Radical left using mail to ship abortion pills must be stopped

>> Jeff Chamblee: The radical left will stop at nothing to find a way to end life in the womb. They're now using the mail to ship abortion pills straight into homes across America. Even in states where abortion is illegal, it's not health care, and it must be stopped. You can take action today. When you support AFA action, you'll help us hold Big Pharma accountable and defend life. As our thanks, we'll send you the Christian Handbook for Civic engagement. Visit afaaction.net to give your urgent gift today.

Welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Welcome to Today's Issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody, and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Today is Wednesday, November 19, 2025. We thank you for listening to AFR. As the announcer said, my name is Tim Wildmon, and I have three fellows here in studio.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I thought it was gonna be three of your better ten halves, three of.

>> Tim Wildmon: Your better thirds, three. Well, that yet remains to be seen. It depends on what you say and how you perform today. You, will be graded at the end of this show. okay. M. And Wesley Wildmon. Good morning. Wesley.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Good morning. Looking forward to it.

>> Tim Wildmon: Tony. Tony Vitagliano.

>> Speaker E: Good morning.

>> Tim Wildmon: Tony.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Good morning.

>> Tim Wildmon: And Fred Jackson.

>> Fred Jackson: Good morning to you, Fred.

>> Tim Wildmon: You and I are the elder statesman here.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: You're even elder than. More elder than me.

>> Fred Jackson: The senior.

>> Tim Wildmon: The senior. Senior. You're. You're, today. Today's issue is emeritus.

>> Wesley Wildmon: We're going to have the energy. You're going to have the wisdom, strength.

>> Tim Wildmon: something like that. Yeah. Hope it all blends together.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Make a good show.

>> Fred Jackson: Remains to be seen.

>> Tim Wildmon: A lot remains to be seen. All right.

>> Wesley Wildmon: One thing we know for sure, though.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Wesley Wildmon: We have a guest from Operation Christmas child at the 10, 30 mark, second half of the hour.

>> Tim Wildmon: Isabella, McMillan will be on with this. She is, a recipient.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yep.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm not sure what country she grew up in, but, we always like to share those stories about people who, as children, get those boxes, Tony, and then they're. Their lives are changed.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah. Incredible stories.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So Operation Christmas Child. A lot of our listeners have been participating in that. Are participating in that. I'm not sure when the, you know, when the deadline is for, you know, for finishing that up and getting it into the distribution centers.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I do. We. It's November, 24th.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Wesley Wildmon: November.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Election week.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right. November 24th is the final day. To get that in, go, to Samaritan's Purse. no. Yep. Samaritans Purse.org occ Samaritan's Purse.org occ There you'll find all the information. You'll find the 5,000 Dropbox locations. most of them are local churches. In addition to the, information that we'll go over in the, at 10:30 with our guests.

>> Tim Wildmon: Absolutely. We look forward to having Isabella on as she shares her personal story. So that's coming up at the bottom of the hour. All right, Fred, what's, what's, what's on, what's on tap here?

Bill aimed at releasing Epstein files now goes to president for signature

>> Fred Jackson: Well, while most of us were, doing other things last night.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Fred Jackson: At the U.S. senate, they gave very quick approval, to a bill which is aimed at releasing the so called Epstein files. Earlier in the day, the House overwhelmingly approved that with some concerns raised by House Speaker Mike Johnson as to, information that's in some of these files that might reveal, for instance, victims of Epstein who did not want their names released.

>> Tim Wildmon: also, I don't blame them.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes. Names of whistleblowers that helped in the investigation, names of people who were, were used in the investigation that had nothing to do with Epstein, but they didn't want their names published. So, House Speaker Johnson, with those concerns, said, basically. But he went ahead and voted for their release because he said right now, with the political climate that we're in, if you vote against releasing them, you're suspected of trying to hide something. So House approved it yesterday, Senate last night, and now goes to the president for his signature. Given what he has said in recent days, he will sign off on that and then it goes to the Justice Department. Now, what President Trump has been saying, hey, listen, I've got nothing to hide here. Go ahead. But he said, Democrats, they have a lot to hide.

>> Tim Wildmon: Nothing puts President Trump in a better mood than you bring up Jeffrey Epstein. his face just starts to glow, doesn't it?

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: all right, Tony, what. Lay this all out for us as best you can.

Fred Kaplan: Donald Trump suddenly wants to release the Epstein files

What's going on here?

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Well, I guess my question I would have, and I would pose to everybody what brought about the sudden 180 that Trump, had where he wants to release it now. Fred, is there any indication as to why all of us. Because he was, it appeared to me, vehemently opposed to this, or at least framing it in the sense of this is a distraction from all of our accomplishments. And what do you think brought about this? 180.

