Tim Wildman hosts Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network

>> As we watch world events unfold and fulfill scripture, it's hard to believe anyone could doubt God and his word are real. And yet there are so many who either question or completely refuse to believe it. The God who speaks is a 90 minute documentary that hits the doubt head on with evidence that proves God is real and his word is the ultimate authority. Watch it anytime and invite others to watch with you. Just visit stream.afa.net that's stream.aca.net 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. That's the name of this here program, Today's Issues on this M. Monday, October 27, 2025. Again, thanks for listening. Joining me in studio today is Ed Vitagliano. Good morning, Ed.

Ed Vitagliano Good morning, Tim.

Tim Wildmon And Fred Jackson.

Fred Jackson Good morning, Tim.

Tim Wildmon That's all, folks. Just three of us. There's no fourth voice today. Chris Woodward's off on Mondays.

Fred Jackson That's right, yeah.

Tim Wildmon And Steve Paisley Jordan will be with us, you know, at 11, an hour from now. An hour from now. all right, gentlemen, you have a good weekend?

Ed Vitagliano I did. It was, it was short, as all weekends seem to be at this stage of my life. But, it was a good weekend. We got, you know, we got some rain, which will probably mean my grass will start to grow again. Have to cut it. and it just makes.

Tim Wildmon Life's hard, isn't it?

Ed Vitagliano Makes me upset.

Tim Wildmon Doesn't take much.

Ed Vitagliano I'm glad when it dies in the sun.

Tim Wildmon I'm going to tell you, it's not going to grow.

Ed Vitagliano It's.

Tim Wildmon No, it's over. Because it's only going to be in the 60s and 50s at night. You're okay.

Ed Vitagliano Okay, good.

Tim Wildmon Wait, it can be shaggy. It can be Shaggy till next spring. You want to do it that way? My wife Allison, she takes care of our law and bless her heart. Yeah, and God bless her.

Fred Jackson Yeah.

Tim Wildmon Because, I got back little back thing causes me not to be able to do golf.

Fred Jackson Football. Football injury.

Tim Wildmon Well, yeah. Ye. Golf makes it better. Yeah, it stretches it stretches it out. Makes it better. But, she likes to, She has a. She. She has an imac. I can't take any credit. I'm just gonna be honest. So she has an immaculate yard. So she'll cut it one, one last time.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Tim Wildmon You know, after the frost and everything to make it smooth until the Spring.

Ed Vitagliano Make it look good.

Tim Wildmon Yeah, make it look good. So, anyway, we got a lot to talk about.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers are tied in the World Series

Ed Vitagliano You introduced Fred.

Tim Wildmon I did.

Ed Vitagliano Oh, okay.

Tim Wildmon Fred.

Ed Vitagliano I wasn't paying attention. How old are all about me, Fred.

Tim Wildmon Our Canadian American who's over here. Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers are tied. Right.

Fred Jackson They are, so optimistic. After the first game was 11, 4 or something like that.

Tim Wildmon Yeah. Then they, then, then they go to, they go back to this Los Angeles. Tonight or tomorrow.

Fred Jackson I believe it's tonight.

Tim Wildmon Tonight. Yeah. The World Series is on. For those who don't.

Fred Jackson Yes.

Ed Vitagliano I was telling Fred this morning that I watched the, kind of extended replay of the first game, which was Friday night, I think. And, in Toronto. And the, the Blue Jays had a huge sixth inning. I don't know whether they score. Scored nine runs or something. Something crazy. But anyway, one of the, players hit a grand slam in the middle of that inning. And on the replay, sometimes they'll switch announcers, you know, to get home field, opposite team. And they had. First time I've ever heard a play by play for baseball in French. Because there, there were, you know.

Tim Wildmon Oh, yeah.

Ed Vitagliano So they were, they were calling the grand slam in French. And it was, that was pretty.

Tim Wildmon It was pretty funny. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Fred Jackson And they cheered in French too.

Ed Vitagliano Did they?

Fred Jackson Yeah, they say, lu. Cheer, Cheer.

Ed Vitagliano And we're on le show.

Fred Jackson See, that's right.

Ed Vitagliano I did. By the way, I know our listeners just are hanging on every word here.

Tim Wildmon This is Rich.

Ed Vitagliano I, I, My daughter one time came home. No, I'm sorry. It was my son. And I was just messing around with him. And I told him, I said, you want me to teach you how to speak French? And he said, yeah. And so I told him, I said, to speak French, all you have to do is put le in front of everything. Le chair, le table, le fork. And he. And I, I was just, I was just messing around with him. The next day, he went to school and told his teacher in front of the class that he could speak French. And she said, really? Well, go ahead. And that's what he did. And she laughed. She said, I don't know where you got that from. That's not French.

Tim Wildmon My, my French was, I, think a semester, maybe two in high school. You know, I was real attentive during those, during those formative years. I just remember my name. I do remember that, Timote.

Ed Vitagliano Timothy.

Tim Wildmon That's Timothy. That sounds a Spanish Timothy. It may have been. I wouldn't know the difference.

JJ: Can I just say one more quick story? One more. All right. You lay it on us, jj. Full JJ on

Ed Vitagliano All right. Can I just say one more quick story? One more.

Tim Wildmon You lay it on us, jj. One more quick story.

Ed Vitagliano That kind of hurts.

Tim Wildmon Full JJ on us. I got one more quick story.

Ed Vitagliano So in high school, I went to an all boys Catholic high school.

Tim Wildmon Yeah. And.

Ed Vitagliano And, you have to take a foreign language. I had two years of Spanish. And then day one, my junior year, we're all walking into Spanish class, and across the hall is the new French teacher. And she was a babe. I mean, all these. All these high school boys and, all boys Catholic high school, all standing outside looking at this beautiful right out of college. And I did. I went home that Sunday and I told my dad, I said, I'm thinking of taking French. Of course, he just looked at me. I don't think he slapped me in the back of my head. But he said, why.

