Hillary Clinton Testifies on Epstein Ties; US-Iran Talks Resumes in Geneva | NTD News Today Feb. 26

Hillary Clinton heads to a closed-door House deposition in the Jeffrey Epstein probe. Her testimony follows pressure from lawmakers and the threat of contempt. Delegates from the U.S. and Iran say they're exchanging constructive proposals in nuclear talks, the latest from the negotiations in Geneva. Cuba says it shot and killed four people on a U.S. registered speedboat as tensions rise between the U.S. and its communist neighbor. New details about the FBI seizing phone records during the Biden presidency. Two current Trump officials were targeted before joining the administration. Shenyun Performing Arts wrapping up a successful run in Lausanne, Switzerland. Drawing praise from local political leaders, calling it a new perspective on China's culture and history. This is NTD News Today, live from our global headquarters in New York City. Today is Thursday, February 26th. I'm Paul Graney. It's great to have you here. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is testifying today in a closed-door session before the House Oversight Committee. The panel is investigating the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Here's Committee Chair James Comer. To my knowledge, the Clintons haven't answered very many, if any, questions about their knowledge or involvement with Epstein and Maxwell. Again, no one's accusing at this moment the Clintons of any wrongdoing. They're going to have due process. But we have a lot of questions, and the purpose of the whole investigation is to try to understand many things about Epstein. How did he accumulate so much wealth? How was he able to surround himself with some of the most powerful men in the world? Was he an asset for our government or any other government? These are the questions that we're going to ask over the next two days, and hopefully we'll be able to get some answers. Comer says this would be a long deposition, and committee members will keep the public updated. In her opening statement, Hillary Clinton says she knows nothing about Epstein. She and former President Bill Clinton initially declined to appear after being subpoenaed, but later agreed after lawmakers moved toward contempt proceedings. Bill Clinton is expected to testify tomorrow, with transcripts of the interviews being released publicly. Committee Chair Comer says it's also possible that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick may be called to testify too. The secretary testified earlier this month before a Senate panel after his name appeared in the files. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. We will keep you updated. And now new details emerging about the FBI's collection of phone records. During the Biden administration, the FBI seized phone records of two people who are now two top Trump officials. NTD's Melinda Wise covers more. We're now learning that the FBI's reach was further than just obtaining phone records from Republican lawmakers at the time that the DOJ was investigating Trump in several cases. FBI Director Kash Patel and Trump's current chief of staff, Susie Wiles, were also targets of the FBI. The bureau under Biden's presidency obtained phone records from these two, Patel and Wiles, two current Trump officials at the time that they were private citizens. Both Patel and Wiles have long been close allies of the president, even before the start of this administration. And notably, they held close ties with Trump leading up to and during his 2024 campaign. Their phone records were seized around the time of the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. And FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators used subpoenas to obtain something known as toll records, which shows the timing and people involved on calls, but not the content of the conversations. Still, Patel called the move outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed their records. The big concern here is how hidden this process was. Patel said the process and the related files were buried in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight. Former special counsel Jack Smith, when testifying to Congress recently, was under fire from Republicans for the seizure of lawmakers' records, but Smith asserted he followed the laws and DOJ procedures. Patel said he recently ended the FBI's ability to categorize files as prohibited to try to prevent something like this from being hidden in the future. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Melina Weiskopf, NTD News. And now the United States is investigating after Cuba says it shot and killed four men aboard a U.S.-registered speedboat. Cuba says the boat was attempting to infiltrate its territory, and here's what we know. Cuba says its forces shot and killed four people aboard a U.S.-registered boat yesterday. Cuban officials say the men were heavily armed and were attempting to infiltrate its territory. The country's interior ministry says the boat entered Cuban waters. Cuba says six of the passengers were injured and are in custody. It also says one of the passengers shot and injured the commander of a Cuban border guard vessel. The ministry described the passengers as Cuban residents of the U.S., adding two of the survivors were previously wanted for terrorism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the U.S. Embassy in Havana is working to get access to other people who are aboard the vessel. Suffice it to say, it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It's not something that happens every day. It's something, frankly, that hasn't happened with Cuba in a very long time. But we're going to find out. We're not going to base our conclusions on what they've told us. Vice President J.D. Vance says the White House will continue to provide updates. Certainly, you know, a situation that we're monitoring. Hopefully, it's not as bad as we fear it could be, but I can't say more because I just don't know more. Florida's attorney general says he's directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to work with federal, state, and law enforcement to begin an investigation. The incident comes as tensions rise between the U.S. and its communist neighbor following the capture of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, a longtime ally of Cuba. Most oil deliveries to the island are now blocked, crippling the country's economy. Halfway across the world, another round of U.S.