>> Fred Jackson: to put it bluntly, I think Trump and he Kind of alluded to this yesterday, when he had a news conference with the Saudi prince because the reporters brought up the question of the Epstein files. Basically it is to the point where I think President Trump says he just wants people to shut up about this. Okay, all right, he said so go ahead. He believes the Democrats are going to be put in a bad light. Mike Johnson yesterday in his news conference made the point that has been made before.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: The Epstein files were in the clutches of the Democrats during the four years of Joe Biden. If they think there is something terrible in there about Republicans and Donald Trump, why didn't they release it then? What basically Donald Trump believes and what a lot of conservatives believe is that the Democrats made another push for this in recent days to distract people away from the total chaos that's going on inside the Democratic Party. As far as the so called far leftists want to take over the party. Chuck Schumer is in deep trouble, in the Senate. He may lose his primary there. So President Trump is saying okay, go ahead. Yeah, go ahead, House, pass it, go ahead, Senate, pass it. I'll sign this thing, we'll turn it over to the Justice Department which can still redact some of the information that's in there. But Trump wants just to get this off the hot burner, get it out there so people can stop talking about it.

>> Wesley Wildmon: It does look like a political tennis match back and forth though. That leads me to believe that, and we'll see once it's released. But it leads me to believe that there's not enough there or nothing there to the significance of which we, some people may be hoping or expecting otherwise. But when, as has been pointed out, when the Biden administration otherwise would have released it, it had damage on any of the Republicans or Trump or anybody, 100%. And then also at the same time if day one when, when Trump was sworn in, his team would have released it then if it had any damage on the Democrats or anybody on the other side. So I think it's just being used for political back and forth. However, I do think there's a legit concern that we all would have about their making sure that the, those that need to be redacted, the names are there. And I think that, I think the process of going through all that only to release nothing does frustrate someone like President Trump who knows pretty much, I would assume knows that that's what's about to happen.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

Tony Bennett: There are suspicions that Jeffrey Epstein was involved with underage girls

So, well, okay, Jeffrey Epstein, but Tony, just get to more element More elementary here. And you guys can comment on this because I want to move on. So the Jeffrey Epstein review was a New York billionaire. Right. Or, I mean, multimillionaire, socialite, power broker around town guy. Okay. He hung out with all the rich and famous people in New York City.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Tim Wildmon: And in Florida, South Florida, a jet setter. And then he was exposed because he was, learned to be, exporting underage girls. Right. For sexual purposes. And his associate got in trouble. Got. She's in jail now. His top.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Ah, Laine, Max.

>> Tim Wildmon: Lieutenant. Yeah. And then he got sent to prison, too. He, hung himself, I guess. and then there was suspicion about whether he was knocked off in prison and didn't hang himself. I mean, this thing built into, like, a Lifetime movie.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Wesley Wildmon: And there were some with two versions, and depending on who you asked, too, there were some either ironic instances or very suspicious instances.

>> Tim Wildmon: But here's the thing that I get because, you would say, well, why do people care about this? is because there are a lot of people who have suspicions that Jeffrey Epstein was part of perhaps a shadow government type situation. Right.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah, there are, There's more than meets the eye, more than a little evidence, you know, alluding to his connections to various intelligence agencies and, you know, powerful people. Here's my view of. And I kind of agree with Wesley. They're going to release the files, and you're going to get a sheet of paper, and it's going to be mostly black with redactions in there with a few words here and there, and you can try and make sense or tales of whatever you want to. I agree with redacting, names of victims.

>> Tim Wildmon: Victims, yeah.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Right. And. And whistleblowers. 100%, but sure. I'm sorry, everybody else, if you're. Even if you're buzzing in the same social circles, I'm sorry, if your name's.

>> Tim Wildmon: In there, you shouldn't have. You should have been buzzing with him.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: First Corinthians 15:33. Do not be. Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. So you shouldn't have been, I'm. I'm guessing most people who were in those social circles knew what kind of person Epstein was. So just don't be around them.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Even if your name. I get it. Your name shows up. You had nothing to do with any of the criminal or, you know, horrible wicked behavior. I'm sorry.

>> Tim Wildmon: It appears to me, as far as President Trump goes, he was friends with Jeffrey Epstein. I mean, that's no secret. Yeah, but he wasn't, he wasn't, best buds. Okay. They're not, he's not, they're not getting on planes with each other. He, Trump didn't go to this island.

>> Speaker E: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: down in the Caribbean. and in fact, Trump cut it off once, according to him. And that's what evidence when Jeffrey Epstein got quick kicked out of Mar A Lago and the rumors were circling that Jeffrey Epstein was, you know, involved with underage girls.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, so Bill Clinton. Good night. He was. But he was, best friends forever.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: His name never gets brought up in the media. And his connection steps, I mean, there are, oh, my word of him, you know, in very, yeah. Precarious.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Situations that, that more than allude to that.

>> Tim Wildmon: That was probably Jeffrey Epstein's heyday, you know, back in the 90s and 2000s and so forth like that.

Today's Issues files to redact Tony's name to protect his innocence

All right, you're listening to Today's Issues on American Family Radio. So finally all this will be out in the open and, for better or for worse, it'll be behind us, I guess. And so we can stop talking about it. You're listening to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Maybe we're the Today's Issues files. maybe m. We should be called that. You know, it's more intriguing. Right. We're going to redact Tony's name from the Today's Issues files to protect his innocence. All right, what's your next story, Fred?