Tim Wildmon Why all this sudden interest in French, son?

Ed Vitagliano Of course, the answer was a big new.

Tim Wildmon All right, all right, all right.

A Category 5 hurricane is expected to hit Jamaica today

a lot going on in the world. By the way, the. Have you guys, seen, this hurricane model down in, the Caribbean?

Fred Jackson Oh, yeah.

Tim Wildmon Okay. There is a massive Category 5 hurricane.

Ed Vitagliano Now, said Melissa, Melissa, Melissa.

Tim Wildmon It's not going to come to the United States. they model show it going out to sea, but it is going to just ravage Jamaica today.

Fred Jackson Yeah.

Tim Wildmon And those. I was listening to a news account. You think, well, these people in the Caribbean deal, with hurricanes all the time. not necessarily in. In, the last major hurricane to hit Jamaica, they said was in the 90s. So.

Ed Vitagliano Wow. Surprise.

Tim Wildmon Yeah, me too. I was surprised by that. So most of the time, the hurricanes go from the east, the west coast of Africa, they form there and then they hit, Go into the Caribbean, but they go north of Jamaica. They go, up to the other islands there and. And Florida, you know, Florida has a lot of experience with hurricanes. But what I'm saying is, I don't know. I don't know how to pray for weather.

Ed Vitagliano I hear, I hear.

Tim Wildmon Huh? I don't know. I don't know how you do that. Because God. God puts nature into existence, and he doesn't stop it, normally from happening. Does that make sense? Y' all know what I'm talking about here. I don't want them.

Ed Vitagliano And, and you either pray that God will break the storm apart or send it somewhere else if it's heading towards you. And then if he sends it somewhere else, it's gonna hit somebody else.

Tim Wildmon Yeah, you don't. You don't want this kind of weather to hit anybody.

Ed Vitagliano Right.

Tim Wildmon Okay. But, what. We can pray. The Bible does say pray for people. Yeah, right.

Ed Vitagliano Pray for safety.

Tim Wildmon So we can pray for the people of Jamaica in particular. That's why I bring this subject up. We can pray for them, because they're about to go through a horrendous storm. They're talking 30 inches of rain in some places.

Fred Jackson Yeah.

Tim Wildmon And Jamaica is mountainous and they're talking about mudslides. I mean, it could be catastrophic. It will be catastrophic.

Ed Vitagliano And it's not like they're a developed nation already.

Tim Wildmon They have a lot of poverty. They have, they have a tourism industry and we all familiar with that. Everybody is familiar with, you know, the beautiful beaches of Jamaica. People vacation there and honeymoon there and everything like that. But they don't have a lot of industry. Right. Maybe some, I don't know.

Ed Vitagliano Well, their homes are very simple and aren't going to stand up to.

Tim Wildmon Right.

Ed Vitagliano A lot of this weather. So anyway, it was just devastating.

Tim Wildmon I was going like, wow, that's gonna, if that's gonna hit Jamaica, category five would. That's, that's a beat down for a, for the United States. Yeah. For Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana or anybody. But you talking about putting that on a, a course that would hit a country as poor as Jamaica? That, yeah, that could, that could be, it will be devastating. Are, ah, you looking at, and then talking about Haiti and is it the Dominican, isn't it the Dominican Republic attached to Haiti? Right.

Ed Vitagliano Well, yeah, that's, that's, So you have Jamaica. Yeah. Then directly to the north is Cuba, which extends out. Okay.

Tim Wildmon The Guantanamo Bay. They sent all the Americans home.

Ed Vitagliano Okay. and then just to the southeast of Cuba, almost directly east of Jamaica, is the Dominican Republic of Haiti and Haiti.

Fred Jackson Yeah.

Tim Wildmon And Haiti. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, I think. So, you know, anyway, it's gonna, that's gonna happen today. And then that, that's a category five. That's the most intense hurricane they measure. so anyway.

Russia says it's testing nuclear powered missiles that could reach American shores

All right, you're listening to today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. what's the next story, Fred?

Fred Jackson Well, on a more cheerful note, Russia says it's testing nuclear powered missiles, that will reach, the shores of America. And to that, President Trump says, oh, yeah, oh yeah, we have submarines off your coast, Vladimir. And we can, we can cause damage too. So that back and forth, President, Trump asked about all of this, on Air Force One in the last 24 hours, this is what he had to say. Cut six.

Ed Vitagliano They're not playing games with us. We're not playing games with them either. We test missiles all the time. And I don't think it's an appropriate thing to Putin for Putin to be saying either. By the way, you ought to get the war ended. A war that should have taken one week is now in its soon fourth year. That's what he ought to do instead of testing missiles.

Tim Wildmon Ah, President.

President Trump was greeted at the airport in Malaysia by dancers

President Trump, by the way, is traveling in Asia.

Fred Jackson Yes.

Tim Wildmon He was in Malaysia and then,

Fred Jackson He danced in Malaysia.

Tim Wildmon He danced. That sounds like a great movie. he danced in Jamaica with, I don't know. Tom Cruise.

Fred Jackson I don't know.

Tim Wildmon Tom Cruise wouldn't do that, would he? If it doesn't have some kind of Mission Impossible suspense to it. He wouldn't do dancing in Jamaica in.

Ed Vitagliano Ah, well, you. Come on, Trump. Dancing with.

Tim Wildmon Okay, so seriously, Fred, you got this because President Trump was, he was in Malaysia. Malaysia.

Fred Jackson He was greeted at the airport there by dancers.

Tim Wildmon Uh-huh.

Fred Jackson And he kind of joined in.

Tim Wildmon Yes.

Fred Jackson You know, he did his little whatever. Trump.

Tim Wildmon It's the Trump dance.

