American Family Radio celebrates Columbus Day and Canadian Thanksgiving this week

>> Ed Vitagliano: This is Ed Vitagliano and I want to thank everyone who donated during our recent Share a Thon. You, have once again contributed enough for this ministry to continue in all our efforts and to share the truth and love of Jesus Christ. Our ministry is completely dependent on the grace of God, which comes to us in the form of donations from like minded partners. We appreciate your sacrificial giving. Thanks again for supporting American Family Radio during our yes, he can Share a Thon. Welcome to Today's Issues. Join us for the next hour as we offer a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Ed Vitagliano. And welcome to Today's Issues. Ed Battagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon. This week, I am joined in studio by Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.

>> Fred Jackson: Good morning to you.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Tony Vitagliano. Good good morning to you in studio. And then, Chris Woodward. Chris, good morning to you. Happy Monday.

>> Chris Woodward: Good morning.

>> Ed Vitagliano: October 13th. It is Columbus Day, if you know, if there are communities that still celebrate it. I do.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Italians do.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I personally celebrate it. I had some pasta last night to.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Celebrate Columbus Day and also Canadian Thanksgiving.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And it. That's right. Thank you, Tony. So, Fred, go ahead, just steal the thunder. Just take the emphasis off. Well, Christopher Columbus, let's put it on you.

>> Fred Jackson: That's right, the turkeys from Canada. yeah, it's, you know, I've been asked before, so what do you do for Thanksgiving in Canada? And I just. Pretty much what you do here in the United States. You have lots to eat.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: And, you know, if there's a sporting event on, you can. The Blue Jays are doing quite well. Yes, I understand.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right.

>> Fred Jackson: So, no, it's, it's,

>> Ed Vitagliano: Is it a day off like we have? Almost every place is.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, absolutely.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Closed.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, every. Everything is shut down now here in Columbus Day. It's coming in this morning. I had much as much traffic as usual. Yeah. But, up there, pretty well, everything shuts down and, folks just get together. Of course, you know, history of Thanksgiving and crops coming in and that sort of thing. In Canada, by now, most of the crops are off the field.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: So it truly is. And. And when I was growing up, they used to decorate the church, really. They would have pumpkins and they would have vegetables and preservatives at the front of the church just to celebrate,

>> Whitney Vitagliano: God's provision preservatives before they started burning them down, unfortunately.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You mean like, like jam preserves. Okay.

>> Fred Jackson: That sort of thing. So, yeah, it was a. It that's what it was like when I was growing up.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: And, But yeah, it's the same. It's, it's a day off, family time, lots of eating and. Yes, turkey.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And it's always on a Monday.

>> Fred Jackson: Always on a Monday.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Or is it the day of the, of the month?

>> Fred Jackson: Always on a Monday.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay. Kind of like here. It's always on a Thursday.

>> Fred Jackson: Because Canadians like their long weekend damn.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, you know that. I, I listen, I'm with them on that. Nothing better than a little Italians.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: What do Italians do? We'll come back to Columbus Day.

What do Italians do to celebrate Columbus Day now? Nothing now

What do Italians do to celebrate Columbus Day?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Nothing now. Now, Nothing. In most big cities with large Italian populations. Boston, New York, Chicago probably, they have parades. Yeah, they used to, It's been a long time since I've lived, up in New England, so I, I don't, I don't know what they still do up there, but, you know, especially the Catholic churches would have, you know, celebrations, and so it's not like a Thanksgiving thing. but it's probably similar to St. Patrick's Day, right. For Italians, only it's, not quite as elaborate as Saint. Saint Patty's Day. So anyway, Happy Columbus, day for those of you who you don't have to be Italian to celebrate the Western Europe's discovery of the New World. And, and for all those who are Canadians, for all our many listeners.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Up in Canada from the Italians, you're welcome.

>> Fred Jackson: Actually, there's about a million Canadians, I'm told, living here in the United States.

>> Ed Vitagliano: A million?

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right.

>> Fred Jackson: Legally, yeah, we're going to take over.

>> Chris Woodward: Okay.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, just as long as you, as long as you don't vote like they vote up in Canada.

>> Fred Jackson: That's for sure.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I, I, Generally speaking, I like Canadians.

>> Chris Woodward: I, I do wonder if, if, if, if. Let's just say Canada did become the 51st state. what would we do about Thanksgiving? Like, are they going to Fun Fact? Can they do it a different time? It's actually federal law that it's, you know, on a Thursday in November, so, that would be kind of awkward.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What do you mean, if you don't believe in what the president's trying to do here.

>> Chris Woodward: Well, if, if we were to allow them to become part of these United States of America, I think it, it's a mistake on, on America's part to think that Congress is not going to get invol. Because there's no way they're going to let one gigantic country be one state. They're going to find a way to get Senator.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: There will be one Thanksgiving, no more. Two Thanksgivings.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Chris, I think you are absolutely overthinking this.