-Iran talks begin today in Geneva. No big breakthroughs are expected, with Rubio saying Iran was attempting to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, while the talks will be focused around Iran's nuclear program. Secretary Rubio commenting yesterday that Iran poses a grave threat to the U.S. These things have to be addressed. The negotiations tomorrow and the talks tomorrow will be largely focused on the nuclear program. And we hope progress can be made, because that's the president's preference, to make progress on the diplomatic front. But it's also important to remember that Iran refuses, refuses to talk about ballistic missiles. Vice President Vance says the U.S. is seeking evidence that Iran is trying to rebuild a nuclear weapon after U.S.-led strikes destroyed the country's nuclear facilities last year. So the president's sending those negotiators to try to address that problem. As the president has said repeatedly, he wants to address that problem diplomatically. But of course, the president has other options as well. Iranian officials, meanwhile, say a fair, balanced deal could still be reached. But Iran will not give up its nuclear ambitions. And we have accepted not to have nuclear weapons, but at the same time, we have full rights to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. The negotiations come as the U.S. builds up its military capability in the region. Iran has threatened to strike U.S. bases if it is attacked. President Trump said one week ago that he was giving Tehran about 10 to 15 days to make a deal. Now, as we heard, nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are underway today in Geneva, Switzerland. Delegates from the U.S. and Iran met for several hours this morning and will resume after a break. Iran's foreign ministry says the two sides have exchanged, quote, very constructive proposals so far, with Oman's foreign minister, who acts as a mediator, saying the two sides exchanged, quote, creative and positive ideas. He is hopeful for more progress later today. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are leading the U.S. delegation. And during the break, both delegations are expected to consult with their respective governments. This is the third round of nuclear talks in Geneva. It is believed to be a last chance for diplomacy. The Trump administration has gathered a fleet of aircrafts and warships to the Middle East to pressure Iran into a deal. The president is saying he will never allow Iran to have nuclear weapons. Iran maintains that it will not give up its ability to enrich uranium. We will keep you updated. And now coming up, President Trump highlighted a Virginia teen's case during the State of the Union, reigniting debate over parental rights and school gender policies. With that, after the break. In the gallery tonight are Sage Blair and her mother, Michelle. In 2021, Sage was 14 when school officials in Virginia sought to socially transition her to a new gender, treating her as a boy and hiding it from her parents. Hard to believe, isn't it? Before long, a confused Sage ran away from home. After she was found in a horrific situation in Maryland, a left-wing judge refused to return Sage to her parents because they did not immediately state that their daughter was their son. Sage was thrown into an all-boys state home and suffered terribly for a long time. But today, all of that is behind them because Sage is a proud and wonderful young woman with a full-ride scholarship to Liberty University. Sage and Michelle, please stand up. It's going on all over, numerous states, without even telling the parents. But surely we can all agree, no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents' arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents' will. Who would believe that we're even talking about this? We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately. And now what we just heard is a clip from Tuesday's State of the Union address where President Trump highlighted the story of a Virginia teen whose parents say school officials secretly attempted to socially gender transition her without their consent. Now, the story sparked a national debate over parental rights and federal protections. And so for analysis, we welcome Laura Hanford, Senior Policy Analyst at the Heritage Foundation. Laura, good afternoon. Welcome. You're a personal friend of the Blair family. What did it mean to see Sage's story highlighted by the president? It was incredible to see her story finally told. A lot of these parents suffer in silence, and it was just amazing to see the president recognize that this had happened, that it happens to a lot of families, that it was evil, and that we need to stop it. It was amazing. It's incredible. From your perspective, what does the case reveal about how some schools are handling, you could say, sex education without parental involvement? Right. Well, this is a problem in tens of thousands of districts across the U.S. Sage's school was actually in a conservative district, so it goes from liberal to conservative. I've known them for three and a half years now. I documented her story for The Federalist and then was behind with Family Foundation in Virginia and Representative Dave LaRock, a bill called Sage's Law that would have banned secret gender transitions in Virginia, required parental notification, and then said it's not abuse to raise a child according to their sex, which you would think would be a no-brainer. But as President Trump highlighted yesterday, it's crazy. Democratic leaders are against that bill. It's failed. Each year, they've killed it. I think