Ed Vitagliano And.

Tim Wildmon And they were. Did you see this?

Ed Vitagliano Yes.

Fred Jackson Yeah.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano It's, his. He's not a stuffed shirt Trump.

Tim Wildmon Right.

Ed Vitagliano I mean, this is a guy who's spent his whole life schmoozing with, you know, rich and powerful people. He's not a old stuffed shirt, stick in the mud, whatever you want to say. So there's a dance going by. He's going to join in.

Fred Jackson Yeah.

Tim Wildmon Well, this was. They were dancing. His dance he created on the campaign trail. We've all seen it.

Ed Vitagliano Oh, yeah. And let's admit it, we've all done it.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano We've all done the Trump dance.

Tim Wildmon Little John Travolta. Little John Travolta. Ask.

Ed Vitagliano Am I right? Let's put it this way. It's a dance you would expect from.

Tim Wildmon A guy who's 79. Yeah. 79. All right, so. But he's in Malay. He was Malaysia. Now he's going, he's in Japan.

Fred Jackson He's in Japan now. And announcement, this morning that apparently Japan, who has a new prime minister, by the way. Woman. First woman prime minister of Japan. And apparently, in preliminary talks, and this is extremely unusual, we import a lot of cars from Japan.

Tim Wildmon Oh, we do, yeah. Yeah.

Fred Jackson we don't ship anything normally, automobile wise to Japan, but apparently the deal that's being worked out, we're going, Japan is going to buy a fleet of Ford F150s, that the government is going to use for various things over there. So that's a big deal.

Scott Bessett applauds President Trump for standing up to China

And the other word that's coming out this morning, the Trump, administration preliminary talks with China. Remember, we've had some rough waters in recent days with China bantering back and forth.

Tim Wildmon No tariff, tariff, no tariff, tariff, no tariff, tariff, no tariff. That's been our China policy.

Ed Vitagliano Keep them guessing.

Fred Jackson Yes. but apparently things, are going well on that front. And I guess when Trump gets together with the Chinese leader, Xi, in just a few days, they're going to have a big announcement. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham was talking about all this this morning. Cut number five.

Speaker D I'm pretty optimistic. Scott Bessett. We, we could not have a better representative than Scott. So what are we trying to do? We're trying to have a better trading relationship with China. Trump is really the first president, in my lifetime, be honest with you, who stood up to China. They steal our intellectual property, they dump steel on the market below cost to, ah, drive us out of the steel business. So Trump is trying to level the playing field. He's got a lot of tariffs on Chinese products, but the goal is to come out with trade deal where we'll have access to their markets, sell them soybeans. Half the soybeans in America are sold to China. But also to have a deal that we can live with where they do not cheat, to have a level playing field and lower tariffs as much as possible in a win win situation. And the only reason we're having this meeting, and the only reason we're optimistic about better days ahead with China is because Trump stood up to China.

Ed Vitagliano well, thank you, Senator Lindsey Graham. let me disagree. Okay, China's gonna cheat, but to the credit of the Trump administration, they are working overtime to try to hold China's feet to the fire. And that's a good thing. We, they have been taking advantage of us for 25 years, and I'm glad President Trump is, putting the squeeze on them. But I wouldn't, as I've said many times, I wouldn't trust China or Xi as far as I could throw them because they, they have, they have grown, exponentially in their tech sector for the most part by stealing knowledge from the US or from companies that they have bought or from companies that they work with. And that's just the way they've made their move. And I guess all is fair in love and war, as they say. But I'm glad Trump has taken a Hard line with China.

Tim Wildmon So President Trump is. He started in Malaysia, he's in Japan, and then he's going to China.

Fred Jackson South Korea.

Tim Wildmon He's going to South Korea and then China.

Fred Jackson No, no, he's not going to China. He's going to meet with Xi in South Korea is what.

Tim Wildmon Oh, ok. Yeah. Okay. She being the, leader of communist China. What do they call that title? Is he chairman?

Ed Vitagliano Yeah, he's chairman of the board.

Tim Wildmon He's Frank Sinatra of China. Is that what he is?

Ed Vitagliano is he also called president? He's chairman of the Communist Party.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano she's.

Tim Wildmon She's. How you pronounce his name?

Ed Vitagliano Xi Jinping.

Fred Jackson He's the big guy.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano General secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano And.

Tim Wildmon Yeah, he just. Amazing.

Ed Vitagliano Also president.

Tim Wildmon He's re elected time after time.

Ed Vitagliano Oh, yeah.

Tim Wildmon Popularity is through the roof.

Ed Vitagliano It absolutely is.

Tim Wildmon So, so we're going to sell Ford F150s in Japan for the first time, Is that what you're saying?

Fred Jackson To Japan? Apparently that's the report.

Tim Wildmon That's what they're saying. Okay.

Ed Vitagliano And this is, this is why I applaud President Trump because Japan has had this in place forever.

Tim Wildmon Had what in place?

Ed Vitagliano Where we'll, sell our cars and vehicles and trucks in your country. You can't sell yours. American made in our country. So that's how the, A lot of these imbalances have, have happened. And so tip of the hat to the Trump administration. He is getting.

Tim Wildmon What about Silverados? So they're going to let Chevy in, too?

Fred Jackson I know.

Tim Wildmon Good question. Most people vote. Yeah. Chevy owners.

Fred Jackson Yep.

Ed Vitagliano you know, when they're not broke down on the side.

Tim Wildmon But I didn't say that that was edge. Little jab.

Ed Vitagliano Ah, just a joke.

Tim Wildmon It's just a joke.

Ed Vitagliano If they had been taking Silverados Instead of Ford F150s, I would have done the opposite.