Jesse: Tom Holman says ICE is being very successful in deportation efforts

>> Fred Jackson: Well, we, have been reporting over the last couple of days that the efforts by ICE to, arrest and deport illegal aliens. the focus, since Sunday has been in, North Carolina, starting with Charlotte and then moving on to Raleigh. In the first day, about 130 people were arrested in the city of Charlotte alone. Now both those, north, Carolina cities, Charlotte and Raleigh, have Democrat mayors who apparently aren't very happy with all that's going on. But Tom Holman, I think most people have seen him interviewed many times on this. He is the border czar. He says ice, despite what the Democrats are saying, is being very successful in these efforts to get the bad guys out of this country. Cut six.

>> Speaker E: We're enforcing the law. And bottom line is once again, he proves every day when he makes these statements that, you know, it's idiocy. ICE is out there enforcement, enforcing the law. We're taking really bad guys off the street. And the whole pinata thing, I mean, that is a good example of the weakness and the cowardice of the left Bottom line is ISIS protecting their communities. And all these people, where were they when President Obama was president and ice removed 409,000 people was a record at the time. Where were they? Where were they? And a half a million children were smuggled in this country and they lost track of 300,000 of them. You know what President Trump has done? I was with HHS today, Jesse. We already found over 30,000 of these kids. You know, like three weeks ago we're at 24,000. Now we're over 30,000. And we're going to keep working until we find every one of these kids.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. What he's talking about is kids that remember those pictures during the Biden years. And Fox was pretty well the only one reporting on this of little kids being thrown over the border wall by these coyotes. Remember that? All these scenes. There's countless numbers. And Holm is referring to that countless numbers of these little precious kids that are now being trafficked around this country. And that's one of the missions of ice. By the way, this takes us to a very disturbing story. There is a montage. I'm going to play it for you, of Democrats that are out there now telling military personnel not to obey orders from their commanders to be part of this support effort with ICE going into these cities arresting bad guys. It's very disturbing.

This administration is pitting military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens

Cut number seven.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: We want to speak directly to members of the military and the intelligence community who take risks each day to keep Americans safe.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Americans trust their military, but that trust is at risk. This administration is pitting our uniform military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens like us. You all swore an oath to protect.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: And defend this Constitution.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from.

>> Fred Jackson: Right here at home.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: You can refuse illegal orders.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: You must refuse illegal orders.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: We know this is hard and that it's a difficult time to be a public servant.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: But when, whether you're serving in the.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: CIA, the army or Navy, the Air Force, your vigilance is critical.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: And know that we have your back.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Because now more than ever, the American people need you.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: We need you to stand up for.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Our laws, our Constitution, and who we are as Americans. Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: Don't give up the ship.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Oh, man, I'm about to stand up and m. Just start saluting.

>> Fred Jackson: I am moved.

>> Tim Wildmon: God, Bless, America.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: you know what it sounds like? Sounds like, a January 6th rally to me, like an insurrection.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's a good one.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's good, because they're calling on the, armed services personnel to disobey the law. I mean, to, rebel against their, leaders, authorities. Okay. Just to set this up, what you just heard, in case you didn't know, were Democrat congressmen, and they are telling servicemen and women, don't participate with ice, Basically don't help out in the, you know, deportation of, arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants into America and that. What is this about?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, well, yeah, that's right. But the deceptiveness and the, The worst part about it is they're saying that they're doing it in the name of following the Constitution by not following orders, by. You see the problem there? But, I mean, that's. That's really. That's really wicked.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, yeah.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: If the federal government had been doing one of its primary constitutional duties and protecting our borders to begin with, we wouldn't be even had these people here.

>> Tim Wildmon: No, no. I blame all this on Joe Biden 100% and Kamala Harris and their administration. They're the ones who let 5 to 10 million people into our country. Just completely unvetted. Just open the m. We all. It's been well documented. We know what happened there. Well documented about the undocumented like that. so it's just. That's the reason Trump found himself having to clean up. He's having to clean up Biden's mess because we read every day about illegal immigrants here, committing acts of violence and crime and. And, murder in some cases. and, you know, so President Trump, he got elected on. We're going to have the largest deportation effort in the history of our country.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Hm.

>> Tim Wildmon: And the American people, majority of them said, we're with on that and.

>> Wesley Wildmon: To stop the board and stop the border down.

>> Tim Wildmon: I would just say this too. I didn't hear in that montage. We just played, a, specific law that that was being broken.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Oh, no, no.

>> Tim Wildmon: In other words, they said, you don't have to participate, you service men and women, if you're told to do an illegal, Order.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, and that's the problem. That's what I'm saying. That's what the. That's what they didn't see.

>> Tim Wildmon: What the illegal.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Exactly. Exactly.

>> Tim Wildmon: Did y' all notice that?