>> Chris Woodward: Well, actually there is a special. It's several years ago, but it's called how the States Got Their Shapes. And it talks about on the History Channel, on how various states used to be bigger. For example, the, Republic of Texas was gigantic. And then Congress gets involved and they basically break it down and, and they Congress, the federal government is the reason why states are as small as they are now because back in the day they used to be bigger. And government found a way to mess it up by saying, hey, we can make US State and US State and then we'll get more senators and more representatives and leave it to the federal government.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So they actually have history now on the History Channel, when they're not.

>> Chris Woodward: Talking about the JFK assessment.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Aliens.

>> Chris Woodward: I'm not saying it's aliens, but it's aliens. That guy with the hair.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, yeah, the, the hair. That, the guy. That's a Greek guy. I forget his, his name, but. All right, as Tim would say, we better, we better.

President Donald Trump is in Egypt to push Israeli-Palestinian peace deal

>> Fred Jackson: There is other news today.

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, Chris might have started.

>> Chris Woodward: I have 95 clips and my goal is to play 94. Okay. the President, Donald Trump is in Egypt right now for, talks on, and some ceremonial things in the way of his agreement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to where they're going to end, their fighting with one another and return, some hostages. And granted this is just phase one of a 20 point plan. but the President is in Egypt today to continue pushing this. Prior to his arrival in Egypt, he actually spoke at the Israeli Knesset, which is basically the Capitol building or Parliament building of Israel. and the President had a lot to say about this deal, which again is only in phase one, but still positive news here.

Fred Kaplan: President Trump deserves credit for securing release of Israeli hostages

Let's begin with this, bit of audio from President Trump. Clip one.

>> Donald Trump: And after so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace. A land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, we talked about in our story meeting before we get to some, some of the additional things you want to cover here on this. Chris, I know that there are a lot of people out there, listeners who. Fred, I'll come to you first on this. who are, who would say to President Trump, well, I got Bad news for you in terms of eternal, eternity of, piece in the Middle East. But this is what I said this morning. If a person has been diagnosed with cancer and goes through treatments and goes. And the cancer goes into remission, it's okay to celebrate.

>> Fred Jackson: Absolutely.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That good news.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Even if, you know there's a chance it could come back or that you are going to die at some point, it might be 40 years, you might die in your sleep. It's okay, right. To keep this in perspective, understanding that the Bible says at some point in time, the whole world turns against Israel, certainly all the countries surrounding Israel in the Middle east, on into, you know, Egypt and, you know, Iran, not mentioned by that name. But we do know that that is going to happen. But it's okay, right? To celebrate, peace and hostages being released, even though we know that other is going to happen at some point.

>> Fred Jackson: And we do not want to diminish what happened today in Israel, we can rejoice with the families who have seen their loved ones who have been held captive. There are 20 living hostages. They're not hostages anymore.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: They are back in Israel. They're being checked out at hospitals there. I've been watching the faces of the families who have been waiting for this day for over two years now. Over two years. And what rejoicing is going on so we can celebrate that today. And, you know, as Chris has mentioned, you mentioned, there's, there's 19 other phases to this peace plan, but it is, it is a great day. So, you know, let, let's get together with the families.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: That are getting their loved ones back alive. Now there are other families, that are waiting for the remains of loved ones who have passed away, been murdered, probably by the Hamas terrorists over the last two years that be praying for them because it is going to take some time because the remains of those loved ones, some of them, they can't find them.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: If you've seen pictures of Gaza lately, you've seen all those buildings collapsed, it's going to take some time, but, you know, President Trump deserves, some credit for this. He has been able to bring together some countries that you would never think would go along. I mean, when we talk about Qatar or Qatar, however you want to pronounce it, that's been the home of Hamas leaders.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: During this whole time. but he's been able to bring them into the fold. He's been able to bring Turkey into the fold, which has no love for Israel. Credits to him also for being able to bring that together, even if it just means getting those hostages home. That's worth celebrating. Now, he just arrived in Egypt about a, half hour ago, and they're going to have a formal signing ceremony. You'll see lots of this, pictures of this and TV programs about this. but the news there is going to be.

Who's going to rebuild Gaza is part of President Obama's peace plan

Okay, let's move on to the second part of this is who's going to rebuild Gaza. And a lot of those countries are represented there. they've got to nail down. Hamas has got to lay down its arms. That's part of this package of power.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Because they cannot politically be in control any longer. That's part of this peace plan.