Tim Wildmon Rock.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Was that Chevrolet. Yeah. That was their motto in that song, that little clip of the song

Tim Wildmon Which one, which one was that? That was. Was that Chevrolet. Chevrolet. Bob Seger forever and ever. I just remember that growing up, like, you know his song, like. Oh, yeah, they use that for the advertisement sub. Seger probably made a mint off that one.

Ed Vitagliano That. That was their motto in that song, that little clip of the song.

Fred Jackson Yeah.

Tim Wildmon forever.

Ed Vitagliano For a long time.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

President Trump says he's open to impromptu meeting with North Korean leader

All right. You're listening to today's issues on American Family Radio. I'll tell you what, the president, world traveler there, of course, that's what presidents do. But he went to Israel and, and back, what, 10 days ago, two weeks ago.

Fred Jackson Yeah.

Tim Wildmon And now going to, now he does have, he doesn't rough it. Okay. He's not going on standby.

Fred Jackson Nope.

Ed Vitagliano by the way, he is. He has indicated that he is open to meeting with, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, Rocket man in South Korea, if he wants Trump. Rocket man?

Tim Wildmon Yeah, rocket man. So he is gonna be.

Ed Vitagliano Well, he said he's open to it.

Tim Wildmon Okay. He likes it little fella. Have you noticed that Trump does, huh?

Ed Vitagliano He likes that little fella. He likes that little fella.

Tim Wildmon He calls him Rocket Man.

Ed Vitagliano Sounds like his.

Tim Wildmon Who does that?

Ed Vitagliano His wife's dog. I like that little fella.

Tim Wildmon Well, all right, so, Trump said he's open to meeting with, an impromptu meeting with the dictator of North Korea. Yeah. so that. That may or may not happen. Then he makes with, with, Xi, that communist Chinese leader in Seoul. I guess. So South Korea. And then what? Home. Homeward bound.

Fred Jackson Then homeward bound after that to deal with some domestic problems.

Tim Wildmon Okay. Which leads us to another story. What's the next story?

Food stamp program which millions of Americans depend upon could be affected by shutdown

Fred Jackson You know, the shutdown, heads in this week. It'll be a month. Yeah, Yeah, a month.

Tim Wildmon Federal government shutdown.

Ed Vitagliano It's not the longest, but we're getting close.

Fred Jackson We're getting close. 35 days, I think, is the longest one. Anyway, Fox, this morning, Fox News had this story on the. The big news this morning with regards to the shutdown is that the food stamp program which millions of Americans depend upon. Well, it's. The money's running out. Cut number eight.

Speaker D The pressures will continue to mount on Congress. Consider for a moment just food stamps. The USDA, which administers federal SNAP benefits for more than 40 million people, posted this warning on its website. Bottom line, the well has run dry at this time. There will be no benefits issued November 1st. They Democrats can continue to hold. Can continue to hold out for health care for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures, or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance. Now, some Democrats over the weekend were pressed on that point. Is this a trade off you're willing to make and continue to make, letting some Americans go hungry?

Ed Vitagliano Well, let's be clear. We're shut down right now because Republicans are refusing to even talk to Democrats about a bipartisan budget bill.

Speaker D The Republican position, Mike Johnson's position, is that we simply have to vote for Donald Trump's budget and for what Donald Trump wants, and that's it. And Democrats are holding out for the extension of COVID era price supports for Obamacare.

Fred Jackson Yeah, and a lot, you Know the speculations begin. Who, who are you going to blame? Who are Americans going to blame?

Tim Wildmon Who are you going to call?

Fred Jackson Yeah, who are you going to call?

Ed Vitagliano And I, looked up because I can never remember what this kind of acronym stands for. Snap. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food stamps. Yes.

Tim Wildmon But he got a rebranding.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah. And so, now I've been seeing, you know, people's videos that they post on social media, and for some people, and, man, they look like they're, you know, physically capable of getting a job, but they're complaining about the fact that, that their seven or eight hundred dollars a month that they get for food through SNAP is going to come to an end. First, of all, I don't know why there aren't more or better work requirements for snap, especially if you're able bodied.

Tim Wildmon Is that the same as an EBT card?

Ed Vitagliano Well, they, I think they get their benefits through an ABT card, like a debit card, which you can swipe.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano but these folks are completely reliant on snap.

Fred Jackson Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano I don't know what they're going to do for food. You don't. You know, some people have to rely on that. They've got no choice. But you don't want to be in a situation where you have to depend on the government to get you your money or your family doesn't eat well.

Tim Wildmon okay, so the bottom line here on this federal government shutdown is we're reaching a, point where it's going to start affecting millions more Americans if it continues on for a few more days. Is that true?

Fred Jackson That is true. And we got to go to a break here. I know, but when we come back after the break, there is another front in this government shutdown that is probably going to explode in the next few days, and that involves air traffic control. Yeah.

Tim Wildmon What, What? I, I, you know, I try to keep up with the reasons why. I hear the Republic. What are, what's the primary reason Democrats are saying no to voting on this?

Fred Jackson They're trying to use the shutdown as a wedge to continue the Biden Covid subsidies for Obamacare. That's the big one.

Tim Wildmon Which was put in place for Covid. Covid emergency.

Fred Jackson Yes. And.

Ed Vitagliano And for, for illegal immigrants.

Fred Jackson That's right.

Tim Wildmon For in. For health care. For illegal immigrants.

Fred Jackson Yes.

Ed Vitagliano They can cut.

Tim Wildmon That's their heel to dial. They.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Tim Wildmon Wow. Okay. We'll be back momentarily. Stay with us.

Preborn Network clinics help women choose life through a free ultrasound

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Tim Wildmon This is today's issues.

Ed 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.

American Family Radio Network is buying a radio station in Des Moines, Iowa

Fred Jackson To more of today's issues.