it's every parent's worst nightmare, to be honest with you, for something like that to be kept secret from a parent is just a beggar's belief. How widespread is transgender ideology across the nation? Well, I would say we know that child welfare services are especially captured, and schools, unfortunately, with school counselors as well. And so you have this combination where a child might express confusion at school or want to go by different pronouns or a name, like Sage did. She was very vulnerable. Often, it's the kids that are looking for friends or just uncomfortable in this stage of puberty, and they get pulled into this ideology as a solution. In Sage's case, she actually was given trans websites by the school counselor, and that's part of how she met the predator that she ended up running off to. And it's what led to the assault in the bathroom because the school kept all this from her mom. She had a history of fragile mental health. The school ignored that, kept her mom out of the loop. She was assaulted in a boy's bathroom, ended up having sort of a breakdown and running away. So her mother was never given a chance to step in and stop the first domino that fell in this horrific experience. So keeping parents in the dark is a terrible, terrible idea. It opens the door to predators. And then, of course, everyone is operating from this idea that it's abuse somehow not to affirm a child as the opposite sex, which sounds crazy. And it is, but it is happening all across the U.S. It's just incredible. That is incredible. Now, the president called for nationwide action. What specific protections do you think are necessary to prevent this, something like this happening? Well, there's different solutions. For one, there's the state-level solutions like Sage's Law. And ironically, the day that Sage's Law was killed for the fourth time in Virginia, an Ohio congressman introduced the Affirming Families Act in Ohio that would go much further than Sage's Law and really deal with some of the root causes of this upside-down definition of abuse. So just in the last three years, Texas, Indiana, and North Carolina have introduced bills like this, which would mean you can't take away a child from parents simply for not affirming this claim to be a different identity or not medicalizing them. And you also can't deny a foster placement on that grounds. So that would solve a huge part of the problem if we could just define and clarify that abuse does not include raising a boy as a boy or a girl as a girl, which, again, as the president said last night, it's crazy that that's where we are. So there's a state-level solution. Ohio, Georgia, and New Hampshire have all introduced bills this session. More may come. But federally, we also need legislation to tackle this problem of kids that are lured away from their families like Sage was and run away to blue states because states assert custody now in some of these blue states. If the child ran there or was trafficked there to get sex-rejecting procedures. So in that case, those states have decided they simply are going to assert custody over those children, ignore all parental rights, ignore any custody orders, and keep that child. So this is really an emerging just battle over parental rights. How can you assert as a state who is not even the state of home state of the child, they suddenly assert rights over this child? So that needs a federal solution. And we're working on that. There's quite a bit of interest on that. And the White House also can help by defining abuse properly and enforcing a proper definition of abuse across states. Incredible. I think one of the most alarming allegations was that a judge kept Sage from her parents because they wouldn't affirm that gender transition. A judge. That's right. Well, judges are being trained also to view not affirming a child as the opposite sex as abuse. And so the judge's parents suddenly find themselves in this twilight zone where the judges, the social workers, the teachers, everyone is lined up against them. And they're like Michelle was just in the position of having to hear themselves after caring for a child for a lifetime. Suddenly they're being called abusers by people that have known their child for five minutes but heard that they were identifying as the opposite sex. And so those just that gender ideology then blinds these authorities into making terrible decisions, like withholding a tiny victim of sex trafficking from her parents. After that first terrible experience when she was trafficked, caught in Virginia and then trafficked across state lines to Maryland, that judge withheld custody from her parents. And he even ended up throwing her father out of the courtroom because the father was weeping and couldn't remember these new pronouns. And mind you, they hadn't even known she was identifying as a boy because the school had kept this from her. It's hard to believe that this story is true, but I spent months documenting it. There's a lawsuit that lays out the causes and every aspect of it is just really incredible. But it's such an abuse of child, to use the term properly, it really is an upside down abuse of child welfare systems. They're meant to protect kids and in this case they just precipitated her into further harm. Just so many shocking details there. This issue, Laura, seems like it just came out of nowhere and now it's just everywhere. It's crazy. That's Laura Hanford at the Heritage Foundation. Laura, thank you. Thank you for having me. And now an update on the Minnesota fraud investigations. Now Vice President J.D. Vance is announcing a new effort to fight fraud nationwide. NTD's Daniel Monahan is the key takeaways, including hundreds of millions of dollars intended for Minnesota being halted. Vice President J.D. Vance saying there are way too many Americans who are being defrauded by bad actors. They decide to make themselves rich instead of allowing these programs that are set up to make it easier for people to take care of their families, to make it easier for autistic kids to get the