NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

NTD Plus

News

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

South Korea Court Sentences Former President Yoon to 7 Years

Tornadoes, Massive Hail Pummel US Heartland

Treasury Freezes $344 Million in Crypto Linked to Iran

Stefania Cox is an NTD News anchor and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Stefania anchors "NTD Newsroom," and co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Stefania Cox

Supreme Court Likely to Claim Some Say in TPS Decisions: Analyst

Trump Withdraws National Park Service Nominee

Iran’s Oil Could Become a Ticking Timebomb for Regime; US Military at the Ready if Red Lines Crossed: Expert

Elma Aksalic is a freelance entertainment reporter for The Epoch Times and an experienced TV news anchor and journalist covering original content for Newsmax magazine.

Elma Aksalic

World News

Europe

Man Pleads Guilty in Foiled Terrorist Plot Targeting Taylor Swift Concert in Austria

Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at zack.stieber@epochtimes.com

Zachary Stieber

US News

Former Fauci Aide Charged With Conspiring to Destroy Records

Alleged Shooter’s Academic Milieu Likely Fostered Extreme Views: Analyst

Jackson Richman is a Washington correspondent for The Epoch Times. In addition to Washington politics, he covers the intersection of politics and sports/sports and culture. He previously was a writer at Mediaite and Washington correspondent at Jewish News Syndicate. His writing has also appeared in The Washington Examiner. He is an alum of George Washington University.

Jackson Richman

State News

Florida

DeSantis Unveils New Florida Congressional Map That Could Add 4 GOP Seats

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 30)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 29)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 28)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 27)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 24)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 23)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 22)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 21)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 20)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (April 17)

Naveen Athrappully is a news reporter covering business and world events at The Epoch Times.


Naveen Athrappully

Science &amp; Tech

FBI Issues Public Alert on Americans Using Foreign Apps

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

China Sends Warships to Pacific Drill as Tensions With Japan Rise

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

2 US Embassy Personnel Assigned to Cartel Case Killed in Car Accident

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

Gunman Kills 8 Children, Including 7 of His Own, in Louisiana Mass Shooting

Flora Hua is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Flora primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."  

Flora Hua

Trump: Seized Iranian Ship May Have ‘A Gift From China’

China News

FBI Warns Americans About Safety Risks When Traveling to China

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Army Chief of Staff Steps Down

Wildfires Across Georgia and Florida Have Destroyed Nearly 50 Homes and Are Forcing Evacuations

US Issues Shelter-In-Place Order for Americans in Bahrain

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Secret Service Says Gunfire Reported Near White House Overnight

Poignant testimony delivered during a Feb. 28 Congressional<a href="https://homeland.house.gov/full-committee-hearing-every-state-is-a-border-state-examining-secretary-mayorkas-border-crisis/"> hearing</a> on the U.S. border crisis brought legislators to a firm conclusion: failed or ineffective immigration policies are directly fueling America’s drug crisis.

“Our country faces record fatalities from drug overdoses, eclipsing 100,000 deaths, 71,000 from synthetic opioids alone,” Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said during the hearing.

At the forefront of this crisis is fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine. Most of the substance is making its way into the United States from Mexico, much of which is <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/DEA_GOV_DIR-008-20%20Fentanyl%20Flow%20in%20the%20United%20States_0.pdf">smuggled</a> in by drug cartels.

Though fentanyl seizures at official ports of entry on the U.S. border are on the rise, Sheriff Mark Lamb of Pinal County, Arizona, told the committee that border apprehensions of fentanyl account for only half of what makes it into the United States.

LA County Sheriff’s detectives and Drug Enforcement Agency agents at the Los Angeles International Airport seized approximately 12,000 suspected fentanyl pills on Oct. 19, 2022. (Courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department).

“I hear that 90 percent comes through the ports. Those numbers are not what we’re seeing. It’s 50-50,” Lamb said.

He noted that, despite Pinal not being a border county, the amount of fentanyl his officers have seized has skyrocketed since 2019. Part of that is due to the proximity to Interstate 10, a main artery for drug and human trafficking heading north from Mexico.

Lamb said his jurisdiction had seen a “600 percent increase” in fentanyl pass through his county over the past four years. In 2019, Lamb’s officers seized around 700 pills. That number spiked to more than 200,000 in 2020.

In 2021, Lamb’s task force intercepted more than 1.2 million pills. That number surged yet again in 2022, totaling more than 1.4 million fentanyl pill apprehensions.

He further noted that finding abandoned camouflage gear, backpacks, and “carpet shoes” littering the desert in his county is an everyday occurrence. It suggests a significant number of drug traffickers are making it past border security undetected.

“This is what we deal with on a daily basis,” Lamb said.

Green said the Mexican cartels are calculated in their approach to getting drugs like fentanyl into the United States. He said the traffickers also force illegal immigrants who owe the cartels money for transport into indentured servitude as drug runners.

Green added that despite the increase of fentanyl seized at official ports of entry, the drug is still pouring into the United States. The legislator held up a photo showing 232 pounds of fentanyl seized inland, which bypassed security at the ports of entry.

In an emotional testimony, Michigan resident Rebecca Kiessling shared the story of how Mexican fentanyl killed her two sons in July 2020.

Before the horrific incident, she said, “I didn’t know what fentanyl was … I didn’t know that my boys were taking anything that could kill them. They didn’t think they were either.”

Kiessling said that her two sons, ages 20 and 18, were with a 17-year-old girl and a drug dealer that supplied the trio with fentanyl on July 29. All three youths died shortly after taking the drug.

“Law enforcement made it clear to me that this fentanyl came from Mexico. It came from our southern border,” she said.

Kiessling went on to describe what her former law partner’s husband, a local sheriff, told her. “He has a stack, every day, there’s a stack of dead people [from drug overdoses], and there are no leads.”

However, Kiessling’s case was unique. The dealer who gave her sons the lethal dose of fentanyl was apprehended. Yet he only received a maximum sentence of 15 years for his involvement in the deaths of three youths.

“I found out from the funeral home that they have tons of these cases regularly,” she said, then added for perspective, “I’m from Rochester Hills, Michigan. We were ranked in Money magazine in the top 10 cities to live in America a few years ago.”

The year Kiessling’s son Caleb—one of the overdose victims—was born, in 2000, the number of U.S. drug overdose deaths was roughly 20,000. But the year the young man died, in 2020, that number soared to more than 100,000.

“You talk about children being taken away from their parents. My children were taken away from me … this is a war. Act like it. Do something,” she said.

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/house-committee-testimony-highlights-how-border-policy-failures-are-driving-americas-fentanyl-crisis_5089203.html">The Epoch Times</a></em>

Videos

Politics

04_Top Stories

Fentanyl

Latest Clips

Mexican cartels

Immigration &amp; Border Security

Autumn is a South America-based reporter covering primarily Latin American issues for The Epoch Times.

Autumn Spredemann

Daniel Monaghan is a reporter for NTD News covering culture, social issues, and education. He holds a BA in Political Science and Government.

Daniel Monaghan

Congress

Southern Border Crisis

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.

House Committee Testimony Highlights How Border Policy Failures Are Driving America’s Fentanyl Crisis

Full Episodes