Tim Wildmon Hey, welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. That's the name of this show. Thank you for listening to afr. by the way, any day now, I gotta check and see. We're gonna be going on the air with our new radio station in Des Moines, Iowa. Yes, we were pumped about that. Is that today or tomorrow? I think we'll be flipping the switch. We bought a radio station in Des Moines. We've already got really good coverage for AFR all over Iowa. but, we're not in the capital city.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Tim Wildmon So this will give us, access to a lot of new listeners, hopefully potentially there in the, Des Moines area.

Ed Vitagliano So when we find out when it goes on the year, we will call on our Iowa listeners to let their family friends know. Yeah, absolutely, let them know. Send them a link.

Tim Wildmon By the way, we live in a state where college football is pretty big. 89.3 in Des Moines. Okay. And we'll mention that. And it is big. College football is, I think, the second most watched sport now in the country, I believe. I'm sure.

Ed Vitagliano Right, right behind.

Tim Wildmon No NFL. But, yeah, hockey's on its way up.

Ed Vitagliano It's. It's on its way.

Tim Wildmon So I say this because, some of us live in states where we have rival schools. Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano And, in state rivalries is huge in college football.

Tim Wildmon Yeah. Now, if you're, you. Some of you live in states where it's just one dominant school and the. Your rivals live outside of your state, which is a good thing for the most part, I think, for people, for human existence. Like, for example. For example, Ohio State.

Ed Vitagliano Right.

Tim Wildmon Everybody's a Buckeye in Ohio. Right. in Michigan, well, they're divided. Michigan, Michigan State. But, so you got schools like that, lsu.

Ed Vitagliano So Ohio State's rivals, they live outside.

Tim Wildmon Of the state for the most part, so they don't have to go to work together for the most. For the most part. So we do here in Mississippi because we have Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Right. So I'm leading devotion this morning for our staff, as I do each Monday, and I'm a Mississippi State fan. And of course, we lost again in overtime.

Ed Vitagliano Again in frankly, stunning fashion.

Tim Wildmon Yes. Rip your heart out, stomp on it.

Ed Vitagliano Fashion, unless you're a Mississippi State fan. And then it's like, oh, this happened again.

Tim Wildmon Right. Texas beat us. Yeah. with all their five stars. They beat. They beat our three stars. And it happened in overtime. But, I'm just leading devotion this morning, and one of our staff members, who is an Ole Miss fan, and they beat Oklahoma in Norman on Saturday. We all know this happened, but he decided to bring up unsolicited, an attack on the. On the feelings of, Mississippi State fans knowing that we lost again in overtime.

Ed Vitagliano Well, you were asking for prayer requests, but.

Tim Wildmon Yeah, and then he offered that up, but do you think it was appropriate for.

Fred Jackson For.

Tim Wildmon For an Ole Miss fan who beat Oklahoma to,

Ed Vitagliano And we're. Listen, we're not going to mention names, but Drew Shoemaker should have known.

Tim Wildmon He shouldn't. Don't mention his name.

Ed Vitagliano I'm not going to mention his name. Absolutely not.

Tim Wildmon Because Drew doesn't need. He doesn't need that. You know what I'm saying?

Ed Vitagliano So he said. He said, ask for prayer requests. For prayer requests. He said, I think we need to pray for Mississippi State fans.

Tim Wildmon Yes, he did.

Ed Vitagliano After their test.

Tim Wildmon He had to bring it up. Okay. I thought it was inappropriate, and I don't know.

Ed Vitagliano I don't know if I can say this for sure, but it seemed insincere to me.

Tim Wildmon Did you notice that?

Ed Vitagliano I'm saying I seemed a little bit.

Tim Wildmon Insincere, to which I responded, that we Mississippi State fans, we're really happy for you Ole Miss people. We really are.

Fred Jackson We.

Tim Wildmon We're glad you Won. And also let it be known that, Mississippi State fans, having lost three games in the last few seconds in the last month, are, on suicide watch.

The rivalry game between Mississippi State and Ole Miss is scheduled for Wednesday

Ed Vitagliano It's been a rough month. Now, I will say this as an outsider. I'm a Notre Dame.

Tim Wildmon Notre Dame fan.

Ed Vitagliano So I tried to, and I do honestly, and I mean this with all sincerity, I root for Mississippi State and Ole Miss. I want. I want to see.

Tim Wildmon You're a neutral party. You just live in the state. You want everybody here to be happy on Monday. Absolutely. Yes. That's a good attitude, Ed.

Ed Vitagliano So, but one thing I have noticed, right, I've been. Been married to my Mississippi wife for 44 years. I've lived in Mississippi since 1985, so 40 years. One thing I've noticed is that the team of these two, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, that is doing well, better watch out when the rivalry game comes. They call it the egg, because I have seen this happen so many times where the big dog gets knocked off by the little dog, the underdog, and spoils their season.

Tim Wildmon It's karma.

Ed Vitagliano So Mississippi State has a awesome season.

Tim Wildmon If they do knock off Ole Miss.

Ed Vitagliano They knock off Ole Miss. Doesn't matter what's happened.

Tim Wildmon The rest of the OMAS is ranked number five or six, having a great season in America. All right, you're listening. By the way, speaking of Ole miss Vice President J.D. vance, Will, be. Is it tomorrow night?

Fred Jackson Wednesday?

Tim Wildmon Wednesday will be on campus at the University of Mississippi.

Fred Jackson That is correct.

Tim Wildmon And, with Charlie Kirk's widow, Erica.

Ed Vitagliano Erica.

Fred Jackson That is correct.

Tim Wildmon this was planned, for Charlie Kirk's tour prior to. You know, it's been in the works for a long time. Obviously, Charlie Kirk tragically was assassinated, as we all know. And, but the event is going to go on, and they're going to have this at the Pavilion, which is the basketball arena at Ole Miss. So they're expecting 10,000 people, and it's been. It's been, quote, sold out, even though they're not selling tickets. But it's been for a couple weeks now. Yeah. So. But are we. We're going to be covering the event, right?