after school services they need, to make it easier for people to get the health care that they need. Vance says the federal government is temporarily deferring nearly 260 million dollars in Medicaid payments to the state of Minnesota. In order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people's tax money. Governor Tim Walz called the move a campaign of retribution. He says the cuts will be devastating for veterans, families with young kids, folks with disabilities and working people across the state. Vance pushed back on that, saying the providers on the ground in Minnesota have actually already been paid by the state. What we're doing is we are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that's being perpetrated against the American taxpayer. Vance also described schemes uncovered in Minnesota, including one intended to ensure autistic children had access to after school services. Set up sham businesses, set up sham clients, set up people who are not even autistic but claim to be autistic in order that they benefit from the money that's out there. Vance says in Minnesota, California and in states nationwide, the generosity and goodwill of Americans are being exploited. We're taking that social contract that says that our American citizens, we take care of one another and we're allowing a few bad actors to get rich off that generosity of spirit instead of providing the services to the kids who need it. This is disgraceful. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, thanked President Trump for pushing to ensure that the most vulnerable Americans are protected. This is not about the money by itself. This is about people's lives and our culture, our shared values that have allowed these beautiful programs, Medicare and Medicaid, to survive brilliantly for 60 years. Oz detailed one behavioral health organization in Minnesota, which received 11.5 million dollars in Medicaid payments. The top biller submitted 450 days where they claim they're working more than 24 hours a day. I mean, even in the White House, that's tough. It's hard to work more than 24 hours a day. Officials say the estimated cost to taxpayers of fraud across the country totals roughly 300 billion dollars annually. Daniel Monaghan, NTD News. And now as the search for Nancy Guthrie, mother of NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie, continues, the large number of streamers and journalists following the case is apparently causing a problem. Authorities are widening the no parking zone outside Guthrie's house in Arizona following complaints. The Pima County Sheriff's Office says it's been receiving bitter complaints from neighbors about congested roads, trespassing, and trash. Authorities say the tents, generators, and satellite trucks set up along the road have created congestion and safety concerns. So, starting today, journalists and streamers will have to park elsewhere and get dropped off in the neighborhood. Locals are describing the scene as a media circus and despite the sheriff's request for people not to search on their own, volunteers have continued to look. Supporters of the Guthrie family have also showed up outside of the home to drop off flowers, yellow ribbons, crosses, and prayers. And now a former U.S. Air Force pilot has been arrested for allegedly providing defense services to the Chinese military. Federal officials say 65-year-old Gerald Eddie Brown Jr. was taken into custody in Indiana where the former F-35 instructor pilot was charged with violating the Arms Export Control Act. Prosecutors allege Brown conspired to train pilots with China's People's Liberation Army Air Force without the required State Department license. According to the complaint, Brown traveled to China in late 2023. He allegedly provided combat aircraft instruction there after coordinating with four nationals. One of those individuals was a previously convicted Chinese hacker tied to military espionage. The Justice Department and FBI say the case underscores growing efforts by Beijing to exploit former U.S. military expertise. They vowed to hold anyone who assists America's adversaries accountable. And now Google Threat Intelligence Group says they disrupted a Chinese-linked hacking group that breached at least 53 organizations across 42 countries. The report says the hacker group tracked as UNC2814, also known as Gallium, has a long history of targeting international governments and global telecommunications organizations. Google says the hacking campaign is separate from Salt Typhoon. That's a major Chinese regime-backed cyber espionage campaign. Now the company says its efforts have terminated the group's access to a backdoor, disabled its infrastructure, and revoked its accounts and access to relevant Google products. And now the White House says that big tech leaders will meet with President Trump next week. They're expected to pledge their AI data centers will not increase energy bills for the average American. A White House official telling the Epoch Times the March 4th meeting will include reps from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, OpenAI, and Elon Musk's XAI. And during a State of the Union address this week, Trump said tech companies had agreed to pay a greater share of the cost of electricity. With the president saying Tuesday he's telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs. The meeting comes as customers are starting to pay more and more as data centers boost electric demand and put stress on the supply. And now the latest on the social media addiction trial in Los Angeles. Jurors hearing from a data science expert about how platforms generate billions of dollars in ad revenue. NTD's Christina Corona reports from the courthouse. We're outside the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse where an engineer and data science professor took the stand today. Professor John Chandler testified saying how social media companies generate billions of dollars through ad revenue from young users under the age of 18. Professor John Chandler told jurors that