>> Fred Jackson: That is correct. In fact, Israel doesn't want anybody from the west bank involved with this government or commission that's going to run this and, then the rebuilding process. Now, the president did mention, it was a scripted speech. You know, the guns are silent. Well, they weren't, in Gaza this morning, and it wasn't Israel and Hamas firing at each other. They have, militia groups inside.

>> Ed Vitagliano: There are factions.

>> Fred Jackson: There are factions and they're shooting at each other. so that's, that's going on. Listen, it's a place of unrest. It has been for centuries. Gaza, mentioned in scripture.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: You know, that's where the Philistines hang, hung out. And so that's this. The tensions of the Middle east are not going to go away, folks.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: But as you say, let's celebrate the release of these hostages today.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and be praying also for those, who are home, the people who lived, the hostages that lived through the last two years plus and are going home still endured tremendous abuse.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And so be praying for them as well.

President Trump thanks someone he once ran against for helping make this possible

Chris, what, what else you got on what's going on here?

>> Chris Woodward: Well, in addition to, you know, talking, talking up this deal that his administration has gotten from, Israel and Hamas, President Trump took a moment to, thank somebody that he once ran against, who's now part of his team for helping all this become, possible here. And that person is Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

>> Donald Trump: Clip 2 and I have a prediction that Marco will go down, I mean this, as the greatest Secretary of State in the history of the United States. I believe that. I believe. And he and I, you know, we really fought it out. You remember, he was tough, he was nasty. And now I'm saying he's going to go down as the greatest.

>> Ed Vitagliano: He will.

>> Donald Trump: He was always, he was always smart. And sharp, and people respect him.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, okay.

>> Fred Jackson: Little Marco.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Little Marco.

Tony Bennett: Getting hostages home was a big accomplishment for President Trump

All right. So, Tony, I, I really do like Marco Rubio. I've always liked him. He, he's, he, he kind of fell out of favor a little bit. you don't have to talk about this. I'm just tossing this in, Maybe even in 2016, fell out a little bit with, some of the conservative, the more conservative wing of the Republican Party because he was part of, I think, what they called the Gang of Eight, with regards to immigration. So he, he, he had some of those issues. But I've always liked him and I've always thought he was very smart and I think he has been an excellent Secretary of State. But one of the things, and feel free to talk about that if you want. But one of the things that I, think the left wing media is going to have to deal with. When we walked in here, it might have been you who mentioned we have the feed on a big teller, big screen TV in here, the feed from four, news outlets. We have, of course, Fox, msnbc, CNN and the BBC. They all were running simultaneously video of President Trump. This is a big deal for, for Trump. And the left wing media at some point has to recognize what President Trump has accomplished here, again, with Marco Rubio's hard work as well. But this is quite an accomplishment to at least get the Middle east this far.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: yeah, I 100% agree. And we all know there's nobody more willing to put aside differences and let bygones be bygones than Trump. So I'm glad that he was able to do so for Marco Rubio, because I do, I agree. I think Marco Rubio has been an excellent pick, probably one of the best picks in my, in my opinion for his administration that he's, that he's done, and he's probably worked tirelessly, you know, going over there back and forth, trying to get this, the deals, because we all know that, you know, this is not this 20 point, 20 point plan that was settled on. This was after a lot of back and forth. There were, there were supposed to be dates that the hostages would be released. We blew past, you know, and then Israel starts bombing Hamas again and Hamas starts shooting rockets. So it's been some back and forth to get to this point. But I think Marco Rubio, has done an excellent job in this position. I think he kind of acts as a counterweight, to sometimes Trump's, Trump tends to shoot more from the hip. I think Marco's a little more measured in his approach. And yeah, you're absolutely right. This is, this is, an un, an unprecedented, achievement that Trump has been able to carry out, one that I think we can all agree would not have happened, under a Kamala Harris, Tim, Walls administration. at least not to this, to this end. so I think it pains the mainstream media to give him credit, but I have seen there have been a few Democrats even who have had to hand it to Trump that, you know, to give credit where credit is due, he was able to accomplish this. And to Fred's point, and you were making the same point, you know, we all know eventually the fireworks are going to start back up. you know, it's just, it's just the nature of that part of the world. But, for now, getting this first step of the 20, is probably one of the, one of the most important in my opinion. Bringing home people who have been over there, away from their families, going through horrific circumstances, getting them home was, a big first, step. So we'll see what happens from here.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

Fox reporter Steve Harrigan interviewed some of the hostages who were freed today

>> Chris Woodward: Related to, the news here out of Israel. You know, reporters are supposed to kind of remove themselves from a story and just tell you what's going on in a particular place, who's involved, why they did that, that kind of stuff. and you try to kind of contain, your emotions, but on the subject of, hostages and hostages being freed, Fox reporter Steve Harrigan was on Fox and Friends this morning to talk about some of the stories involving some of the hostages, and their reunions with their family today. And even Steve Harrigan, which you'll hear in the sound bite, gets a little emotional near the end.