>> Wesley Wildmon: No. They're implying. They're implying deporting people is illegal, but then they Hide behind. And this is what causes a lot of frustration because it deceives people. But, then they follow it by. Because that's your constitutional. No, the Constitution is to follow the law.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, why, why don't they say this? You know, we're appealing to everybody here in America who's here in our country unconstitutionally. yes. To follow the Constitution and go back to your home country and then reenter legally.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: So we're concerned about the Constitution.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Right, right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Instead of, Instead of appealing to the millions of people who are here illegally to follow the Constitution, they want to tell, our, you know,

>> Wesley Wildmon: How many of that.

>> Tim Wildmon: How many people that they need to follow the Constitution by not helping out with deportation. Right.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Now the question was how many of the.

How many Democrats were in that video? I think there's at least dozen

How many of those Democrats, were in that video?

>> Fred Jackson: I think there's at least a dozen or more. I understand that, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona was amongst that, which. I'm shocked.

>> Tim Wildmon: Senator. He's a more moderate. If you're going to. You know, that's not saying a lot in the Democrat Party, but, Well, maybe it is saying a lot because these far lefties.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: That video is like asking, the military if an invading army were to, cross our border, be inside the United, States. It's like, it's like the equivalent of telling, our armed forces. Now, look, you're not supposed to go in anywhere into these cities and get these guys. They've already crossed the border. Just leave them here. Let them occupy wherever they want to occupy. To me, that's what I'm hearing whenever I hear that. Because we've had the equivalent of an invading army, led into our country during the last administration. I mean, the numbers probably are greater than an invading army. And so to discourage, members of the armed forces.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: in supporting. They're not even doing it themselves. They're just really supporting, ice in their efforts.

>> Tim Wildmon: And again, I noticed they didn't cite any law that's being broken.

One of our major political parties, the Democrat Party, wants illegal immigration

Let me ask you guys this, related to this issue, and you might, listeners might think, well, duh, Tim, you don't know the answer to that. I do know the answer to this. At, least I think I do. But still, it confounds the brain to think that, one of our major political parties would you talk about lawlessness. They're talking about following the law. Those people, that you just heard, those Democrat congressmen. Let me ask you this question. Why do you think they're doing that? Why do you think The Democrat Party wants. Wants to protect. Go to extraordinary links to say they are protecting people who have come to the US Illegally.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Here's another question here that I was thinking about when we were talking.

>> Tim Wildmon: I had a good question though, didn't you?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Did have a good question. I don't have a good. There's no good answer to that. I mean, it doesn't make any sense.

>> Tim Wildmon: I can answer my own question.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Okay, go for it.

>> Tim Wildmon: And then you have a question.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I do got questions.

>> Tim Wildmon: so to answer my own question. You may answer my own question.

>> Fred Jackson: M. I think you should.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Because they want an invasion. Yes. And the Democrat Party wants people to come here illegally because their hopes are that they can make them legal citizens, voting citizens, and they'll be loyal to the Democrat Party, in high percentages. And that will be the death of the Republican Party as we know it. That's why the Democrats don't want anybody deported. They don't want to rest. They don't. They don't even care about gang members. They don't even commend the Trump, administration for arresting gang members.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Right, right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Who are selling drugs and human trafficking. You never hear me take it over cities. You never hear condemn that. Why? You ask why? Because they don't care. a mate. Yes. One of our major political parties, the Democrat Party, they want illegal immigration to be, they don't want any enforcement. Tony, did I answer my own question?

>> Whitney Vitagliano: You did. Yeah. To me it boils down to the ballot box, for the Democratic Party.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: So you keep them here.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: The longer they stay here, the better your chances of having mass, way to citizenship. Citizenship. And then they're voting Democrat for the best.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. And they're. And they're also easily convert easy converts to socialism.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah. Socialist countries. Yes.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Okay, listen, I'm going to draw you a, I'm going to draw you a. I'm going to speak of an equivalency here in terms of loyalty to a party, to a particular party. In the 60s, Lyndon Johnson had the Great Society, he was the president states at the time, and introduced this Great Society program, which was massive welfare. All right. So he started. And started giving massive welfare, particularly to African Americans in the name of making up for the social injustices that they had been, recipients of in the history of our country. Which there's no doubt that's true. Okay. But his idea was, let's start giving money to African, Americans and with, with nothing asked in return. So you get welfare dependency and you get generational welfare dependency. And we all know what's happened in the black community with the, babies born out of wedlock. The reason for that was they got checks for the more babies they had out of wedlock. Well, that created an incentive for dependency. And then we see that 85 to 90% of African Americans vote Democrat to even today because of what happened in the 60s. We'll be back momentarily.

Preborn network clinics help women choose life through a free ultrasound

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>> Tim Wildmon: This is today's issues.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's Issues are available for listening and viewing in the [email protected] now back to more of today's Issues.

