good to see you. Good to see you. Coming up, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and other immigration officials testifying on Capitol Hill amid tensions in Minnesota. Breaking overnight, the FAA announcing that it's closing up U.S. airspace around El Paso, Texas for 10 days. All flights to and from the airport are grounded from late last night until February 20th. In a notice posted on its website, the FAA says the restrictions are due to special security reasons. The agency has not given additional details. The FAA asking travelers to contact their airlines to get the latest flight information. Officials from ICE and Customs and Border Protection testifying on Capitol Hill amid tensions surrounding immigration enforcement operations. Republican lawmakers stressing the importance of having so-called sanctuary cities communicate with ICE, while Democrats are calling on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign. NTD correspondent Jason Blair has the takeaways. Enforcing immigration law is not optional. We must take the temperature down and look at the record of enforcement actions through rational eyes. Following tensions and social unrest in Minnesota and other parts of the country, House lawmakers brought in immigration officials to testify on Capitol Hill. Rep. Ryan McKenzie says that in many areas, jails aren't telling ICE when illegal immigrants are being released so ICE can come to the jail and arrest them for deportation. In our case, members of Trende Aragua domestic abusers have been released onto the street and ICE had to stake out that location, making the arrests in an unsecure way out in the local community. Some Democrats called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign. Donald Trump and Kristi Noem are doing real damage to this country and to the department that was stood up 25 years ago in the wake of 9-11. Some Republicans highlighted the importance of what ICE has been doing. What are the consequences of not enforcing federal immigration laws? Sir, if you look at what ICE has done, if you look at the amount of, as I said earlier, the amount of known and suspected terrorists that we removed from the country, just that impact alone, along with the 7,800 gang members, makes a significant impact on public safety and national security. Go to the Department of Homeland Security website and Google your area and look at who's being picked up in your backyard. That's how we re-center this conversation to truth. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons was asked to step down. Mr. Lyons, will you resign from ICE? No, sir, I won't. Why not? Because, sir, that child that you're showing right there, the men and women of ICE took care of him when his father abandoned him and ran from law enforcement. Lyons says that law enforcement in Minneapolis was told to not cooperate with ICE. Which led to ICE officers and agents, as well as our other federal partners, pretty much having to defend themselves from whatever impediment, riots, or protests. Were they told by local elected officials not to cooperate? Yes, sir. Lyons also highlighted some stats of ICE's work during the first year of the Trump administration. ICE has conducted nearly 379,000 arrests. Among those arrests were more than 7,000 suspected gang members and over 1,400 known as suspected terrorists. Reporting in Washington, D.C., Jason Blair, NTD News. Thank you, Jason. And President Trump hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House today. The two leaders are expected to discuss ongoing U.S.-Iran negotiations. The meeting comes after Netanyahu met with Trump negotiators yesterday. Netanyahu's office says Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner provided an update on the first round of talks held with Iran last week. President Trump told Axios he's thinking of sending another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East if those talks fail. Trump says the U.S. currently has a massive fleet in the region. The president adding, An apparent reference to last year's strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. NTD's Jason Perry has the latest updates on the Trump-Netanyahu meeting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was surrounded by security as he prepared to board his flight to the U.S. He told reporters that it was going to be his seventh meeting with President Trump during Trump's second term and said the two were going to discuss Iran. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he thinks everyone would like to see something get resolved without a war. On the same day, Iran's top security official Ali Larijani met with the leader of Oman, where last week's talks between the U.S. and Iran took place. Larijani said this during an interview with Oman's state-run media. This comes as both Iran and the U.S. are preparing for a possible war if Iran cannot reach a nuclear deal with the U.S. According to satellite imagery analyzed by Reuters, U.S. forces at Al Udeid military airbase in Qatar put missiles into truck launchers, giving the U.S. military the ability to move the missiles more quickly if necessary. And according to the Jerusalem Post, experts reviewed satellite imagery of an Iranian nuclear facility and said Iran was preparing for the possibility of a U.S. strike by covering the entrances to the facility with dirt. Meanwhile, Netanyahu also said he's planning to discuss the Gaza Strip with President Trump as well. Israeli forces and the Hamas terrorist group have reportedly continued to attack each other despite the ceasefire. However, according to the spokesman for Indonesia's president, a proposed multinational peacekeeping force for the Gaza Strip could total about 20,000 troops, and Indonesia estimates that it could contribute up to 8,000 troops to the Gaza Strip. Jason Perry, NTV News. Canadians in British Columbia are reeling after a shooting at a local high school killed 10 people and left multiple injured. NTV's Daniel Monaghan reports. British Columbia Premier David Eby urged Canadians to rally around the tight-knit community of Tumbler Ridge after a shooting killed 10, including the alleged shooter. This is a devastating and unimaginable tragedy. We can't imagine what the community is going through, but I know it's causing us all to hug our kids a little bit tighter tonight. Eby says the 10 people were at two different sites. Eight of the people who died as a result of the shootings were at the school, including an individual we understand is the suspected shooter who is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. About 25 people were injured. Some profoundly serious and some were minor injuries. This is only the beginning for so many who have families who have been impacted by today's tragic events. The shockwaves of this horrific event will continue to reverberate through the community and throughout the country for some time. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on social media that he was devastated by the horrific shootings. Carney says he joins Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly. The police talked in more detail about the two separate crime scenes. So we have two scenes. We have the school and then we have found two other persons deceased that are residents in Tumbler Ridge that we're trying to determine the connection to this event. We believe they're connected but we're not in a position to provide that definitively right now at this time. Police know the identity of the shooter but did not give further details and declined to say if the attacker was a child. An official active shooter alert described the suspect as a female in a dress with brown hair. Tumbler Ridge is a remote municipality with a population of around 2,400 people located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northern British Columbia. Daniel Monaghan, NTD News. I had Chinese Communist Party money flowing into American non-profits. Lawmakers say it's fueling protests, pushing radical policies and undermining U.S. elections. Welcome back. On Capitol Hill, House lawmakers are sounding the alarm over foreign money flowing into American non-profits. They say groups tied to the Chinese Communist Party are using U.S. tax breaks to fund protests, push radical policies and influence elections. NTD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has the details. Foreign actors fueling disruption and illegal activity in America using a dark web of tax-exempt groups. The Chinese Communist Party funding American non-profits at the center of a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill. The House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax policy, focused on how money tied to the CCP flows into U.S. tax-exempt groups. Money they say fuels protests, pushes radical policies and still gets taxpayer subsidies. The People's Forum, an American tax-exempt group, hosts events and courses pushing Communist Party propaganda, incites violent protests and riots. To operate YouTube channels to reach youth. Others operate fake news websites. Still more lobby Congress. Federal property vandalized at Union Station. American flags burned and police officers assaulted. Airports blocked at JFK and LAX. This is not grassroots protest. It is a repeatable system for paralyzing American infrastructure on demand, financed through U.S. tax law and aligned with a hostile foreign power. One example is billionaire Neville Royce Singham, a former U.S. tech executive now based in Shanghai. The panel says Singham funnels millions to shell companies that then fund non-profits, which in turn train protesters and even spread pro-CCP propaganda. Neville Royce Singham donated over $20 million to the People's Forum through shell companies. Witnesses say that the problem is the tax code itself. They argue loopholes allow unlimited foreign cash into non-profits without disclosure. There is no real requirement that discloses anywhere that they are receiving foreign funds. This is a huge threat to foreign interference in our elections. Many also tying the funding directly to swaying U.S. policy. Most recently, non-profit groups have joined a push to defund ICE and attack law enforcement after receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations linked to the Chinese Communist Party. The witnesses are pushing Congress to close loopholes in federal law that allows unlimited foreign cash flows into non-profits. Some states already are moving in that direction, with Alabama and Michigan just passing laws last week to block foreign money in ballot measures. And a bill is now moving its way through Congress that would do that on the federal level. Reporting by Jack Bradley, NTD News. Thank you, Jack. A Southern California man is headed to federal prison after prosecutors say he secretly worked as an agent of the Chinese regime. They also say he helped a local city council candidate win office. NTD's Christina Corona reports. A 65-year-old man from Chino Hills, California, has been sentenced to federal prison for secretly working as an agent of the Chinese regime while also helping a local politician win office. Federal prosecutors say Yongning Mike Sun acted under the direction of officials from Communist China from 2022 through early 2024 without registering as a foreign agent as required by law. Court documents say Sun also advised a city council campaign. The L.A. Times reports that the candidate was Arcadia council member Eileen Wong who won in 2022 and is still in office. Prosecutors also say Sun helped run a news website aimed at the local Chinese-American community posting pro-Beijing content at the direction of Chinese officials. Prosecutors say his work included targeting Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in China which has many adherents here in Southern California. Investigators say Sun also closely tracked the April 2023 visit of Taiwan's then-president Tsai Ing-wen to Southern California and sent real-time updates on her movements directly to representatives of the Chinese regime. After Sun's arrest, the city of Arcadia said he had no official connection to the city and that council member Wong was not charged. Sun's defense argued he didn't know he was required to register as a foreign agent and asked for a lighter sentence. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Asaili said in a statement, federal law enforcement will not allow hostile foreign nations to infiltrate the governance of our nation's political bodies. Sun has been sentenced to four years in federal prison. Christina Corona, NTD News. Thank you, Christina. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead a sizable U.S. delegation to the Munich Security Conference starting Friday. Vice President J.D. Vance last year at the gathering accused European leaders of censoring free speech and failing to control immigration. NTD's Daniel Monaghan spoke with a European lawyer specializing in free speech cases about some current issues she says are placing it at risk. Senior counsel with the legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom International, Adina Portoro, says Europe's Digital Services Act, which the EU defines as minimizing risks to citizens, including exposure to what it calls illegal and harmful content, continues to put pressure on freedom of expression. And one major aspect regarding that is the fact that the commission is really acting as a judge, as a prosecutor, as an investigator regarding the DSA. So it is something that in normal constitutional systems committed to the rule of law, that should not happen because these powers should be normally kept separate. Portoro says there is significant potential for abuse under the guise of protecting people from so-called harmful content. The issue is that normally this gatekeeping type of exercise also comes with a very specific narrative regarding harmful content, for example. What is harmful content? Is it really pornographic content and exclusively pornographic content? Or can you put there ideas that the people in power disagree with? For example, if you have a priest's sermon, they're saying that there are only two biological sexes. Is that harmful content that people in power can simply label and then take out of the public space? The European Commission also recently published its latest strategy against racism. So in this latest EU strategy against racism, the Commission deplores the fact that there has not been any progress in passing the famous file of making hate speech a new crime, the same level with terrorism, human trafficking and money laundering. One issue that could fall victim to online suppression of so-called racism could be citizens disagreeing with what they view as excessive migration and its effects on their community. For example, the UK's Prevent Counterterrorism strategy contains a section in many training manuals that categorizes views critical of mass migration and a lack of integration by certain ethnic and cultural groups as a subcategory of extreme right-wing terrorist ideology. As a legal organization, we are strongly opposed to racism. The issue is when such a concept is used to limit legitimate viewpoints and even legitimate criticism regarding the political sphere and some political action which is taken. We know dissent is a legitimate expression and the European Union seems to use these terms and protective grounds in order to limit dissent and to limit these favorable viewpoints. Portaro says she would like to see the European Union take a more open-minded approach to differing viewpoints. If the European Union continues to view citizens' views and concerns and criticism regarding political action as risks to be mitigated, then we're really going on a downhill slope here in Europe. Politicians should actually welcome such criticism and be able to integrate it constructively in a plan going forward rather than to silence dissent. The attorney says historically, granting governments or institutions the power to decide which speech is permitted ends up stifling debate and censoring dissent. The second point is indeed those opinions will not disappear, they will just go into the underground. They will not be on social media anymore, but they will be in specific groups that can actually then really target the groups that are disfavored and can develop into aggression and potential violence. So it's not something to be taken lightly. It's just the realization that just pushing the delete button will not solve the issue that we have as a society. A review of the Digital Services Act next year will focus in part on free speech concerns. Portaro says she hopes the European Commission will listen to what she calls the legitimate concerns of citizens. Daniel Monaghan, NTD News. Thank you, Daniel. And NTD has reached out to the European Commission for comment. We'll be in touch with you and reporting on that if we hear back. Next, the Dow Jones Industrial Average topping 50,000 for the first time last week. We've got what you need to know from a financial planner ahead, plus the FDA is reassessing a common chemical additive used to preserve food, deciding whether the preservative is in fact safe. Welcome back. The Food and Drug Administration is reassessing a chemical preservative that's been used in food for more than 60 years. The FDA is revealing whether BHA is still safe to use in food. The chemical is used to prevent fats and oils from spoiling in various food and meat products. Health officials say if BHA doesn't meet the gold standard for use, it will be removed from the food supply. The FDA deemed BHA as safe in 1958 and approved it as a food additive in 1961. The move comes after the FDA launched a program last summer to review chemicals used in certain foods. The Dow Jones last week hit 50,000 for the first time ever, which sounds like cause for celebration, but according to our next guest, big milestones don't change market math, but they often change investor behavior. So for insight on how you can respond during times of uncertainty, let's be speaking with Mitland Financial founder, Lawrence Sprung, also the author of Financial Planning Made Personal. Lawrence, great to see you this morning. Big milestones don't change market math, they change investor behavior. What did you mean by that? Yeah, I mean, you know, things are that every cycle feels different and 50,000 is definitely quite the milestone, but it's just a number. It really doesn't mean something to an investor who started last month or who's thinking about starting today. So you want to be prepared for the markets and be prepared for that volatility because, you know, with every