>> Speaker F: Clip 8 this is one of the worst stories in the world, the story of a hostage, because it touches everybody. It touches, of course, the hostages who are suffering dramatically, but it touches the family members, the friends. And when you have living hostages, it's almost worse to some extent. There's no sense of closure, no sense of relief. And it's a sort of agony that just doesn't end. It's a sleeplessness. and many people said, you know, October 7th isn't over. And I think for, for a lot of people here, it didn't end. And now that day is going to end.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Fred, I don't, What was his name?

>> Chris Woodward: Steve Harrigan.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Steve Harrigan. there's no telling what Mr. Harrigan, what Steve Harrigan has heard in interviewing. I'm sure he's gotten Some interviews with hostages or people who have had interactions with them. There's no telling the horror that these people have been through. And he makes, he makes a good point. It is, I'm with Tony. It is an extraordinary accomplishment to get these 20. There was 250 originally. Now they, they did trickle out a few hostages here and there. I don't know what the final death toll is going to be, but the, for those who are alive and for the family members who are going to have to help those people get through. I mean, sleepless nights, I'm sure nightmares. Who knows the kind of emotional, long term damage has been done. These families, to Steve Harrigan's point, they, they, they will continue to go through the consequences of October 7th.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, remember how October 7th unfolded. It was a happy time. It was a festival. And, you know, you wake up and you find a loved one has been taken captive by Hamas. Everybody knows how Hamas operates and the horrific stories about what happened that day, what they did to men and women and children. Absolutely horrific. So you're living for two years not knowing what's happening to your son, your daughter, your parents, your spouse, in some cases, families divided. So how hard this must be. So those feelings will not go away. They're celebrating today for those who had loved ones that are still alive and they've been returned to them, this morning. But I think Steve Harrigan, when you are in that environment and you start to talk to these parents, these loved ones, sisters, brothers, you can't help but feel their pain.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You put yourself in their shoes.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's real. We watch this on television.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: We get used to watching drama on television and it's just another show. But when you're there as a reporter and you're talking to, loved ones. Many years ago, I was working with CBC in Toronto, and one of my first assignments was to go out. There was a private school that had a canoeing trip north of Toronto, and it was horrific ending. And it was my job to go there late at night, early into the morning, as they were bringing back some of the survivors and talking to the mums and dads who were waiting to see whether their son and daughter was coming back. And you cannot remove yourself from that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: it was one of the toughest assignments I had as a reporter.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and remember Hamas, they released videos of that day.

>> Fred Jackson: They're proud of what they're doing.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, yeah. That October 7th that we, Tony, we all got to see. I mean, if people wanted to See, yeah, the world could see what Hamas had done to people.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah. And I don't know, you know, I don't know what the plans are beyond this. I don't know what Israel's planning. but if, if I had to guess, there are still, members of Hamas who were involved who, will need to be brought to justice one way or the other. and they're just that, that, again, there's a mindset over there that I don't think we could really comprehend. We don't have a way of understanding, you know, how someone could become so embittered and hateful that they would continue on even, even while, you know, your, your city is a parking lot and there's no chance of winning. they, they're still, you know, so hateful, that they're going to carry on. But I, you know, what end that comes to, we'll have to, we'll have to see because there are people who were, like I said, involved in that, in those horrific, crimes who are still walking around. And, I don't think the Israeli military, the idf, this Benjamin Netanyahu, or the massage, I think they're. Or the Mossad. I think there's still a score to settle to a degree. Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Chris.

Steve Jordal will have a special segment on 1105 at 11:05

>> Chris Woodward: well, let's, finish up with one. I got. Okay, hold that. Hold that thought.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Hold that thought. We will come back. We're gonna take a short break.

>> Chris Woodward: We'll do it live.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Steve Jordal, by the way, is going to be on it, obviously, 1105. he is going to cover some, issues related, I think, to Charlie Kirk, some things that have kind of cropped up. but, during his segment, he's also going to, play some audio of a really amazing story of what happened, in a prison in Mississippi, and how the gospel has prevailed in that environment. You don't want to miss that or any of the news that Steve brings. But, anyway, that's coming up at 11:05. We're gonna take a short break. We will come right back.

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Fred Rothenberg: President Trump helped broker deal between Israel and Hamas

Go ahead, Chris.

>> Chris Woodward: Well, the, the clip I was going to play a second ago, and then we could move on to some other topics that do need, our attention. But the clip I was going to play is, various people were just, they were watching, President Donald Trump speak in Israel. They were hearing people, sing the praises of the administration and America for, playing a role in this agreement, between Israel and Hamas. And a lot of people are just, kind of, they're proud of where they're from. And one, example of that is a lady named Rebecca Heinrichs. she's with the Hudson Institute, and she had this to say on Fox.