Fred Jackson We are. And stay tuned. On Thursday, we'll be giving you. If you're not able to make it to the event, we'll have lots of coverage for it, on. On Thursday for you.

Tim Wildmon But we have press credentials.

Fred Jackson We have press credentials.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Fred Jackson Three of our reporters are going, and we're excited about that.

Ed Vitagliano Are you, Tim? Are you going to get a chance to go?

Tim Wildmon No, I'M going to try to. I'm going to try to, What do you call it when you, try to get around the general public? What do you call that?

Ed Vitagliano I'm not sure now at work you.

Tim Wildmon Call it bully rank. anyway, I'm m gonna try to see if I can know a friend or two that can get me. Oh, back door.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Fred Jackson Will you self identify as an Ole Miss Grant?

Tim Wildmon Well, if it means getting in, I probably would.

Ed Vitagliano Well, because this is one of those deals where you, just about anybody can get a ticket, but then you got to stand in line to get.

Tim Wildmon That's what I'm saying.

Ed Vitagliano And then once.

Tim Wildmon I don't really want to. Filled with the little people, you know, I want to go. I want to go in the back door and be up in a box somewhere.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah, well, you should have some. You should have some poll.

Tim Wildmon That's what I'm saying.

Ed Vitagliano Check with Drew, Frank Turk.

Tim Wildmon You know, I don't know. I'm just. I'm just teasing. I do. I would like to go, but I don't know if it's going to be. We're going to. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it or not. Ole Miss is only an hour from where we are here, so I'd love to go, but I don't know. But it's. I was just kind of stunned that it sold out to the general public so quick. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't have been. But it went boom. It went, like, fast.

Ed Vitagliano And I'm just going to tell you, I've been. I've been, through, Oxford, where Ole Miss is on game day. It is not fun trying to drive around there or find a parking spot right. On the Ole Miss campus.

Tim: Well played, Ed. I deserve that one. You're gonna give. I'm gonna root for old man

Tim Wildmon Right. Well, this will be. Won't, be like a football Saturday, but it'll still be, 10,000 plus people probably, trying to get into the arena to hear the vice president, United States and Erica, Kirk.

Ed Vitagliano It is an inside, arenas, so I might.

Tim Wildmon That's what basketball races typically are. I don't know if you've noticed.

Ed Vitagliano I was. But I was trying to say, well played. I deserve that one. I was not very exact. I didn't want to give the impression that it was going to be in the outdoor stadium. Right.

Tim Wildmon No, it's not the football stadium. That's why I said basketball.

Fred Jackson Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano All right. I think we should just leave because otherwise I'm gonna. I'm gonna, I'm gonna. I'm Gonna. I'm gonna root for old man. You're gonna give.

Tim Wildmon You're gonna give it back to me, aren't you, Ed? all right. You're listening to today's issues. Tim, Ed and Fred. Fred, what's your next story?

Air traffic controllers in the midst of shutdown are not getting paid

Fred Jackson Well, as we mentioned just before the break, as part of the shutdown, if you're traveling by air, best to check with your airlines, because the air traffic controllers in the midst of the shutdown are not getting paid. In other words, when they show up for work, they're doing it on a volunteer basis.

Tim Wildmon How does that work? Do you even know how that works? I've never heard of that.

Fred Jackson Well, in the past, when there have been shutdowns, they get paid afterwards, when the government opens up again, they get paid for showing up.

Tim Wildmon You mean their back pay?

Fred Jackson Back pay, back pay. Yes. Now, but we're getting into, as I mentioned, almost a month now, and these guys, they don't have a paycheck. Some of them are going out and trying to find work somewhere. But Transportation, Secretary Sean Duffy says this is getting serious and more travelers are going to be affected if this drags on. Cut number seven.

Speaker D I've been out talking to our air traffic controllers, and you can see the stress. these are people that oftentimes live paycheck to paycheck. And so what I see coming forward as we get to Monday, tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday, that you're going to see more staffing shortages and towers, which means you're going to see more delays, more cancellations. And then, then you see more Americans frustrated at Democrats, and they'll say, open up the government. Enough is enough.

Fred Jackson And the report early this morning that already today, Monday, there have been about 300 flight cancellations or delays. And so as Duffy is saying, this is only going to get worse. And politicians, you're going to hear more and more complaints.

Tim Wildmon Do you think the. Just an, aside here. Do you think the public is blaming one party or the other or. I haven't seen any surveys on that or any polls on that. Is there. Do you guys.

Fred Jackson I saw one poll where the blame is going more towards the Democrats. The reason seems to be, is that they understand Republicans are voting to reopen the government. They are the ones voting to reopen.

Tim Wildmon Okay.

Fred Jackson The Democrats are not supporting the ongoing resolution to open up the government because.

Tim Wildmon They'Re holding out on the Obamacare subsidies. That is correct. And also on health care for, illegal aliens.

Fred Jackson That is correct, right? That is correct.

Tim Wildmon So that's, that's what. That's what this is about.

Fred Kaplan: More people are blaming Democrats for the shutdown than Republicans

But we are on a month now, right? Month. So this.

Ed Vitagliano This week, I think.

Tim Wildmon Yeah, I'm not flying anytime soon. On, I got one or two, I think, coming up for the end of the year. But, that doesn't comfort me any. If I'm getting ready to fly knowing that the, air traffic controllers are tired and weary and.

Ed Vitagliano Well, I think. I think, Fred, correct me if I'm wrong, that this is the reason for the flight cancellations is that the safety.

Tim Wildmon Protocols are in place.

Ed Vitagliano I think that they're not allowed to, do their jobs. You know, I think it's heavily unionized, so past their. Whatever our shift, maybe 10 hours or whatever. They're not allowed to. They've got.