research estimates showed platforms made billions of dollars from users under 18, including roughly $5 billion from Instagram and more than $2 billion from YouTube in a single year. However, YouTube attorneys pushed back questioning how Chandler calculated watch time and ad exposure and pointing out that he does not personally use Instagram or knew all of the features offered on the app. Jurors were also shown how ads play on the YouTube app and showed Bad Bunny's NFL halftime performance as an example of how ads pop up. Plaintiff attorney Mark Lanier went into detail describing how ads are customized to certain users saying when they log into their YouTube they are actually logging into their Google account which can send them ads based on their search history. He also mentioned how children who lied about their age are being fed adult advertisements. For years big tech has hidden behind predatory design, coercive tactics to manipulate, exploit and addict my generation of young people. Stealing the meaning of digital community right out from under us and I say no more. Many survivor parents attend the trial each day and on Wednesday about 20 held a press conference outside the courthouse. They called for what they described as common sense legislative solutions to address social media's impact on young users. One mother who lost her 12 year old son after what she says was a dangerous online challenge urged tech companies to change what content is allowed for children. Reporting from downtown Los Angeles, Christina Corona, NTD News. Now just in this morning, Instagram launched a new teen safety measure. The company says it will soon alert parents if their teen repeatedly searches for a suicide or self-harm content within a short period of time. The feature will roll out in the coming weeks to families enrolled in Instagram's parental supervision program and the move comes as Meta and other tech companies face growing legal pressure over the impact of social media on teens. We'll keep you updated. And now over 55,000 pounds of frozen blueberries have been recalled. The Food and Drug Administration blames a potentially fatal disease causing bacteria. The Oregon Potato Company originally announced the recall earlier this month and this week the FDA designated the recall as class one saying the bad berries pose a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death. The recalled blueberries were sold to distributors and other businesses not directly to consumers. The FDA said the product had been distributed in Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, and Canada. And now coming up, Russia launches an overnight attack against Ukraine involving hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles. Now U.S. and Ukrainian delegations are in Geneva for more discussions to end the war. And Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai has won an appeal overturning a fraud conviction but his family's calling it a PR move. After the break. I'm Paul Graney. This is World Watch. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says that Russia launched an overnight attack involving hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles. The barrage came just hours before U.S. and Ukrainian delegations in Geneva were set to hold more discussions to end the war. Zelensky said the bombardment targeted critical infrastructure and residential areas across eight regions. Peace talks are underway but Kiev and Moscow remain far apart on some key issues including territorial concessions and security guarantees. And now Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. and China have reached strategic stability in their relationship warning that a trade war would hurt both nations. He adds there are issues both countries know will have to be confronted and that the U.S. wants to diversify its supplies of critical minerals and pharmaceuticals. Rubio told reporters that existing export control measures are aimed at minimizing the risk of technology theft by China and that the administration continues to push for a trilateral arms deal between Russia and China. We think ultimately in the 21st century for there to be a true arms control agreement it has to involve China. Their stockpiles have increased dramatically. Their position that they would argue that they're still way behind the United States and Russia. We think that's irrelevant. They certainly have the capacity to catch up and are well on their way to doing so. And Rubio says that China has publicly stated it's not willing to reduce its nuclear arms but he says the U.S. will continue to pressure Beijing because an agreement would be good for the world. Rubio affirmed that President Trump would be in favor of a trilateral nuclear arms agreement with China and Russia with the White House saying Trump will travel to China March 31st through April 2nd to meet communist leader Xi Jinping. Now that comes as Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai wins an appeal overturning his 2022 fraud conviction. Lai had previously been sentenced to nearly six years in that case. However the 78-year-old will remain in prison because earlier this month he received a 20-year sentence under Hong Kong's draconian national security law for colluding with foreign forces. The sentence drew international condemnation including from the U.S. with Lai's daughter describing the latest ruling as a public relations move saying it changed nothing about his imprisonment. And now Vice President J.D. Vance is speaking at a machining facility in Wisconsin. Let's tune in. I want to thank the family Joe and Cindy and their and their beautiful kids and all it looks like we got some grandkids here Joe and Cindy that's amazing life's greatest blessing of course so great to have you guys great to see you guys wait what is today Thursday are you all should you all be in school right now I caught I caught you but this is a good excuse right the Vice President United States comes to town so you're gonna ought to get a get out of school for the day card