>> Pam Bondi: Clip 7 well, it's nothing short of a miracle. I mean, you don't negotiate with a terrorist organization like Hamas. You have to put pressure on these other countries outside who had been supporting Hamas. That's exactly what President Trump did. And he did it by completely backing and supporting and having solidarity with Israel. And it's amazing, the statecraft here is amazing that it brought us to this point. Of course, we're still grieving with those who have, only the deceased who are coming home. There's no living women hostages. They're all dead. but these are men and sons and brothers who are coming home. It's amazing. And, I'm proud to be an American. I think we all should be.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Fred, I didn't know that there were no women alive amongst the hostages. Is that what I just heard her say?

>> Fred Jackson: Yes. the 20 that were released this morning were all men. Now, I think some women have been released over the last couple of years. but the stories that have come out about how they were treated and even during the October, 7th, 2023, some of the images caught by Hamas that were videotaping their horrors, it's just, we can't talk about it on the air.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: But I'm sure a lot of our audience have heard that, during the break we were talking about, we hadn't mentioned yet part of Israel's concession to get this deal. They had to give up a bunch of Islamic terrorists, 250 of which had been convicted of horrible crimes. Another 1700 that have been captured during the last two years. So they had to. For every live hostage that was released this morning, they had to give up 100.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Wow.

>> Fred Jackson: Islamic terrorists. And Tony and I were talking those Islamic terrorists, because of their worldview and their thinking, they're not going to go away and open up an ice cream stand.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right. They're not going to be selling falafels.

>> Fred Jackson: No.

>> Ed Vitagliano: you know, on a street corner.

>> Fred Jackson: No, no. Well, that's why this, this, this story, we kind of got into this earlier on, this story of the, of the tension and the war between the Jewish people there and the Islamic terrorists, it's not over, folks. It's not.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Well, and I think to Rebecca Heinrich's point that she was making, that's, to me, that's why it was smart for President Trump and Marco Rubio and his administration to go to these. You have to go to these other countries who have been funding Hamas. You know, some of them have been, And you have to get them to tell Hamas, all right, you've got to. You're going to make these concessions. Because to me, they are. They are the zealots that take the marching orders from their, leaders in, you know, to the north, Hezbollah and Iran and even Qatar. Qatar, to an extent, they are. They are just the zealots who are the foot soldiers who carry out the attacks. You have to go to the people who are really in charge of them or who can give the orders, you know, that they'll follow. Because, like, to Fred, to, Fred's point that he mentioned, you really can't negotiate directly with Hamas. They don't. There's no willingness in their minds to give up anything to the Jews or to Israel or to any other infidel because they're. They're doing God. They're carrying out gods, their gods, holy war.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So well. And also, I do want to make mention of the point, something you said before the break, Tony, and that is that the election of Donald Trump in 24 changed the dynamics of what could happen in the Middle East. What was possible, following the October 7th attack, because Trump, for the most part, had Netanyahu's back, had Israel's back. And as, was it Heinrich? What she said was that Trump and the US Remained in solidarity with Israel even while the rest of the world was pummeling Israel for what it was doing in trying to defeat Hamas in Gaza. If Kamala Harris had been elected, none of that happens because is, Israel would have come under tremendous pressure from a Kamala Harris administration, and the U.S. i'm afraid, would have joined the rest of the world in telling Israel, you can't do this.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And then Hamas would have been under no obligation because none of these other countries would have pressured Hamas. That's right, because they would have felt like the United States is on the side of, maybe not on the side of Hamas, but on the side of, quote, unquote, the Palestinian, that it's not a country, but the Palestinian cause.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And opposed to what Israel is doing. None of this would have happened if Trump had not been elected and if Trump had not remained strongly in Israel's corner.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So, folks, when you. When you talk about God being in charge. All right, this is yet another reason why the election of Donald Trump in 2024 was extremely important, not just for the United States going forward, but also Israel going forward. All right, Chris, you got anything else on this, or you got to move on?

>> Chris Woodward: I'm going to move on.

At least nine people were killed in Mississippi shootings as schools celebrated homecoming

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right.

>> Chris Woodward: because we need to, in addition to praying for the president to have wisdom, on this area and many others, and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we also need to pray for peace and stability in these United States of America. And I say that because here in Mississippi, in our backyard, at least nine people were killed in separate shootings as Mississippi schools celebrated homecoming. Six of the nine people died in the downtown area of a small town called Leland, Mississippi, which is northwest of Jackson, north of, Vicksburg. It's located along the Mississippi river here in the great state of Mississippi. And unfortunately, just a terrible situation here, shootings, occurring, and, people are dying, at least six again. And it's a terrible situation. it's terrible. If One person dies. But we had several shootings, in different parts of the state. I'm looking at an NBC article again. Six people dead in Leland, on the east side of the state. We had a pregnant woman that was shot and killed. Just terrible things here, that we don't wish on anybody, happening not very far from where we're sitting now.