Tim Ferriss: President Trump ran on law and order against illegal immigration

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. I'm Tim with Wesley and Tony and Fred, and we thank you for listening, to afr. We were talking. We're going to wrap this topic up here, but, why is it that the Democrat party is against the crackdown on illegal immigration when Biden let 5 to 10 million people who knows, into the country? That's, you know, that story is well told, illegally. He just let them pour into our country and now Trump's got this mess he's got to deal with. If you want to deal with it. If you don't, just, let's just do away with borders and say, you know, y' all, come world, we'll take care of you. But President Trump ran on the law and order and, against illegal immigration and promised to crack down on it. And m. His, president, his administration is doing so. Tom Homan, one of the leaders in this.

>> Wesley Wildmon: We got some numbers to prove that.

>> Tim Wildmon: We got some numbers to prove that. so he is only following through with his campaign promise. Let me just say this too, and I've said this before. Never in the history of the world has a video of law, enforcement, SWAT teams, de. Drug, enforcement people, whatever. Never has that looked good on tv. Okay. Or a video. Tell me when that's looked good.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I can visualize a comedy skit now, though, where they come in. Which, sir, would you.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. Every time. Every time you watch one of these videos, there's a part of you that goes, oh, do you have to do that? Did the police have to really, put, you know, put handcuffs on the guy like that on the ground? I mean, can't they just.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Comfortable.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. Just ask him to please get in the car and come with them. no, the, the police, they. So they always look, like they're brute. Brutes and they're forceful and everything like that. So that's never going to look good, but that's the, that's the way they have to. And they have to be, especially these. They're finding these drug, related criminals, who are, you know, and gang members and such. They have to be considered, to that this person they're going to confront in the street or at the store or wherever, may themselves be armed.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah. The only video you ever see of it is when they're at their kid's birthday party.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: That's, that's the video.

>> Tim Wildmon: And then they arrest somebody. See these?

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: These ICE agents went in during a kid's birthday party and arrested their mom. Yeah, that's what they show. They don't tell you any of the context or anything like that. So, anyway, Wesley, give those numbers you're about to give, and then we'll go to our guests.

In less than a year of Trump's first term, 1.6 million illegal immigrants have been deported

>> Wesley Wildmon: Sure. Real quick, numbers. Homeland security as of October 27th, so the beginning of November here of 2025, there's been, to me, nearly, 2 million. 2 million illegal aliens, immigrants who have been deported from the United States. In less than the. Less than a year of Trump's first term, 1.6 of these have deported themselves. And y' all know this. We gave them money and helped them get back. Deported themselves. And then one. And then almost over half a million. We, we meaning ice and Trump and his team have, done the video of the Handcuffing and deporting themselves are deporting through ICE. So Trump is on pace to legally remove over 600,000 himself. And then, of course, 1.6. This is just in his first 12 months, honestly. And we're not even at the 12 month market.

>> Tim Wildmon: And shut down the border.

>> Wesley Wildmon: And shut down the border. And I honestly, first of all, I knew he was passionate about this. I knew that he was going to do his part, but I didn't think he would be able. I think this is an over accomplishment. that's the right word. Or this is a surprise to even those on the conservative side that he's been able to do this in the first year and he's not letting up. There's no sign, like with a lot of the things he did for the first three to six months, you start seeing things kind of wean off and it kind of level out. It seems like on this issue, this is something that whoever comes in behind him in 2028 and runs for president on the Republican ticket will be able to use this as a, as an accomplishment.

>> Tim Wildmon: One, one aside that people need to be aware of, is that there are these videos out there that are being generated by AI which are fake, but they look real. And the. Those who are against deportation and arrest, people here who are here illegally, they are putting these AI generated fake videos out which are going viral, which, depict ICE in the very worst possible way you could, you could, you could detect that. I just wanted people to be aware of these. If you come across a video, it may not even be real.

Isabella McMillan is with Operation Christmas Child

Okay. You're listening to Today's issues on American Family Radio. All right, Wesley, who are we, talking to next? And what about.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Our guest is Isabella McMillan. She is with Operation Christmas Child, and we have her own because we want to hear her story. Elizabeth. Isabella, are you with us?

>> Laine Lawson Craft: I sure am. Thank you so much for having me.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes, ma'. Am. And where are you from?

>> Laine Lawson Craft: I am originally from Romania.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Wonderful. Why don't you tell us a little bit about where you grew up, which is in Romania, obviously, and where you attended church, and a little bit about your story, how you got connected with Operation Christmas Child.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: Yes, I grew up in communism, during Romania's. Romania's communism. When I was born, it was already communism. And so every aspect of our lives was controlled by the government. So much of you, what you have been talking about, just as I was listening to you today, and there was nothing good about, literally, my parents were told by the government where they could live, where they could work, where we could go to school, what grocery shop. Grocery store we could shop at. But the biggest thing the government was trying to control is to make sure that God's name was not known in our country. So saying the name of God out loud or owning a Bible, those things could cost our lives. So that was the environment that we grew up in. But I'm so grateful that the God that you and I serve is a God who tells us so beautifully in John 1:5, that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. And there's no governments, there's no many rules anyone can ever put in place that will stop the power of the gospel and what can do in a life. And that is exactly what she did in my life.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Amen. Well, hey, thank you for sharing that.