Tim Wildmon They federal. Are they federal? Are they FAA employees?

Fred Jackson Yes. That's my understanding.

Ed Vitagliano They do have a union though, right?

Fred Jackson Yes.

Tim Wildmon Well, you remember when they went on strike when President Reagan, for those who are old enough to remember, the, air traffic controllers went on strike. and President Reagan. It was during Reagan's administration. He fired them all. Remember this?

Ed Vitagliano That's right.

Tim Wildmon Yep. He fired them up because he says you're not allowed. There are some. There are certain public unions that are not allowed to go on strike, if I'm, If I remember correctly. And, So President. President Reagan just fired them all.

Ed Vitagliano Yes. And, air traffic controllers are one of those that aren't allowed to go on strike.

Tim Wildmon I tried it and it backfired. Anyway, go ahead.

Ed Vitagliano Excuse me. I've seen a couple of polls, and was just looking one up, the Quinnipiac poll. it seems like more people are blaming Republicans.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano For the shutdown. I think because the Democrats message is getting a lot of lift through the mainstream media. Their message is that Republicans want to shut down the government because they don't want, health care, Obamacare to be available with the subsidies. The Republican message is, that no Democrats want Obamacare available for illegal immigrants. And I think the Democrats message is probably getting through a little bit more.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano But if the snap benefits, are. Go out, if, if they are. If they are no longer flowing to people who depend on, what we used to call food stamps. I don't know that the pressure might not then ramp up on Democrats simply because a lot of these benefits flow into blue cities. Yeah. And if they're not getting their food.

Tim Wildmon Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano Through, you know, can't. You can't get that charged up. EBT card, electronic, benefits. transfer is what EBT Stands for they may pressure Democrats. So I'm not sure how this plays out. The Democrats seem content to let it play out all the way and we'll see who blinks first.

People are being allowed to go into national parks during the government shutdown

Tim Wildmon Speaking of this federal government shutdown, I was watching a story about you'll Yosemite national park. And I think this is the same national parks across the country. They're open, but the employees who govern the park are not like park rangers and stuff aren't there to police it. And yet people are being allowed to go into the national parks. They were saying in Yosemite it's dangerous. They said people are base jumping, when they shouldn't be. they're, they're, they're climbing up. It's basically what do you call it when you rock climb up cliffs and stuff? they're doing this kind of thing. They're camping when they should, where they shouldn't be. In other words, it's, it's a wild wild west.

Ed Vitagliano I didn't know you could get in.

Tim Wildmon These can some of these national parks. Well you would think if the federal government shuts down which affects, which affects the National Park Service that you would, the parks would be closed to the public. As long as the park rangers aren't there. They, it, I mean I'm all for freedom, but it should be closed. They should be closed down. Right. If they don't have the, the park rangers and the personnel there to police the park.

Ed Vitagliano I mean I would have thought the gates would be.

Tim Wildmon Me too.

Ed Vitagliano Shut and locked.

Tim Wildmon So type in national parks, and federal government shutdown and see what comes up because I was stunned by that. but they show these people, out in Yosemite, out in California based, jumping off this big famous rock. What's it, what's that called? You know, it's famous El Capitan. Yeah, I think so. It's

Most national parks are partially open during the government shutdown

Ed Vitagliano All right, so this is my search. Bro says most US national parks are partially open during the government shutdown with access to outdoor areas such as roads, trails, lookouts and open air memorials generally maintained. However, visitor services are significantly limited or unavailable. Visitor centers, indoor facilities, museums, and some restrooms are closed.

Tim Wildmon Okay.

Ed Vitagliano As many parts.

Tim Wildmon Okay, well that makes sense. So basically what they're saying is the, the buildings, are closed. Like I said, the museums or whatever are closed to the but just to just be able to drive through our picnic and that kind of thing, those are open.

Ed Vitagliano This also says no fees are being collected at some locations. and permits for backcountry camping and other services are not being issued, but that doesn't mean people aren't going in.

Tim Wildmon Wonder if that's true of, Grand Canyon, too. you know what I'm saying?

Ed Vitagliano This says nearly two thirds of National Park Service employees have been furloughed. So there is a third around. So it says only essential personnel remain to address health, safety and resource protection concerns.

Fred Jackson Can you imagine, though, if you got a family trip planned right now to D.C. i know you got to be worried about our flight's going to operate to get there. And then when you get to D.C. the museums are all shut down.

Tim Wildmon Yeah. They're Smithsonian.

Fred Jackson Yes.

Tim Wildmon M. The Bible Museum would be open and. And the outside parks like Lincoln and Jefferson Memorial, those things would be open. But you're right, the Smithsonian museums would be closed. Yeah.

Fred Jackson Yep. I have a friend going up to Dayton, Ohio. They were going to go to the Air Force Museum. Been told it's been shut down.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah, well.

Tim Wildmon Well, it should. I would have thought this would been resolved by now and the federal government would be reopened. I'm going to, I'm going to say this week, I'm going to guess by Friday it'll be reopened. they'll work something out because it just. The old. The word unsustainable. I just don't think with the air traffic control situation that's. And the, the,

Ed Vitagliano Snap.

Tim Wildmon SNAP program benefits, Stopping the outcry is going to get.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah. you know, and the pressure probably will build on both sides, but I don't know. I think Democrats have more time on their side. I do.

Tim Wildmon Yeah. But on the other hand, if President Trump is in charge of the Republican Party, he doesn't seem to give a rip.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Tim Wildmon And he's. He's untouched, unfazed. I'm talking about by the Democrats threats on this. So now he may hear from his constituency being the Republican House of Representative members, that we've got a compromise here somewhere because it's going to start hurting us. And he may listen to them.

Ed Vitagliano Right.