>> Ed Vitagliano: The Leland, Mississippi shooting. There's like, When I read over the weekend, there was 20 people actually shot.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes. Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Six have died at the time. Earlier in the weekend, I think four were dead. But there were, the sizable number four to six who were in critical condition. Obviously two of those people have died. Any idea what was this? Was this a shootout between gangs or what? Any idea on why this happened? This was at a party or something after the homecoming.

>> Chris Woodward: At a homecoming dance. Yeah, I think they're still investigating and looking for a cause. the fact that it's at a homecoming dance. It could be, some people got into an altercation, about some things going on. you could probably find. You could probably look this story up and find some different ideas, as to what the cause, was. But I don't like so far.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Is that, what.

>> Chris Woodward: The news that I'm aware of. Okay, so. Well, terrible situation.

>> Ed Vitagliano: This is. This is what kind of what we were talking about. And obviously not to the same extent as these hostages, but you let your kids go to a homecoming game and a dance, right? You don't expect to have to wonder if they're coming home. This is just. This, This is. This is a terrible thing. And, this. Listen, this kind of stuff happens in Chicago and every.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Troy.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Every weekend. Baltimore. It happens every weekend. M. You know, and this is. This is bad. It's a sign of societal decay.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And the country desperately needs. Jesus. I'm not trying to oversimplify this. there are real, things going on where people feel hopeless and they get involved in drugs or what have you. I'm not saying that that isn't a part of it. People do make bad decisions and. Ah. You know. But the spiritual climate in our country is pretty cold in a lot of places. And societal decay results in these kinds of. What a waste of human life. And by waste, I mean these aren't people. These aren't young people who died in defense of their country. Okay. Where they're freely giving their lives cause greater than themselves. These are young people primarily caught up and someone else is acting out and disregard for the sanctity of human life.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's a terrible thing.

Four people killed, 16 injured in South Carolina bar shooting over the weekend

>> Chris Woodward: A similar situation again over the weekend in South Carolina where at least four people were killed, 16 injured in a shooting at a bar in St. Helena island, if I said that correctly. Some people say Helena, others say helena. but four people killed, 16 injured again in South Carolina at a bar shooting. this one occurred early Sunday morning at an establishment called Willy's Bar and Grill. sticking with ah, crime here for a second, on Friday afternoon the US Attorney General Pam Bondi came out with other members of law, enforcement, to announce that an arrest had been made, this one involving a man in his 60s that the federal government says had been sending threatening letters to conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. And this person, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi, was he didn't like Benny Johnson much like people didn't like Charlie Kirk. clip 10 he's a well known.

>> Pam Bondi: Media personality carrying a message very similar to Charlie's. The author of this letter made it very clear that he hated Benny because of his views and he wanted Benny dead.

>> Chris Woodward: So we aired that soundbot on Friday afternoon and then I thought, who can I talk to to get some reaction? who knows Benny Johnson? And Jenna Ellis has had Benny Johnson on her radio programs a number of times. so here is what Jenna had to say when I called to ask her what she thought about this.

>> Caroline: Clip 11 well, Benny has been a friend of mine, like Charlie was for over a decade. I mean these are very small circles of conservative leaders and influencers and this absolutely has to stop. I'm really grateful that the doj, Pam Bondi and President Trump are taking this very seriously because no one anywhere, and especially in America, deserves to be targeted or threatened, threatened simply because of their viewpoint. So I'm really grateful that an arrest has been made this soon and I hope that this serves as a deterrent for anyone who thinks that it is in any way appropriate to threaten someone just because of their viewpoint.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So this was a 69 year old man I think you said in our story meeting in California.

Benny Johnson allegedly threatened with murder by someone on the left

Tony, I'm going to come to you first. now there's probably a lot of our listeners who don't know who Benny Johnson is. Just, just like a lot of them didn't really know who Charlie Kirk was. Charlie Kirk was probably more well known than Benny Johnson. But these are people who start off, have started off taking advantage of social media to get their viewpoints out. I become more aware of Benny Johnson over the last, I don't know Six months. He's kind of like Charlie kind of rocketed up the ladder a little bit in terms of being well known to people who stay on social media, who listen to podcasts and that kind of thing. but these people are known by the left. and this was a person who was. Benny Johnson was threatened with murder. I'm not even going to the graphic detail that this guy allegedly. I will say that allegedly used promising to make his. Benny Johnson's wife and kids a widow and orphans. But this. This is. And I. I also. I do want to say one thing before I toss it to you here, Tony. I want us to be careful. I do not want to say that everyone who's on the left is advocating this kind of violence. All right? but there is. I don't know what the percentage is. There is a percentage on the left that feels very comfortable with the idea of violence as a solution to the popularity of conservatives and Christians.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah, I'm not surprised at this at all. you know, there just has not been the. In my opinion, there's just not been from across the aisle, as much national outrage at, the Charlie Kirk assassination as there should have been, in my opinion. Now, I know we've. Obviously, there's been massive support, you know, the.