It happened right after the revolution in Romania

Well, okay, that's a little bit about your testimony. At what point, how old were you? And at what point did you, come across a Christmas, a shoe box, Operation Christmas Child Shoebox. The reason I'm asking is because how was it that the country did allow that to take place while obviously suppressing every other portion of religion?

>> Laine Lawson Craft: Well, actually, it happened right after the revolution in Romania. So communism fell. Nobody really knew what that meant. Nobody really understood what freedom really meant for us. And it took our country quite a few years to figure that out. But for me, right before I got there, if you don't mind, I just back up just a little bit how God opened the door to who he is for me in communist regime. When I was seven years old, my brother and I, we found by accident a hidden Bible in the floorboard of our little apartment the government assigned us to. And that is how we were exposed to God's word. And then we started going to a little underground church when I was 11 years old and before the revolution happened, I was going to this little underground church for two years. And it was at this little place where the pastor took me and my brother under his wing after we realized that he was reading to from the same book that was hiding in the floorboard of our little government owned apartment. And that is when he started speaking truth into our lives. And we started slowly understanding that the Bible is not just a storybook, but there's so much more to it. And this pastor taught me how to pray because I went to him one day when I was 13 and I asked him if he could teach me because he could not pray with us at this underground church to protect us and to protect himself. And also he took great risks to allow this little gathering for children to read from the Bible. But it was under the pretense of story time. And so I went to him and I said, I am reading about prayer. I see that it's powerful through this book we have been reading, but can you teach me how to pray? And he asked me why I wanted to learn how to pray. And I told him, because it's cold outside and I don't like it. Isn't that obvious? The only way that mom and dad would let us go outside and play in the cold, dark winters in Romania, we didn't have electricity or street lights. So it was literally pitch dark after 5:30. But if it snowed outside, the mom and dad would let us go outside and play past dark. And so for us, snow was like saving grace. And I asked him to teach me how to pray so I can pray for snow. That was my 13 year old prayer. And my pastor taught me how to pray and he told me to trust God that he always answers prayer. So I started praying for snow. And he did not answer that prayer for a long, long three months. And it was during that time frame that the revolution actually did happen in Romania. And right after the revolution happened, we saw people running on the streets. And for us that meant one thing. There was something at the grocery stor. So we got excited and we started running. And we end up in the center of our little town. It wasn't the grocery store where things were happening, but these three little trucks pulled in that were filled with beautiful, colorfully wrapped shoeboxes. Never seen anything like that. It was like a splash of color in our black and white world. And they started giving these little colorful boxes to all the kids who were there. And this sweet lady comes up to me with a colorful shoebox and she tells me for me and I don't have to do anything for it, no strings attached, which was unheard of in our country and the way that we were living. And so I was given a gift freely, for nothing expected in return. And then this lady asked me there was anything that she could pray with me for. And I looked at her and I said, yes, please, if you would pray with me for snow, that would be great. And that is exactly what she did. And she prayed with me right there and then for snow and left me with this colorful little treasure in my hands. And as I opened up my shoebox, God answered my prayer in such an unexpected way. There were so many extremely fun and colorful things in my shoebox. But One thing that stood out the most in the corner of my box was the silver and blue little simple snow globe filled with snow inside of it when you shook it. And I could not believe that God would answer after this lady just prayed with me. Within two minutes, his answer was in my hands. My pastor always said God always answers prayers, but sometimes his answers look differently than what we imagine.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's the voice that you're listening to is Isabella McMillan. She's one of the recipients years ago of Operation Christmas Child receiving the Christmas box that we that we support here at afa. And that's been done all across the country for many years when you were 13 years old is when you received your box. I always like to ask when talking to those that have received a box, what was your favorite thing or what's the most memorable thing when you first opened your box that stood out to you?

>> Laine Lawson Craft: Well, for me it definitely was that snow group that, that brought a, ah, lasting impact. Even though snow globes are no longer allowed to be packed in shoeboxes, but God can use ordinary things to do something extraordinary in our lives. And can I also tell you that I was the coolest kid at school for months to come because I had school supplies like no one else had. I had colored markers and I had crayons. Who knew those existed? I didn't. And I showed up with my crayons at school and I had this really cool coloring book and colored pencils that came with a pencil sharpener. We never had pencil sharpeners before. So for me those simple school supplies meant so much. But the snow globe, that changed the trajectory of my faith. Walk with the Lord.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Amen. Well, thank you for sharing that with us.