Tim Wildmon I'm not, I'm not saying President Trump is not sympathetic to the feelings of Americans. I don't want to suggest that. I'm just saying that when it comes to fighting against the Democrats, he's not moved by their arguments. Yeah, that makes sense. speaking of which, you know, the Democrat Party has more than their fair share of what I would call wackadoo. Okay. Now, every once in a while, you'll get a Republican wackadoodle. This is from my perspective as A concern only. I understand that a liberal may differ from what. Where I see things, but I just think if you were to have a wackadoodle convention, you would have a, majority of them. A vast majority of them, politically would be Democrats. That's my take on things.

Ed Vitagliano Yeah.

Tim Wildmon Okay. Now you might say, well, Tim, give us an example of what you're talking about. And I will go now to our news desk, and Fred Jackson, our news director, will bring forth a story. Yes. Which proves rackadoodalism is well, is alive and well.

Fred Jackson Yes. We're going to hear from some.

Tim Wildmon Okay.

Fred Jackson The type of people of whom you speak.

Tim Wildmon Yes. Okay.

A week from tomorrow is election day in New York City mayoral race

Fred Jackson All right. Because a week from tomorrow is election day, and, there's governor's race in. In New Jersey and Virginia. But I guess the one getting most of the attention is the mayoralty race in New York City.

Tim Wildmon New York City.

Fred Jackson New York City.

Tim Wildmon I said that one. You said that, friend.

Ed Vitagliano Canadian. Do that Southern accent.

Fred Jackson I've been here 28 years now. I've got this down. Anyway, Zorn Mamdani, the. Goran Mandani, the communist, who is way out to the front in the polls. He had a rally last night and he had some guests, all right. Amongst them was aoc, better known as Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and Bernie Sanders. Let's have a listen to what they had to say.

Ed Vitagliano Cuten corrupt politicians and the billionaires that fund them. Let our words ring out so loud tonight that Andrew Cuomo can hear them in his $8,000 a month apartment. Let them ring so loud so that he could hear us even if he's in Westchester. This evening. Let them ring so loud, that his puppet master in the White House hears us. New York is not for sale. And we will send a loud message.

Tim Wildmon To President Donald Trump.

Ed Vitagliano Trump. That his authoritarianism is no good here. This election is taking place when we have a corrupt campaign finance system, which allows billionaires in both political parties to select the candidates they want and to buy elections.

Tim Wildmon Who's the first fella?

Fred Jackson That was Mom.

Ed Vitagliano Donnie.

Fred Jackson That was Mom Donnie.

Tim Wildmon Oh, wow. He's really going after, Cuomo.

Fred Jackson Yes.

Ed Vitagliano Oh, yeah.

Fred Jackson But I don't think, honestly, if you. If you believe the polls, he doesn't have much to worry. It looks like a cakewalk right now.

Tim Wildmon The Republican. That Republican. The fellow wears a beret. What's his name?

Ed Vitagliano Curtis Sleeva.

Tim Wildmon He's been around, like, since the 30s. Right? What's his name?

Ed Vitagliano Curtis Slava.

Tim Wildmon Guardian Angels.

Ed Vitagliano I think he started the Guardian Angels, maybe back in the 60s or.

Tim Wildmon What was the purpose of the Guardian Angel?

Ed Vitagliano It was to protect.

Tim Wildmon This is.

Ed Vitagliano This is how things go in cycles. All right. Democrats in the 60s and 70s on into the 80s became known as the party whose policies protect criminals but not victims. So crime got so bad in New York City that the Guardian Angels were a private group. They, that's. They became known for wearing their little uniforms with the berets. They would try to help people who were caught up in, you know, burglaries or robberies or assaults. They would be there to, try to help people and not as, not as law enforcement, not as long as they're volunteers.

Tim Wildmon Okay.

Ed Vitagliano And so that was the origin. I don't know if in Curtis, I think it's Sleeva, but, it's spelled S L I W A, but I think it's pronounced with it with a V. But I'm, not sure he started it. But he was at least the most, well known, early on.

Tim Wildmon So he stayed. He's the Republican candidate for mayor and him staying in. A lot of, A lot of people, Republicans and Democrats who don't support, Mandami, are upset because he's staying in and he's going to take votes away from Cuomo. And if Cuomo doesn't have those votes, he can't beat Mondami. Isn't that the thinking here?

Fred Jackson That's the math.

Tim Wildmon Who knows if he would otherwise. But, that's, that's. The people are upset because this Silwa won't get out of the race.

Ed Vitagliano He did found. He was the founder of the Guardian Angels in New York City, in February of 1979.

Tim Wildmon Yeah, I was talking about Eric Stalwell. Swalwell too. He is the Democrat, Congressman from California. California, where there are a lot of wackadoodles. I mean, but he. Do we have to. How we have 10 seconds. No, we don't have any time. See, there are. The music's here. So I. Do we do we have his comments we can use after the break. It's ones about wrecking the white. The ballroom.

Fred Jackson I don't think so.

Tim Wildmon And I'm not talking about a heavy metal song. I'm talking about. Okay, well, I'll either quote or we'll get the audio from that when the, when we get back from the break.

Steve Pagely: I see some people say the pronunciation is sleep

Ed Vitagliano I see some people say the pronunciation is sleep. I. I saw sleep.

Tim Wildmon Guardian Angels. Yeah.

Ed Vitagliano So I, I don't know Sliwa or Sleeva. I'VE seen him both ways.

Tim Wildmon He's the beret. Where's the beret?

Ed Vitagliano He is.

Tim Wildmon You think I need to switch to a beret? Maybe.

Ed Vitagliano Hey, berets can be pretty fashionable looking.

Tim Wildmon Okay, we'll be back.

Ed Vitagliano What you got going on is.

Tim Wildmon Looks good. We'll be back momentarily with Steve Pagely.

Ed Vitagliano Charlie.

Tim Wildmon Coming up in five minutes. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.