but I want to thank a couple of other people here because all the things I'm going to talk about all the things we've been doing in the Trump administration would have been impossible without a couple of great congressional allies and so in particular I want to call out representative Derek Van Orden my dear friend Derek it's hard to miss him thank you I gotta tell you sometimes in Washington you get to Washington there are people you can trust there are people you can't trust Derek is one of those guys you can trust to always fight for the people who are in this room he knows exactly where he came from a proud veteran and Derek was talking with me backstage he's like we gotta we gotta do a little video together just so we can get it out there for the congressional campaign and I said okay absolutely what do you need me to say and he said well just say that you know we fought alongside each other in Vietnam I said Derek if we were Democrats we could get away with that but I don't think that's gonna fly we're Republicans these these media reporters are not going to let us get away with that but there are so many great things about Derek but all of the the amazing things no taxes on tips that happened because of Derek no taxes on overtime that happened because of Derek no taxes on social security that happened because of Derek so if you are a citizen in this district and you see a big tax refund check come next month or the month after that whenever you file your taxes remember it was Derek Van Orden who made it happen and it was congressional Democrats who tried to stop it so we're going to send Derek Van Orden back to Washington yes we've also got President Trump's endorsed candidate for governor of Wisconsin Tom Tiffany Tom please stand up we recognize another great guy another guy without whom we could not have accomplished all the great things that we did in Washington D.C. now he wants to come back home and serve as governor are we going to make Tom Tiffany the next governor of Wisconsin there we go and then finally if I'd had a few people stand up I want to recognize Representative Grothman where's Representative Grothman thank you sir it's good to see you where's Representative Brian Stile Brian a great guy we're not we're not in Brian's district but a great guy we've got Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schweming Scheming where's Brian Scheming thank you straight treasurer John Lieber where's John Lieber thank you man thank you for your service and finally State Senate President Patrick Teston Patrick where are you thank you now here's what I want to talk about I want to talk about the stakes coming up in November because it feels like this election in November is very far away but if anything the state of the union should have showed us that we cannot give power back to congressional democrats now I am fundamentally an optimist about this country I believe most people most human beings most American citizens whether they got a d next to their name or an r next to the name or they have no political affiliation they're good people they love our country they want our country to thrive and prosper but I got to tell you after the state of the union I'm not so sure that is true of the congressional democrats that we saw at the state of the union address as the president of the United States said very well you watch their reaction to some of what he was saying and all I could think was these people are kind of crazy these congressional democrats if you think about all of the things that they were doing and I got to tell you of course I've got the best seat in the house in many ways right I'm sitting right next to the speaker of the house I'm sitting right behind the president United States and I've got one internal monologue going on one thought in my head the whole time which is don't make a stupid face for two hours which is hard for me when you're on tv for two hours and the democrats are doing crazy things so I'll give you a little lay of the land so to the left my left is all of the republicans okay because I'm sitting right behind the president and to my right is some republicans but mostly the democrats and so I see the reaction of all the congressional democrats and it's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen so you say like for example you had this this this beautiful little girl she had such a sweet moment with her dad you may remember she was probably six years old she had been assaulted by an illegal immigrant she had had a very bad I think medical prognosis but it turned out that she was okay this six-year-old girl hurt by a human being who never should have been in this country in the first place who was led into this country by Joe Biden and the democrats and she's hugging her dad and she's so excited and you can tell and I think everybody's heart feels very you know you get that warm and fuzzy feeling and then I look over the congressional democrats and they're just scowling they cannot clap their hands for a six-year-old who survived an attack from an illegal alien what is that what kind of a person can't stand up and cheer for an innocent young girl who's doing well who's showing the entire country strength and resilience and then the president said may have this line I'm not going to get it exactly right but he said if you believe stand up and cheer if you believe that the American government's first priority should be to look after American citizens instead of illegal aliens and all the republicans including Derek and everybody else stands up and starts cheering and you look over the democrats complete silence no reaction at all the one thing that got at least some of the democrats to stand up and cheer was was the olympic hockey team which we're of course very proud of but you got to ask yourself ladies and gentlemen what is it about a political party that cannot stand up and cheer for a six-year-old girl who survived an attack what is it about a political party that can't stand up and cheer for the fact that we have rising wages and low inflation