>> Ed Vitagliano: The.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: The ceremony for Charlie Kirk, you know, had. I forget how many hundreds of thousands of people showed up for it. And there have been people who have decried it, but I just mean from across both sides of the political spectrum, there has just not been the. The outrage that there should have been. And as a result of that, you have people like this gentleman who allegedly still feel comfortable enough. Now, you know, I don't know what this person's mental state is, but they're obviously still feel like there is enough, support and justification to continue issuing threats. So just like, Just like people have said before, it's just going down the line. All right, who's next? There. There is a contingent, extreme contingent on the left who views this as just. All right, we got Charlie Kirk. Now who's next? Benny Johnson.

>> Donald Trump: You.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: You. You are influential. and these are people who are not influential for marching out in the streets. You know, I mean, they're not leading. They're not leading the charge in the streets to, you know, shut down highways, for instance. those kind of things only tend to go one way. they're just simply, well known for expressing themselves through the liberty of the First Amendment and talking with people, interacting with people, even people who disagree with them. So they're not the people. The personalities who are being targeted are not extremists. It just doesn't matter. If you are espousing, beliefs and ideas that, the left disagrees with. You are, villainized to the point of being called a Nazi, and every other name in the book. And it just doesn't matter. And this is, this is a result. Like I said, I'm not surprised. We will probably hear more of these stories as we go on until we reach the point where, you know, the.

>> Ed Vitagliano: The.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: The DOJ starts, finally starts hunting down some of these, radical groups who have embedded themselves in our. In our country, or there's enough national outrage and everybody just finally, on both sides, puts. Puts down, the rhetoric. and I say both sides. I just mean. I really mean the left side of the aisle. That's what I'm. That's what I say when I say both sides, and decries this.

Abigail Spanberger endorsed Jay Jones for Virginia attorney general

>> Fred Jackson: So we have a pretty scary situation in Virginia right now.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yes. I didn't even mention that.

>> Fred Jackson: Jay Jones, he's running to be the top justice official for the state as a Democrat.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: And he hasn't denied it, but he put out this on social media. I guess it was. Want to put a couple of bullets in the head of the former House speaker there. And also to take out his family and the party, the Democratic Party. You would think. Here's a guy, he wants to be the next attorney general, and you would think the Democratic Party would say, wait a minute. we can't allow this.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You're not running on our ticket.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: You got to go.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, you've got to go. But his, Abigail Spamberger, who wants to be the next. She wants to be the Democratic governor of Virginia. There was a debate last week.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes. And I have this audio. Let me set this up. Because it involves more than just Abigail Spanberger. Now, Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat, endorsed Jay Jones before it was these messages, these threats were made known.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And by the way, he not only has not denied talking about Jay Jones, he's not denied sending this out, he's admitted sending it out and has simply explained it away by saying, well, I think we can all agree. We've all texted, we've all sent stuff out on social media that we wish we hadn't. Yes. No, Jay Jones, you advocated for murdering a man and his family.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's. That's not, Nobody here has done that.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So anyway, so.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: And that's not protected. That's not threats like that are not protected.

>> Chris Woodward: Exactly.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: First Amendment, right.

>> Chris Woodward: Very true. So in this audio, you're going to hear a debate moderator ask Spanberger will she still stand by her endorsement even after it's made, you know, it's gone public that he threatened somebody. And then you're gonna hear reaction to her non answer answer from people like Fox's John Roberts, as well as Richmond radio personality Jeff Katz.

>> Pam Bondi: Clip 12 as of now, you still endorse Jay Jones as Attorney General. I'm saying, as of now, it's up to every voter to make their own individual decision.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Boy, she could have been on Dancing.

>> Fred Jackson: With the Stars with that answer.

>> Chris Woodward: She danced around the issue. But yes or no questions are normally answered by Abigail Spamberger with, responses that contain a lot of words.