upside, there's also some volatility. Volatility is the toll we pay as investors and really, you know, be prepared for those times and investors who sell during those uncertain times really don't sidestep risk, but they miss a lot of the upside, the best days of the markets. So right now, investors are focused on rate cuts, recession fears, and the possibility of a soft landing. Why do those narratives often become a trap for investors? Yeah, because rate cuts, you know, to some can mean support. It could also look at it as there's a slowdown, that we need those rate cuts, or it could mean that the market, you know, the economy is stabilizing and markets could react aggressively to each of those interpretations. It really depends on what your feeling is regarding those specific events and how you feel it's going to impact things. Historically, Fed pivots bring volatility, not necessarily clarity, and prices tend to move before the data confirms what actually is going on. And really, at the end of the day, investors who sell while waiting for the certainty often exit just as the recovery phase begins and that's problematic. Yeah, yeah, you've pointed out that the market's biggest up days and biggest down days tend to cluster together. If you could dig into why selling during volatility is so damaging to long-term returns. Yeah, so if you look at the historic markets and how they've performed, typically some of the best days, as you mentioned, cluster around some of those worst days. Now, let's look at the numbers. Since the year 2000, the S&P has averaged about 9.8% annually when investors stay fully invested. Now, you compare that to if you miss just the 10 best days each year, just 10 days, your returns fall to roughly minus 12.5%. So that is a huge swing. So unless you're gonna be the person that is going to be able to time exactly when to get out and take advantage of those 10 best days, you can have a huge swing in performance from positive almost 10% to minus 12.5%. That's a big swing. So research shows investors trade more around round numbers like 50,000. Why do psychological milestones lead people to make worse decisions, do you think? Yeah, I think we end up trying to justify what we're looking to do, right? If you're on the side of, hey, I think the markets are gonna go down. If the markets hit this number, I'm gonna enter. Or if it runs away and hits this number. So we end up justifying ourselves out of making a decision in a lot of situations. And really these milestones just act as psychological anchors and they trigger fear, greed, and sometimes even overconfidence, depending what you're looking for. And it increases your urge to do something. But here's the story. Round numbers don't change fundamentals. They just simply change the behavior and emotion-driven decisions are consistently linked to worse outcomes. The better path to take is just be patient and be a disciplined investor. If you have the time horizon, enter, have a diversified portfolio and stay invested. And when those volatility times come in, take advantage of that. And if you're in a position, add more money at those times instead of running to exit. So if the real edge isn't predicting rate cuts or recessions, what should investors be doing right now instead? Yeah, the best thing to approach this is we know volatility will come. Last year, we saw volatility around Liberation Day. It was somewhat short-lived. In 2026, I assure you we will have some event that will cause some level of volatility. And that could come today, that could come in a month or come in six months. But the important thing is have a plan before the volatility comes in play. This way, you have that plan in place and you'll have a way of approaching it rather than reacting to it. And investors who have a plan going into volatility make better decisions when markets get shaky. I know you're having these kinds of conversations all day long, but is there anything you think is really missing more broadly from the conversation around investing? And that could be useful at this particular time when people may be feeling a little unsteady. Yeah, I think that you have a lot of question marks and they're always questions. Today is will rate cuts fuel growth? Will recession come into play? Will the economy continue on the path that it's on or will it have a soft landing? Whether it's these questions that we're asking today or different questions, there's always those questions. Have your time horizon, have a consultation with an advisor if you don't feel comfortable handling or working this on your own and have a plan to approach these volatile times. So when and if they arise, because they will, you'll be fully prepared instead of the other P word, which is panic. And then you'll end up missing one, if not several of those 10 large up days really hindering your growth and your family's nest egg. In other words, nice and easy does it, in the words of Frank Sinatra. Good to have you with us this morning, Lawrence Sprung, as always. Next, Team USA collected five medals in the Milan-Cortino Winter Games yesterday. Defending gold medal champion Alex Hall took home a silver medal in the men's free ski slope style run. Ben Ogden earned a silver medal giving the U.S. its first Olympic medal in cross-country skiing since 1976. And in the combined event for alpine skiing, Paula Maltzan and Jackie Wiles captured the bronze medal. Team USA earned a silver medal in the mixed doubles curling event after losing to Sweden in the finals. And in the women's luge, Ashley Farquhar-San secured the bronze, becoming the second American woman in Olympic history to medal in the sport. And currently, Norway has the highest number of gold medals at six and the highest total medal count at 12. Team USA's five medals yesterday bring the total to seven medals overall, including two golds. Well, that's all we have time for this hour, but if you have any feedback on the show or have something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at news.today and goodmorning at news.ntd.com. We'd love to hear from you. And for round-the-clock original news coverage, watch us live at ntd.com slash live or download our NTD app. I'm Stefania Cox. See you soon.