for the first time in a very long time in the United States of America what is it about a political movement that sees the mother of of a woman who was murdered on a bus because the president highlighted this this this woman you know her 22 year old daughter was riding on a bus to work was killed by a violent criminal who was let out of jail 13 times by democrat leadership should have never been on our streets and then murdered an innocent girl we recognized her mother her strength and her character and her grief and I think we all kind of grieve with her a little bit and the democrats cannot even stand up and cheer for that and so the question of the next election is not do we want low taxes and of course we do it's not do we want a secure border and of course we do it's a more fundamental question than that do we want to give power back to the people who opened our border who raised your taxes who won't even cheer for a six-year-old girl who was wounded because of their bad policies and I think our answer to that is hell no we want to give power back to the people like Derrick Van Orden who fight for us and here's the thing we you know it's funny I talk to the president multiple times a day it's kind of the job of vice president you talk to the president a lot and every single day the president will say to me what have we done today got to do more got to do more got to do more okay the president has such an intense work pace and I sometimes think Mr. President we got to take stock of all the incredible things that we have accomplished over the last year when Joe Biden and the democrats left us the government of this country we had the highest inflation that we had ever had in 40 years thanks to Donald Trump and congressional republicans we now have inflation at 2.4 the lowest in five years and it's coming even lower ladies and gentlemen under Joe Biden and the democrats the average American lost three thousand dollars in take-home pay and under Donald Trump and republicans in just one year the average American has seen seventeen hundred dollar increase in take-home pay that is more money in your pocket and that's what we're here to do is make you guys more prosperous under Joe Biden in the green new scam we had the highest energy prices that we had had maybe in my entire lifetime and then we had republicans take over with a simple principle which is drill baby drill get the oil and the gas out of our territory use American workers to provide American companies the energy that they need and now we've got gas prices lower we've got electricity and utility bills lower and we've got companies just like point precision that can actually afford the cost of doing business which they couldn't do when Joe Biden was in charge so it's funny to me when the democrats talk about affordability you heard the president talk about this in the state of union address here in the democrats talk about affordability it's like hearing an arsonist complain about fire it's your fault you guys left us a country with sky-high inflation you all left us a country where we were going everywhere but America for energy you left us a United States of America where the average family was three thousand dollars poorer so our attitude is you know what when you talk about affordability you're exactly right you caused an affordability problem congressional democrats and we are here to fix it now I want to say a few more things then I'll take some uh some questions from from the reporters so one of the things that I love about what the president has done is he is trying to cut out the fraud and corruption in the federal government I gotta tell you ladies and gentlemen it is very very rampant we have way too many people who got way too comfortable getting rich off of your tax dollars instead of providing the services that they need or maybe giving you a tax cut we had fraudsters getting rich off of your generosity I did a little press conference yesterday with Dr. Oz who runs our medicare and medicaid services and beforehand we were talking about some of the fraud that he had uncovered in just a couple of months let me give an example in in next door Minnesota in Minneapolis not a very well-governed state you had a situation where we have a service that the federal government provides the states actually provide it and then they get reimbursement from the federal government and you know what they do they help autistic kids with after-school services because if you know anybody who has autism or is on the spectrum sometimes you need a little bit of extra help and so we've got a program there to help those special needs kids to make it easier for their families what was happening is that Somali fraudsters many of whom were illegal immigrants shouldn't have been in this country to begin with you had Somali fraudsters who were saying that their kids were autistic even though they weren't they were collecting a fat check from all of you and they were getting rich from it so what happens you get poorer your tax dollars go to Somali fraudsters and worst of all you've got special needs kids in American communities that we ought to be helping and instead of helping them we're helping fraudsters who don't have the problem to begin with that is a scandal and it's something that Joe Biden and congressional Democrats promoted with their open border encouraged it and funded it now I'm here to tell you that the job of your government is not to open your borders and allow fraudsters to come in and take advantage of you the job of your government is to shut the border and shut off the fraud and that's exactly what we're doing in the Trump administration but you know it's it's actually not just the people on the ground who are committing some of this fraud some of the worst corruption is the corruption that you see in the federal government and I know Derek and a lot of these other guys were standing up cheering for this why don't we stop allowing congressmen and congresswomen to get rich off insider trading is that common sense so so again I've got