Operation Christmas Child in the Shoebox is in national collection week

Would you tell our audience that's listening right now where people can find out where, where to drop their shoe boxes, where to where, where the list of information on what to put in a shoebox and where they could build a shoebox online.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: Absolutely. We are in the middle of national collection week across the country. We are praying that God will bring in 12.6 million shoeboxes this week. Our drop off locations across the country. We partnered with nearly 5,000 churches that have their doors open right now. If you go to Samaritan's Purse occ, you can just simply type in your zip code and find the closest drop off location to you. You can drop off your packed shoeboxes there with school supplies, hygiene items, toys, personalize your boxes, pray over them and trust that God will use you as a shoebox packer. In a powerful way to change lives around the world.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen. That's a wonderful testimony and story. And we're we completely and totally obviously support Operation Christmas Child in the Shoebox. What a great. Ever had that idea? What a great idea. So simple and yet has such an impact worldwide. Isabella, thank you for being on with us.

Isabella says she no longer prays for snow because she has electricity

And only thing, do you still pray for snow or do you get past that?

>> Laine Lawson Craft: Well, I live in Charlotte, NC now and believe it or not, last Monday we had beautiful snow falling from the sky. It was absolutely beautiful. I no longer pray for it because now I do not have to go outside and play past 5:30. I can do whatever I want. I have electricity.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen. Well, there you go. Thanks Isabella. Take care. We appreciate you being on with us.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: Thank you so much for having me. God Bless you.

Fred says quote praying for snow is not in his theology

>> Tim Wildmon: Isabella McMillan joining us there from. She says Charlotte.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, Charlotte had snow last week.

>> Fred Jackson: I didn't hear that.

>> Tim Wildmon: I didn't know that either.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Doesn't really. For Fred it just snow is just.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Whether anybody else gets it or not.

>> Fred Jackson: That'S a horror story that you're getting snow in early November.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's true.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Listen, I like 1, 1 snow a year in January, about the middle of January, I'll I can go for 2 to 4 inches. You know that the kids play and wander around. It looks so pretty. And after that then it melts the.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Next day and it's gone.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm ready for spring. Yeah, I want to see some green grass, some warm weather. So the idea of quote praying for snow is just not in my theology. You understand what I'm saying?

>> Wesley Wildmon: I do understand what you're saying.

Fred: Isabella grew up in the old Soviet Union

>> Whitney Vitagliano: What struck out to me and I wish people like Isabella could have an even wider. Which we have a big audience but, but to be able to tell her story to maybe the people of New York City as to like what actual communism looks like, may open some eyes for people to understand where it eventually leads to.

>> Tim Wildmon: She grew up in the old Soviet Union.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: I don't know what her age is. I've been told you shouldn't ask a lady her age so I didn't. But I'm guessing she's not too far from me.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm 62 so she's probably in her, in her 50s or if she's old enough to have been a child a ah, teenager during the. And when she's talking about a revolution right there she's talking About a revolution against communism.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: That her country with her. Remember when President Reagan was in office and then Gorbachev. The Soviet Union fell, fell and tear down this wall. Mr. Gorbachev. And the Berlin Wall fell and communism fell. And Communism, as in the Soviet Union, not, not communism in China is still alive and well. But communism in the Soviet Union fell apart. It, it couldn't. It wasn't sustainable as a economic, economic, program. I guess you could say so. And all those countries, these satellite countries, from Russia, mother Russia, including Romania, which was dominated by the Russians and the Soviets and the Communist party that fell in all these countries began to revert back to being autonomous. Okay. And that's what she was talking about. That was the revolution. So she is from Romania. you're listening to. Go ahead, Fred.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, I was just going to say it'd be interesting to have a conversation with Isabella about what she thinks about what's going on in this country politically right now. what, what she thinks of Mom, Donnie in New York. Promising quote, air quotes, free stuff.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Free transportation, you know, state run grocery stores. All of these things that you're against.

>> Tim Wildmon: State run grocery stores.

>> Fred Jackson: sure am.

>> Tim Wildmon: You're against people eating.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Do you want us to unpack this for your dad? You know the answer.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Well, your point, Fred, that's where a lot of what Mamdani is advocating for eventually leads to is you have, you're told what grocery store you can go to.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: How much you can buy.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: I mean those type of controls have to be put in place whenever you take that step into communism.

>> Fred Jackson: And I tell you what, he talks about housing also. government run housing. Oh yeah, that always. I've said it before. You know the thing with social socialists, they come to you with with an open palm. Look what I'm going to give you.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Fred Jackson: But then it turns into a fist because then they tell you what you're going to get and they're going to tell you where you're going to live and what to expect from the government.

>> Tim Wildmon: What doctor to go to when you can see him.

>> Fred Jackson: Exactly.