>> Fred Jackson: None of those words, yes or no, however, that's.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I only read about it. I had not heard the answer. That, that's ridiculous. either Fred or Tony, either of you can, can jump in on this. That's the right answer, is no. I withdraw my endorsement because what Jay Jones said has no place in our political life.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And I will not stay on the J. Jones team. And I think he should step down. You don't say every voter. Let me, let me just give you one quick example. If Jay Jones had said, I don't like black people, I'm in favor of racism. Right. All right. If he had said something, I think women belong in the kitchen and they don't belong, in the governor's mansion. You're not going to get, you're not going to have Spanberger saying, I think every voter needs to make up their.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Minds, oh, we all know. Is it Sears who's running for. Yeah, Governor, win some Sears. Win some Sears. If she released an ad where she said, you know, she's got her rifle and she's like, I've got Democrat. I've got the Democrats in my sights.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: I mean, we all know that's, that's political, political rhetoric. But shit, there would be immediate calls. She's threatening violence. Immediate calls for her to disband her campaign. This is direct. This is what I'm talking about when I say until the left can start weeding this out and just cutting it out like, like it's an infection that you just have to get rid of. Until they're willing to do that, you're gonna have more of this.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, until you have a mainstream media that's willing to hold the Democrats as accountable.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Fred Jackson: As they do the Republicans. And I don't Care if it's a Republican who said that they need to be out?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, absolutely.

>> Fred Jackson: But the Democrats enjoy the COVID of the mainstream media.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Right?

>> Fred Jackson: You know, we've talked about this story in Virginia, but I can assure you the mainstream media hardly is touching it. They're not touching it. They're just letting Jay Jones get away with this. They're letting Spanberger get away with. Well, whatever way you want to vote, you know, go ahead.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Nobody was saying that. Sorry, I had the rookie mistake. I had my. Halfway through my sentence.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Let me just make you feel a little better. There's been a couple times when Tim is eating popcorn and he normally mutes his own mic so people don't have to listen to him chew.

Sears: Democrats need to do something about gun violence

Last week, he mistakenly had my M mic muted while he was chewing. So it's not just a rocky mistake.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: A little bit.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We all make those kinds of mistakes, I feel.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: A little bit. Look, nobody, Spamberger wasn't out there, I guarantee you, when Donald Trump. When we were coming up on the presidential election, nobody on the left or the media was saying, you know what? People just need to vote, with, you know, vote for whoever they feel like they should. They should just follow their hearts. No, you were trying to defeat literal Hitler, you know, I'm sure.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So there was none of this.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, I know. Something that is ironic to me here is that Democrats, they try to be the party of. Do something about gun violence. And here you have some. Here you have the opportunity to do something about somebody threatening to use a gun to do violence, and you still trip and fall. And you. You. I think she would probably have even won the debate or gained some voters if she had taken the debate as an opportunity to go, you know what? This guy's wrong. And I'm going to take this opportunity right now. Why don't you join me with this winsome Sears one of these things. Yeah, she. She would have, I think, won the debate.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: well, listen, I think. I think the whole country is looking for that kind of approach to these kinds of things. Listen, if something else bad happens and it comes from the left, the Democratic Party is going to continue to come under tremendous pressure. But I'll tell you. I'll tell you what's my opinion, what's going on here. And that's why I said I want to be fair. there, you know, for every, John Fetterman and Bill Maher that are out there, the Democratic Party has 10 people who are okay with the violence. And the problem for the Democratic Party is they can't really come out and speak against this kind of rhetoric, otherwise they'll get primaried. I think that's part of it. And the media, the left wing media like msnbc, they have to be very careful because if they start going down that road, then they lose the handfuls of voters, of viewers that they have watching their programming because they have to feed the rage on the left. So you got anything you can squeeze in here before the.

>> Chris Woodward: I do.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I mean I can continue get on my side. My soapbox.

>> Chris Woodward: So we're gonna. President Tim Wildmon has issued an executive order for me to. When I can bring in something positive. Because oftentimes I feel like I'm Dr. Doom and Gloom.

>> Ed Vitagliano: anybody dealing with the news is Dr. Gloom.

>> Chris Woodward: Right. I get emotional like Steve Harrigan from time to time. But there is a new survey out. I'll share the link on our Today's Issues Facebook page. Taco Bell tops new drive through speed rankings. Chick Fil? A wins on Satisfaction. So in other words, Taco Bell. Hey, they're very quick. If you want your order. Right. You'll get it quick, but also go to Chick Fil? A. So I'll post that because lunch is coming up and somebody quickly. Right?

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: It is my pleasure to share this for you on our Facebook page.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, we don't make, we don't make endorsements of fast food restaurants here. That was just reporting the news.

>> Chris Woodward: It was.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Now if Chick Fil? A.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: A.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Check to American Radio.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right. Might and drop some, hey, free lunch, coupons to the, to the, Today's Issues panel. We might reconsider our policy. All right, five minute break for news. We'll be right back.

>> Pam Bondi: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

Ed, Fred and Tony talk with Chris on top news headlines of the day including how President Trump speaks at the Knessett and hostages are also released.