a seat unlike any other and the president united states first of all the whole time the president's given a speech I was amazed at his self-control because I would not have had it if I was up there with the microphone because these two women far-left democrats Rashida Tlaib and Elian Omar they're sitting next to each other and they're talking loudly the entire time okay so there's a point at which I almost look over at him and go like this but see this is the thing you can't do when you're sitting behind the president I would have gotten in trouble for that even Derek wouldn't defend me if I did that but it's just nails on chalkboard they're talking they're interrupting the president was completely unfazed by it but again you're sitting there and then the president gets to the point where he says you know what we are going to stop congressmen and congresswomen from getting rich off of insider trading from violating the public trust that you have put in them and get rich off of insider trading of course a lot of people stand up and cheer most of the democrats don't you know who was not standing up and cheering Nancy Pelosi I have never seen a person more angry in my life than Nancy Pelosi when the president united states is calling out insider trading ladies and gentlemen my hope for all of you of course is that we can make you richer and more prosperous and safer in your communities but my hope for all of you is that you find somebody who loves you as much as Nancy Pelosi loves insider trading because then you will have a very good life indeed but on all these things we just have to stop the fraud the government exists to serve you we want the government of course to be smaller we want it to have to be limited in its scope we don't want it in your pocketbooks we don't want it telling you what to do but there are a few things you need the federal government to do you need it to provide for the common defense we need a good military you know we need it to ensure that people like special needs kids are able to get the essential services that they need and can't afford I happen to believe I grew up in a poor family when we have people who are down on their luck we don't want those people to starve or not be able to get medical care we want to make sure that Americans are taking care of Americans but that is not possible if we allow fraudsters to come into our country and get rich off of your generosity of spirit and so I want you when you go to the polls in November I don't want you to just think about all the great things that we've accomplished all the great things that we've talked about I don't want you just to think about no taxes on tips and lower gas prices I want you to think who is going to protect my money from fraudsters and the simple answer is it's Derek Van Orden and congressional Republicans it is not the Democrats who created this problem to begin with now I got so many notes here I could sit here and go on for another 45 minutes housing prices are down apartment rents are down four months in a row we came in saying we wanted to make housing more affordable and we're starting to make good progress on that the annual cost of a new mortgage in just a year is down by five thousand dollars and my friends if we could get Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates because the inflation is now low then those mortgage costs would come down even further I happen to believe and I know the President United States does that when young people look at their country one of the best things that we can do for our young families is make it possible for them to afford a home again and raise a family in a piece of land that they themselves own I happen to believe that we do not want our young people to be permanent renters in the society that was built by their parents and grandparents we are going to fight for our young families to own a home and that's exactly what we've been doing for the past year let's keep on doing it but let me just let me just close with this one final thought and and then I'll take some questions from the media there are a lot of specific issues that matter we could talk about all of them we could talk about the fact that we've got a closed border and they opened it we could talk about the fact that we've got the lowest murder rates in the United States of America in a hundred years and you wonder how did that happen so quickly two reasons number one we empowered our great law enforcement officers to do their job and the last administration was holding back and two we got a lot of violent criminals the hell out of this country and send them back to where they belong that's how you get a low murder rate we got so many things we could brag on so many things that we still got to do we still got to work to make homeownership affordable for our young families you know you've probably seen the headlines about you know the stock market has been doing incredibly well because the economy has been doing incredibly well but the president asked me probably four months ago he said what about the Americans who don't own stocks and so he's created a new program where we can allow the 35 percent of Americans that don't own stocks to open up the kind of accounts like a 401k that some workers have access to other workers don't we're gonna allow every worker to open up that kind of account so when the stock market goes up it's good for every single American citizens not just the 60-65 percent of people who own stocks we want to make it good for everybody so there's still so much more that we can do but the fundamental question I don't think is this issue or that issue the fundamental question is who fights for you and what I saw at the state of the union when I saw all those democrats sitting on their hands even when we're celebrating you know little girls who survived a terrible attack it hit me that these democrats most of them they don't serve you now ask yourself why are they sitting on their hands I would like to think I don't know him personally maybe Derek would disagree with me