>> Tim Wildmon: But here's what they're going to say. But it's all provided.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Free of cost. By the federal. By the, by the government.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: But it sets, it sets you back decades. my last previous place of employment, I went to Serbia, a couple of times for business trips. And it's incredible to walk around and still see most of their architecture. Their, the city. I was in still cement blocks. you know, you know, more modernized, obviously, but their transportation system was straight from the 1970s. You know, their airplanes were still from the 90s. Sets you back decades.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, absolutely. You're listening to, Serbia. That's Eastern Europe too, right? It is so not too far from Romania, probably where she's talking about, she grew up. Isabella. You're listening to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. I'm Tim with Wesley and Tony and Fred, and we appreciate you listening to afr. If you want to send us an email, the address is commentsfr.net Commentsfr.net if you want to listen to this show in podcast form, we have 103, 50,000 downloads a month, that people who listen to this show via the podcast. That means if you miss our live show, you can listen on demand anytime. All you got to do is go to afr.net afr.net click on the banner that says, the podcast, and click on the Today's Issues banner and you can, check us out there. all right, Fred, what is our next story?

Sean Duffy was asked this morning about civility in air travel

>> Fred Jackson: I don't know if you remember, you probably have seen some old films of what it used to be like when you flew in airplanes in this country. Some of the old, you know, the black and white films showed nicely dressed men and women getting on the airplanes. I'm old enough to remember Pan American Airlines.

>> Tim Wildmon: Pan Am.

>> Fred Jackson: Pan Am. And how the, I used to call them stewardess. I know they're called flight attendants now. How they used to dress the pillbox hats. And they were just highly professional. Highly professional. Now you do see that on, like, Emirates Airlines now you see those, those pictures today, it's a little bit different. if you've been to an airport lately, you might have been at a gate where people are showing up, up looking like they just fell out of bed, got out of bed, got to the airport. Some of them in pajamas, wearing their slippers. You probably have seen. I haven't experienced this on an airplane, but I've seen videos of violence aboard airplane. People starting fights over the most stupid things. Like, I'm sitting next to someone, I don't like the hat you're wearing. There was, ah, a video out there about a guy wearing a MAGA hat and this person went nuts. you know, planes having to be diverted because there's violence on airplanes. Well, our Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, not that he doesn't have enough on his plate right now with everything that's going on. because of the shutdown of the government. But he was asked this morning about civility in air travel. Is it possible, to bring it back cut number eight.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So I've asked people for feedback. What happens at the gate? And again, are people nice to the gate agents? What happens with some of the brawls we've seen at, baggage claim? People behaving well on the airplane. Be nice, say please, say thank you. Bringing civility back, I think enhances the traffic travel experience for everybody. And so sometimes you just have to ask people, hey, let's maybe go back to an era where we didn't wear our pajamas to the airport. We actually might dress up a little bit and if someone needs help putting their luggage up, in the overhead bin, help them out.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he's a, colonialist. you know what I'm saying? He wants to go back to an era that's bygone, where, minorities didn't have rights. That's what I got from what he said. Who's with me?

>> Wesley Wildmon: I'm not with you.

>> Tim Wildmon: Nobody's with me on that interpretation. That's going to be. But that's a lefty interpretation.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Sure.

>> Tim Wildmon: Of what he just said. Listen, people are going to.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Get hung up on.

>> Tim Wildmon: He's just saying. He just. Yeah, that's what people.

>> Ed Vitagliano: More so.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: More so than people fighting and, and getting into fights and fighting Tsajamas.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, yeah, they're gonna, they're gonna get hung up on that. Well, he could have gone without the pajama.

>> Tim Wildmon: Com. Well, I think what he's saying is it's related. He's saying our, our general attitude of in fly. I. I don't know. You could make a connection. But I mean, he just saying there was a time in our country where we had more public stability.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's true.

>> Tim Wildmon: And that includes how our parents. That we took that. That we as a. Most people took more pride in our appearance. I don't know. I think he's not suggesting some kind of dress code law that's right. For boarding an airplane. He's just making a general observation.

>> Wesley Wildmon: but, but otherwise, I mean, I agree with all that. It would be nice to see.

>> Tim Wildmon: But you still want to wear your pajamas to the airport. That where you draw the line.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I hadn't tried that yet, but. Yeah, but the things he was saying, though, are very helpful for us to read.

>> Tim Wildmon: And I think, you know, the vast, vast majority of people do follow that. Most. The vast majority of Americans are considerate of others and they're help other people they're helpful. Yeah. But you do got your jerks and you got your, entitled people and your selfish people out there. who, Maybe we should make them wear pajamas so that we could distinguish them.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Jeff Chamblee: Ah.

>> Tim Wildmon: From the rest of us.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Make

>> Wesley Wildmon: It a requirement. But wear your PJs if you're a selfish person. We want.

>> Tim Wildmon: I think Covet affected that too. I think a lot of people.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, sat around their house in their PJs and. And then forgot to change clothes when they went back out to the, you know, when the restaurants open. you notice this. Yeah.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Down.

Kobe made a lot of changes during his NBA career

We're going to be looking back years down the road. Kobe did a lot of things, made.

>> Tim Wildmon: A lot of changes. We'll be back in a minute. Stay with us.

>> Laine Lawson Craft: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: The American Family association or American Family Radio.

Tim, Wesley and Tony talk with Fred on top news headlines of the day including a discussion on illegal immigration. Also, Izabella McMillon joins the program to discuss Operation Christmas Child and how receiving a shoebox impacted her life.